March 25, 2011
My Summers in Yugoslavia Tourists from behind the “iron curtain” visit
by Mary Craft In my youth I spent nine summers on the Adriatic coast in what was then Yugoslavia. The life style in this popular tourist area was not that different from my life back in the States as far as amenities. I stayed with my aunt Zorka in Vodice at her converted bed and breakfast house. The baths with showers were modern but had to be shared. There was a large grill in back where my uncle Joso would grill the fish he caught with the tourists he took out on his boat. There was an extra long picnic table outdoors with an awning covered with grape vines above it. Besides the boat their method of transportation was a tractor motor that pulled a trailer bed. It was much cheaper Aunt Zorka than a car and more useful for transporting the potatoes, onions, figs, etc from their field outside of town.
Some Eastern Europeans from Czechoslovakia and Bulgaria would visit the area but were only allowed to travel outside their country in supervised groups. The buses and hotel rooms were provided by the plants they worked for. People from these iron curtain countries were easy to spot because they were poorly clothed. Some of with the next year’s prosciutto. the women wore their bras as swim suit tops and yes there was underarm hair. They were obviously very excited to be at a beach since their countries Did you hear an oink? were land locked. It is hard to believe that the iron curDuring my first trip there it was weeks before I realized tain existed not that long ago. there was a shed in the back corner of the yard that had a large pig residing. This was one tradition that mod- On my trips I would try to meet different members of ern times did not affect. Most people bought a piglet at the family. One summer I decided to meet the brother the first of the year fed it leftovers all year then had the ,Ilija, my Dad had not spoken to since the 40s because he became a member of the Communist party. I did not hams salt cured. I have a vivid let my father know what I was planning. Ilimemory of my then husband’s ja had two sons around my age and I wantbaba (grandmother) Tonka chased to meet them, as well. Ilija lived with his ing around an escaped pig with a wife in a small inland town not far from the large tree branch. There was not coast called Tinj. The land was part of the a home without prosciutto whethproperties owned by the Krkljes family that er they had their own pig or not. was divided amongst the brothers. My aunt Anyone you visited brought out a Zorka and I took a modern air conditioned plate of it along with cheese and bus up the coast to Zadar which had a large red wine. bus station. It was such a kick meeting peoBumpy bus ride to meet my uncle Ilija ple from all over Europe who were there to have fun. I enjoyed From there we took what looked like a third the guests from Italy most with world bus to Tinj. The bus was packed with their “live for today” attitude. The people and the occasional chicken and we Germans were more reserved inihad to stand holding on only to a short strap tially but warmed up soon once above. The windows were all open and the they spent time with my gregarihot air and dust would fly in. We had to take ous uncle and ever cheerful aunt. dirt roads which made for a bumpy ride. What the two cultures did have in It got even worse when passengers started common is that many requested shouting “Ajde Guro!” to the driver The Krkljes brothers Jovan, Vaso my uncle take them to one of the which means “Go faster George!”. and Ilija. many deserted islands nearby so We did not know where Ilija lived they could skinny dip. My rogue but we knew the town was small so uncle particularly enjoyed those we figured when we got there we charters and brought along a grill. What really made us could just ask around. There was a tall dark handsome laugh was that they insisted he be naked as well. guy standing next to me on the bus. I asked if he was
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going to Tinj and he said he was. I asked if he knew where Ilija Krkljes lived and he replied “Yes, that’s my father.” We laughed as we each found the situation so incredible. His name was Momcelo and he was attending college majoring in engineering. His brother, Milorad, who I would later meet, lived and worked in the nearby coastal town Biograd na Moru (white town by the sea). Tinj was not as remote as the other family villages I had visited which was evident by the bus service and the fact that they had electricity. When I met Ilija I was taken aback by his crystal blue eyes and light coloring. My father, Vaso, had jet black hair and dark brown eyes as did his relatives I had met. My two brothers have blue eyes as do my mother so I knew there had to be some blue eyed link on my father’s side. Apparently, one of my grandparents whose grave site I visited in Bjelin had blue eyes. Ilija talked about his life in Tinj and how my father had convalesced there when he had ma-
Uncle Joso with my sister Svetlana on his boat. You can see why the lady tourists swooned. laria. Communism and atheism were promoted by the government at the time but we did not discuss politics. Belgrade the historical, cultural capital of Serbia After the civil war in the early 90s the Serbians had to leave this area that became part of Croatia. They went to refugee camps near Belgrade the capital of Serbia. Momcelo now lives and works there and Milorad, who had married a Croatian remained behind. Belgrade has a great university and is a very cultured city with lots of history. My family that came there after the war were not exactly welcomed because they were looked at as basically “hillbillies”. I am glad to say things have changed and they have all become part of the community there.
Baba Tonka has worn black since she lost her husband many years ago. Sadly there were many women in black.
My father went to military school in Belgrade. His uncle was a major official in the Serbian Royal army under King Alexander and he had great influence. He felt Vaso did not belong in the remote village of Bjelin and took him to Belgrade at age 14 to enter military school. When he completed school in 1939 he also became part of the royal army and by age 20 was an officer. And that brings me to another story.......
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