This is the house my grandpa is born in, 93 years ago. Its much older than him though, but still standing. Like he is still rolling and kicking around. Must be made of same material, he and that house.
Took us 3,5 hours detour to get there, first time after 19 years. Its really far and remote, and not near any road. Also, there was some family issues about ownership of really huge piece of land, so grandpa decided not to visit it for long time. This time i insisted, just wanted to see the place again. And when we came, i was shocked. It was eaten by a jungle of thorns and trees. It will take me a LOT of work to get this thing clean again, as you can see.
Ive spend some time here, been fishing around, hunting, foraging and stuff when i was a kid. Nature is great, and its closest to wilderness one can find in this part of the world.
We had lot of time, so he told me a story about things that happened here when he was young.
In 1945, after ww2 just ended, my grandfathers older brother got surrounded in this home, by communist police and state security agents. It was time of manhunting and public executions of everyone who wasnt with them. Grandpas brother, Lazar, was officer of Kingdom of Yugoslavia. After that army collapsed, at the very beginning of the big war, its soldiers and officers joined to one of countless armies, and some of them remained at their villages and organized defense, so they can protect villages of mass slaughtering, that was very popular in this area.
They were called simply Rebels (Ustanici) and ther primary goal was to keep any army from exterminating their loved ones and torching their villages. It was time of bloodbath, and it was territory which was under authorities clerofascist Independent State of Croatia. Means, it was often raided by Ustase, and mass killings and slaughtering of civilians happened everywhere around.
People who refused to join to any army, and organized rebelion in their towns or villages, were the first antifascistic forces in this part of Europe. They didnt had any ideology or goal except survival. First defeats, German forces suffered from WW1 veterans, villagers with primitive weapons, and kids. Places who had such forces, were often only oases in the sea of blood.
During the war, they all been helping Partizans (comunist army), offered them hospital, food, fought along them, provided them shelter, safe passage, people and logistic, but they also didnt let them execute whoever they want, or take all the people to pointless suicidal missions. They were looking after their people. And that was not forgotten.
When communists finally seized the power, and when the war ended, Rebels were suddenly labeled as Chetniks, traitors of the revolution and most of them were arrested, executed publicly, hanged, maced, mutilated and burried in so called dogs graveyards.
For rebels, it was just continuing the war with psychopats and killers. This time it wasnt religious, but communist murderers. For them it was the same. Both were killing innocent people and civilians for the show, in the name of ideology or god
Many of the rebels were running and hiding long time after ww2.
My grandpa`s brother visited his home one day, with 4 more fighters. They were hiding in mountains and forests, and they came to get some food and chlothes. One of the neighbors, old lady who became member of the communists party after the war, betrayed them. Doing such thing was meant climbing up in communist hierarchy. Almost like betraying member of the family.
So there was around 30 policeman, state security and army members in the next day. They surrounded the house, and Lazar ordered to all family members to get out. They were all caught, and held on gunpoint, while communists called Lazar and his friends to surrender.
They knew what awaits them. Dragging their bodies tied to trucks, and torturing them publicly, would send great message to that whole area, and that was the goal of the new state.
But all the family members, including my grandpa, were shouting at them to not surrender. So they been removed to watch it from back, as the commies thought it wont be any benefit if they kill the family.
Siege lasted 2 days. With grenades, dynamite, machineguns and all. Lazar and his friends had to be caught alive, and it had to be done as soon as possible. There was no backup, because local commesar wanted to do the job alone and get the credits for it.
So the fighting ended when surrounded rebels didnt had any ammo left. They had one grenade, and they activated it to kill themselves. Grandpa says they were all singing when it detonated inside.
Family was ordered to keep doing their homejob and keep it like nothing happened. Bodies were exposed in frontyard, and there was order to shoot anyone who comes to cover or bury them. It lasted for 3 weeks. There was state agent in leather coat, and with german gun sitting next to the door of the house, and my great grandma and rest of them had to feed him, obey him and serve him all that time. Just after everyone came to see the bodies and take photos of dead villains and enemies of the state, they loaded them in truck, and took them to some unknown hole.
50 years later, after the fall of communist regime, people from that area erected a monument for their rebels. There was Lazar and all his friend names on it. No matter half century of brainwashing sending to camps and oppression in all aspects of life, people made the monument soon as the threat ended.
I remember grandpa, after they invited him to comemoration and revealing of monument. He gone there alone, and when he was back he said I thought for the long time theres no people left anymore. Looks like they were hiding all these years.
It was a shock for him to finally can speak about what he witnessed, together with other people. To collect some pieces of puzzle after half of the century. TO ask for people he didnt dare to ask all that time, to learn about what happened to them. At the end, all the propaganda machinery of communists, all the educational brainwash and their fake glorious history just fell apart against small, simple stone monument with engraved letters.
