TOPOĽČIANSKE PIVO

Alright.  Here's the story.  Near Hrad Topol'cianske was a pivovar, a brewery.  They made beer there. They sang about it.  This is the song they sang.  They closed the pivovar.  There is now no more beer from Topol'čianski.

So that's the end of the story.  No!!! Not even close to the end of the story.  To get to the end of the story, we have to find the front of the story.   "Don't you mean that you have to find the beginning of the story?  What's the matter for you?  Don't you even speak English?"   Alright.  Have it your way.  You find the beginning.  I'm going to the front.  You can come with me or not.  Your choice it is.

To find the front, we must first learn something about the Vezérlő Fejedelem.  After all, if you want to go  to the front of the line, you must first find who is first in line.  He is called the Fejedelem, the Prince.  As you know of course, the word "Prince" means simply "the First."  As it turns out, the Fejedelem in our story is the son of Rákóczi Ferenc and Jelena Zrinska.  Jelena Zrinksa was the daughter of Petar Zrinski with whose neck the empire had had some interest.  Jelena Zrinska was a neice of the Nikola Zrinski whose poetry placed the exploits of his ancestor Nikola Šubić Zrinski at Szigetvár against Suleiman the Magnificent into the hearts of every Croat in the all the world for all time.  "U boj! u boj!  ... Za dom! Spremne!" 

The family lived at this time near Mukacheve around which the borders of the Ukrajna have been drawn since the Second World War - you know- there in Mala Polska.  Look at the map, you can find it.  During the battle of Trenčín, whose environs are visible from the ramparts of the  Topol'čianski  Rákóczi Ferenc's horse stumbled and he was knocked unconscious.  His soldiers presumed his death and fled the field, ending the "Kurac" rebellion.  As a result, the Hussites in Czech and Slovakia were at a fatal military disadvantage as were  the Lutherans in Hungary  and in Croatia, all of whom had supported the notion that the purpose of the state was to protect the people rather than the people to serve the state. 

Oh, did I mention in here anywhere that all this began with the emperor suspending the constitution of the empire? Oh. Perhaps I should have. 

Had Rákóczi's horse not stumbled, the chances are that Central Europe might have been mostly  Protestant thereafter.   One of the Croats who rode rode with Rákóczi from the Topol'čianski that day was my ancestor.  Was he one of those who fled in panic?  I would like to think not, but I don't know.
 

My ancestors on my father's side began arriving in America shortly after all this, during the period when the Hapsburg government was interested in the necks of almost every member of the family.  Oh.

Topol'čianski Hrad was one of the strong points held by Rákóczi.  It lays astride an ancient roadway leading from Krakova in the north to Bjelovar and on south to Tirana.  It was the roadway by which many Bijelohrvati  moved south over a period of time into that which is modern Croatia.  It was the roadway by which merchandise, ideas, and the news traveled for many centuries.  Those ancient travelers left their mark.  Their path can be easily traced with the help of Google maps.  At Bjelovar the road intersects with the ancient highway to Osijek, Novosad, and points east all the way to China.  This was the ancient "Silk Road" which European  mariners spent so much effort to replace with a more secure water highway with which the Ottoman's and others could not interfere.

There's more to the story.  Important but little known history whispers through the breezes on the battlements of hrad Topol'čianski. If I have to, I will tell some of that history later.  Freddy, you know who you are Freddy. I am going to give you a days to respond before I go public with what I dug up in the castle courtyard.  I would much rather you told the story, but if I have to I will.  You do not wish me to do that. 

Just a few miles  north of Hrad Topol'čianski is the pass where the Germans massed just prior to their invasion of Poland.  Auschwitz lays just a few miles further, just off the old road to Krakova.

So why is an old Croat featuring a song called TOPOĽČIANSKE PIVO?  Topolčianski is in Slovakia isn't it? Yup.  It sure is.  Hrad Topol'cianski was our castle.  It was one of my family's castles.  It was a Croatian Castle on a highway connecting Croatians in the north with Croatians in the south.  The once mighty stari hrad is now a crumbling oddity.  The once major highway across Europe is not even passable by automobile all the way up to the castle.  The castle is crumbling.  The Croats are gone as are others, all long gone, and now, so is the beer.  Placem.

do sljedeći put, blagoslov - until next time, blessings,

Canovals a.k.a. Slavonac
 24 veljača  2012

Then there came ...

"Then there came along some Yids, and when they saw the fire, came up to the children and asked them what they were doing there and whether there was anyone with them, and when the children had told them what and how, the Yids told them to go along with them, saying that they would have a fine time at their house. The children agreed and went with the Yids, and the Yids took them to their house. They didn't have anyone else at home, only their mother, and when they came home, they shut the boy up to get fat and made the girl a servant to their mother. One day, when the boy had been well fed and was fat, the Yids went out on some errand and told their mother to roast him, and then when they came home in the evening from their work, they would eat him..." 

We hear this story from Vuk Stefanovic Karadzic in "Civuti", Srpske narodne pripovjetke, ("Yids" in "Serbian folk tales") 1853.

From "O jevrejskom pitanju u Srbiji" ("The Jewish question in Serbia") which Nikola Jovanovic wrote back in August 1878 we hear:   "...Europe has forced the Hebrews on us for us to grant them in our country all the rights that we have acquired and enjoy. But that the Jews or any non-Serb elements should have the same right as those native to Serbia, we challenge and deny."  Ten to twelve percent of the population of the territory of Serbia were Croats, who, in other words, as non-Serbian elements, along with Jews and Roma and Vlaks and whoever else was there, were to have no rights according to this fellow.

At the opening of the twentieth century, Milan Obradovic, a Serb journalist in Bjelovar wrote a pamphlet entitled: "How the Jews have for forty years deceived the wretched and ignorant Croats, that they are Croats of the Mosaic faith and thus have enslaved them, frustrated them politically, sucked them dry materially, cramming all the Croatian money into their own tills and pockets." 

Bjelovar.  This fellow lived in Bjelovar which is in Croatia and yet he writes: "wretched and ignorant Croats?"  Uh huh.  Jup, that's what what he wrote.  Just a dumb question - if I'm a non-Serbian element not worth of rights in Serbia, what is this Serbian fellow doing in MY HOME, in the region of my ancestors? Explain to me this, please.  I'm not angry about him being there, but please explain to me  this.  I don't understand.

What does this have to do with the music of Croatia?  It has a lot to do with our music.  Where is the music today from our "Mosaic Croatian brothers"?  Where is it?  Can I hear this music to make up my own mind do I like it or not?  Play this music please.  I wish to hear it just to know how it sounds.  Why do I not have this freedom to hear this poetry and this music played and sung by my "Mosiac Croatian brothers."  Who took this freedom away from me?  I thought I was free, but, maybe not.  Not yet. 

The Englishman on BBC during the Homeland War said something along the lines of 'They bomb our graveyards, they bomb our churches, they bomb our orphanages, they bomb our libraries as if to erase any knowledge that we ever existed.'  If I don't have it word for word exactly as he said it, please don't raise a fuss, you know it was words very much like those and the facts were very much like those words.  At every holiday and every memorial day we run around yelling and writing "Ne zaboravite!"  (No forget).  

No forget. Don't forget.  But we have already forgotten.

It's like someone has chopped off your arm with an axe.  Then they swing the axe at your head but they don't succeed in chopping off your head.  So then, you go around saying "I will never forget!, Ne zaboravite. Nikada" when you talk about the strike aimed at your head, but you don't miss your arm. You've already forgotten all about your arm.   

We have have forgotten.  

As long as we have forgotten, the men who declared that we Croats, as "non-Serb elements" should have no rights,  as long as we have forgotten, the men who called us "wretched and ignorant", have won.  They have won and we do not have our country back.  As long as we have forgotten, we are not yet free.  Worse, as long as we have forgotten, they are right, we are wretched and ignorant.

We must remember.  We cannot to forget.  We must not to forget.  

Sviraj, moj brat, sviraj.  kad  čujem vaša glazba svira, ja ću biti slobodan.

Ne zaboravite. Nikada!

Play, my brother, play.  When I hear your music playing, I will be free.

Don't forget.  Never!

do sljedeći put, blagoslov - until next time, blessings,

Canovals a.k.a. Slavonac

19 Rujan 2011

Tamburaški Sastav Takt - Palešnik

As a young man I heard stories about Bjelovarsko and about the area around .  They were three hundred year old stories.  The old men would tell these stories about long ago. Perhaps someday when I am old I will share some of those stories with you.

So, where is Bjelovarsko?  First find Croatia on the map above.  Then look to the right and you can see where in Croatia this "county" is located.  In ancient times Bjelovar was in the Kingdom of Slavonia, one of the Croatian Kingdoms.  The histories want to tell us the region is "new," that Bjelovar is first mentioned in 1413 and that there wasn't much here until Maria Theresa built a fort in 1756.  Ummm hmmmm, dobro.  So, ask the  question about how the Hungarian overlords came up with the name Bjelovar. 

A few entries past, in "U RAJ NIJE PIVO," we talked about Croatian Hussars in the service of the Austrian King of Mexico.  Here's a photo of Bjelovarski graničari – Husari 1756 at a celebration.

Hercegovac, not to be confused with Herzogovina, is a town of about 3000 souls very near Palešnik. Along side Omladinska Street near the middle of town is  the NK Hajduk nogomet field.  NK Hajduk proven themselves to be a solid team. Their supporters are proud of them.  Kavana Ilova is among those  supporters and Kavana Ilova is where the party is this weekend between Saturday at 8:00pm - Sunday at 2:00am.  TS Takt says:  "Ovaj put bez hostesa,  ali dođite i zabavite se uz Takt i Pan :) Vidimo se :)"  (this is without hostess but come and have fun with Takt and Pan, See you there!).  You know what?  As I'm writing this about 40 people have already said on Facebook that they are coming to the party and almost a hundred more are "maybe."  Party party party!! I do wish I could be there too.  Someday, someday I just might be there.

Slavko Kolar came from nearby Palešnik which has maybe 600 people all told unless there's a party there and the population surges. Kolar was a satirical and humorous writer of such works as "Boot," "Birch," and "Do Cows need tails?" Slavko Kolar is not the only accomplished person from Palešnik. As small as it is, through the years people have come and  gone from the community. I know of some families who emigrated from Palesnik to Amerika a long time ago. In fact, I may know several of their descendants here and there. Tamburaški Sastav Takt lives in Palešnik. 

Tamburaški Sastav Takt consist of five guys who have been performing together about  five years.  The band consists of:

Davor Bazijanec - harmonika

Domagoj Ćuk - prim

Matija Mikuleta - brač

Tomislav Poredski - bugarija

Andrija Mikuleta - bas

So now you are going to need a lesson in what these instruments are.  The harmonika is not a little thing you play with your mouth.  On english it is "accordian" because of a very popular manufacturer of these things a hundred years ago or so. The tamburica each have three parts: body, neck and head. It used to be that the body was carved from a block of wood, but now they are built in much the same way as a guitar or violin with a box. Various shapes have been popular at different times.  The neck has a fingerboard with frets and these days the 'snail" design is often seen for the head.  The prim has one double string, G, and three single strings E, A, D. This is the smallest tamburica (about 50 cm long), but is very loud. It is very often used as a lead instrument or harmonizing instrument. The brač has two double strings and two single strings. it is a somewhat  lower instrument than the prim but played in a similar fashion. The bugarija has one double  string D and three single strings, similar to a guitar.  The bas has four strings. It is the  largest instrument in the tamburica family,  and is similar to contrabass. You have to stand up to play the bas.

What can I tell you about TS Takt?  They are young, they are fresh.  As one of them told me "Sviramo narodno, tamburaško, zabavno. (We play folk, tamburasi music, fun music). He went on to tell me "Naše selo se zove Palešnik. Sviramo svakakve zabave I svakakve veselice. Sviramo najviše hrvatsku glazbu, a željeli bismo svirati posvuda..Nije bitno gdje se svira, bitno da je veselo!" (Our village is called Palešnik. We play all sorts of fun and all sorts  of gatherings. We play mostly Croatian music and would like to play everywhere .. It does not matter where we play, it is happy!)

TS Takt is a happy band who will go far as they mature. If you haven't heard them yet, here they are.  When you have to pay big money to get in the concert hall to hear them remember you heard them first here on their video:


Uffffff everytime I watch their video I want to eat!!! 

do sljedeći put, blagoslov - until next time, blessings,

Canovals a.k.a. Slavonac