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

He is dead. Thanks God.

He is dead. Thanks God.  

As for me, I doubt that I should much look forward to such an epitaph, yet there it is:  On je mrtav. Hvala Bogu.

There is a small fact most Croatians who live in Croatia do not know.  Perhaps most Croatians in the world don't know this either.  Most Croatians do not live within the borders of  Croatia.  We probably never have.  There are rather a lot of us and the greater number live in North America, especially in the United States. Dear reader, if you are not Croatian, the chances are that you have met one of us.  If you go to church at all you know some of our music.  Bach was one one of us.  He was a Croat - a Croat in the diaspora.  Earlier, in another blog, I related my response to the Croatian Embassy noting that " identifying one-self as Croatian, could be dangerous, not only in Yugoslavia, but even in the United States."  Until perhaps a decade or so after Croatia became independent, for the most part, we remained silent and invisible.  There was often a price to pay if you did not keep your mouth tightly sealed.  None-the-less Croatia is dear to us.  It is Home.  

And, as much as Hrvatska is Home, so is Texas, so is San Francisco, so is New Orleans, so is Madison, so is Seattle, and so is the United States - home.  We see little, if any, conflict in that matter.  For the Croatian-Texan, the notion is easy to see.  Alone, unique among the States of the United States, the proper manner in which to fly the red, white, and blue of the Texas flag is side by side as an equal nation with the red, white, and blue of the United States flag.  Teksikans serve in the United States military and see no problem with that.  

Now that you have a glimmer of understanding about that, bear in mind that several administrations in Washington past, the Federal Bureau of Investigations uncovered a plot for an "insurrection in Texas" and promptly dispatched a horde of armed agents to to deal with the matter probably as efficiently as they had dealt with such a matter earlier near Waco resulting in the deaths of women and children. As much as Texans did not like what was going on in the compound in Waco, when the children died we felt mighty grim.  Just don't go killing our babies.  Just don't.  We don't like it none.  When the matter of this "insurrection" came up, the Governor of Texas requested that the FBI withdraw and let him handle the matter.  I believe what the Governor said was something like "Go 'way, go way fast," and they went away fast.  They had crossed that invisible boundary line into the sovereign business of the State of Texas.  The Governor sent a single unarmed ranger up to the hills to talk to the old man who was at the helm of the "insurrection."  The fellows drunk some whiskey and they drunk some coffee.  Don't go tellin' me that I should have written "the fellows drank ,,,"  Unh uh, they drunk it.  Trust me, they drunk it and they threw the tin cans they drunk out of into the camp fire and the matter was settled.  It used to be that pert near every one's pickup truck had a "Republic of Texas" bumper sticker.  Now you can't find those bumper stickers no more, dang it!  Even so, the red, the white, and blue flies side by side with the red, the white, and the blue.  That's how it is.  

We Croatian - Americans have in our hearts the red, the white, and the blue flying side by side with the red and the white and the blue.  We stand at attention when the "Star Spangled Banner" is played and a tear might leak from our eyes while we sing it.  We stand at attention when the Lijepa naša domovino is played and a tear might leak from our eyes while we sing it.  God help us if there is ever an important soccer match between the Croatian team and the American team.  The whole stadium would probably cheer for both sides all during the game.  Can you imagine the noise?

In the first session of the 102 Congress, on September 19, 1991, Mr. D'Amato, Mr. Dole, Mr. Glenn, Mr. Pell, Mr. Gore, Mr. Nickles, Mr. Pressler, Mr. Riegle, and Mr. Seymour introduced a bill into the Senate of the United states entitled "To restrict United States assistance for Serbia or any part of Yugoslavia controlled by Serbia until certain conditions are met, and for other purposes."

The bill cites: 

"The Congress makes the following findings: 

(1) In 1990, the republics of Croatia, Slovenia, Macedonia, and Bosnia-Hercegovina held free and fair elections.

 (2) In 1990, the republics of Serbia and Montenegro held elections which were not free and fair.

...

(4) Since the Declaration of Independence by the Republic of Slovenia on June 25, 1991, more than 100 people have been killed, including civilians, by the Serbian-controlled Yugoslav federal army.

 (5) Since the Declaration of Independence by the Republic of Croatia on June 25, 1991, more than 500 people have been killed, including many innocent civilians, by the Serbian-controlled Yugoslav federal army and Serbian guerrillas.

(6) The Serbian-controlled Yugoslav federal army is actively using both ground and air forces in Croatia to attack the citizens that they are constitutionally bound to protect.

(11) The Serbian-controlled Yugoslav army's invasion into Croatia constitutes an illegal effort to alter the borders of Yugoslavia by force.

 (12) The leaders of the Serbian republic and the Serbian-controlled Yugoslav army are pressing an unacceptable agenda in an effort to hold onto power and privilege."

The bill was was read twice and referred to the Committee on Foreign Relations where it mouldered for a long long time.  We wondered why the American government didn't seem to mind that thousands of Croatian men, women, and children were being slaughtered and that did create a conflict in our hearts because our lady who wears a blue skirt and red blouse with a white sash and her children are dear to us.  Don't go killing our babies.  We don't like it.  We don't like it none.

The answer is simply that "Lawerence of Serbia" was at work.  According to Wikipedia "Lawrence Sidney Eagleburger (August 1, 1930 – June 4, 2011)[2] was an American statesman and former career diplomat, who served briefly as the United States Secretary of State under President George H. W. Bush. Previously, he had served in lesser capacities under Presidents Richard Nixon, Jimmy Carter, Ronald Reagan, and George H. W. Bush. Eagleburger is the only career Foreign Service Officer to have served as the United States Secretary of State."  Under Nixon he was assistant to Henry Kissenger.  Under Carter he was ambassador to Yugoslavia.  He was advisor to Bush for south east European matters.  When Eagleburger denied that Serbian paramilitaries and the Yugoslav National Army had committed atrocities in the breakaway republic of Croatia, the European Press nicknamed him Lawrence of Serbia.

Lawerence of Serbia also served on the International Commission on Holocaust Insurances Claims. According to Jweekly.com which covers Jewish matters in the San Francisco area, on June 8, 2001, Waxman, congressman from Los Angeles said the commission was poorly managed.  Lots of money was flowing, but not to the survivors of the Holocaust.  

Does it surprise you to know that Eagleburger, Brent Scowcroft and former Ambassadors to Belgrade John Scanlon, along with Ambassador Warren Zimmerman spoke Serbian among each other in US Security Council meetings?  Does it surprise you that Eagleburger knew Slobodan Milošević when Milosevic was still a banker?  House Banking Committe Chairman Henry Gonzales from Texas, pointed out the connections between Eagleburger and the Serbs.  First there is Ljubljanska Banka, and Global Motors/Yugo of America, a subsidiary of the Yugoslav arms maker Zavodi Crvena Zastava on whose boards Eagleburger served and, acting as a consultant for them was compensated millions of dollars.  Milošević tells us that he became friends with his buddy Eagleburger while he served on the board of Beobanka in Belgrade.   Now does it surprise you to learn that Eagleburger testified against the bi-partisan bill introduced into the Senate?

Does it surprise you that this same fellow wrote in the Washington Times on 8 December 2008 "We believe U.S. policy on Kosovo must be re-examined without delay, and we urge the Bush administration to make it clear that pending the results of such re-examination it would withhold recognition of a Kosovo independence declaration and discourage Kosovo’s Albanians from taking that step."  I was ambivalent toward the Kosovo Albanians until I read who was opposing it.  Now I know and now I pray that God help my brothers in Kosovo to achieve their dreams of freedom.  The Amerikanski press often portrays the Kosovo matter as a conflict between Muslim Albanians and Christian Serbs.  This year I met a Christian Albanian who lives in Great Britain so guess what?  This is not about some wild haired jihad after all, is it?  Croatian troops are in Kosovo as part of the NATO force there.  I have a video on YouTube honoring Croatian forces who served in Afghanistan.  Several comments on my video wonder why Croatian soldiers are somewhere not Croatian.  When I first read those comments I understood them as being simply xenophobic like many Americans were during the Viet Nam matter.  I went back in the wee hours this very morning  and looked at those comments again, at who wrote them, and now I understand. Do I have to spell it out or do you understand too?  

Eagleburger claimed to be a "moderate" Republican.  Some Teksikan Republican commented one time that "moderate" usually means they do not believe anything.  Lawrence of Serbia seems not to have believed in anything but his bank account.  

Because of Eagleburger, the Americans did not step in decisively to assist Croatia until after the massacres at Vukovar, until after the massacres at Srebenica, until after the siege of Dubrovnik and other atrocities came to light.  If he were yet alive, I would say that Eagleburger should stand trial for the deaths of all these people - hundreds of thousands of them, but alas, he is dead.  Lawrence of Serbia is dead.  On je mrtav. Hvala Bogu.

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

Canovals a.k.a. Slavonac

14 Rujan 2011