by J. P. Maher For the Saker Blog
 Turdus merula, Europe |
 Turdus migratorius. North America |
Over my head the woodland wall rises;
The ousel sings to me.
…The woodland birds shake out their glee for me.
Irish monk A.D. 800 ca. Translator Robin Flower. 1947
The bird called ousel here is now known in English as the blackbird. Its sweet song is briefly heard in the first few minutes of the film “The Sound of Music”. This is the species referred to in the place name Kosovo Polje – “Field of Blackbirds.” But what bird is the English “blackbird”. In Serbian he is called kos. There is a difference between black bírds and blackbirds. In English the good old word ousel has largely been displaced by the clumsy and misleading compound noun blackbird.
Ornithology. Among North Americans, Australians, and South Africans, only ornithologists can identify the species in question. The species is unknown “in the colonies.” Kosovo’s bláckbìrd is no crow, nor raven, no starling nor grackle, but Turdus merula. This bird is the European cousin of the North American rusty-bellied thrush (Turdus migratorius), which Yanks and Canucks call the “robin”. French Canadians call it “le merle américain”. This bird bobs over the fresh spring grass, stops, cocks its head to watch for an earthworm, though its diet is mostly berries, and then it strikes. In Europe the closely related bláckbìrd nearly identical in behavior and song, but unlike the American cousin, the ousel’s beak is bright yellow, and the male’s plumage indeed is black.
In Britain and Ireland robin is the name of another species, Erithacus rubecula.
The “four and twenty blackbirds baked in a pie”, of the English rhyme, were of the species Merula. For North Americans the feel of the Serbo-Croatian place name Kosovo can only be had from a free translation, “Field of Robins”. German Amselfeld is appropriately quite beautiful.
Serbophobes flag their extreme ignorance of this (and many other) Kosovo facts, for example Christopher Hitchens: “Clouds of blackbirds still do go wheeling and shrieking above Kosovo Polje, the bleak and windy site of the great Turkish victory over Serbia (and Albania) in 1389.” Blackbirds do not swarm; one or two hop across the grass hunting a morsel.. This bláckbìrd ~ kos sings sweetly in the spring and early summer. In Slavic lands the bird’s name was often given to men who sang with beautiful voice and is inherited as a common family name.
Fushë Kosova is the Albanian for Kosovo Polje, Ousel-Field, Field of Blackbirds, German Amselfeld. On the internet a photo has been posted, of a “flock of blackbirds at the infamous ‘Field of Blackbirds’.” May 4, 2006: www.flickr.com/photos/kosovakid/ 140317824. Those “black birds” are not bláckbìrds.
Professor Ronald Wixman has published the same error:
The word Kosovo does not come from Serbian Field of Black Birds, but from the Albanian Kos (meaning a high place) and Va meaning a vale, valley, or flat area. Kosova means the high plateau (look at a map and you will understand why.” rwixman@oregon.uoregon.edu
Can Mr. Wixman be serious? A problem is that Albanian va means ‘ford’ and Albanian kos means ‘yoghurt’.
A favorite “Kosovar” folk etymology for “Kos-ova” derives the second member from Turkish ova ‘plain’. Wixman and Hitchens were refuted a century ago by a Scottish philologist, Peter Giles (1909):
“…[W]ords of this kind … express but one idea under a single accent, and when this has taken place, no one but the student of language any longer observes what the elements really mean. When the ordinary man talks of a “blackbird” it is certainly not present to his consciousness that the learned Englishman is talking of a black bird, unless for some reason conversation has been dwelling upon the colour rather than other characteristics of the species.”
In December 1995 the television “Discovery Channel” produced a series “Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation”, narrated in the USA by CNN’s Agit-Prop lady Christiane Amanpour. The timing helped to blot out memory of Croatia’s US-managed “Storm /Oluja” blitzkrieg that saw the “ethnic cleansing” of Serb Krajina. One scene is repeatedly used, spliced between interviews and news reel clips. Viewers see flocks of grackles or starlings taking off from bare trees. The intent of the producers is to defame the Serbs. Guilt by association: sinister blackness. Lugubrious chords on a cello provide mood music.
The North American viewer was expected to take this scene as a Leitmotif of the “black birds” referred to in the name of Kosovo. But the grackle footage is internal evidence of incompetents at work, out to demonize, for grackles are not pleasant birdies. Bare trees are wintry.
The motif of the black birds establishes the ignorance and scurrility of the Serb-hating media and governments over the past twenty years. Hitchens, Little, Silber, Wixman et al. seem not to know that there are some 200 toponyms in Slavic lands or formerly Slavic lands. They range from Greece and Albania to Turkey, Poland. former Czechoslovakia, the Ukraine, Russia and Germany. For the following list I have used, besides linguistic studies, National Geographic, Falling Rain Genomics. Postal codes are also helpful.
SLAVIC PLACE NAMES FROM KOS: KOSOV KOSOVA KOSOVO
Kos Bosnia-Herzegovina (BH) [1]
Kos Bulgaria BG
Kos Montenegro (MN)
KOSOVI ‘blackbirds’
Kosovi BH
Kosovi BH
Kosovi BH
Kosovi BH
Kosovi BH
Kosovi MN
Kosovite BG
KOSOV masculine, possesive adjective
Kosov Belarus (BR)
Kosov Czechoslovakia (Cz)
Kosov Cz
Kosov Cz
Kosov Cz
Kosov Russia (R)
Kosov R
Kosów (Polish language) Ukraine (UK)
Kosów (Polish) UK
KOSIV Ukrainian (UK)
Kosiv
Kosiv
Kosów BR
Kosów Poland (PL)
Kosów PL
Kosów PL
Kosów PL
KOSSOV—German map
Kossow
KOSSOW German map: in German double SS = [s]; single S = [z]
Kossow BR
Kossow Germany
Kossów PL
Kossów PL
Kossow PL
Kossów PL
Kossow UK German map
Kosovići BH
Kosovići BH
Kosovići BH
Kosovići CRO
Kosovishte BG
Kossowshta BG
KOSOVA
Kossau Schleswig-Holstein Coswig (Anhalt), Germany.
Coswig (bei Dresden), Germany.
Coşova Romania
Κοσóβα GR
Kosova Estonia
Kosova Buljina CRO
Kosova Makhala BG
(Mahala is Turkish, via Persian from Arabic, for settlement, often a slum).
Kosova Turkey (T)
Kosova Hora Cz
Kosova BH
Kosova BH
Kosova ALB
Kosova Makhala BG
Kosova Hora Cz
κοσοβιτζα GR Epirus
National Geographic Map Maker enters thefollowing names, but the places have the same coordinates):
Kosova i Madhë ALB
Kosova i Vogël ALB
Kosova Megali ALB
Kosova Mikra ALB (Greek language)
KOSSOWO G map
Kossowo BG
Kossowo BG
Kossowo BG
KOSOWO
Kosowo PL
Kosowo PL
Kosowo PL
Kosowo PL
Kosowo PL
Kosowo PL
KOSOVO
KosovoBiH
KosovoBiH
Kosovo BG
Kosovo BG
Kosovo BG
Kosovo BG
Kosovo BR
Kosovo BR
Kosovo CRO
Kosovo Macedonia FYROM
Kosovo R
Kosovo R
Kosovo R
Kosovo R
Kosovo R
Kosovo R
Kosovo R
Kosovo Serbia
Kosovo Polje BH
Kosovo Polje Serbia
Kosovo Polsko BG
Kossowez BG German map
Kosovac CRO
Kosovac BH
Kosovača BH
Kosovača BH
Kosovača BH
Kosovača BH
Kosovača BH
Kosovača BH
REFERENCES
Albania, Global Gazetteer. 2000. Albania.2000.
Presentation Copyright 1998-2000 by Falling Rain Genomics, Inc. Directory of 2880532 of the world’s cities and towns, sorted by country and linked to a map for each town. Tab separated list available for each country. Data presentation demonstration only. No liability whatsoever assumed. Presentation Copyright 1998-2000 by Falling Rain Genomics, Inc. August 5, 2000: Revised.
Amselfeld 2000. Die Stimme Kosovos. http://www.amselfeld.com
Atlas Svjeta 1974. World Atlas. Zagreb. Jugoslavenski leksikografski zavod [Yugoslav Lexicographic Institute].
Bach, Adolf [1890-1972]. 1952-1954. Deutsche Namenkunde. Heidelberg: Carl Winter.
Bathe, Max. 1963. Der deutsche Zetacismus im Spiegel slawischer Ortsnamen aus Ottonischer Zeit. Pages 229-130. In Bielefeld 1961.
Bielefeldt, Hans Holm, Editor. 1961. Slawische Namenforschung. Vorträge aus der II-en Arbeitskonferenz der onomastischen Kommission beim Internationlen Slawistenkomitee in Berlin vom 17. 20. Oktober 1961. Berlin: Akademie-Verlag. Veröffentlichungen des Instituts fur Slawistik.
Cambridge Atlas of Mediaeval History. Byzantium.
Flower, Robin, editor & translator. The Irish Tradition. 1947, 1994. Dublin: Lilliput Press.
Giles. Peter. Evolution and the Science of language. In A. C. Seward, 1909. Darwin and Modern Science. Essays in commemoration of the centenary of the birth of Charles Darwin and of the Fiftieth Anniversary of the Publication of “The Origin of Species”.
Hitchens, Christopher. The Nation. 17 April 2000.
Miklosich. Franz (Fran Miklošič). 1875. Vergleichende Grammatik der Slavischen Sprachen. Vol. II Formenlehre. Manulneudruck 1926 Heidelberg: Carl Winter.
_________ 1860-74. Die Bildung der Slavischen Personen- und Ortsnamen. Drei Abhandlungen von Franz Miklosich. 1927.Manulneudruck aus Denkschriften der Akademie der Wissenschaften, Historische Philosophische Klasse.
National Geographic 2000. Map Machine. Kos kosov- kosov kosiv kosova kosov kosovë
State 1997 (February).
Country Reports on Human Rights Practices for 1996. Report submitted to the Committee on Foreign Relations U. S. Senate and the Committee on International Relations U. S. House of Representatives by the Department of State in accordance with Sections 116(d) and 502(b) of the Foreign Assistance Act of 1961, as amended.
Pokorny, Julius. 1959. Indogermanisches Etymologisches Wörterbuch. Bern: Francke Verlag.
Vasmer, Max. 1940. Die Slaven in Griechenland. Heidelbrg: Carl Winter.
Yugoslavia: Death of a Nation. 1995. BBC. Allan Little and Laura Silber.
- Not related: Kossowa Sri Lanka; Greek island of KΩΣ Kos. ↑
The correct name of “Kosovo” is The Serbian Province of Kosovo and Metohija, and it is Serbian territory. It has no historical reason to exist as a Province, as it was created after the Second World War by the communists in order to break up the ethnic Serbian territories.
Historically it was always Serbian. It contains 1,300 Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries, and some of them under UNESCO protection. In the 14th century Kosovo and Metohija was ruled by the Serbian Duke Wolf Brankovich, who in 1389 fought against the Turks at the famous battle of Kosovo, when the Turkish sultan Murad was killed. In the Middle Ages Kosovo and Metohija was from the ethnic point of view 100 % Serbian, as was half of present day Albania.
The Germanic School of History from Vienna has backed the absurd claim that Albanians are descendants of Illyrians, who during Roman times lived in the Balkans, which is utter nonsense. The first Albanians were brought from Asia to the Balkans by Byzantines in 1042 as mercenaries, and as late as the mid 16th century spoke a mixture of Arabic and Asian languages, as attested by Turkish chronicles. The current Albanian “language” is a compilation of all Europeans languages whose vocabulary Albanians appropriated. Proof of this lies in the fact that the “language” has numerous Greek words.
Kosovo and Metohija was always Serbian and will always be Serbian. The sad fact is that after the NATO invasion of 1999, the Province has been turned into the chief heroin center in Europe, shipping Afghan dope. It’s ruled by the Albanian narco mafia. Sad indeed.
Calling it Kosovo conceals the fact what really is, more precisely, it should be refereed as Old Serbia.
The Hungarian name of Kosovo – like the German Amselfeld – is Rigomezö, which means
in English Field of Black Birds.
BF, I agree. Communists messed many things up. In this case, Tito did it not only to Kosovo, but also to the Yugoslavian province Vardarska, which was renamed to Macedonia. The story here is similar. Albanians in Kosovo, and Slavs in Vardarska trying to usurp the right to the Greek territory of Macedonia.
@author,
Interestingly enough the Kos is also called Kos in Poland. After checking my Russian dictionary I found that in Russian Red Breasted Robin is called malinovka.
Before it was “Vardarska” it was Macedonia.
mod-to note: line deleted – argumentative with no relevance to the topic
Ok, I forget what the line was in any case.
However, misrepresentation of Macedonia on the side of Greek and Serbian commentators seems to pass freely here, so I at least have to make a case that there is another set of evidence/history, ie; that of the Macedonians themselves which, roundly ignored by Greeks Serbs Albs and others raises the question why objective reality is ignored and their respective propagandas pass freely? It degrades the credibility of the site.
mod-to note: your “case” is appreciated and not censored! Just as others’ are not. The only part of your discussion that was removed (that line that you cannot remember) had nothing to do with your case but rather a derogatory comment of no relevance (just as stated). Please DO continue, without the unnecessary diatribe.
You call it propaganda, I call it evident truth.
Moderator J NOTE: Personal slur deleted.
Evident truth? Its evident for you. My truth is evident for me. So now what? You are politically stronger so I have to accept your evident truth? Beliefs can neither be proven, nor defended by argument. Its known as an indefensible.
No problem. Understood.
No one can turn the wheel of history backward. Now Macedonia’s inhabitants mostly are Bulgarian, Albanian about 15% to 25%, Serbs some 40000 and Greeks less than 1000.
It is hard for me to believe that Albanians, Serbs or Greeks can take over Macedonia.
“No one can turn the wheel of history backward…”, unless its with the blessings of Empire.
Albanians in Macedonia are somewhere around the15% mark. A Bulgarian Political Party based in Skopje, at last elections scored somewhere around 250 votes. If you are claiming Macedonians that have Bulgarian passports, they are only “Bulgarian” on paper, ie; have done so for economic resasons.
Although you make no account of Macedonians in your comment, ethnic Macedonians are majority population, at least 70% of total.
In Greece, there is just below 800,000 ethnic Macedonians who still maintain their identity. It must be done in secret, as fascist Greece does not allow any expression of identity, culture or history other than the imposed official Greek history.
No need to believe that Greeks, Serbs or Albanians will take over Macedonia. It is the USA/NATO and their lapdog, the EU, that has taken over Macedonia, same as in Greece, Bulgaria, Serbia and Albania.
The facts and the Truth:
Population of Macedonia according to ethnic group 1948-2002
Macedonians census 1948 (68.5 %) census 2002 (66.6 %)
Albanians census 1948 (17.1 %) census 2002 (25.2 %)
Turks census 1948 (8.3 %) census 2002 (3.9 %)
Romani census 1948 (1.7 %) census 2002 (2.7 %)
Serbs census 1948 (2.6 %) census 2002 (1.8 %)
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Aromanians census 1948 (0.8 %) census 2002 (0.5 %)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographics_of_the_Republic_of_Macedonia
2002 census
TOTAL = 2,022,547
Macedonians: 1,297,981 (64.17%)
Albanians: 509,083 (25.17%)
Turks: 77,959 (3.85%)
Romani: 53,879 (2.66%)
Serbs: 35,939 (1.78%)
Bosniaks 17,018 (0.84%)
Aromanians: 9,695 (0.479%)
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demographic_history_of_the_Republic_of_Macedonia
Macedonian dialects form a continuum with Bulgarian dialects; they in turn form a broader continuum with Serbo-Croatian through the transitional Torlakian dialects.
The name of the Macedonian language is a matter of political controversy in Greece and Bulgaria as is its distinctiveness compared to Bulgarian in Bulgaria.
“The ‘Bulgarian’ label that is at times attached to the Macedonian language is remnant terminology that had remained largely due to Macedonia’s former location within the Bulgarian Empire. Despite this however, their can be no doubt that the dialect ( and indeed, location ) of Bogatsko belongs to Macedonia and not Bulgaria.”
http://www.macedoniantruth.org/2010/03/23/macedonian-language-16th-century/
Anonius
Every single census done by the communists in the former Yugoslavia was a fraud, misrepresenting the true ethnic distribution of the country. A well known fact.
Anonymous
I believe there are more than 40.000 Serbs in Macedonia, many of them being forced under communism to change their Serbian surnames into Macedonian sounding ones.
The bird called “robin” in Europe is in Linnaean nomenclature Erithacus rubecula; it is not found in America.
The bird called “robin” in North America is Linnaean Turdus migratorius.
In Romanian it was always known as ‘Campia Mierlei’. Troops of the Valachian Prince Mircea fought along the Serbians (1389).
Has anyone written up some possible scenarios as to how Kosovo could be dissolved sometime in the next 40 years ?
How would it be done ?
I think almost everyone is over-estimating the staying power of the US dollar. This debtors empire is an aberration. All other empires ran surpluses in peace time. except this one. It could be toast in 10 years or less. Camp Bonsteel is too big, far away and costly to keep running. It will be cut massively when the dollar crashes. Once Bonsteel is cut by 80%, I think an opportunity will present itself.
Beautiful recall to the truthful and sweet natural origin of a placename that has been defiled by politics. “Where every prospect pleases, and only Man is vile”. Only some men, thank goodness; and some women.
Thank you for detailed info, B.F., which I appreciate greatly, with just one small correction (to name it thus): the name of Serbian duke was Vuk Branković (Vuk means Wolf in Serbian, so that in essence you were not mistaken), and also to dr Maroudas for his beautiful sentence. Yes, Friend, Kosovo (Kosmet, more accurately, i.e. Kosovo AND Metohija) is old Serbia, same as Raška region (known nowadays as Sandžak, although this is a Turkish expression). Albanians continually avoided expressions ‘Metohija’ or ‘Kosmet’ and emphasized Kosovo for the simple reason that ‘metoh’ means ‘church-owned land’, and the only church present in Kosmet was SPC, i.e. Serbian orthodox church. The only monuments dating from early medieval times in Kosmet are Serbian churches and monasteries, Albanians have no cultural monuments of any sort, although they are predominantly of moslem religion, the cultural non-Serbian monuments in Kosmet are of Turkish, and not Albanian origin, and they were built after Turkish occupation of Serbia in 1459. to the liberation of Serbia in the First Balkan war. Albanian claim that they are descendants of ancient Illyrians is preposterous and shameful.
Nowadays, Kosmet is occupied , but so it was when Turks conquered Serbia in the XV century, and yet they were defeated in 1912. This NATO occupation was just the first halftime, Someday, Kosmet will be ours once again. This may not be in my lifetime, as I am over 60, but someday, Serbs will once again walk in their free Kosovo and Metohija
Mr Maher, thank you for the beautiful article.
I am pleased you liked my comment. A little addition. Prior to the 9th century, Norwegian Vikings came to the Balkans. The only people they found were Serbs. The old Serbian name for Vikings is “Varyazy”. According to historians, Serbs possess 2 % Norwegian Viking blood. According to Finnish genetisists, Serbs possess 15 % Norwegian Viking blood and 85 % Dinaric. Fins call Serbs “Dinarics”, a people who always lived in the Balkans.
In the Chronicle of Nestor, there is a strange passage referring to the ‘Rus’.
“The four tribes who had been forced to pay tribute to the Varangians—Chuds, Slavs, Merians, and Krivichs—drove the Varangians back beyond the sea, refused to pay them further tribute, and set out to govern themselves. But there was no law among them, and tribe rose against tribe. Discord thus ensued among them, and they began to war one against the other. They said to themselves, “Let us seek a prince who may rule over us, and judge us according to custom”. Thus they went overseas to the Varangians, to the Rus. These particular Varangians were known as Rus, just as some are called Swedes, and others Normans and Angles, and still others Gutes, for they were thus named. The Chuds, the Slavs, the Krivichs and the Veps then said to the Rus, “Our land is great and rich, but there is no order in it. Come reign as princes, rule over us”. Three brothers, with their kinfolk, were selected. They brought with them all the Rus and migrated”
The ‘Rus’ were ‘particular’ Varangians, other than the Varangians who were the Swedes, Angles, Normans, Gutes (Goths). ‘Rus’ were Varangians, but Varangians were not ‘Rus’! Varangians were a ‘motley crew’ (“a roughly organized assembly of individuals of various backgrounds, appearance, and character. Typical examples of motley crews are pirates, rag-tag mercenary bands, companies of ‘merchant adventurers’, ad-hoc fellowships – Varangians may be the same as the ‘Venetoi/Veneti’ of classical sources, notoriously engaged in the amber trade and piracy, lurking on the confines of Slav core territories, from Poland to Veneto). The ‘Rus’ called to reign over the ‘Slavs’ of Kiev were most likely part of the ‘Slovenes’ who founded Novgorod, who arrived there in a northward migration, provoked, according to the Chronicle by the arrival of the ‘Valachians’ in the region of the “Slovens’ (on the Lower Danube), at an uncertain date, which pushed the Slavs northwards.
What if the ‘Rus’ originally alighted from ‘Rascia’, that they were “Rascians’ (Rasciani, Natio Rasciana as Serbs were designated in the Habsburg Monarchy)? What if the ‘Norse’ origin of the ‘Rus’ is an invention of the manic ‘white identity’ movement (which considers that ‘nordic blood’ confers nobility) which seeped from America to Europe (through masonic channels), falsifying the whole European history by exaggerating the role of the Germanics in the ‘building’ of Europe, and bringing much of the horrors which befell Europe in the 20th century?
Were the ‘Varyazy’ real ‘Norwegians’ or the ‘Varangian Imperial Guard’ recruited from the ‘Rus’ after the conversion of Prince Vladimir and the integration of ‘Rus’ into the ‘Byzantine Commonwealth’? At a later date the Guard hired some Englishmen. It might come, to the chagrin of the ‘Norse/White’ fanatics, that the Russian history was from the very beginning an almost exclusively Russian affair (a Russian/Byzantine affair, to be more precise). Serbia was part of it. ‘Slavonic’ Orthodoxy was a creation of the far reaching God inspired vision of Patriarch Photios and goes hand in hand with the creation of Orthodox Russia (let’s say, if just for annoying the ‘white’ ‘Ukrainians’, that the Great Principality of Muscovy was also a Byzantine ‘creation’ and not a Tartar one).
Varyazy probably derives from Varangian, as many Scandinavian warriors sought their fortune in the armies of the Ronan Emperors in Constantinople. Maybe the Serbs were occasionally allied to Byzantium.
In the 11th century the Norwegian King Harold Hardrada served in the Balkans as a knight. Serbs did indeed meet Scandinavians, especially Norwegians. However, I am not sure if the word “Varyazy” is derived from the Varangian Guard, especially since most of the Varangians were made up of Swedes, not Norwegians.
I would like to chime in,
First of all in antiquity, these lands were occupied by four groups of people, one of them comes to my mind as Pagones, as referred to by the Greeks.
Southern Slavs, came down allegedly from the lands around the beginning of Vistula river, which would put them at Slovak, maybe Polish tribes.
The Slaves moved south in about VII century and mixed in with the locals, this is why the people of Serbia (most of them) have brown hair, as opposed to classic Slavic blond.
As for the Vikings, although not very known fact, they had settlements in northern Poland around the mouth of Oder river (modern city of Szczecin in Polish or Stetin in German). Polish king Bolesław Chrobry had very good relations with Olaf Triggvasson (the guy who brought Christianity to the Nords) . Also, we know about the Kievan Varangians, who also had settlements in modern Bulgaria. Therefore it would be my guess that those were the sources of Viking DNA in modern Serbia.
My apologies, and corrections (I should have checked the sources and not use my old memory).
People to the north of archaic Macedonia were called Paeonians or Derrones (after their god) Scythians were to the West of them around Danube River.
Sorry again, the Scyths were to the east of Paeones.
Anonius
I see that you too subscribe to the teachings of the Germanic School of History, stating that Slavs came to the balkans in the VI century. Many historians have disputed this. Finnish genetisists call Serbs “Dinarics”, a people who always live in the Balkans. As for Albanians, there is not a single monument to them being descendants of Illyrian’s.
My friend, I do not subscribe to anything. I suggest that you check this page:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Migration_Period
I learned about this when schools were teaching real history of European peoples in the 50’s and 60’s
This probably explains why people in Finland today do not speak Norse language, but a version called hungaro-finnish linguistic group.
Anonius
I see that I am yet again directed towards Wikipedia. Albanians always do that to me when they have no answers to the points I raise. I certainly have no intention of surfing Wikipedia, as it does not have the status of official, God given right to the truth, it’s motives highly suspect.
I remember Prof. J.P. Maher, nicknamed ‘Pera’ from SIEM (Srbska Informativna Elektronska Mreza), formed in early 90’s to combat misinformation, disinformation, lies and 1/4-truths about forced disintegration of Yugoslavia by Western powers and hired in(ex)ternal quislings. He was tireless, quite courageous, succinct, with outstanding knowledge of Serbian language which even native speakers, like myself, find delightful.
A true friend of Serbs and Serbia, Pera reminds me of Dr, Archibald Reiss, a Swiss Forensic Pathologist, who tirelessly helped Serbian Army during its apocalyptic retreat in WWI through Kosovo, Albania and Greece, and wrote a book “Listen Serbs” warning them about future. Of course, Dr. Reiss warnings had Cassandric flavor.
I am specially grateful to Pera for his stand and truth telling about Jasenovac, extermination camp for Serbs, Roma and Jews, entirely run by ustashe, Croatian clero- fascistic military organization.
Thank you Pero for this interesting lecture in politico-linguistic ornithology
Spiral
What a pleasant surprise, to find an article written by Dr. Maher on the Saker website.
Let me echo the spiral’s praise of Dr. Maher. At a time when Serbija stood alone against the evil western cabal and their never ending propaganda, Dr. Maher bravely traveled to the front lines in Krajina, Bosna and Kosovo, documenting the truth and exposing the empire’s lies.
He was a tireless crusader, driven by his passion for the truth and admiration of the Serbian spirit. I am forever grateful for the immense contributions and personal sacrifices that “Pera” made. And personally thankful for the many lessons Dr. Maher taught this Serbian kid from Chicago.
God Bless You!
The sad truth is – Serbs are not likely to return to Kosovo, at least not in next 50 years, Bondstill or no Bondstill, Albanians or no Albanians. The tragic fact is that there are not enough Serbs to re-colonize and re-populate Kosovo. There were not enough Serbs on Kosovo even after the WWI – hence colonisation by Montenegrins and Serbs from land still occupied by Turks (parts of Sanjak). Those colonists were expulsed by Albanian fascists during WWII. After WWII, Tito did not allow them to come back. Instead, a steady flow of ‘refugees’ from Albania flooded the land. The Serbs still living on Kosovo at that time, read the writing on the wall, and started selling their property and moving to Serbia. By 1980 mass migration has had happen. That is when Albanians felt stronger and kind of rebellion started. (Ironical thing is that the rebellion was put down by police force from entire Yugoslavia, commander being – a Slovenian, a patriot and capable, feared by rebels) That only sped up Serbs’ exit from Kosovo. Albanians understood this, and offered much higher prices for Serbian land. Selling to Albanians seemed as a good business move. Kosovo was heavily underdeveloped, so one did not need extreme political pressure to leave. Same kind of emigration happened from entire southern and eastern Serbia, no Albanians there. Last decade of 20th century just sealed what was inevitable. It is true that Kosovo is the birthplace of mediaeval Serbia, but so is Montenegro or Macedonia.
We, Serbs, must admit that we lost Kosovo, perhaps for good. It is irrelevant whose fault it was – communists or Serbian kings and princes from before WWII era. Albanians simply outnumbered us. Just like we outnumbered whoever lived there in 6th and 7th century. Kosovo is after all a good and fertile piece of land. It is highly unlikely that in 6tha and 7th century it was uninhabited. Someone must have been there – Romans, Illyrians, Greeks, somebody. Byzantine Empire was on its peak during those times, it lasted another 800 years since Serbs appeared in those lands. Perhaps the inhabitants of Kosovo back then were too civilised to have many children, and us Slavs not as much, hence we outnumbered them. Significant Serbian states were built around the end of 10 century, at best. So, it gave us 4-5 hundred years to absorb, drive away and assimilate the original population, whoever they were. I guess, that was the order of the day, at the time of Great Migrations from the east. After 1459, or 1389, doesn’t really matter, the lands we occupied were overrun by Turks. They had about 400 years to drive us out of best places, absorb, convert, or simply push us aside. And yes, it was Turks who introduced Albanians to Balkans. I know some Armenians here in Toronto, who sing and dance “shota”, just like Albanians. They say “those are our people who left and stayed in a foreign land, because the land was better than her’. Today, it appears that it is Albanians’ turn to take over the land of Kosovo. It has been slightly less than 200 years since beginnings of “Greater Albania” movement (The League of Prizren). We are at tipping point now – with a little help from outside, Albanians are strong enough to colonize the land. Their strength will perhaps reach the peak perhaps in next 50 years, then the decline will start. Nobody can predict what will happen then.
One thing is for sure – Serbs re-taking Kosovo, is not going to happen. Even if Albanians evaporated in the air this moment, who exactly from Serbia would go to Kosovo? It is sad, bat that is how it is.
Zidar
I have to disagree with you. Albanians in Kosovo and Metohija have always played the numbers game. They would would register the same person in Kosovo and Metohija, as well as in Macedonia and Albania. There are entire areas of Kosovo and Metohija which are totally uninhabited. The Albanian population in the province is at least half of what it is reported. And no, I don’t think Serbia lost Kosovo and Metohija.Time is the factor.
BF, I have no way of confirming whether you are right, but it wouldn’t surprise me: Albanians in Kosovo belong to a nomadic tribe called “Gheg” (“Gheg” nomads live in northern Albania and are very different to the catholic Albanian “Tosks” in & around Tirana).
Btw, A friend in Skopje tells of have hordes of Albanians from Kosovo moving into Macedonia/Fyrom…apparently, in order to tip the scales in their favor…the situation is extremely unstable over there.
Great comment about the Yugoslav communists. Tito was able to rule over the majority by empowering minorities.(notice how this is the same strategy used today by George Soros.) When he couldn’t find any minorities he simply invented some e.g. Muslims became a separate ethnic group called “Bosniacs” ( note not Bosnians) and Albanians became “Kosovars”. .)
This is correct. Albanians in Macedonia wildly claim to be anywhere from 25 to upwards of 40%, where the reality is that their baseline number is somewhere around 15%. The last census in Macedonia – in 2013 I think it was, was abandoned amid threats from the Albanians themsleves when it was clear their numbers, in spite of every effort to pump them up, were way, way lower than anyone’s expectations. While the US is present anything that the Albanians do will be rubber stamped.
I suggest taking a drive through Tetovo, Kumanovo, etc. You won’t see any “Macedonians” there. Just Gegi, and Shqiptari. Also, I suggest walking though Turk sectors in Skopije. I actually spent one week in Turkish sector, as I was there many many years ago during the days of Tito. Everyone was a friend then.
mod-to note: some short lines removed. Please make your point without allegations and personal affronts.
Anonius, whats your point? That final solution for Macedonian people is justified? One cannot feed from the trough of the terrorist and at the same time complain to be his victim. Dismemberment of Serbia and usurpation of Macedonia are projects of the West. One cannot be a “bit of a fascist” and support one while decrying the other. Personal interest has always been the bane of humanity.
Zidar, I totally agree with your perspective. Firstly there would have to be some serious industrialisation and infrastructure development implemented in Kosovo to make it appealing to Serbs to migrate to. Sadly, all money is invested only in Belgrade.
And secondly for such a sizable area of land as is Kosovo, there is not enough Serbs to recolonize it efficiently and productively, and furthermore, sadly, the birth rate in Serbia is not in a growth phase or will ever be in one.
The values of Serbian people have changed dramatically over the last 100 years and having a larger family is not a priority or a gesture of pride of having a large descendance anymore.
Serb’s values have become materialistic, “living in the moment” values. Life is short so let’s not stinge on buying the latest iPhone, sneakers, one off worn outfits, two if not three changes of clothing at weddings.
I am not sure who is responsible for this social engineering, but the Serbs have only themselves to blame for not putting in measures to counter this phenomenon.
This is arguably a preview of what awaits the rest of Europe, USA, and perhaps even Russia.
Ah the “sweet” sound of fifth column pretending to be “Serbs”. There are many like you in Serbia: most are not really Serbian but either foreigners working for some intelligence agency, or often – jews in Serbia who have traditionally shown very little attachment to all things Serbian.
“We have lost Kosovo” under various pretenses, has only one goal in mind: to instill the idea that occupation and political mahinations are perfectly fine and acceptable. Usually such social engineering includes words such as “we have to ACCEPT it…” or ” Serbs have LOST Kosovo…” (like it’s a button on one’s shirt and can be “lost”), and so on.
Nothing could be further from the truth. One cannot lose a teritory, even when that territory is temporarily occupied by an enemy force. Serbs “lost” Kosovo during middle ages to Ottoman empire, and GOT IT BACK. Why would 10-20 years of wait be so drastically different?
It is too soon and obviously manipulative to say that Kosovo is “lost”. Maybe 500 years from now, if Bondsteel is still there, we could argue how much more is there to wait before Kosovo can be taken back; but I assure you, much stronger and smarter empired crumbled in less than 500 years, and so will the one that took Kosovo away from Serbia by force.
Patience is a virtue. As to what will Serbs do with Kosovo once it is theirs again – let them do with it as they see fit.
I don’t see American’s giving away portions of Utah or Alaska just because it is not very attractive. Neither should Kosovo be treated that way by Serbs.
While Internal factors were important the External factors must not be Ignored.
The west was and will be for a long time in Balkan.
They decided to disintegrate the Austro-Hungarian Empire and they did it during WWI.
They decided to create the so-called Yugoslavia and they did it. On 1918 with formation of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, which in 1929 it was formally renamed the “Kingdom of Yugoslavia”.
The West never trusted Serbs, and newer will.
It isn’t a coincidence that the West selected a Croatian Teacher, named Josip Broz Tito, to rule Yugoslavia.
It isn’t a coincidence that Sir Winston Leonard Spencer-Churchill sends his son Randolph Frederick Edward Spencer-Churchill as an emissary to the British military and diplomatic mission to Yugoslavia in 1944.
It isn’t a coincidence that Tito purged most Serb high ranked from the army.
Yugoslavia fell apart in a series of wars, which saw ethnic cleansing and genocide return to Europe.
The driving force was not age old ethnic tensions (as the Serb side liked to proclaim), but distinctly modern nationalisms, fanned by the media and driven by External forces through politicians.
Russians failed to control the Balkan using Serbs as a Tool, against purely armed Croatian, Slovenian and Bosnian in 1990 ies. Because the USSR was disintegrated by the West at this time (no coincidence).
West /N.A.T.O intervene initially Covert, (Operation Storm commenced at dawn on 4 August 1995), and in Kosovo Overt ( NATO bombing campaign in Serbia and Kosovo that lasted from March 24, 1999 to June 10, 1999), and disintegrated the former Yugoslavia during1995 – 1999.
With the new NATO members as Slovenia (2004), and Albania and Croatia (2009). Montenegro (2017) and in the process of ratifying the Accession Protocol for Bosnia and Herzegovina, and the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia as aspiring members, for the Russian and Serbs the Kosovo status remains uncertain for now … who knows what may happen in the future?
Time will tell.
Excuse me for being accurate, removed…
eg, your “Croatian Teacher, named Josip Broz Tito” wasn’t a teacher, but a mechanic – sorry.
Let’s continue with the next – “It isn’t a coincidence that Tito purged most Serb high ranked from the army.” – huh, coincidentially, an over proportionally amount of leading positions in JNA was owned by Montenegrins, aka as the “warrior serbs”..
No personal attacks – keep your content to facts only. Mod
The most over represented group in the high command of the JNA was actually the Croats.
“IT IS CERTAINLY TRUE THAT SERBS AND MONTENEGRINS (PARTICULARLY THE LATTER) WERE OVER-REPRESENTED IN THE LOWER AND MIDDLE RANKS OF THE JNA OFFICER CORPS – they formed 54.3% and 5.2% of such officers respectively in 1990, greater than the Serb 36.2% and the Montenegrin 2.3% of the population of Yugoslavia. It is also true that Croats and Slovenes were underrepresented in those ranks, making up 12.5% and just 2.3% of such officers despite their 19.7% and 7.5% of the population.
If one takes officers of all ranks in the JNA military in 1990, one finds that 42.63% were Serbs, 14.21% were Croats and 6.4% were Slovenes, even though Serbs were 54.3%, Croats 12.5% and Slovenes just 2.3% of the lower and middle ranking officers respectively.
“Brotherhood and unity” reached its peak in the top ranks – IN LATE 1990, THE HIGH COMMAND OF THE JNA WAS ONLY 33% SERB AND MONTENEGRIN, BUT 38% CROAT, 8.3% SLOVENE AND 8.3% MACEDONIAN.”
(The Fragmentation of Yugoslavia: Nationalism and War in the Balkans, by Aleksander Pavkovic, p. 131-132)
The original Albanians were Illyrians and basically the same people as old Serbs before the slavic tribes arrived and mixed in to become today’s Yugoslavs.
What we know as “Albanians” today is a mixed people, created from forcefully islamicized original Illyrs and a bunch of north africans and some anatolian Albanians who were employed as hired soldiers for Italians. The latter two groups were shipped there in masses by italian occupying forces, mostly from Sicily. I know some original Albanians from Sicily personally. Compare it to the current wave of lybian refugees, that’s how the Italians got rid of them back then. Obvious since many of them also look like north africans, olive skin and all.
Their founder and “hero” Skender-beg was also of serbian origin, which is well documented. You can find more details in the blog “fishcalledsanda”.
@ BF
I have noticed that the Germans have taken to re-write History to suit their ambitions.
They have tried to change the Ukrainians into believing that the Russians are their Long time Enemies.
In Greece they try to change facts and make the Southern Slavs (Yugo- Slavs) into a new breed of Macedonians. Have they bothered to ask the Persians what language the Macedonians spoke?? I have.
As a matter of fact they even try to pretend that the Ancient Greeks come from Modern Day Germany.
From my part I know that Cosovo Polie is Κοσυφο- πεδιο and in Greek the Kotsyfas – Black Bird.
I am afraid that I will very thoroughly disbelieve the German versions when it comes to History
Germans are much responsible in inventing the ‘Albanian substratum’ of Balkanic languages as they ‘invented’ the independent state of Albania as a spanner in the wheels of a future Yugoslavia and to save the crumbling Ottoman Empire from partition between the victors of the Balkan Wars and to block Russia from reaching the Adriatic.
Well the Serbs who rode into my grandfather’s village Bitolsko, Macedonia in 1914 and told the inhabitants that the choice they had was to be a dead Macedonian or a living Serb, apparently disagree with you ( that someone or other created the Macedonians.)
http://www.macedonianhistory.ca/PDF/Lectures/Lexicon%20Oct_2013/peev_english.pdf
We were talking about Albanians, not Macedonians.
I was responding to the comment by “Anonius”, ie:”…make the Southern Slavs into a new breed of Macedonians.”
If you click on the link I have provided below, you will see that Gianelli and Vaillant’s paper provides incontrovertible evidence of authochtonous Macedonian language on historic Macedonian territory, around Kostur today in Greek occupied Aegean Macedonia which of course today, has some new “Greek” name. The language that we Macedonians speak today is virtually unchanged in the last 500 years, and also forms basis of Old Church Slavonic. This is the language Putin spoke of when he thanked Macedonian President Ivanov while on an official invitation from Moscow in April 2017 for giving Russia their alphabet.
Macedonians, accordingly to Persians, were Greeks with funny hats. Also, to answer your question directly, Macedonians spoke Aeolian dialect of Greek language. The same as the people of Thessaly. This is why Alexander the Great in addition to his cavalry used cavalry from Thessaly as they spoke the same dialect. His hoplites had difficult time communicating with say Athenians who spoke classic Greek.
Check with Hammond’s “The Macedonian State” (you notice I am using English archeologist as the reference).
You notice I am using Gianelli and Villant’s Macedonian Lexicon 16th century. Italian and French linguists.
http://www.macedoniantruth.org/2010/03/23/macedonian-language-16th-century/
Al-Arnauts Shqiptars Gegs Tosks aka Albanians
When the Shqiptars ( some Albanians) say that we are the descendants of a Paleo-Balkans people, they do not lie to the world, but themselves.
In human history there is nothing similar to a Shqiptars absurdity.
Here we show how the Shqiptars sowing fog.
Illyrians are not Europeans
Some Shqiptars are not Illyrians
Some Shqiptars are from Caucasus
Some Shqiptars are from Arabia-Yemen
Some Shqiptars are related to Roma people
Some Shqiptars are mix with “slavs”
The Shqiptars are people who were brought to the Balkan by the Turks
The Shqip language is not related to any other Indo-European language
The Shqip language is not related to “Illirian”
The Macedonian Population in Albania
Crimes of wild Shqiptars-Gegs over Macedonians
Who are the Shqiptars?
are Shqiptars Ghost people?
We dont have any chronicle(Roman or Byzantine) about any surviving “Illyrians”.
Normal, “Illirians” are not vanish in the air.
Some Albanians today are ancient people.
But…
Where Shqiptars live over 1000 years?
Shqiptars come from some magical mountain?
Shqiptars are waiting in some cave over 1000 years?
toponyms in Shqiperia-albania
Large number of toponyms in Shqiperia-albania are of Macedonian (“Slavic”) origin.
Archeology
We dont have any archaelogical documents on transition of “Illyrians” into Albanians.
Shqiptar language
Shqiptar language is not associated with any Indo-European IE languages.
Some pseudo linguists push Shqiptar language in the IE group,which is really funny.
I will explain, beacause i saw you did read so much, first people in ballkan were iliry, part of iliry which lives in Kosovo today called Dardan, from Dardhë (pear- eng.)and name Kosova you will found in arhive of document ex Raguza (Dubrovnik), so i prupose to you to visit arihve of Dubrovnik and learn some information, and for your information, slavs come from Karpats to balkan!
I know that Bardhyl ( 448 BC – 358 BC) was a documented king of the Dardanian Kingdom and probably its founder.
Bardh Yll in Ilirian Language means Bardh = White / Yll = Star so in English the means White Star.
Bardylis (Bardhyli – this happens while not Ilyrians try to speak Ilyrian) was killed in a battle against Philip II of Macedon (father of Alexander the Great) in 358 BC.
I know much more as, Agron (250–230 BC) king of Illyria, he is most famed for his decisive victory over the Aetolian League, a state in western Greece. Around 231 BC, Agron suddenly died after his triumph over the Aetolians (because drink for 7 days and nights and diet of an alcohol overdose). I know that the Queen Teuta destroyed everything, started a war with Rome, lost and escaped to Dardania. This was the turning point, and started the demise of Ilyria and Ilyrians.
But in this site you have to be very careful, and go with the flow.
Iliry
One more time: The first Albanians were brought to the Balkans from Asia in 1042 by Byzantines as mercenaries. Turkish chronicles confirm that Albanians until the mid 16th century spoke a mixture of Arabic and Asian languages, something Illyrians never did. The current Albanian “language” is a compilation of all European languages whose vocabulary Albanians appropriated. All the Illyrian toponyms and hydronyms were also appropriated by Albanians.Every time I point this out to Albanians, they either keep quiet, or else deny what Turkish chronicles stipulate.
That Albanians are “descendants” of Illyrians is a myth invented by the Germanic School from Vienna, which wanted to break up the Serbian ethnic territories in the Balkans so that the Austrian Court in Vienna could grab the Adriatic. There is not one monument which confirms that Illyrians are Albanians.
I see that you state that Slavs came from the Karpats. Others state that Slavs came from Russia. You don’t seem to agree. What if the opposite was true ? Slavs (Illyrians) moving from the Balkans towards Russia ? The name of Siberia is derived from the name of “Serbia” and it means “The Land of the Serbs”.
Finally, Finnish Genetisists call Serbs Dinarics, a people who always lived in the Balkans. When Norwegian Vikings came to the Balkans prior to the 9th century, the only people they found were Serbs. No trace of Albanians. The old Serbian name for Vikings is “Varyazy”.
Sorry, lets look at your varyazy. The Greek word for them was Varangians (Varaggoi – plural in Greek).
If you knew Slavic languages and their grammar ( I do more than couple which includes Russian and Polish, …) You would know that the core of the word … is Var, the ending iazy just adds plurality to that name.
mod-to note: modified to remove pointed comments
Anonius
I was stating the OLD Serbian name for Norwegian Vikings was “Varyazy”.
Viking = Varyazy.
Languages change in the course of history.
Lets have a side step. And maybe I will show you how the word Varanggoi (read Varangi) became Variazy.
Lets start with Varang (the Greeks would call one of them Varangos for simplicity.) Now jump to modern days and take say some slavs (call them Egeitsy) in english society. The do not know english, but they want to show they do. You ask them: Kako ste? they answer Nie sme orajt. Or another one, I love this one: Zemi si moje caroto (car?).
The same happened to “old” Serbs. Remember, drop your prejudices, and think: we are talking about Eastern Roman Empire where Greek language reigns supreme. Trow it at some vilagers and suddenly you get Variaz from Varang. The way it probably went was like this they heard Varang they called it Varanj then it went to Variaz. theI am going to stop now. No matter you you answer. Honestly, no one can win with the stubborn people. And I have had dealings with many Egeitsy, who thought that Megas Alexandros lived in Bulgaria with their Grandfather.
One more short note. The question “kako ste” is a combination of slavic: kako (how) and Greek “isaste” (are you) shortened to ste which could be also represented as s’te.
Thanks
My understanding is that the first thing that went up in flames in Dubrovnik was the Serbian Church library. I visited a beautiful monastery Tvrdos which is located some 10 Km north of Dubrovnik and some five km south from Trebinje. This monastery was built by queen Helen from Syria in the 4th Century. When I was there two busloads of Syrian tourists came and they informed me of this. The reason they came, it was on their itinerary. I asked them how they managed to come from the war torn Syria the guide said through Lebanon. Anyhow the point I am trying to make is that Tvrdos changed hands several times between the Orthodox and Catholic sides. I purchased a book at Tvrdos which has a map showing locations of ancient Orthodox churches, hundred of them, which were destroyed by the Catholics from split south and west to Sarajevo. Same people same names same stories about Kosovo and saints days which are no longer celebrates other then in Konavle south East of Dubrovnik
Dubrovnik’s Old City was barely scratched. Although it was first reported that the Serbian library was destroyed. This was inaccurate. The destroyed building was a multi-storey building belonging to the artist Ivo Grbic. It was gutted, burnt out. Adjacent buildings were unscathed. Grbic’s house still had the business sign advertising, in Serbian Cyrillic letters, ИКОНЕ ‘icons’. Before “the West” broke up Yugoslavia, this flourishing business catered to a Serbian clientele. Journalists Stephen Kinzer (NY Times) and Maggie O’Kane (Guardian) and many others reported that damage to Dubrovnik was minimal, contrary to the prevailing propaganda. Voice of America’s Pamela Taylor claimed that the Old City had been so successfully restored that people might believe Serb propaganda that Dubrovnik had not been demolished. Navy guns could have flattened it in two hours. Irish Captain Brendan O’Shea wrote” … Professor JP Maher of Northeastern [Illinois] University, Chicago, who states that he actually walked through the old city on March 1992 and found only evidence of `slight damage’. The city had certainly not been destroyed. Perhaps this explains the failure of the Croatian authorities to lodge any serious claim that the JNA [Yugoslav Peoples Army] shelling was not justified by military necessity and therefore constituted a grave breach of the Geneva conventions! (2006. Perception and Reality in the Modern Yugoslav Conflict: Myth, Falsehood and Deceit 1991-1995. London: Routledge)
I hope Saker will allow this digression, although it is not tied directly with the topic, but shows there was a bond between Serbs and Norwegians in 1941-1945
to B.F. and Anonymous:
your mention of Vikings (Varyag, pl. Varyagi) and relation with Serbs was of great interest to me. During WWII, when Tito’s partisans (mostly Serbs) were captured by Germans 1941/42, they were transported to the north of Norway
…They used captured partisans or sympathizers of Yugoslav partisan movement as forced laborers in Norway for construction of roads in the North or other construction works….the Supreme Command of the Wehrmacht agreed that “rebels captured in the Serbian territory,” if they did not have to be shot for taking part in fights, “should be used at construction sites in northern Scandinavia under the harshest living conditions.” …Of these 3537 prisoners 2287 (64.65%) arrived in camps in Norway…Professor Nils Christie at the University in Oslo.states that the Serbian camps in Northern-Norway were on the same level as the worst concentration camps in Germany. The death rate is higher in the Serbian camps there than in the regular German concentration camps.
Kirsten Svineng (“Mamma Karasjok”, 1891 – 1980) She was an important Norwegian hero, showing exceptional courage during the Nazi occupation of Norway from 1940 to 1945. Hundreds of Serbian prisoners of war were sent to work under terrible conditions in occupied Norway, and one of the worst forced-labour camps was just outside Karasjok. Kirsten Svineng, along with other brave Karasjok citizens, risked her life to help the prisoners by giving them food and sheltering escapees in her home. From there, she helped the escapees on their way to safety in Russia, and, incredibly, a number managed to get back to Yugoslavia. After the war ended, those former prisoners told their stories to Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito. in 1957, he invited Mamma Karasjok to Belgrade for a special ceremony of recognition.
There is a big wooden building close to Mladenovac, Serbia, in the shape of viking ‘drakkar’, as a commemoration to Norwegians who helped Serbs in WWII , it is known as ‘det norske hus’ (norveška kuća), and it was built in 1987 as a symbol of Serbo-Norwegian friendship …
During the 1999 NATO aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, made up Serbia and Montenegro, NATO launched a 77 day bombing campaign without declaration of war. Norwegian pilots refused to participate, and they were the only ones.
During the existence of the old Yugoslavia (SFRJ) the Norwegian ambassador to Belgrade was Thorvald Stoltenberg, who on TV openly stated that Norwegian Vikings came to the Balkans, and that all the blue eyed kids were of Norwegian Viking origin. Поздрав, Београђанин.
Greek captain of battle ship “Temistoklis”, Marinos Ritsoudis, refused to be a part of NATO naval force that was heading to attack Yugoslavia. He has turned his ship to the Greek port. He was prosecuted by Greek authorities and senteced to 3 years prison.
In 1405 Kosovo name was Boschi di Chosua, taken from arhive of Raguza ( Dubrovnik) have a nice day, peace with you!
Of course its no just Kosovo the ‘empire’ wants to be split away from Serbia. Vojvodina is next, with its pro EU hungarian community. And after that, the Liberal, multiculturalist pro westerners in Belgrade will turn against the Orthodox Serbian people in the countryside. A large community of Arab and African asylum seekers have taked refuge in Belgrade after realising the EU will not take them in. Student types are helping them, the same type of goobalist Hipster girls and boys who are sanctimonous do gooders in the West.
Not on the topic of this thread, but I recently visited Romania and had a great time. Its easy to imagine countries like Romania as NATO anti russian puppets but the reality on the ground is different, the fact is Romanians are an Orthodox people who also went through the good and bad of Communism, like the Russians. There is no appetite for a war against Russia there.
What are you talking about ? “A large community of Arab and African asylum seekers have taken refuge in Belgrade” ? I live in Belgrade and I have yet to see them. Yes, I have seen so-called “refugees” pass through Serbia on their way to EU countries, but they have not stayed here. As for Vojvodina, don’t you worry about it. It will stay in Serbia.
JP Maher and All
I feel compelled to correct: Kosovo Polje strictly and precisely translates as Blackbird’s Field..I don’t know why go casual and call it:” field of blackbirds “totally unnecessary and it denotes a multitude (of blackbirds)
Of course, where blackbird relates to a small pitch black, orange beaked sweetest sounding ture bard among birds.
kosovo, lit. is singular, possessive adjective.. ie. kos= blackbird; kosovo = blackbird’s.
why veer away from its’ precise translation?
thanks everyone.
‘In English the good old word ousel has largely been displaced by the clumsy and misleading compound noun blackbird.’
In English ‘ousel’ was already obsolescent as a term for Turdus merula in the 14th century; the OED notes that a manuscript source of ca 1350 had to explain ‘osele’ as meaning ‘blacbrid’. Since at least the early 16th century ‘ousel’ has been used to refer to the blackbird’s relative, Turdus torquatus.
@ BF
During the 1999 NATO aggression against the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, made up Serbia and Montenegro, NATO launched a 77 day bombing campaign without declaration of war. Norwegian pilots refused to participate, and they were the only ones.
Exactly. But let us also remember Greek destroyer captain, Marinos Ritsoudis, who refused orders to take part as a ship of NATO fleet in Adriatic back in 1999., and ordered his destroyer ‘Themistocles’ to return to Piraeus harbour. The crew sided with him en masse, alas, he was trialed by a military court and sentenced to two and a half years prison sentence, after which he was forced to leave the navy. He has recently stated that he has never regretted his decision.
Blagodarim na pozdravu, nisam daleko. From Dubrovnik via Valjevo, Belgrade ( VI beogradska gimnazija), blok 45, Petrograd (koji neobavesteni zovu Zrenjanin), VMA, Petrograd
Yes, I have seen so-called “refugees” pass through Serbia on their way to EU countries, but they have not stayed here
I have seen them,too, in a large park vis-a-vis main bus station, twice in September 2017, and of note was that ALL of them were of the best military age, i.e. 18-30. Each time there were more than a hundred in two rows, waiting for humanitarian aid to be shared. There were NO children, females or old/feeble among the lot. The police was at hand, but all of them behaved decently, all were well dressed and it took me some time to note that all of them who held or used their cell phones had those of ‘touch screen’ variety, significantly more expensive than ordinary cell phones. I was told that those who did not have money to stay in hostels, took rooms in hotels…! Some refugees…
Not so a few months before September, my wife, who travelled in a bus with a family from Syria (father, mother and three small children) on their way to Germany via Hungary, as they told her, noted that the family was obviously very well to do, the parents spoke cultivated English and the children behaved impeccably during the drive (as oftimes Serbian children do not). Of note was that a strong change took place during these few months, because people of all age and both sexes dissapeared as ‘refugees’ , as did the dozens of tents in the aforementioned park close to main bus station in which these people slept before continuing their journey, but young men of military age, who stayed in hostels and hotels took their place in September and presumably from that time on. Can this have a sinister connotation and bide ill for the future (not for Serbia, as luckily we are not of much interest to them, but for western Europe)? I wonder…
A beautiful and well researched article. Kos, a very cute singing bird living in couples, where the lady has the feathers in a nice shade of brown and her partner has the shiny black ones, has been made sinister to complete the similar picture of the Serbs, seen as some abominable villain folk. Eh..
Can someone here explain to me what Slavic tribe was called “Macedonians”, when and where. As far as I know only Slavic tribe that was present in Balkans were Serbs, (later Croats in far Western part of peninsula, but there is no evidence of large numbers of croat peoples coming to Balkans, some historians, even Croat historians, theorized that only Croat aristocracy and knights came to Balkans, and were given land to rule – Croatia, populated mostly by Serbs) . Bulgarians were not Slavic tribe, but Tatar, or Avar, I cannot remember, but non-slavic for sure. Small number of proto-bulgarians conquered Slavic regions near Black Sea, 8 regions, and created Bulgaria. Mix of small number of conquerers and local Slavic (Serb?) population make Bulgarians.
Furthermore, there was also no Slavic tribes called “montenegrins” or “bosniaks”, as far as I know….