The Communist Oppression

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For my fellow economic fans out there: tough luck today. Nothing about economics at all. Side, but related, note: if you have a queasy stomach, you may want to skip the paragraph starting with "TORTURE."



We visited an exhibit today that centered on Communist Oppression in the early Yugoslav era (1940s). This was around the time that the Soviet Bloc was dominating much of eastern Europe, and the communist regimes ruled with minimal opposition. The point of this exhibit was to show that what little opposition existed was brutally shut down.



While Stalinism was taking over Poland, Hungary, Romania, and other countries in the area, Yugoslavia was all about its leader, Josip Broz Tito. You'll notice in one photo - a map of eastern Europe - that most black marks incorporate Stalinism, or more blatantly, the name Stalin, while the same is true of the red marks and Tito. For the most part, Tito was a leader that brought peace, stability, and prosperity to the country...at least at face value. Looking deeper, you find some of the most brutal oppression Europe has seen, which ranged from torture to killing.



Oppostion was strongly discouraged, so one way they tried to discover who was in the opposition was modifying the ballot boxes. The way voting was done was using the little balls you can see in between the ballot boxes. You picked one up and closed your fist around it, then put that arm into the opening in each box, consecutively. You opened your fist and dropped the ball in one of the boxes to vote, but put your arm in both so the the vote moderator (theoretically) didn't know who you voted for. However, the communist party's box had a nice, silent foam padding on the bottom, while the opposition's box had a metal lining. As such, it was simple to hear who voted opposition and who didn't, and act accordingly.



During the three years from 1944-46 alone, the Secret Police committed approximately 56,000 executions. The bodies are spread over 211 mass graves, most of the locations of which are unknown, and likely are currently covered by parking lots, farms, or buildings. For those in the opposition "lucky" enough to not be summarily executed, there were some of the worst labor camps in the world to look forward to. The point of the labor camps was not to have labor done, nor to kill the people, but to kill the human side of the prisoners. For example, prisoners who were sent to one area to labor didn't always have work to do. What they were forced to do then was run a distance with a heavy rock, then throw it as far as possible. Another prisoner did the same in the opposite direction: essentially a hideous game of catch. Prisoners were subjected to torture, ridicule, impossible conditions, and set against each other.



TORTURE: Upon arrival at the camps, new prisoners were forced to pass between lines of current prisoners, who attacked them with words, fists, feet, mouths, stones, sticks, and other available implements. The current prisoners who didn't partake were tortured themselves. Upon arrival at the camp, there were various torture methods used for punishment. One involved making the prisoner stand over the latrine, able to breath only the fumes for hours. One was called "Spanish Swimming," and is today known more commonly as "waterboarding." Perhaps the worst I saw was this: a wet, knotted rope attached to a stick was tied around the prisoner's head, as one would tie a blindfold. The torturer would then twist the stick, tightening the rope. If you didn't admit to your crime immediately, you had burst eyeballs to look forward to. If that wasn't enough pressure, you had squeezed temples, and, shortly thereafter, a crushed skull. Needless to say, a quite painful death followed quickly thereafter. A lovely image, I know. I apologize to those of you who read this paragraph; I also was decidedly uncomfortable, but understanding the horrific conditions (sometimes considered worse than those of the concentration camps in WWII) is important.



After that unsettling, but certainly educational exhibit, I went out to lunch with Dave, Evan, and our professor, who had some fantastic stories about his times both in Boston and Morocco. Upon getting back from lunch, I spent some time with a few friends, then went for a run...still a mistake; still hot as an oven. I did, however, get to reward myself with some delicious falafel and lemonade afterwards, which I will never complain about.



Tomorrow we have the day off to work in preparation for our disputations (read: debates) in a little less than a week. Lots of research and preparation to do, but working in teams will definitely help with that. It's strange to realize how quickly the time is going here, but at the same time, I suppose it's a good thing...it means I'm enjoying myself!



On an unrelated note, it was brought to my attention that I may not have fully explained the barges: they are the trademark nightlife of Belgrade. Originally, for tax reasons, it was cheaper to put a restaurant or club on a barge. Although that may no longer be the case, the barges stuck around for the novelty. Today, they exist as bars, nightclubs, restaurants, and lounges, and most of them look quite classy.

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