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"Death to fascism, freedom to the people!"[a] was a motto of theYugoslav Partisans, first introduced by theCommunists and afterward accepted as the official slogan of the entire resistance movement. DuringWorld 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 theclenched fist salute when spoken (one person usually saying "Smrt fašizmu!", the other responding with "Sloboda narodu!"). Later, it was often quoted in post-warSocialist Yugoslavia.
The slogan was part of theCommunist Party of Yugoslavia's 1941 call to arms for the people of Yugoslavia.[2][unreliable source] The Bulletin of the Partisan Supreme Headquarters used the slogan in its first issue dated 16 August 1941.[3] The August 1941 edition of the Croatian daily newspaperVjesnik, then the primary media publication of the Partisan resistance movement, featured the statement "Smrt fašizmu, sloboda narodu".[citation needed]
The slogan became popular after the execution ofStjepan Filipović, aYugoslav Partisan. As the rope was put around his neck on 22 May 1942, Filipović defiantly thrust his hands out and denounced theGermans and theirAxis 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.[4]