Within a few days of my posters for the 15th Miroslav Krleža Festival being put up around Zagreb, Croatia, they were torn up and vandalized. This is not the first time. This has been happening for the past three years. The posters for the Miroslav Krleža Festival are probably the most vandalized posters in Zagreb in recent years.
Miroslav Krleža (1893-1981) was a Croatian writer, widely considered the greatest of the 20th century. I created his portrait with his characteristic hat, and because one of his most famous novels is titled Zastave (The Flags), I made his profile from all of the incarnations of the Croatian flag during his lifetime.
In the past, neo-Nazis and nationalists have satisfied themselves by tearing up posters, scratching off Krleža's name and the red stars, and carving a swastika next to one of them. This time, they were not satisfied just with drawing a swastika. This time, they decided to add two more symbols of hatred to the swastika. Letter U with a cross, symbol of the Ustaša, a Croatian fascist movement that nominally ruled the Independent State of Croatia during World War II. And the number 88. 88 is a neo Nazi and white supremacist numerical code for "Heil Hitler." H is the eighth letter of the alphabet, so 88 = HH = Heil Hitler.
And all on the main square, Ban Jelačić Square in the center of Zagreb.
Here are the reactions of two major Croatian newspapers to this vandalism, Jutarnji list and Večernji list.
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