Serbian stubbornness

I’m talking to Lale at the market. Lale is a farmer, but he’s extremely clever and well-read. He is a descendant of a great industrialist from Pambukovica. That whole region was highly developed before the war. During the war, of course, it was a Chetnik stronghold.

When the communists came, they took everything from his grandfather: the mill, the factory, the cars, the land, the house… The commander of the OZNA (secret police) moved into his house, and the land was divided among the local people. His grandfather was taken to a camp. The partisans tormented that area for decades, keeping it practically in the Middle Ages. It was only last year that they got a road, and that road was opened by the son of that partisan.

Grandfather in the Camp

The partisans would bring the prisoners, most of whom were ordinary farmers or Chetniks, to the railway every morning. From there, they would go to the field to work and dig canals.

One morning, after everything that had happened in his life, Lale’s grandfather decided to kill himself. The railway was there, he knew when the train would pass, and he decided to jump in front of it. He was a true Serb. He had fought on the Salonika front, he was ready to give his life for the country. With his own hands, he had risen from poverty, fought to buy enough land, to build a family, to help others, and to aid his village. And after everything, everything was taken, stolen, and divided, his family torn apart, the camp, the shovel, and the humiliation from some vagabonds in partisan caps. They had been digging canals for months.

He was smoking a cigarette and looking at the tracks. He was the last in line, and when the group started moving, he said to the man in front of him, “You go on, I’ll catch up.” However, that man, who he said this to, had been watching him for a while and had seen the despair in his eyes. He knew what Lale’s grandfather was planning to do and simply told him, “Alright, but just know that they really want you to do it. When you do, they will celebrate. Just know that…”

Lale’s grandfather stood there for a few minutes, threw away the cigarette, and then ran to catch up with the group.

He survived out of spite towards them.

Many say that one of the main traits of Serbs is stubbornness. They speak as if it’s something very bad. However, stubbornness is important, and it seems to me that without it, we would all be Muslims, Croats, Albanians, or partisans today. We didn’t survive because of our victories in history, we survived because of our suffering and stubbornness.

Just so you know…