To: Editors@newsweek.com
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2006
Subject: Death of a Monster
Dear Editor:
In your otherwise excellent article “Death of a Monster”, March 20 issue,
the very first sentence needs correction. It was only in the eyes of the
West that Yugoslavia was viewed, as the journalist states “Yugoslavia
was the freest, most prosperous country in Eastern Europe.” No, it was
not free. People who did not agree with communism were imprisoned, many
sent to the “Goli Otok” (“Bare Island”) a harsh gulag on an bare island
on the Adriatic, and many were executed. People learned to keep their
opinions to themselves. The West closed its eyes to it all for cold
political reasons of their own, namely to keep Yugoslavia out of the
Soviet sphere. Yet Tito’s Yugoslavia vote at the UN nevertheless always
supported Russia and the rest of the Soviet communist Block countries.
And no, Yugoslavia was not “prosperous” because of Tito’s “type” of
communism, but because Tito, for the above mentioned reason, received a
great amount of monetary support from the West, enabling him to “employ”
100 workers where 10 could have done the job. Also, much of the
“prosperity” that was seen came from the money sent home to the families
of the Yugoslav “Gastarbeiters” – “guest workers”, mostly from Germany.
In that regard Tito was smart, he let people go to work out of the
country, bringing in foreign money and at the same time avoiding mass
unemployment!
Sincerely,
Hilda M. Foley
13272 Orange Knoll
North Tustin, CA 92705, USA
714 832-0289
