Zagreb to change street names honoring Ustasha NDH officials

(Patria) - The City of Zagreb has initiated the process of changing street names honoring officials or individuals close to the Ustasha NDH, Jutarnji list reports today.

A few days ago, a proposal was sent to the City Assembly to change the names of four streets in the wider city area that bear the names of Filip Lukas, Vladimir Arko, Antun Bonifacic, and Sarajevo Archbishop Ivan Šarić.

The renaming was requested by the World Jewish Congress, the NGO Dokumenta, historians Ivo Goldstein and Hrvoje Klasić, as well as Erol Šehu, who stated that Lukas, Arko, Šarić, and Bonifacic were "prominent collaborators of the Nazi-fascist, puppet, and anti-civilizational regime of the NDH.".

The initiative received unanimous support from various political options represented in the Council of the Peščenica - Žitnjak city district, within which Ivanja Reka, where the streets are located, is situated, the newspaper states.

One of the initiators of the change, Ivo Goldstein, said he was pleasantly surprised by the turn of events, as he thought everything would proceed more slowly.

- Arko, Šarić, Lukas, and Bonifacic held important roles in the NDH and supported the Ustasha regime with their actions. Such individuals should not have streets named after them, and I sincerely hope this is the beginning of de-Ustashization of public spaces in Zagreb and Croatia - Goldstein told the Zagreb daily.

Jutarnji list reports that the city's Committee for Naming Settlements, Streets, and Squares is now to act, followed by the City Assembly councilors.