Contribution to the Biography of Franc Snoj – American Years, 1941–1943

During the Second World War, Franc Snoj, a politician of the Catholic Slovenian People’s Party and minister in the Yugoslav government in exile, made efforts to win the sympathy of the American public for the political aims of the Yugoslav government in the United States during the period 1941–1943 (during his first visit in September 1941 and a second visit from December 1941 to May 1943). In particular, he sought to win the support of the large local immigrant community of American Slovenes and other Yugoslav emigrants for the Party’s objectives, namely the unification of the entire Slovenian territory (the so-called United Slovenia programme) as an autonomous (federal) part of the restored Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Snoj encountered many obstacles: the Yugoslav idea was increasingly weakened by the conflicts between Serbs and Croats; republican ideas were strongly present among the American Slovenes who rejected the monarchy; the growing competitiveness of some political rivals of a liberal orientation, who were active in the wartime emigration (from the beginning Ivan Marija Čok, and later also Boris Furlan); the efforts of Italian anti-fascists (epitomised by Carlo Sforza), who were opposed to the change of the national border in favour of Yugoslavia. An additional problem was the different world-view definitions, which increased among the American Slovenes, after they had learned in autumn 1942 that Tito’s partisans were fighting against the invaders in Yugoslavia, while the Yugoslav government in exile continued to support Mihailović’s Chetniks. In the united organisation of American Slovenes to help the ‘old homeland’, the Slovene American National Council, which was formed in December 1942, they finally decided to support only the partisan movement, contrary to Snoj’s expectations (which, however, led to a final split among American Slovenes). This was especially advocated by the well-known Slovene-American writer Louis Adamič – until then he and Snoj had worked together correctly. It can therefore be said that Snoj did not fully fulfil the political task, which he was sent to accomplish in the United States. He always tried to be loyal to the leaders of his party, which was in exile led by Miha Krek, although it was obviously difficult for him to reconcile his actions with pragmatic choices, such as Krek’s support for the Greater Serbia advocate Konstantin Fotić. In the United States, Snoj also had a lot of contact with the US intelligence service, the Office of Strategic Services, which was pleased with him because he sent them a lot of material. In this respect, Snoj (like some other individuals) cannot be described as a classic agent or a confidential undercover collaborator. One can imagine that he also tried to lobby the US authorities for Slovenian war demands and objectives through such connections.