Croatian fans do the Nazi Salute
I have been in the Croatian capital of Zagreb over the weekend looking at the Nazi behaviour of the Croatian football fans ahead of their match against England on Wednesday. A reporter and I attended Saturday’s home match against Belarus at the Maksimir Stadium . We were informed that every time the stadium played the music of fascist rocker Marko Perkovic the fans did the Nazi salute. Sure enough as the players ran on to the pitch a large majority of the fans did exactly this. I could only get a compact camera into the stands so I spent the next 90 minutes nervously trying to photograph a group of hard looking lads behind me whenever they sang the chant. It was really tough but I finally managed to get a few frames without them noticing. It was one of those really frustrating jobs as I could see people all around me doing these salutes but I was too far away to get a decent shot. I’m sure that they will do it at Wembley on Wednesday night.
A large majority of the crowd doing the Nazi Salute
I took this shot on my Canon G10 but it was far too dark and I was too far away. The G10 is a great compact camera but I was in desperate need of my 5D and some decent lenses.
The raised right arm and the chant Za Dom spremni (for Homeland ready) has nothing to do with nazism. These date back to at least the 1800’s. Instead of jumping on the propaganda bandwagon, maybe a bit of research wouldn’t go astray, hey?
My Croatian friend says:
1) Those who genuinely make right arm salutes ARE Nazi sympathisers, but 50 out of 40,000 people at a match will do it.
2) In the second picture, a different kind of chant is happening. One stand shouts a chant, and the other replies: they raise their arms in turn, just as English football fans do (i.e. during “You’re not singing anymore”, the dominant arm, usually right, points at the away fans). I can see how you might think this was Nazi behaviour if you were looking for it, which is why I went to my friend to ask what was happening. I knew he would be objective as he is a Croatian football fan, but is against the right wing.