Over There Far Away

Djordje Mihailović (1928-2023)

For Easter in 2018, we were in Thessaloniki, visited the Serbian military cemetery Zejtinlik, and met Uncle Djordje, who, for more than half a century, guarded the graves of warriors from glorious times. They died for their homeland during the breakthrough of the Thessaloniki front, a decisive battle in the First World War. The bones of 21,000 soldiers rest on Zejtinlik, of which 8,000 are from Serbia. Uncle Djordje told us about the famous Serbian history and recited the verses of Vojislav Ilić Jr. On July 2 this year, we were all shaken by the news that Uncle Djordje passed away at 96.

The first guardian of the cemetery was Djordje’s grandfather, the Thessaloniki volunteer Savo Mihailović, a Serb from Grblje near Boka Kotorska. Savo collected his dead brother-in-arms and comrades and then guarded them until he died in 1928. After his passing, he joined his comrades and was buried at Zejtinlik. He was succeeded by Djordje’s father, Djuro Mihai- lović, who saved the cemetery and its relics from Nazi looting during the Second World War. When Djuro died in 1961, he was buried next to his father in Zejtinlik, and the duty of cemetery keeper fell to Djordje, the last male descendant of the Mihailović family. Mihailović was the cemetery caretaker until May 2022 after he resided due to poor health. In July 2014, he was awarded the Order of the Serbian Flag, second degree, and on November 11, 2021, he was awarded the “Mother Serbia” award on behalf of the state by the then Minister of Foreign Affairs of Serbia, Nikola Selaković.”

First, there was my father, and before my father, there was my grandfather. I am the third generation, the third patrilineage. I come here every day, I live here, I sleep here in the cemetery,” said Djordje Mihailović to the RTS correspondent after receiving the “Mother Serbia” award. Last year, a group of Serbs visiting Thessaloniki decided to surprise Uncle Djordje in front of his apartment. Namely, they sang the song “Far Away” while Djordje stood on the terrace with the Serbian flag and could not hide his emotions. He waved and applauded them.

With Djordje, a famous generation of Serbs will go down in history, and it is a great question whether today’s generations will be worthy of their heritage when you consider that the government and the opposition in the Serbian Parliament could not even agree on a minute of silence for the deceased guardian of Zejtinlik.