Croatia’s parliament passed legislation last month barring public access to archive materials on individuals aged 100 and over, living and deceased.

Critics say the legislation, which was presented to lawmakers in Zagreb as aimed at protecting the privacy of the deceased, in effect serves to silence research into Croatia’s wartime government’s collaboration with the Nazis.

Former Croatian Culture Minister and historian Zlatko Hasanbegovic called the legislation “cowardly and underhanded,” and said it aimed to “prevent access to archives and silence research.”

While the government in Zagreb denies the law will harm freedom of research, more than 80,000 files, including those pertaining to the fascist Ustashe movement, will be closed to the public.

Croatia would have good reason to try to sweep its past under the rug.

Wartime leader Ante Pavelic’s dictatorial regime not only collaborated with the Nazis, but willingly aided the Nazis in their efforts to wipe out the Jews, operating a number of concentration camps on Croatian soil. ...