„ЈАВНОСТ” У СРБИЈИ О НЕЗАВИСНОЈ ДРЖАВИ ХРВАТСКОЈ 1941–1944.
“PUBLIC OPINION” IN SERBIA ON THE INDEPENDENT STATE OF CROATIA FROM 1941 TO 1944

Summary/Abstract: “The public” in Serbia formed its views, opinions and interpretations of the Independent State of Croatia (ISC) during World War II under pressure from Nazi occupiers, censorship and Croatian-German alliance. These constraints eliminated the freedom of public debate and thus the existence of the genuine public typical for free and democratic societies. Therefore, this public is regarded as pseudo public. Throughout the period of occupation, except for the first few months, the official Serbian public was pronouncedly passive, or rather made passive, with regard to the ISC. It could not have been more active because of the strict censorship of the German occupation authorities not allowing public expression of negative or critical opinion of their ally. For that reason, the official Serbian public generally followed various kinds of news about the situation in the ISC, but without the possibility of public expression. It reacted when the circumstances allowed it, or when it suited the German occupiers. It is possible to single out two such cases: a sharp reaction to the treatment of Serbs in the ISC and critical thinking about the changes in Croatian language and literature. Many other news were not commented and some of them were not allowed to appear on the pages of the public media, such as the testimonies of Serbian refugees or conflict between Serbs and Croats in the border zone of the Drina and Sava rivers. Hence, it can be concluded that the silence imposed on the official Serbian public spoke louder than words. Sensitive news, which never saw the daylight, became public secrets that people knew about but were forced to pretend they did not know. Unlike the official public, the unofficial Serbian public was much more active. Due to the lack of clear and detailed information about the situation in the Independent State of Croatia, it was forced to satisfy its need for being informed in different ways. It not only searched for various kinds of news, listened and transmitted “information” obtained from persons with “reliable” sources, but also commented and gave the assessment ofcurrent news from the public media and newspapers. As a result, the unofficial public was often dominated by rumors or news significantly altered, compared to the original events whether real or not. The number of rumors was so great that it can be said that this part of the public was dominated by noise, which was not publicly heard and not allowed to be heard. The image of the ISC, thus formed in the unofficial public was, in addition to actual knowledge, full of unreliable and confusing news revealing various emotions (fear, resentment, hope, expectations, etc.).

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