3 Years In Croatia & What its like to be Serbian Orthodox in Croatia

As a Croat who lives in London I applaud you and support you in all your endeavours. Really proud of you even though I don’t know you personally. Keep on and enjoy life, a lot more Croatia respect you and welcome you then the ones who don’t. Bless!

Ej Dušane, 40 years ago, I was 14 years old when I came to United States, my teacher mistakenly told the students that I was a new Iranian student instead of Yugoslavian. I had to deal with years of bullying, beatings and even fear of my life, I felt like my parents sent me to hell. I got through it, I made friends and surrounded myself with people who cared about me

Dear Dušan, as a Croatian, I wish to tell you here, don't be discouraged ! We returned to Croatia after 40 yrs living in Australia. That was seriously massive and traumatic move , the biggest change we would ever experienced even if we potentially live three average lives ! I can tell you Dušane, we've been discriminated and verbally abused by our own people, members of our own nation ... Now, after fifteen months being living here, we are slowly starting feeling first tiny signs of embedding here. The signs are small, almost negligent, but they are present. These are the signs of relief and harbingers of good decision . You are doing good, you are doing great, living here three years. Don't give up, don't allow yourself to be sidetracked and please continue planning your good deeds. We need people like you in this country, in which every stone, pine tree, olive tree or seawater is part of you ! Onwards with your plans and keep your head up !

Hi Dušan, I understand your feelings and sympatise with you! I know problems in London and in Croatia even more. My friendly advice to you is: build your own microcosmos and associate with similar people, trust God and don't agonise about negativities! It is easier said than done but anywhere you go in Europe and beyond life is difficult these days. Croatia is your country whether someone likes it or not. You should never give up! I sincerely wish you blessings, peace and prosperity.

hey dusane! you have to understand that our people (both serbs and croats) are no strangers to insulting others. I am a croat from bih who's family members have fought for croatia's independence during the war, you would think that that alone would grant me some respect, acceptance among the native croats. however, I've been insulted multiple times for being from bih (even though I was only born there) and what makes it even worse is that some of these people were not some random strangers. when we lived in bih we had to flee for being croats, in croatia you are frequently reminded that you're a "bosančina", we then immigrated to canada only to be bullied for being an immigrant. it's just how life is, you roll with the punches and keep moving forward. I have met croats who's idea of a serbian person is someone who's an extremist and can't be trusted, just like I've met serbs that are convinced that croats don't exist, that they were invented by the west to weaken serbs. then there are those (on both sides) who don't care about the politics and just love good people. I hope this comment finds you well, keep on fighting, stay positive. all the best to you and your fam.

Croatian Orthodox like WW1 Field Marshall Svetozar Boroević considered himself a Croatian but of Orthodox faith. He remained loyal to Croatia and had to leave the new Yugoslav state after WW1.

I hope you don't delete this comment because it is sincere as I like you and your channel. Bringing politics into this channel might not be the best idea but since it's here, here's my 2 cents: Celebrating the Victory day holiday here (What you call celebrating Oluja) is a national holiday and maybe you should think about accepting our holidays, our customs and our values and becoming a part of the community as a whole instead of feeling anxious while waiting for everyone else to conform. I mean, it is quite normal for countries to celebrate a victory over their occupiers whether they're Serbs who occupied parts of Croatia, Nazis who occupied France or even Russians why (still) occupy Ukranian territory. FYI, Oluja was a military operation that reclaimed the Croatian territory taken by Serb extremists who previously ethnically clensed that territory from Croats. Serbs who lived there were invited to stay by Croatian government and even given a full pardon but were so brainwashed by their leaders that they left (were not forced to leave). It is all fully documented but unfortunately, propaganda from Serbia is very strong and their polititians are experts in falcifying history. I don't know why you would move to Croatia and then feel bad during our holidays. After the Poles and the Russians and everyone else defeated the nazis, they had and still have their victory celebration holidays but you don't see the germans complaining. I grant you, one can see stupid and racist graffiti now and then but people walking around in "Ustase" uniform is a complete lie. We have very strict laws and that person would be arrested and put in jail. There is no was you have seen that. On the other hand, some Serbian guy just ran over 2 cyclists just for being Croatian and even admitted it but is still not prosecuted for hate crimes. Croatians persecuting Serbs in 2024 is a myth and a lie. My opinion, don't go into identity politics and try to assimilate more if you really wish to be happy here. If you think about it and forget all the propaganda and prejudice, there is really nothing stopping you to be happy and accepted here while still keeping your identity as a Croatian-Serbian orthodox man. I you move to USA, would you try to assimilate and stride to become an american or prefer to be segragated? Or you can forever be a Serb and Serb only who is a forever victim and persecuted by imagianry "Ustasa" in Croatia. What about your kids - will you teach them to accept Croatian culture, values and customs and to be and feel Croatian while still celebrating their diverse herritage or will you teach them to be Serbs and only Serbs who happen to reside in Croatia and should be weary of the majority of the population and never feel fully accepted. Personally, only if you fully intergrate and start to feel as a Croatian (with Serbian/orthodox identity) will you feel like you really belong and be happy and accepted.

Postovanje Dusane, pretplacen sam na Vas kanal i ponekad pogledam neki Vas video... Otvorili ste svoje srce, iznijeli ste mnoge stvari koje Vas smetaju i ja Vas uistinu razumijem... Nekada ta mala diskriminacija moze jako da boli, a najvise boli, bar mene taj osjecaj ne pripadanja, jer ja zivim u Njemackoj...ali taj osjecaj moze biti ako si navijac Dinama, a zivis u Splitu ili navijac Hajduka, a zivis u Zagrebu. Mnogi ljudi inzistiraju na podjelama, cak i u Dalmaciji, pa imamo Vlaji(oni koji zive na kopnu, ali su malo dalje od mora), Boduli (oni koji zive na otocima)...Te podjele su nekada vjerske, na primjer Vi ste pravoslavac, samim time ste i krscanin, a ja na primjer sam agnostik ili ateista i ako si u drustvu jednih ili drugih , ovi koji su u manjini mnogo puta se osjecaju da ne pripadaju... Postivam Vas i cijenim, ali to ne znaci da se slazem u potpunosti s onim sto ste iznijeli u vezi rata. Navesti cu nekoliko primjera. Primjer Vukovara, u Vukovaru i Opcini Vukovar po popisu stanovnistva 1991. zivio je veliki broj Srba, ali Hrvati su bili vecina i sto se dogodilo svi znamo... Primjer 2 : Juzna Hrvatska -Dubrovacko primorje od Prevlake( najjuzniji dio Hrvatske) do Slanog u obalnoj duzini oko 100 kilometar prema popisu 1991. godine zivjelo je skoro 95% Hrvata i usprkos tomu znamo sto se dogodilo cijeli taj prostor je bio osvojen od srpskih snaga, sve je bilo spaljeno i sve stanovnistvo protjerano, samo je Dubrovnik ostao kao enklava iako su i predgradja Dubrovnika bila osvojena.. Jos jedan primjer iz okolice Zadra i Benkovac.. 1991.godine u Benkovcu (Opcina Benkovac)su vecina bili Srbi, ali je bilo i 40 % Hrvata, svi su bili protjerani, a kuce im spaljene i ako se vozite prema Zadru u Murvici i Crnom su bili tenkovi koji su razarali Zadar, a sva hrvatska mjesta do Zadra su bila spaljena i stanovnistvo protjerano. 1/3 Hrvatske je bila pod srpskom okupacijom, a sa toga prostora je bilo protjerano oko 300 000 Hrvata. Ja razumijem da je tvoja obitelj u Oluji izbjegla i mogu razumjeti tu patnju i bol, jer sam kao dijete sa 11 godina bio izbjeglica. Vjerujte mi da nitko ne slavi (mozda mala manjina) odlazak Srba ili poraz Srba, ovih 300 000 tisuca su slavili da se mogu vratiti svojim kucama. Od 20 najvecih gradova u Hrvatskoj, 15 je bilo pod stalnim granatiranjem..., ti ljudi su u Oluji slavili, da ce napokon moci poceti normalno zivjeti, izaci iz sklonista. Hrvatska u ratu 1991.godine nije ispalila ni jednu granatu na teritorij Srbije. I sto je glavno Hrvatska je imala pravo na neovisnost (u slucaju referenduma) u Ustavu Jugoslavije iz 1974. godine, kao sto Skotska ima isto pravo u Ustavu UK... Ako vecina odluci i Skotska moze postati nezavisna. I jos jedan primjer iz Njemacke , gdje zivim... Nakon Drugog svjetskog rata oko 18 milijuna Nijemaca je izbjeglo ili protjerano iz raznih evropskih drzava u danasnje granice Njemacke, najvise sa prostora danasnje Poljske, 3 miliona Sudetskih Nijemaca iz Ceske...stotine tisuca iz bivse Jugoslavije... Kad se slavi Dan pobjede ne slavi Europa progon 18 milijuna Nijemaca, vec slavi oslobodjenje svojih zemalja i mir. Ratovi su okrutni i povijest nam to pokazuje. U ratu mnogi ljudi postaju zvijeri, na svim stranama. Neki ljudi nisu uspjeli zalijeciti ratne rane ni danas, ako je netko izgubio dijete, clana obitelji,... Taj prostor Zadra je u ratu jako stradao i tu su danas ljudi mozda najkonzervativniji u cijeloj Hrvatskoj. Dusane , ja Vam uistinu zelim svako dobro i nemojte puno razmisljati o proslosti... Hrvatska se razvija, Srbija se razvija, ljudi se sve vise druze i nadam se da ce mo biti dobri susjedi, posjecivati turisticki i Beograd i Zagreb i Nis i Split... Sljedece godine ce biti 30 godina od zavrsetka rata..., rane zarastaju , ljudi se ponovno otvaraju jedni drugima i ja se nadam i Srbe i Hrvate u Hrvatskoj ceka lijepa buducnost. Ovo je najduzi komentar koji sam ikada napisao...

You cannot change anyone, except our own attitude towards any situation. Croatian and Serbian identity is very deeply nationalistic. It's like this is only God they know and love. This will not change without increase of additional suffering they have chosen. We all have lessens to learn . Life is like that for all. Unfortunately, Croatian and Serbian people are stuck in the past and not open to any new lessons, except the very pure in heart... who choose love instead of hate, choose lite instead of darkness, choose knowledge instead of ignorance .. choose truth instead of lies and propaganda . Investigate reality thru own eyes and do not blindly follow in the footsteps of past generations. This type of change should make Croatia and Serbia better place for all of its citizens. Actually this type of change should make us citizens of the world and respect towards all nations and peoples... it's being ideal at the same time great benefit to all humanity..... let your identity be your humanity and the good that you do. Best wishes to you Dusan.

You should move to Istria. A much more civilized and less hostile environment ❤

Dušan, another very interesting and informative video. There are many that still have a long way to go. However, if us Slavs keep supporting each other we will slowly make things better. Keep up the good fight!!

Dear Dušan, excellent to see You here.

Dear Dušan,as Croatian and dalmatian actually from Split and Kastela wanted to give you welcoming in our country,it's yours as much is mine and please don't talk like foreigner because you are not.Only for notice,like young person I experienced "racism" in my region by my people only because I was not from Trogir and in same time I was Vlaj ,so you must know that you are living in area where people are making differences even if there is not.BTW I am about to return from Switzerland so it pass 8 y since I am left and already I see it will be difficulty to return in "cro mode".Chin up,if you need help don't hasitate to contact me

God can change everyone and everything. We should open our hearts for God’s word and be more open for positivity

Hi Dusan, unfortuanately you settled into an area that's 20 year behind and was an epicenter of the conflict in the 90s. If you like the sea, nature, and culture, I can guarantee that you will like "Istria" part of Croatia much better. Istria is only a couple hour drive from where you are and it offers a lot of culture and history in addition to sea and georgeous nature. Needless to say, you will not encounter any national tensions over there. Milan

Maybe you should explore Istra..beautiful and multicultural peninsula region.There is no probem if someone is from Serbian background actualy they love Serbian people ..maybe because there are no scars from the war in that region at least to a much smaler amount. Rijeka is.quite multicultural too.I know as I am from Rijeka. Zadar region is unfortunately one of the regions mostly suffered in the war. But in Istra totaly different atmosfere ..go and feel. I couldn cope with that nacionalizma and I am Croatian and born here..can imagine how it is for you

Dusan - i think if the Serb people in Croatia had your mentality in the 1990's there would never have been a problem. You have every right to live a peaceful life there. Religion is not the issue. How long have Croats and Serbs lived side by side without any conflict. We are talking about a millennia and then it starts after 1918. Its always about power influence and land. It is always the small person that pays the price. Croatia has a huge future, it just needs to get the remnants of the communists out of power. Have a look at those in power - they are the sons and daughters of those that held power in the time of Yugoslavia. They have feathered their nests on the backs of the ordinary citizen. Why do you think so little is done about corruption and selling off state assets after 1990. Keep your head up and work towards your goals.

Good video. My father in-law is an orthodox serbian who lives not far from benkovac. We were visiting him the other week and he took us to his church that had been vandalised. Hes always talking about these kind of issues as well.

Drag moj Dusane.. Razumijem te potpuno.. Helena ❤❤❤

Hey Im Croatian and even I can relate to some of the things you say. Especially the profiling. Thats why I prefer to hang out with expats and have not committed to buying property. I think this is a wonderful country. Not withstanding the politics of war & US involvement in war, the fact remains that Croatia was invaded by Serb forces. We are on the treshhold of another world war and its difficult. Believe me, I love Croatia but Diasporas remain on the outside. Perhaps thats why they like to hang out with other expats from the west. Life is difficult. All we need to do is find our tribe and be grateful for our blessings. Sometimes even these challenges we face as Diasporas are testing our character and spirituality. Remenber, the war was engineered. And so was the politics of division. Yes the profiling is wierd.