Death to fascism, freedom to the people

“Death to fascism, freedom to the people!”  was a motto of the Yugoslav Partisans, first introduced by the Communists and afterward accepted as the official slogan of the entire resistance movement. During World War II and for a few subsequent years, it was also used as a greeting formulation among members of the movement, both in official and unofficial correspondence, often abbreviated as “SFSN!” when written and accompanied by the clenched fist salute when spoken (one person usually saying “Smrt fašizmu!”, the other responding with “Sloboda narodu!”). Later, it was often quoted in post-war Socialist Yugoslavia.

History.

The slogan was part of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia’s 1941 call to arms for the people of Yugoslavia. The Bulletin of the Partisan Supreme Headquarters used the slogan in its first issue dated 16 August 1941. The August 1941 edition of the Croatian daily newspaper Vjesnik, then the primary media publication of the Partisan resistance movement, featured the statement “Smrt fašizmu, sloboda narodu”.

The slogan became popular after the execution of Stjepan Filipović, a Yugoslav Partisan. As the rope was put around his neck on 22 May 1942, Filipović defiantly thrust his hands out and denounced the Germans and their Axis allies as murderers, shouting “Death to fascism, freedom to the people!”. At this moment, a subsequently-famous photograph was taken from which a statue was cast.