1925: Jovan Stanisavljevic Caruga, Slavonian hajduk

ExecutedToday.com ^ | February 27, 2013 | Headsman

[CheshireTheCat]

On this date in 1925, the Serbian outlaw Jovan “Jovo” Stanisavljevic, better known by his nickname Caruga (Charuga), was hanged before a crowd of 3,000 in Osijek.

Caruga was born to peasant stock within the Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia within the Hungarian Kingdom within the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and at just the right age for service at arms when World War I came along to wreck that agglomeration.

Caruga soon deserted the front lines on a false pass — but his unauthorized leave became permanent when he came across a Hungarian soldier paying court to the innkeeper’s daughter whom Caruga, too, desired. Caruga shot him dead.

He did a short turn in prison but escaped in 1919 and shortly thereafter established himself the captain of a posse of brigands styled the “Mountain Birds”. From roosts in the Papul and Krndija mountains they preyed on the nearby Slavonian plains — ducking away freely when needed to Dalmatia or Bosnia in what was now the independent (and quite unsettled) Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes. (This polity would become Yugoslavia four years after Caruga’s execution.)...

[Philo1962]

Ah, the checkered history of the “South Slavs.” Confusing at best, totally random chaos in its natural state. They’ve been victims of the Greeks, the Romans, the Turks, the Austrians, the Magyars (Hungarians), the Nazis & the Communists from Moscow. Constantly divided against each other.

The conquering empires surrounding them would use one religious or ethnic group against its neighbors. For example, the Turkish leaders would draft a troop of Bosniak (Muslim) peasants in one village, arm them with spears, clubs, torches & knives, then send them into neighboring Serb (Orthodox) or Croat (Catholic) villages in the middle of the night to loot the houses, murder the men, rape the women, steal the livestock, then burn it all to the ground.

Then they’d go to the Croat villages & do the same to the Serbs & Bosniaks.

Then they’d go to the Serb villages & do the same to the Croats & Bosniaks.

Then they’d crank up the spin cycle. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Within just a few years, these three ethnic groups — who all share the same language, the same customs, the same traditional clothing & music & foods & taste for plum brandy — hated each other’s guts more than they hated the Turks.

Which was the goal of this entire plan. If you can get these subjugated people fighting each other furiously, they’ll never unite in a revolution against your Empire.

Later conquering empires — particularly the Hungarians & the Nazis — capitalized upon & continued this divide-and-conquer tradition, to the point that reuniting these feuding factions under the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was doomed to fail long before it was started.

The Communists introduced atheism in an attempt to quell these intra-ethnic hatreds, but it was far too late for that.

Stanislavjevic & his “Mountain Birds” were just a manifestation of this between the wars.

[Hootowl99]

One reference you made that caught my attention was the plum brandy.

Some years ago, I was in Ft. Lauderdale visiting a friend. The next door neighbors were naturalized Romanians and had just returned from Romania visiting family. The neighbors shouted over the fence to come over one evening so we went out one fence gate, in the other then everyone was sitting comfortably visiting.

After awhile, the host produced a bottle of homemade (IIRC) plum brandy they brought back and offered up a toast. We used the smallest shot glasses I've ever seen. Downed the shot and instantly my lungs were paralyzed and was fully breathless for some moments. Completely lost my breath. Couldn't talk at first then could manage some kind of croak. My head blew off steam I think.

Saw some Romanian plum brandy recently at a liquor store. I'm scared of that stuff. Lol!