STEFAN BRBIC (1924 - 1987)
Stefan was born in Tucepi, Yugoslavia (now Croatia) and he was 15 when Hitler’s armies invaded Yugoslavia in 1941.
Yugoslavia was a new state created in 1918 from the remnants of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, which was defeated in the First World War.The new Yugoslavia included the modern states of Croatia, Serbia, Slovenia, Bosnia, Kosovo, Montenegro and Macedonia. The rationale was that the inhabitants of all these states were ethnically ‘Slavic’ which was enough to unite them into one country.However, many of these varied Slav people believed that they should have a separate identity. This included many Croats. A Croation independence revolutionary movement called the ‘Ustashe’ (Croation for ‘rise up’) emerged in 1930. It did not shy away from violence, as an editorial from its newspaper in 1932 reveals:
“The KNIFE, REVOLVER, MACHINE GUN and TIME BOMB; these are the idols, these are bells that will announce the dawning and THE RESURRECTION OF THE INDEPENDENT STATE OF CROATIA”
The Ustashe was also unashamedly racist and fascist. It was virulently anti-Serb, anti-Semitic and anti-communist, and was totalitarian in method and ideology. When the Nazis successfully conquered Yugoslavia in 1941 the Ustashe was able to claim independence and actually took power, supported by Nazi Germany. Jews were sent to Ustashe and Nazi concentration camps, and it began to ‘ethnically cleanse’ (expel or kill) Serbs and Roma people from Croatia.
After the defeat of the Fascist powers the Ustashe lost power and Yugoslavia became Communist under Josip Tito. After the war ended- as Brbic was anti-communist, he fled Croatia (aged 21) and by early 1946 he was in a displaced persons camp at Asten, in Austria.
At the camp he met Anna, a Polish refugee. The two fell in love and soon married in the camp. By 1949 they had made their way to Italy from where they emigrated to Australia on the SS Castelbianco, a converted cargo ship.
The couple initially settled in New South Wales but were persuaded by Stefan’s godfather to move to Perth, as he had done earlier.
1950’s For the first couple of years Stefan and Anna shared a house with a cousin before buying their own home, for £1,100, at 51 Sewell Street, East Fremantle. Stefan worked as a contract cleaner and, in November 1959, was granted Australian citizenship by Naturalisation. (Reference)
1969 Ten years later, wanting to travel to the US and Canada, he applied for an Australian passport but, instead, was given a ‘Document of Identity’ which allowed him to travel to these countries and was valid for 12 months. The Federal Police and ASIO had reservations about issuing a passport (NAA Records Reference), and there is lengthy correspondence about Stefan, citing his early membership of the ‘Ustashe’' very strong support for Croatian nationalist movements operating in Australia.
His connection to these organisations was central to their refusal to issue a passport, because some were alleged to have used violence to attack Yugoslav institutions within Australia. Bombing attacks were carried out against Yugoslav targets in Australia between 1965 and 1979 and these appeared to be the work of Croatian nationalist activists. Stefan’s sometimes very close association with these activists led to him being refused an Australian passport, perhaps just a precautionary measure, for a second time in 1974.
Despite inflammatory press at the time (see below), Stefan was never successfully or directly linked to any of the violent attacks in Australia, but he was certainly an important figure in the ‘Croatian National Resistance’ organisation. In the early 1970s he travelled to Sydney and Canberra under an assumed name and, under surveillance, government agencies were well aware he met with other well-known resistance members. (Reference)
There is speculation that Yugoslav Intelligence staged some of the bombing attacks in Australia, in order to discredit Croatian nationalists. This is particularly so in the case of six Croatians convicted of planning the bombing of a Sydney Theatre in 1979. (Reference)
Sadly, Stefan did not live long enough to see Croatia become fully independent in 1992. He died from lung disease in September 1987. He was 63.
At the time of writing (September 2019) Anna is still living at 51 Sewell Street, East Fremantle She turned 100 in May 2019. (Reference)
Other Interesting Links
Tribune, 17 Sep 1969: Cough Up For A War Criminal
This started our interest in Stefan Brbic. The article claimed that Stefan was collecting money for a ‘Nazi’ organisation on the pretext of creating a fund for a monument to General Luburic, a Croatian Ustase general and a known WW2 war criminal. (Reference)
Note: Tribune was the official newspaper of the Communist Party of Australia from 1939 to 1991. It was thus extremely supportive of communist Yugoslavia, and extremely opposed to the Croatian nationalist movement. (Reference)
Canberra Times, 9 July 1977: Increased bail imposed on alleged bomber
Stefan Brbic charged with aiding, abetting and harbouring Angelo Maric, the chief suspect in the bombing of the Yugoslav Tourist Agency in September 1972. Stefan’s bail increased from $5000 to $7000. (Reference)
Canberra Times, 9 August 1978: Angelo Maric’s conviction set aside and a new trial ordered. “Certain evidence had been wrongly admitted.” (Reference)
Detailed history of ‘The Ustasa’ in Australia. Article in the Journal ‘Salus’ from Charles Sturt University (Reference) and CIA File on Yugoslav Extremists (May 1980) (Reference) and
Principal researcher Mark Jardine for www.streetsofeastfreo