XVII

Walk of Shame XVII ended at Paolo’s, like the Walk Peace before…

I would also like to refer to:

• WoSI: PAR Framework (WoS evaluation)
• Walk of Serbia: Actor-Mapping;
• Trilogie Meet&Walk Trento: what’s in a name, Dynamics of the Balkan Route, SOP.

Programme:

Fri, 18.	Zagreb – Sarajevo	just the 8 of us: fate brought us together on the way to Sarajevo. Oh no, Hermann & Shouke came directly to Sarajevo. Here we eat together with… downtown…
Sat, 19.	Tunnel of Hope
	Sanella
Sun, 20.	Hamza et al.
Mon, 21.	CWS
	Lipa	Symbolbild: Because we followed the no-pictures-taking rule at Lipa Camp, I use instead a picture from the visit to the tunnel of hope. Lipa Camp has a Capacity of 1500. With the children and family wings externalised into town, the occupancy is at around 200. Transition from IOM oversight to national ownership shows.
Tue, 22.	Ipsia	BRAT is a programme by the Italian Development Association supporting minors and vulnerable populations in mending social cohesion after the migrant crisis in Bosnia. CWS is part of it while JRS have come on board later instead of EMMAUS. SDGs are mainstreamed and monitored according to the indicator 10.7.2…
	Rahma	Having wondered for some time how well assistance was delivered to migrants in the difficult political environment of Velika Kladusa, where two Muslim fractions had fought each other during the war, some understanding has been gained today: Alma whose father had been an Imam and Jasmin whose two brothers had fought on opposite sides of the war, set up formally the organisation Rahma, collecting international donations and distributing locally. Help for refugees seems to have been a natural platform for redemption. Peace schooling a la Franjo Starcevic may be another way for reconciliation and active peace maintenance.
Wed, 23.	JRC
Thu, 24.	Cemetery	memorial interreligious dialogue
		Fragen und Antworten… … wie ich mir den Prozess vorstelle: …contributing your feelings and opinion with regard to the memory to the unknown victims of the Balkan route. Should they even be buried at the place of their violent deaths? Or better in their place of origin according to their own customs and culture, which has forced them into these predidaments in the first place? Or even in the countries of their destination, in order to remind the people of Western Europe of the violence they are spreading with their exclusive, restrictive and imperialist policies? How is the process of such decision-making to be led, to maximise reflexivity, participation, dignity and effect? I still believe that upgrading (activating and instrumentalising for these purposes) the adjacent monument of inter-religious dialogue would be the best use of the money. And I’m slightly disappointed that not even the grief experts among us come up with such understanding of what is and what should be, but that this community of practice (of ours) far more tends towards negating anything that doesn’t lie on the path of how things go. Ich erinnere außerdem an die (Kunst-) Aktion des Institut für politische Schönheit, der 2016? Kreuze an die Türkische Grenze gefahren hat Meine Überlegungen dürfen gerne nachvollziehbar sein, in erster Linie geht es mir aber um eine Kriteriensammlung und Prozesssteuerung. (Und in zweiter Linie tatsächlich um dieses unsägliche Monument der Kriegsverherrlichung, von dem ich mich garnicht traue zu spreche wegen relativierender Gegenstimmen). Dieses Rondell, zentral und prominent auf dem Friedhof, den Gefallenen der letzten Balkan Kriege gedenkend, beeindruckt jeden naiven oder Trauer-geschwächten Besucher des Friedhofs. Es konkurriert mit und überragt und verdrängt das Gedenken an die unbekannten Toten der Balkan-Route. Das Monument des interkulturellen Dialogs könnte einen Ausgleich schaffen. Ja, dieser Friedhof und seine Denkmäler mögen verwirren!  Verstand es (bzw. sie, die Hintergundgeschichte) immer als flexibel, dynamisch und reflexiv aktivier- und instrumentalisierbar. In diesem (symbolischen) Sinn hab auch die Nutzung als Notunterkunkt von PoMs begrüßt und verteidigt. Also, wie geht’s weiter / vorwärts? Was hältst Du von meiner Prozessskizze? Würde noch n bisschen Wellen schlagen müssen, um Partizipation einzufordern und Transparenz zu schaffen. Hab aber auch nur begrenzt Kapazitäten (und Nerven). Wo siehst Du die Chancen, den existierenden Fond (für die Gräber) als Anschubfinanzierung für die Aktivierung und Instrumentalisierung des Monuments zu nutzen..? Du meinst, ich sei zu verbissen? Ich liebe den (anarchistischen) Provisisorismus in Bosnien, sehe darin einerseits große kreative Potentiale andererseits ebenso die Möglichkeiten der kontraproduktiven Instrumentalisierung… Naivität, Ignoranz und Verblendung… sind die Türöffner und Steigbügel für die ganze internationale Miserie, in der wir uns befinden… Ich mein (und komm vom Häpfchen zum Zäpfchen), die Geflüchtetenwelle von 2015 ist 1:1 mit der Finanzlage (Insolvenz) von UNHCR im Mittleren Osten zu erklären. Wenn jetzt UNRWA kollabiert, machen sich weitere 6mio Menschen auf den Weg. Wo ist der Plan? Du möchtest die Kritik, die man natürlich ein bisschen geschickt formulieren und ausarbeiten müsste, an SOS-Balkanroute rückmelden und vorschlagen, das Monument mitzudenken?! Könntest ja mal bei ihnen nachfragen, was die Idee war… team@sos-balkanroute.at. verstehe den Unmut, aber das ist mir ein bisschen zu unterkomplex als Erklärung für die Welt. Aber ja, es wird nicht einfacher und in Anbetracht dessen mag man nur den Kopf schütteln in Reaktion auf diese unnötigen Debatten und das populistische Geschwafel. Habe eben erst “aus Versehen” ne schlimme Doku in der ARD-Mediathek gesehen….Grenzen der Zuwanderung heißt die. Eine Katastrophe. Hab mich direkt mal bei ARD und dem Autor beschwert und der taz gesagt, die soll das mal anschauen. 😀

Team-Building

In the darkness
You light a candle
that never dies
that never dies

Just the 8 of us…

You see, my grandfather, after his 6-months nighty flight from Sibiria, heeded Titos call and participated in building the Autoput…That’s how I came to Bosnia to implement the Dayton peace agreement…

…Having written his PhD thesis at the Nazi Race Institute (with an avantgardistic methodology concluding that the Suabian (“Šwabo”) people actually decent from a “Gypsy” tribe, he was a Nazi, no question… He escaped from Russian captivity and walked for 6 month night after night. But every day he found some friendly locals who would hide him. He felt the uttermost gratitude and respect for the Russian people all his life.
He arrived back home on my mothers 2nd birthday, onn13.08.1946, the first born complaining, who is this man? While switching between Pevertin (“Panzerschokolade” = Crystal Meth) and Morphium addiction, his university career picked up, only because of my grandmother doing all the (mediocre) work…
In 1956? he left for Yugoslavia, not being able to bear the bigotry and hypocrisy of post-war Germany. My mother would never be able to forgive him for leaving her, blaming the Communists for hijacking fathers, and denying me by the Foreign Office during my assignments in the Balkans
Maybe he met Giacomo Scotti who came to join Yugoslavia from Napoli, I think around that time
He had a stroke in 1978 while on the loo pressing too hard, so they say, when in fact everybody was happy that he couldn’t speak any more. A true activist

Back to the original claim: I concede to the official compromise, according to which Tito could keep the communal tensions under the carpet for a while… but even in this reading, that while was considerably longer than the functioning of the Dayton regime
I’m trying to build an argument against nation-building and a bridge to the Ukraine where offensive nation-building has led to a proxy war… but fail. Because every conflict and war is unique?

Franjo Starcevic

The significance of Franjo Starčević

(personal) Rekke-Report to Gorski Kotar, 23-27 April 2025

Michael Ickes

The significance of Franjo Starčević lies both in his actual endeavors during and after the war in Gorski Kotar, as well as in his symbolism and example for further peacebuilding in Croatia and beyond. His legacy is not only historical but also deeply inspiring for the present and future – a call to continue walking, literally and metaphorically, in his footsteps.

In this sense, I too became a walker in his tradition – not as a historian or tourist, but as a kind of pilgrim. Walking the paths he once chose was not only an act of remembrance, but also a personal confrontation with the question: How would I have acted in such times? The physical journey became a spiritual one, a reflection on courage, vulnerability, and what it means to embody peace.

The war in Gorski Kotar was, in a sense, none. Unlike other regions of Croatia that experienced heavy propaganda, armed conflict, and ethnic polarization, Gorski Kotar remained relatively calm. Places like Mrkopalj showed remarkable resilience – not in heroic resistance, but in quiet steadfastness and refusal to be pulled into provocation or fear.

This peacefulness was not simply the result of one man’s action – it likely stemmed from a blend of geography, community culture, and historical experience. Yet Franjo Starčević can be seen both as a product of these peace-promoting conditions and as a conscious expression of them. Through his symbolic marches, personal courage, and educational efforts, he externalised what made Gorski Kotar resilient and offered it to the world as a model for peacebuilding.

1. A. (Plan): REKKE CONCEPT PAPER (DRAFT FOR INTERNAL CIRCULATION)

*“In the Footsteps of Franjo Starčević” – A Fact-Finding and Reflective Walk in Gorski Kotar*

*1. Background* 

This *rekke*—a deliberate, multi-day walk from Delnice to Jasenak—draws inspiration from Franjo Starčević, a local teacher and peacebuilder who, during the early 1990s conflict in Croatia, walked between communities, encouraging peace and discouraging violence. His symbolic and actual steps served to open channels of communication and build trust. He was also engaged in post-war efforts to institutionalize peace through a short-lived “Peace School.” Today, these acts remain sparsely documented, but remembered by some. The *rekke* aims to retrace his steps to uncover this history and ask what it may offer for current peacebuilding efforts.

*2. Aims of the Rekke* 

– To *trace and document* known and possible additional routes and meetings initiated by Franjo Starčević during the war and post-war period.

– To engage local *residents, leaders, and institutions* in dialogue on the relevance of his actions for reconciliation and peaceful coexistence today.

– To *evaluate* whether and how a revival or adaptation of his “Peace School” approach could serve in both *local healing* and *broader peacebuilding curricula*.

– To begin work towards a *commemorative platform*, including a possible reenactment of the 1992 community gathering in Tuk on its 35th anniversary in 2027.

*3. Why Starčević?*

The symbolic power of Starčević lies in his *local credibility*, *non-partisan stance*, and *courageous persistence* in fostering peace during a time of fear and polarization. His actions point to a grounded, community-based peace ethic. In Gorski Kotar—where the Serb population declined considerably less than in other regions of Croatia—his legacy could be seen as emblematic of this region’s potential for coexistence.

*4. Actions and Engagements* 

– Walking the route Delnice → Mrkopalj → Tuk → Jasenak (c. 35–40 km over 2–3 days).

– Community conversations and informal interviews with residents and stakeholders.

– Gathering oral history accounts and locating individuals or families who were involved in or recall Starčević’s efforts.

– Building trust and confidence in the value of commemorating and learning from his legacy.

*5. Challenges and Open Questions* 

– How widely is Starčević’s work remembered or acknowledged across communities?

– Was his initiative explicitly aimed at enabling Serbs’ return—or more broadly peacebuilding?

– Are there political or social sensitivities that should be approached carefully?

– Can such a commemorative and dialogical process help to sustainably generate tourism, cultural initiatives, or employment in the region?

*6. Follow-Up and Broader Potential* 

The *rekke* is a beginning. It is hoped to:

– Trigger further conversations, educational activities, and local documentation projects.

– Encourage cross-border or trans-regional *memory walks* or exchange programs.

– Lay the groundwork for a *re-enactment* or commemorative gathering in 2027.

– Spark conversations on *resilient, locally rooted peace models* in global peacebuilding discourse.

– Curriculum Module (Sample Idea):  As part of the follow-up, a draft *“Peace Curriculum Module”* could be developed, inspired by the *rekke*, and offered to schools, youth groups, or peacebuilding institutions. Key elements could include:

– *Mapping personal and collective histories*

1. B. (Review): The transition of war;

Psychogramm of FS

This question arises from the context of assuming that the war has largely passed by Gorski Kotar – with the ethnic groups coexisting today as they have before the war. This is obviously an idealised, utopian assumption, yet it provides an analytical framework according to which the impact of Starčević can be evaluated and appraised. It is also a somewhat strange question, for one would expect from a peaceful transition a non-violent transformation of a conflict, rather than the by-passing of a raging war, as in the idealised case of Gorski Kotar.

Admittedly, when choosing this terminology I felt inspired by the transition of Jupiter and its esoteric alignment with Mars, which signifies the dawning of the Age of Aquarius – with love, peace, and happiness. The question thus implies that the particularity of the Gorski Kotar region is that it was largely unaffected by the war and that its social structure has remained relatively intact.

The truth may lie somewhere in-between. Yes, the region was relatively unaffected by the war – but mainly due to its low strategic importance and its remote geographic location. Its isolation from larger Serb settlements and the comparatively well-established, locally integrated population may have contributed to its resilience against ethnic strife and warmongering. Demographics may also have played a role: Gorski Kotar was indeed a rural, structurally peripheral area.

Starčević’s personality was deeply marked by both political resistance and personal tragedy. In the 1970s, his critical stance against Titoist dogma had cost him his academic position – a significant rupture in his intellectual life. Just before the outbreak of the war in the early 1990s, his wife Kladmila passed away – a blow that must have shaped his emotional landscape during that time. This combination of political exclusion and personal loss shaped a man who had already known rupture – and yet chose the path of peace.

What emerges is a kind of psychological profile: reflective, uncompromising, and socially courageous. Not bitter, but sharpened. His response to suffering was not retreat, but advance – toward the other, across divides. This made him both a witness and an instigator of reconciliation.

His concrete peace actions began at the very outset of the Yugoslav wars. As ethnic tensions grew and armed conflicts erupted in other parts of the country, Starčević chose to walk – literally – into villages that were growing suspicious of one another. With a white flag and open hands, he entered spaces where others saw only danger. His intention was not to mediate in a formal sense, but to be present, to listen, to rehumanize the ‘other’ in the eyes of fearful communities.

One of his most powerful gestures was to walk between Serb and Croat villages in Gorski Kotar and Lika, alone or accompanied by a few others, often unannounced. These marches carried no banners and issued no manifestos – their strength lay in vulnerability and visibility. At a time when many sought safety in separation, he moved toward the frontlines of mistrust, insisting on presence as a form of resistance.

This evokes the image of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, who in a different context – Nazi Germany – chose a deeply risky position of theological resistance. While Bonhoeffer’s path ultimately led him to active resistance and even involvement in a conspiracy against Hitler, both men shared a radical commitment to faith-based responsibility. For Starčević, too, the question was not whether one wins or survives, but whether one remains true to the values of peace and human dignity.

Later, with Josip Butković, he helped found a peace education initiative – a kind of informal ‘peace school’ – that aimed to engage young people in understanding conflict, memory, and reconciliation. His belief in dialogue as a lifelong practice was not just rhetoric: it shaped the rhythm of his days.

Ultimately, his actions were grounded in what I perceive as a lived theology of the Sermon on the Mount. His vulnerability, his refusal to retaliate, and his insistence on reconciliation echo Jesus’ teachings in Matthew 5–7: “Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called children of God.” In a world driven by ethnic fear and political calculus, his decision to walk between enemies was an embodiment of these words – not as abstraction, but as path.

1. (Action) Rekke Activities

1. D. (Resultat): Curriculum Development

The Rekke is part of an ongoing exercise in curriculum development in conflict transformation. Conflict transformation is thus understood as a cycle of sensitisation / mobilisation, escalation, negotiation, settlement and peace maintenance (similar to the Cycle of Grief or the didactic Model of Complete Action)

Whilst FS has actively affected all those five stages of conflict transformation and can thus be appraised as a practitioner of conflict transformation on his own, the circle of conflict transformation in Croatia and beyond is still ongoing, which is why FS actions shall be continued, replicated and extended.

By proposing a (module in a) curriculum of conflict transformation on FS, I consider this to be both, a tool for peace education as well as part of the (fractal, circular) path of actual conflict transformation. That’s why I call this methodology P.A.R.ts-pro-toto, like in

• Project, Action, Results
• Participatory Action Research
• Tempelhof-Schöneberg for the whole world (local-global-glocal).

The reflexivity of this methodology is given by the related cycle of

Lebens-

werte

entwürfe & wege

Whereas the path of peace was only vaguely projected ahead of the Rekke by engaging with the local population, tourism development and talking the walk, some concrete aims can now be dissected, which serve as windows of opportunity to mainstream a conflict transformation agenda into a (national) curriculum or promote Franjo Starčević among conflict transformation practitioners.

1. Putting FS on the tourist map of GK:

Goal: To establish Franjo Starčević as a peace figure on Gorski Kotar’s tourist map.

Learning opportunity: FS sites (cemetery, pub, School of Peace, etc.) offer concrete starting points for learning about memory culture in public spaces.

Steps:

1. Mapping: Digitally and analogically map Franjo-Starčević-relevant sites (using GPS, photos, short texts).
2. Collaboration: Discussions with tourist offices and civil society actors for joint implementation. Please note, that the ethnographical collection of Mrkopalj is supposed to be moved and may be merged with the collection on Franjo Starčević of Nada Glad. The move may coincide with the 35th anniversary of the decisive meeting of community leaders on 21st September 2027.
3. Storyline: Development of short, accessible narrative texts for on-site use (e.g., QR codes) – focusing on Franjo Starčević as a mediator, not a saint.
4. Pilot route: Creation of a prototype (e.g., flyer or app test version) with students or local groups.
5. Evaluation: Collect visitor feedback – possible integration into larger peace or cultural routes.

Didactic potential: Learning through spatial experience, biographical storytelling, interactive media use, civil society project work.

1. Reopening the school of peace

1. Providing for a curriculum in conflict transformation

The Rekke Team is in a good position to advance the memory of Franjo Starčević in this way because it brings together a great variety of people, initiatives and networks, namely:

• Walk of Shame, a spin-off of the Civil March for Aleppo and the Dutch initiative “let’s bring them over” as well as yet another spin-off from the latter, the World of Neighbours;
• The Walk Peace
• Per un mondo…: Hosting summer camps for disadvantaged children…

Bibliography

1. Otmačić, Valentina. Resisting Inter-Ethnic Violence: Community Approaches to Conflict Transformation in Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina. Abingdon: Routledge, 2025.
   Discusses grassroots approaches to post-war reconciliation and peacebuilding. Central reference for understanding the framework of the Rekke.
   
2. Otmačić, Valentina. Škola mira: 30 godina mirovnog obrazovanja u Mrkoplju. [School of Peace: 30 Years of Peace Education in Mrkopalj]. (Publisher TBD).
   Commemorative volume on the legacy of peace education in Mrkopalj.
   
3. Glad, Nada. Goranski mir-ovi. Delnice: Matica hrvatska / Tiskara Marcu, 2017.
   Ethnographic and historical insight into peace-related narratives and practices in Gorski Kotar, paying homage to Franjo Starčević as a regional figure.
   
4. Tourist Office Mrkopalj (Goranka Tuhran). Promotional Video: Hymn for Mrkopalj. YouTube, accessed April 2025.
   https://youtu.be/ndsuld8v5vQ
   Cultural framing of the region supported by the European Commission.
   
5. Field Notes and Informal Interviews.
   Conducted April 23–27, 2025, including exchanges with Ljelko (Orthodox Church keykeeper), Andrea (peace educator), local bar owner (Franjo Starčević’s nephew), and Goranka Tuhran.
   
6. Regional Memorial Site (Partisan Freeze Site, 1944).
   Historical location visited on April 27; site of tensioned memory politics between heroism and victimhood.
   
7. Personal Communication.

• • Goranka Tuhran, Mrkopalj Tourism Office
  • Andrea [Last name TBD], initiator of the Mrkopalj Rekke station
  • Ljelko [Last name TBD], Orthodox Church keyholder
  • Nada Glad, local author and ethnographer

SOP

standart operational procedures

P….rogramme

… A …ction: … methodology (toolbox, techniques, tool), organisation, …

… … R.ts-pro-toto.de

Die Sozialpädagogik untersucht die Lehre gesellschaftlicher Gruppen. Die Lehre ist die perpetuierte Darstellung eines dynamischen Systems, heuristically vorgestellt als ein Ei oder auch eine Eizelle, aufgespult bzw. wirksam auf Basis einer 3D-Eulerschen Spirale nach den Gesetzen von Navier-Strokes.

organisation

hobos glocales (edgeryder, unmonestary, telecomix, church…)

teambuilding, community-building of practice / action,

communications

reporting (who at who/m, optional), internal/external)

protocol, supervision

finances

After discussing with Anna, I would like to propose for the next Walk to create a fund / pool the (minimum) expected expenses beforehand and have one “finance officer” to pay the bills. It should provide for some more planning security to attract new Walkers, greater reliability and transparency and maybe even attract small scale donation / sponsorship. To be expected left-overs can be used to help out friends on the ground in a low-key but united manner. I also think, the Sunday Zoom meeting and it’s facebook messenger group (reactivating / filling with meaning existing structures instead of fragmenting discussions) should be used to discuss and announce respectively this and those issues.

Issues:
* (dynamic) Map of Engagement (from WoS Serbia)
* changing requirements and responses of the Balkanroute