Gojko Šušak

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Gojko Šušak (born March 16, 1945 in Mokro near Široki Brijeg , DFR Yugoslavia ; † May 3, 1998 in Zagreb , Croatia ) was a Croatian politician ( HDZ ) and Croatia's Minister of Defense from September 18, 1991 until his death .

His term of office fell during the Croatian and Bosnian wars . In this context he was charged with alleged war crimes (related to ethnic cleansing of Serbs ). A possible charge before the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia did not materialize because of his death.

biography

Šušak was born on March 16, 1945 as one of six children of Ante and Stana Šušak in Mokro (municipality of Široki Brijeg ). Three months after his birth, his father, an officer in the fascist Ustasha militia, was murdered by communist Tito partisans . An older brother was also a member of the Ustaše militia. The family home was burned down. In Mokro he completed four school years, in Široki Brijeg four more until he switched to the local high school in 1959/60 . There was Slobodan Praljak a schoolmate whose superior he was later. After graduating from high school in 1963 , he attended the Pedagogical Academy in Rijeka . He was unable to finish his studies due to the intervention of the Yugoslav authorities. After he was called up for drafting in the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA) in 1968 , Šušak decided to flee to the west.

His way led him to Canada in 1969 , where he stayed with two of his brothers in Ottawa . Šušak became very active among the other Croatian emigrants and founded Croatian schools and diaspora organizations. In exile he is said to have been close to the Organization of Croatian People's Resistance . Professionally, he was content with odd jobs (pizza maker, construction worker, etc.) before he rose to become a successful entrepreneur and a millionaire.

In 1989, Šušak went to Croatia and became a member of the Croatian Democratic Community (HDZ) , to which he donated four million US dollars . Šušak was appointed Minister for Emigrant Affairs and Deputy Minister of Defense. During the arms embargo, he played a key role in the procurement of arms for the Croatian government troops ( national guard, special police) by channeling funds from foreign Croatians to Croatia. In September 1991, Šušak said that through his efforts the Croatian government had received 30 million German marks , of which it had bought over 5,000 firearms .

In 1991 he was appointed Minister of Defense of Croatia and received the symbolic monthly salary of just 750 euros for his post  . Šušak himself said in a TV interview that he never expected this responsible position. He himself also admitted that he had absolutely no competences in the field of warfare and mentioned how he had avoided the Yugoslav army on top of that. On the other hand, it was clear to both Šušak and the Croatian public that he had received this post mainly because of his financial resources. His staff were made up of acquaintances and relatives with war experience (among them: the future General Ante Gotovina ). After the military campaigns Oluja and Bljesak in 1995, Šušak had reached the height of his popularity.

Gojko Šušak's grave ( Mirogoj Cemetery , Zagreb )

Šušak became a close friend of the then US Secretary of Defense William Perry . After Sušak was diagnosed with lung cancer, he was admitted to the Walter Reed Military Hospital in Washington DC in March 1996 and operated on at Perry's initiative . On May 3, 1998 at 9:30 p.m., he finally succumbed to his illness in the Dubrava hospital in Zagreb. He left behind his wife Đurđa, his daughters Katarina and Jelena, his son Tomislav and his brothers Mile in Zagreb and Branko in Ottawa. Gojko Šušak was buried in a state funeral in the "Avenue of Defenders of Croatia" in the Mirogoj Cemetery in Zagreb .

International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia

In the ICTY's indictment against Ante Gotovina , Mladen Markač and Ivan Čermak, Gojko Šušak is described as a member of a criminal organization whose aim was the permanent expulsion of the Serbian population from the territory of the Republic of Serbian Krajina .

Afterlife

In the Croatian cities of Zagreb, Imotski , Slunj and Pakrac , streets are named after Šušak. In his hometown of Široki Brijeg, a life-size monument was erected on a square named after him and a football tournament is held every year in his honor.

source

  • David Binder: Gojko Susak, Defense Minister of Croatia, Is Dead at 53 . In: The New York Times . May 5, 1998 ( nytimes.com [accessed June 1, 2013]).
  • John Kifner: From Pizza Man in Canada to Croatian Kingmaker . In: The New York Times . January 16, 1994 ( nytimes.com [accessed August 13, 2020]).

literature

  • Dunja Ujević: Ministar obrane: jedno sjećanje na Gojka Šuška [The Minister of Defense: a memory of Gojko Šušak] . 2nd Edition. Zagreb 2005, ISBN 978-953-168-386-9 .

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ^ Herald Scotland: Gojko Susak. Retrieved February 3, 2012 .
  2. ^ Yugoslavia Tribunal - A Storm of War Crimes. Retrieved February 3, 2012 .
  3. ↑ Tko je organic Slobodan Praljak? Slao je oružje Bošnjacima u opkoljeno Sarajevo . ( vecernji.hr [accessed December 2, 2017]).
  4. ^ Vinko Grubišić: Kulturno i političko djelovanje Gojka Šuška u egzilu . In: Ivan Bekavac (Ed.): Gojko Šušak: 1945. – 1998. : Spomenica uz petu obljetnicu smrti . Zagreb 2003, ISBN 953-98876-2-3 , p. 38 : "Rekoh da Gojko nije bio ni u jednoj stranci, ali je bio blizak Hrvatskom Narodnom Otporu."
  5. ^ Central Intelligence Agency [CIA] - Office of Russian and European Analysis (ed.): Balkan Battlegrounds: A Military History of the Yugoslav Conflict . tape 2 . Washington DC 2003, Annex 4 - The Arming of the Croatian Government Forces, May 1990 – August 1991, pp. 53 .
  6. ↑ ICTY.org: Judgment Summary for Gotovina et al. (PDF; 90 kB) Retrieved on February 3, 2012 .
personal data
SURNAME Šušak, Gojko
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Croatian Defense Minister
DATE OF BIRTH March 16, 1945
PLACE OF BIRTH Široki Brijeg
DATE OF DEATH May 3, 1998
Place of death Washington, DC