***** Agence France Presse July 10, 2002 Wednesday SECTION: International News LENGTH: 625 words HEADLINE: Calls for communist-era unity revive at WWII battle anniversary in Bosnia BYLINE: TANJA SUBOTIC DATELINE: MRAKOVICA, Bosnia-Hercegovina, July 10
BODY: A ceremony marking the 60th anniversary of a World War II battle in which partisans broke the Nazi stranglehold here turned into the biggest multi-ethnic gathering in the Serb-run entity after Bosnia's 1992-95 war with nostalgic invoking of the old communist slogan of brotherhood and unity.
Several thousand people, among them hundreds of Bosnian Muslims and Croats from the Muslim-Croat Federation that together with Republika Srpska makes up post-war Bosnia, attended the ceremony held at Mrakovica memorial center on the northwestern Kozara mountain, symbol of anti-fascist resistance.
"This is the first time in ten years that I have come here to pay tribute. Me and my partisan comrades and supporters arrived from Sarajevo," Salko Rizvic, a 73-year-old Bosnian Muslim, told AFP while holding a large photo of former Yugoslav communist leader Josip Broz Tito.
Salko, who was only 14 when he joined the communist-led partisan forces, said he was disappointed that young generations in Bosnia today have no regard for communist-era widely proclaimed brotherhood and unity among peoples of the former Yugoslavia, living instead divided along ethnic lines.
"For 48 years we were living and building together side by side without asking who is Serb, who is Muslim and who is Croat. It is sad that today youngsters, when they complete school, celebrate their diploma in separated ethnic groups, although they have been in the same class together," he said.
As people standing around Salko started to applaud him, a woman approached and through tears said: "I heard your words. May I shake your hand?"
60-year-old Slobodanka Grubalj, who came from the western town of Drvar in the Muslim-Croat Federation, is a sister of the first partisan hero-woman Marija Bursac killed during World War II.
"We used to live so nicely together, communities not mattering. But unfortunately we have witnessed what we thought was impossible, that our children fight each other on community basis," Slobodanka said.
"I hope that brotherhood and unity will be revived one day, because if it does that will mean that the blood of my sister and other partisans was not shed in vain," she added.
On July 10, 1942 some 40,000 German and Croatian Nazi-allied Ustasha forces launched an offensive on the partisan-held region around the Kozara mountain massif encircling some 3,500 partisans and 80,000 civilians.
In the battle that lasted 50 days partisans managed to break through the enemy circle evacuating 20,000 civilians while others were captured.
Ever since the former Yugoslavia broke-up in 1990s wars, as republics were declaring independence, symbols of the communist era here started to disappear from public places.
For 67-year-old Ilija Radeljic, bringing the former Yugoslav communist flag with the red star to Mrakovica was a risk, as many people still find it repulsive to see communists' insignia.
"I brought this flag, for it is a symbol of peace and freedom. I took the risk to show up with it," Ilija said.
The anniversary at the Kozara mountain did not pass without what was Tito's and communists' biggest pride -- pioneers -- children who had to give an oath at the age of seven that they would follow up communist principles.
This year's pioneer at the Kozara event, wearing a red shirt and blue partisan hat with the red star, was once again favourite of aging partisans who were kissing him, despite the fact that their "pioneer" is 35 years old now.
"I kept this hat from my childhood, and I will keep it for ever," Vitomir Milakovic, Tito's pioneer from Banja Luka, said.
"I'm a communist ... I shall never give away the five-pointed red star. I wear it on my hat, and have it in my heart," Vitomir said. ***** -- Yoshie
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