Josip Jurčević (born 1951) is a
Croatia
, image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg
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, anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland")
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, capit ...
n historian and politician.
Born in the village of Studenci near the southern town of
Imotski
Imotski (; it, Imoschi; lat, Emotha, later ''Imota'') is a small town on the northern side of the Biokovo massif in the Dalmatian Hinterland of southern Croatia, near the border with Bosnia and Herzegovina. Imotski, like the surrounding inland D ...
, Jurčević grew up in
Zagreb
Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...
. He graduated in history and philosophy from the
in 1975. Josip Jurčević is the father of seven children.
He is the author of several books. At the
University of Osijek
The Josip Juraj Strossmayer University of Osijek ( hr, Sveučilište Josipa Jurja Strossmayera u Osijeku, la, Universitas studiorum Mursensis), commonly known as the University of Osijek (UNIOS), is a public university based in Osijek, Croatia. ...
and at the Pedagogical University in
Petrinja
Petrinja () is a town in central Croatia near Sisak in the historic region of Banovina. It is administratively located in Sisak-Moslavina County.
On December 29, 2020, the town was hit by a strong earthquake with a magnitude of 6.4 , causing ...
he has teaching positions.
Josip Jurčević is a member of a Croatian War Veterans Association. The ''
Nacional
Nacional, the Portuguese and Spanish word for "national", may refer to:
Airlines
* Nacional Transportes Aéreos, a Brazilian airline defunct in 2002
* Transportes Aéreos Nacional, a Brazilian airline defunct in 1961
Bank
* Banco Nacional, a ...
'' newspaper described him in 2006 as the new voice of the Croatian right.
Jurčević ran as an independent candidate in the
2009 presidential election where he won 2.74% of the vote and was eliminated in the first round.
In April 2012, Jurčević was a panelist at an event discussing
freemasonry
Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...
in Croatia, in which he described society as being organized according to the postulates described in the
Protocols of the Elders of Zion
''The Protocols of the Elders of Zion'' () or ''The Protocols of the Meetings of the Learned Elders of Zion'' is a fabricated antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for global domination. The hoax was plagiarized from several ...
.
Research and views
In his book ''Prikrivena stratišta i grobišta jugoslavenskih komunističkih zločina'' Jurčević investigated 1,571 concealed execution sites and graves in
Slovenia
Slovenia ( ; sl, Slovenija ), officially the Republic of Slovenia (Slovene: , abbr.: ''RS''), is a country in Central Europe. It is bordered by Italy to the west, Austria to the north, Hungary to the northeast, Croatia to the southeast, an ...
, Croatia, and
Bosnia and Herzegovina
Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...
from
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
and the postwar period. According to his analysis,
Yugoslav Communists
Yugoslav or Yugoslavian may refer to:
* Yugoslavia, or any of the three historic states carrying that name:
** Kingdom of Yugoslavia, a European monarchy which existed 1918–1945 (officially called "Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes" 1918–1 ...
were responsible for 89% of the crimes on the researched sites,
Italian
Italian(s) may refer to:
* Anything of, from, or related to the people of Italy over the centuries
** Italians, an ethnic group or simply a citizen of the Italian Republic or Italian Kingdom
** Italian language, a Romance language
*** Regional Ita ...
fascists
Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and th ...
,
Chetniks
The Chetniks ( sh-Cyrl-Latn, Четници, Četnici, ; sl, Četniki), formally the Chetnik Detachments of the Yugoslav Army, and also the Yugoslav Army in the Homeland and the Ravna Gora Movement, was a Yugoslav royalist and Serbian nationa ...
,
Ustashas, and
Nazis
Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...
for 3-4%, while 8% of the sites were still not investigated.
Based on his research, only 0.13% of crimes in "contemporary"
Croatian history were committed by the Ustashas.
According to Christian Axboe Nielsen, associate professor of Southeast European Studies at
Aarhus University
Aarhus University ( da, Aarhus Universitet, abbreviated AU) is a public research university with its main campus located in Aarhus, Denmark. It is the second largest and second oldest university in Denmark. The university is part of the Coimbra Gr ...
, Jurčević has a track record of publishing works that explore repression and crimes against
Croats
The Croats (; hr, Hrvati ) are a South Slavic ethnic group who share a common Croatian ancestry, culture, history and language. They are also a recognized minority in a number of neighboring countries, namely Austria, the Czech Republic, G ...
while simultaneously also publishing works that deny Croatian crimes, whether during the World War II or during the 1990s, against others.
Jurčević has
dismissed the systematic and mass atrocities at the
Jasenovac concentration camp
Jasenovac () was a concentration camp, concentration and extermination camps, extermination camp established in the Jasenovac, Sisak-Moslavina County, village of the same name by the authorities of the Independent State of Croatia (NDH) in I ...
as a "
Serbian myth".
In his review of Jurčević's work, ''The Origin of the Jasenovac Myth'',
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
historian Holm Sundhaussen notes that while Jurčević is justified in his criticism of
communist Yugoslavia
The Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, commonly referred to as SFR Yugoslavia or simply as Yugoslavia, was a country in Central and Southeast Europe. It emerged in 1945, following World War II, and lasted until 1992, with the breakup of Yugo ...
's Jasenovac casualty numbers, he "willingly and thoughtlessly" adopts the term "Jasenovac myth" and tries to demonstrate, through the omitting of information, that Jasenovac was a "labor camp" and that genocide in the WW2
Independent State of Croatia
The Independent State of Croatia ( sh, Nezavisna Država Hrvatska, NDH; german: Unabhängiger Staat Kroatien; it, Stato indipendente di Croazia) was a World War II-era puppet state of Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy (1922–1943), Fascist It ...
did not occur.
Jurčević is a member of the Society for Research of the Threefold Jasenovac Camp.
The NGO claims that the Ustashas ran a labour camp at Jasenovac for enemies of the regime, but it says that the real death camp was run by the Yugoslav Communists, which imprisoned Ustasha members and regular
Croatian Home Guard army troops until 1948, then alleged
Stalinists
Stalinism is the means of governing and Marxist-Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union from 1927 to 1953 by Joseph Stalin. It included the creation of a one-party totalitarian police state, rapid industrialization, the theory ...
until 1951.
In television appearances, Jurčević has stated that the camp was not conceived for the systematic murder of people but that it was a "very productive work camp" ("''Jasenovac je bio vrlo produktivan radni logor''") and that the Ustasha movement was not
fascist
Fascism is a far-right, Authoritarianism, authoritarian, ultranationalism, ultra-nationalist political Political ideology, ideology and Political movement, movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and pol ...
but was at odds with fascists.
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Jurcevic, Josip
1951 births
Living people
20th-century Croatian historians
Croatian Holocaust deniers
Deniers of the genocide of Serbs in the Independent State of Croatia
Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Zagreb alumni
Academic staff of the University of Osijek
People from Imotski
Candidates for President of Croatia
21st-century Croatian historians