Krunoslav Sukić

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Krunoslav Sukić

About Krunoslav Sukić

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About Krunoslav Sukić

In 1991, Krunoslav Sukić, together with several intellectuals gathered around the question of whether they could in any way contribute to the cessation of war, the establishment of a peaceful (political) solution to the conflict and the building of lasting peace and democracy, participated in the creation of the idea and the establishment of the Centre for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights, Osijek. Sukić's theoretical insights, his life path of searching for political alternatives to the one he was not satisfied with and, above all, his inclination towards understanding, cognition, clarity and truth were the guiding principles in thinking about how to respond to violence and how to build an alternative community.

Krunoslav Sukić was born in Osijek, on June 15, 1952. There, he finished elementary school and high school. In 1976 he completed his studies in comparative philosophy in Zagreb. He was a person of broad, encyclopedic knowledge.

He worked as a professor in Osijek, Beli Manastir, Valpovo, and as a journalist in the "Glas Slavonije" and radio in Osijek.

In 1973, he joined the League of Communists of Croatia/Yugoslavia. During 1979, he worked in the Osijek Alliance of Socialist Youth on the management of the Marxist Youth Forum. He left the League of Communists in 1980 - as he himself said "after convincing that there is no alternative community to the alienation present all around, but this alienation itself."

From 1980 to 1986 he worked as a professor in Beli Manastir. The attempt to explicitly politicize his teaching work resulted in a disciplinary and judicial process, losing his job and, despite being important to him, becoming aware of some aspects of the totalizing ideological, political and social process.

Since then, he has intensified his studies of philosophical-political literature and it has occupied him until his tragic death at the age of 56.

Krunoslav Sukić on dealing with the past

The interview was conducted for the purposes of the Quaker Peace & Social Witness research as a basis for a program to support work on dealing with the past in post-Yugoslav countries. The talks were led by Goran Božičević.

Osijek, February 2003

Download the full interview here (.doc)

Fund Krunoslav Sukić

The "Krunoslav Sukić" Fund was established to support the survival and development of the "Krunoslav Sukić" Award. The Fund finances the awarding of an annual award for a special contribution to the protection and promotion of human rights and freedoms and the excellent and consistent promotion of a culture of peace and non-violence. Also, the Fund will support publications in the field of peacemaking, human rights, nonviolent action and civil society development, as well as scholarships for non-formal education in these areas.

The award is annual and is awarded for a special contribution to the protection and promotion of human rights and freedoms and excellent and consistent promotion of the culture of peace and non-violence. Nominations for the award are collected after the public call is published. The award consists of a plaque-thank you note and a cash amount of 700 EUR. The announcement of the award and the award ceremony is in Osijek, on the occasion of marking the International Human Rights Day, in December of the current year.

We invite you to contribute to the Award Fund by making a donation to the bank account:

Fund "Krunoslav Sukić" Zaklada Slagalica
IBAN: HR7824020061500035045
Bank name: Erste & Steiermarkische Bank d.d.

Recipient: "Slagalica" zaklada lokalne zajednice
Recipient address: Trg A. Šenoe 1, 31 000 Osijek

Friends about Kruno

Goran Božičević, speech at the ceremony of the first Award ceremony, December 10, 2009

The question arises - WHO are these peacemakers?

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The question arises - WHO are these peacemakers? Peace activists. Which we celebrate today. Or maybe more precisely – we are starting to publicly recognize them in Croatia. Because so far we haven't. I need to say a few words about Kruno, the man whose name this award bears. How and what to say to some people who do not know, young people, those who come either from tomorrow or from some non-peaceful space.

What does it mean when we say that this award bears the name of Krunoslav Sukić? Founder of the Centre for Peace?

An activist who consistently advocated for the protection and promotion of human rights? A conscientious objector?

Philosopher?

Professor, activist, humanist?

Don't get me wrong when I comment on all this with: Irrelevant

Correction of the quote – understand me as you want and will.

Get angry. Let's be ourselves.

Because it brings us closer to the Crown. Do we mean to say that the recipe is this: Establish a peace organization that deals with human rights, and all that in a non-violent way. Let this organization grow into something really big and valuable. Let this growth be natural, but not easy. Work tirelessly and consistently, educate yourself and others, think.

And?

So what?

Then you become a great man whose name will be worshipped, at least among those who know how to worship true values?

You're not.

I owe you a round of applause and I give it to you. But something else is needed. Make no mistake – you are certainly great by living and working like that. In the world we live in today, this is more than an extraordinary achievement.

But for your name to give shine to the prize, extra shine to some other great people, I can't give you a recipe for it. All the recipes I can think of are banal. They sound meaningful, but they are devoid of being. They are no good.

I can tell you why I admired the Crown. Why this award is brighter than many of us see it. why I am inclined to believe that God took him from us because he needed Kruno for some higher meaning, which we may be just beginning to grasp today and here. Six years ago, I interviewed about thirty people on the topic of dealing with the past in Croatia. Exceptional people, leaders of the civic scene and beyond. Smart, brave, educated, eloquent.

Of all those interviews, I was most impressed by the interview with Kruno. Dear colleagues. Friend. I remember that I yawned like a little child listening to him. "So, it is undeniable that we have a need, many of us, including me personally, to face this past in a way that would be new or perhaps more than that confrontation with the past to make this confrontation public, because in a way that is my own, I can face myself every day. What I have a problem is that my way of dealing with the past is contrary to the one that is self-understood as unquestionable, as nationally correct, nationally affirmative. I have the feeling that the problem is with those whose story is peculiar, their own, and who then do not care much whether that story will fit into some given patterns of collective memories and collective confrontations. Enough of these things secured by ideology and the ruling political conjunctures, imposed patterns of dealing with the past. I would say that this need is much more present at what we call the levels of sociality, as opposed to the level that we can call the political levels or the levels of the state. I think that's where the biggest problem lies. We are a nation in understanding, and in contrast to extended self-understanding, we are actually a very young nation or, in a variant that sounds more painful for national pride, we are a belated nation. So I'm afraid that facing the past, which should be realistic in terms of content, that is, seeing oneself as an individual, a group, a family, a family and oneself realistically. This is more problematic precisely because we are so untied by the dictates of national history." (according to the transcript of the Interview of February 17, 2003 made for QPSW)

We here today probably – after all, we have called it that, proclaimed it, made it known – celebrate activists, human rights, peacebuilding, peace education, trade union, student, non-violent actions, and all the names and labels we use. I will not contradict that. But I won't agree either.

For if this were the only thing that mattered, this reward would not have any special meaning, nor would all our work have it, nor would our face be clean before the Crown.

Because Kruno – although he was everything I have just listed – was something else. He was a Cleaner. A tireless cleaner. Smiling. Top. Unrecognized, of course, but that didn't bother him. A cleaner of those paths that connect us all with Meaning. Someone will say with God, someone will say with the Light, someone will say with the Transcendent. All I know is that these are paths that lead us to Where They Know Everything About Us, and we know nothing about them.

Kruno was a brilliant Cleaner. And these paths are not only hidden, but all of us are constantly covering them with piles of garbage, meaninglessness and nonsense and violence, empty words and meaninglessness, pretence, hypocrisy, arrogance, false idols, unnecessary everything.

Kruno was one of those who maintained our connection with the Meaning constantly, tirelessly, with joy.

As well as all the nominees for the award that bears his name. It's as if I see a huge invisible hand and index finger pointing at all the nominees this year. Invisible, of course, because it is not polite to point the finger at people.

And today, we are pointing the finger at Zdenka, Jaroslav, Ana and Otto, the Independent Student Initiative. We also point the finger at Ladislav, whom we have chosen this year as the first in a series of recognized Cleaners.

And I am happy today, very happy. Filled. Because I see my friend looking at us and smiling. It took us a long time, but we are starting.

I see a dance of colorful spotlights that playfully pass over all our celebrants today.

I recognize those spotlights because they are the work of Kruna's hands.

The first is resistance. This means that there is no one in the World of NGOs today who is not close to projects, project proposals, goals, plans, strategies, methodologies, beneficiaries, expected results and whatnot.

And Kruno was not close. He wasn't. He was bad in the world of projects, organizational development and whatnot. It was bad, yes. Just like the falcon is bad at running. So it doesn't occur to anyone to say that a falcon runs badly. And it runs badly. Kruno was one of the last hopes of our four generations – one of the few Cleaners or Peacemakers, if you will, who did not allow himself to be molded. Not. Can we finally recognize this as a strength today?

The second is Presence. It is the one that depicts the moment when Kruno is at the meeting. Many of his colleagues, activists, women are also at that meeting. And another man, let's say he's a politician, doesn't matter, for example. And at one point, Kruno said to that gentleman: "Please stop talking only to me. I have the impression that I am the only one for you besides you at this meeting. Please also address my colleagues."

The third is the Cleaner, under the guise of a Prankster who many see as a mask of the Provocateur. This is when Kruno starts speaking Serbian at a large meeting of peacekeepers from Croatia. Yes, Serbian. Out of the blue. There is also laughter, of course, discomfort and confusion. And Kruno speaks Serbian. And he stops soon because he realizes that we are all far behind him. Says. "I haven't spoken Serbian for so long." And he conveyed the message to us. We are not free. We are not, and we pretend to be freer than we are. We are closing ourselves. We don't need external coercion.

The fourth is the Solemn, just Kruno's and mine, when the two of us in pajamas until the wee hours of the morning, looking out the window of our friend Margareta's house at the snow-covered holiday Stockholm and rejoicing that our Katarina and Vesna are getting the same but slightly different grand prize, we talk about everything and everything. Or not. When I think about it, not exactly about everything and everything. Everything revolved around Meaning, Life, Peace and Restlessness. Um.

We ourselves throw a lot of things on the paths that lead us to Meaning.

That is why I am fulfilled today because I am with the Cleaners. Excellent.

Because Kruno brought me today to finally meet the great Jaroslav, to hug the tireless Zdenka, I proudly tell you that I am both a fan and a friend of Ana and Otto and that it is easier for me to live in a country where there is such an Independent Student Initiative.

And that I still remember my suffering, anguish and sweat when Ladislav in Pakrac in 1993 forced me to write down my good qualities.

And that's so hard for all of us, isn't it?

Admit that

Our greatest fear is not that we are immature.

Our greatest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.

Our Light, Not Our Darkness

Is what we fear the most.

Thank you all Cleaners, friends, not only of the very important Centre for Peace, to all of you here today in honor of those gathered. Today I see some trails. Much clearer. Because of you. And I need it these days, believe me. We all need it, that's why this award is very important to us.

Luka Matić, student of philosophy, speech at the Award ceremony, December 10, 2012

Kruno Sukić: Opportunities to deal with the past

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What can we say on the topic of "Kruno Sukić: Opportunities for Dealing with the Past" without making this statement authentic? Or, even more problematic, why should this statement be authentic? Does the source of this authenticity, but also the obligation to authenticity, when saying some words on this matter, lie in me, in some of us or in some Kruno Sukić?

What is authenticity anyway? And more importantly, because it is certainly closer to my/our/your everyday life, how to be in order to be authentic (as a being)? I began this short presentation with this difficult, but important, question about authenticity because it seems to me... truer, because I feel that the writing of Kruno Sukić radiates a special imperative of authenticity. It is possible that my reading of Kruno Sukić's words was influenced by the reading of Martin Heidegger and his reflection on authenticity, but that is what I feel at the moment. It is possible that I will feel and perceive the same thing differently for a while - but, right now, I cannot say otherwise than the imperative of authenticity.

And that word imperative, commanding and coercive of the expression itself - sounds and feels, I believe you will agree, very disturbing. It is as if the term imperative does not fit either with the Crown of Sukić, or with the ceremony of awarding this Award, the Peace Award.

How can this be at the same time: peace and imperative? I will try to outline how I see it at this moment (and in fact last night while I was writing this and in the past days and weeks while I was thinking about writing Krunoslav Sukić, and talking to Katarina). I do not see this imperative of authenticity as akin to the commanding mode in our language, much less related to the most famous of imperatives, that categorical imperative of Immanuel Kant who says: Act always so that the maxim of your will can become a universal law for all people. There is neither the imperative of linguistic expression in his writing, nor the categoricality of Kant's reductionist ethics - simply, there is neither moralizing nor any violence of any other kind. There is no opportunity for violence in this writing.

In preventing violence, I feel and see the imperative of Kruno Sukić's authenticity. Not like: DON'T ALLOW VIOLENCE! nor SUPPRESS VIOLENCE!, least of all ACT NONVIOLENTLY!

Not in that way...

In an interview available on the Award's website, Kruno Sukić says the following (and I must admit that it was difficult to choose a quote - because, every choice is a personal choice, one's own highlighting of someone else's, an opportunity to exploit, an opportunity to load): "Thus, facing the past should be realistic in terms of content, that is, to see oneself as an individual, a group, a family, a family and oneself realistically (...) That chance that I associate with the very need to face the past is that it is an emancipatory or liberating potential of facing the past in the sense that this confrontation expands, in my opinion, too reduced space of vision, of the vision of what happened to us in the past." Now, how do we find the imperative here? I think that in his we can see ourselves, in that we can expand the reduced space of seeing what happened to us in the past. This imperative, as I see it, is not an imperative that lives in words, in statements, in discourse - even if it necessarily reflects on them - it is such that it lives in action, lives in practice that is not mere behavior because it is not automated. It (action) can never be automated because the consciousness with which it is is not subject to automation.

I think/see/feel - whichever of the three, and the happiest of all three at the same time - that the imperative of authenticity is actually the imperative of fighting for authenticity. I should slowly finish, and even conclude: According to the way I see it at this moment, confrontation cannot be, at least not so expressed, it always wants to be confrontation. Nor can the past be finished - because it is not finished - with it as history and with its, as historical, reflections on the reality around us, on ourselves. There, in constant confrontation, I see an opportunity to be authentic.

Jaroslav Pecnik, text published in Glas Slavonije newspapers on October 6, 2008, in memoriam

A gem discarded with unbearable ease

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For over twenty years, Krunoslav Sukić has been one of the unavoidable, leading personalities of the civil scene in our society. A professor of philosophy and literature by profession, after completing his studies, he first worked as a journalist and wrote great film reviews in the Voice of Slavonia, and then as a high school teacher in Beli Manastir. What we will remember him for a long time, however, is his contribution to peacemaking, the anti-war campaign and his commitment to advocating for the protection and promotion of human rights.

In the midst of the fiercest aggression against Osijek and Eastern Slavonia, i.e. at the time of our greatest national, political and social frustrations, Kruno Sukić remained calm and went against the current, heightened passions and hasty reactions, aware of their far-reaching consequences. With a small group of like-minded people, he designed and founded the Centre for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights at the end of 1991, showing the entire civilized world that even in the circumstances of the most serious national threat, we are able to act reasonably, non-violently and honorably. If he had not done anything more – and he did – it would have been enough to rank him among our most important fellow citizens.

Because, when many newly composed patriots profited materially and politically from the suddenly awakened national consciousness, Kruno Sukić – who was declared a nationalist in a staged political process in the former socialist regime and expelled from his job and placed under the supervision of the then State Security Service – considered it dishonorable to refer to his personal life calvary and charge for his own sacrifice. Instead, in those tragic (post)war years, he selflessly and sincerely helped all those who needed help.

Unlike many notorious politicians who only manifested it verbally, he truly cared about the public and common good. He critically warned of numerous social injustices, of which he himself was a victim, but gentlemanly in spirit and behavior, he never asked for anything for himself. He was a man of encyclopedic knowledge, inconceivably honest for our time. I guess it was precisely because he was like that that that he ended up being pushed to the margins of society. In fact, it is difficult to comprehend that our essentially small and poor community renounces the best among us with such unbearable ease.

Kruno did not agree to that margin; He resisted political violence and social injustice, but this intellectual rebellion was to his detriment. In the end, he paid for it with his life, in the peak of his intellectual strength at the age of 56, literally on the margins of the city to which he gave the best part of himself. And he did so in a fit of brute force that, metaphorically, he resisted for most of his short life.

Undoubtedly, he will be missed the most by his loved ones, wife Franka and daughter Tonka, and many are yet to realize what a privilege it was to know him and hang out with him.

Krunoslav Sukić (56) died on Friday evening, around 6:30 p.m., under the wheels of a freight train on the railway bridge in Osijek.

Snježana Kovačević, colleague from the Centre for Peace

Promotion cannot be more important to us than the protection of individuals and people

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I still clearly remember the autumn afternoon of '96 when I met you at 34 Gundulićeva Street. Your cordial approach, which included all of you to introduce yourself and the Center, and to get to know as much of me as possible, was crucial for me to gain trust in the Centre for Peace. I quit my job and started working at the Center in a few days.

Talking to you, in the days when we worked side by side, was never superficial. Even when we talked about how to prepare coffee or tea, we went through the world of different cultures, remembered different people, ways, customs... I would always just learn from your rich treasure trove of knowledge.

Today, when I see apples, I remember how you cut them and shared them with all of us. And the last apple was available to everyone.

I will remember your attitude towards the protection of man the most. You persistently and boldly advocated that it is important for us to call the program PROTECTION and promotion of human rights, and not Promotion and Protection as someone has already formally named. You used to say: "Promotion cannot be more important to us than the protection of individuals and people." You've put your attitude into practice. You always found time to listen to a person in need, but also look for ways to help, respond to a need...

Around you, I felt completely calm and safe wherever we were. Your very appearance brought peace.

At the eviction, which was painful and unpleasant, you knew how to say the right words. The family was relieved because they were met with compassion.

In the courtroom, you sat where no one dared, closer to the witness, taking out your notebook that was always at hand. You supported a witness without protection.

At street actions, you approached every person, a child and an old man alike, reminding the rest of us that every person is worthy of attention and respect.

You, a professor of philosophy and literature, one of the first and greatest human rights and peace activists in this region, have never been "beneath the honor" to stand in the cold and collect signatures, distribute peace messages, make handprints in protest against the armed conflicts in Iraq... When it comes to civic activism, nothing was difficult for you, and you did every job with dedication and dedication, better than all of us.You used to call yourself an atheist, then an agnostic. however, the conversation with you about God and belief has always been deep and thorough, full of questions and without prejudice or fear. We had the same favorite, the apostle Paul. You admired real, authentic believers and were always happy to listen to and read their messages and sermons. That's exactly what you told me when we parted ways on Friday. You were happy that your working day was coming to an end and you were looking forward to the weekend.

I am aware, my dear colleague, that you have been working on the texts for a long time, weighing every word, every order in the sentence, making sure that it gives a deep and clear message. I'm sure mine would do the right thing...

But I also know that you have accepted each of us without the ulterior intention of correcting us or making us think like you.

Thank you, dear Kruno, for being a part of my life! Thank you, dear God, for showing me a real peacemaker.

Tatjana Ivanović, article in the journal "Tolerance" (2009), Bačka Palanka

Good People - Remembering Krunoslav Sukić from Osijek

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Many shouted politicians and public figures have placed themselves very well in the newly-arrived times – changing their records as the wind blows; Our peoples would say: "people for all times". However, moral criteria, justice, humanity, honesty and civilization in many such "careers" were set aside, i.e. subjected to the "wind that blows". At that same time, there are many destinies of good people who were not recognized in time by justice and civilization - despite their morality, honesty, righteousness and public action.

Professor Krunoslav Sukić from Osijek has been one of the leading figures of the civic scene in the Slavonia-Baranja region and beyond for almost two decades. A professor of philosophy and literature by profession, after completing his studies he worked as a journalist in the "Voice of Slavonia", and then as a professor of philosophy in Beli Manastir.

In the midst of the fiercest war aggression against Osijek and Eastern Slavonia, at a time of severe social, political and national frustration, Kruno Sukić remained sober, acting contrary to his heightened passions; Aware of the far-reaching consequences of hatred - he founded the Center for Peace, Nonviolence and Human Rights at the end of 1991 with a small group of like-minded people - showing that even in the circumstances of the most severe national misfortune, we are able to act reasonably, non-violently and honorably. As the Osijek publicist and professor of philosophy Jaroslav Pecnik wrote: ".. if Kruno had done nothing more – and he did – it would have been enough to rank him among our most important fellow citizens."

What we will remember the Crown for a long time is his contribution to peacemaking, the anti-war campaign and his dedicated advocacy for human rights; when many newly composed patriots profited materially and politically from their suddenly awakened national consciousness, Kruno Sukić – who in the former socialist regime was staged proclaimed a Croatian nationalist and fired from his job and placed under the supervision of the then State Security Service – considered it dishonorable to refer to his life's calvary and charge for his own sacrifice. Instead, in those tragic (post)war years, he acted honestly in civil society; he critically warned publicly about numerous social injustices, of which he himself was a victim; Kruno was without a permanent job all those years.

He was a conscientious objector – advocating for civilian military service, he gave his civic contribution to community security and peacebuilding through non-violent advocacy for positive social change; he gave lectures on this for years in places throughout Slavonia and Baranja, worked in the Office for Human Rights in Pakrac on the second day after the police operation "Flash" and dissuaded the inhabitants of Pakrac and the surrounding villages from permanent eviction, drafted public proclamations of civil associations regarding a series of incorrect moves of the authorities.

Krunoslav Sukić (1952-2008) As Jaroslav Pecnik wrote in the text In memoriam to Krunoslav Sukić – "Kruno was a man of encyclopedic knowledge, inconceivably honest for our time. I guess it was precisely because he was like that that that he ended up pushed to the margins of society; In fact, it is difficult to comprehend that our essentially small and poor community renounces the best among us with such unbearable ease. Many will only realize what a privilege it was to know Krunoslav Sukuć and hang out with him."