Yugoslavian couple recounts journey from communism to freedom - Polidicks

[quote]When Gering resident Teresa Scanlan became Miss America in 2011, Croatia applauded her success and proudly trumpeted Scanlan’s Croatian heritage, which was passed down to her from her mother. Many people, however, are not familiar with the story of how her grandparents immigrated to the United States from Croatia, escaping from an oppressive and frightening communist regime. Frank Jelich, 79, and Nives Jelich, 77, were born and raised on the island of Ilovik, Croatia, a 1,400 acre island in the Adriatic Sea. Just one of 1,200 islands in Croatia, Ilovik is a 15-minute boat ride to a bigger island where residents often go to shop. On the one-church, one-school island there are no cars and residents speak their own dialect of Croatian. Frank and Nives knew each other as children, where in a village of 400, it was difficult not to know everyone. “This little town was all Catholics and because it was so small, the whole focus was on prayer and church and God,” Nives Jelich said. Born in 1930s Croatia, the Jelichs grew up speaking Italian, under the influence of the Italian government that oversaw Croatia after World War I, Frank Jelich said. After World War II, Croatia became part of communist Yugoslavia until 1991, which brought huge changes to the old-fashioned and deeply religious customs of the country. For example, communism outlawed outdoor religious processions through village streets. “During communism, everyone became closed. They didn’t express their faith; they didn’t express anything,” Nives said. “Anytime they saw groups of people they thought they were conspiring against the government.”[/quote] Interesting read. [url]http://www.geringcitizen.com/articles.php?ID=4319&Title=Couple%20recounts%20journey%20from%20communism%20to%20freedom+%5Bpublished+2013-12-23%5D&Member_ID=&l=&First_Name=&Last_Name=[/url]

communism/socialism and freedom are not mutually exclusive.

Yugoslavian couple recounts journey from Yugoslavia to freedom

[QUOTE=NoDachi;43289224]Yugoslavian couple recounts journey from Yugoslavia to freedom[/QUOTE] Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia*

[QUOTE=Sobotnik;43289535]Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia*[/QUOTE] who cares we call it Yugoslavia (but the title is silly yes, Yugoslavia was never communist, it was socialist but that doesn't have quite the same ring to it)

My boss's mom is Croation, and she speaks rather fondly of her memories of life in Yugoslavia. She said that things weren't nearly as bad in neighboring countries, and the only really oppressive thing she ever fell victim to first hand was having lowered grades from attending a night-time church service (which she tells me she only went to to meet boys :v:)

I thought the Yugoslavians mostly liked being in Yugoslavia until Tito died

[QUOTE=The Maestro;43290897]My boss's mom is Croation, and she speaks rather fondly of her memories of life in Yugoslavia. She said that things weren't nearly as bad in neighboring countries, and the only really oppressive thing she ever fell victim to first hand was having lowered grades from attending a night-time church service (which she tells me she only went to to meet boys :v:)[/QUOTE] My mother also has some fond memories from it. Everybody could get a vacation, but on the other hand the mandatory rifle practice in school was a bummer. The whole thing about neighbors telling on each other was also a problem. Honestly speaking though, we're in kinda deep shit now anyway, but the shit is sprinkled with freedom of speech so yay I guess [QUOTE=carcarcargo;43290928]I thought the Yogoslavians mostly liked being in Yugoslavia until Tito died[/QUOTE] Yeah some did, others had situations like this or are even now yugonostalgic. Partially depends on the country they lived in.

"frightening and opressive" ahahahaha what pussies

Tito had to be frightening and oppressive because it stopped stupid asshole nationalists from shooting each other. Which is why after he died, a stupid asshole nationalist took control and led the whole country into civil war and genocide.

[QUOTE=1nfiniteseed;43297761]Tito had to be frightening and oppressive because it stopped stupid asshole nationalists from shooting each other. Which is why after he died, a stupid asshole nationalist took control and led the whole country into civil war and genocide.[/QUOTE] And a lot of faith based clashes, which is why he had to limit religious expression.

My parents got married in the church as well as everybody else who wanted. They and their children were baptized and received all the other sacraments and went to church regularly with no problem. [quote]For example, communism outlawed outdoor religious processions through village streets.[/quote] This is a lie. I just asked my parents about traditional Easter Friday procession in our town (few thousand people), and it was held yearly even during the communist regime. They can sell their stories to someone else. It wasn't as bad here as the west thinks.

[QUOTE=AntonioR;43298030]My parents got married in the church as well as everybody else who wanted. They and their children were baptized and received all the other sacraments and went to church regularly with no problem. This is a lie. I just asked my parents about traditional Easter Friday procession in our town (few thousand people), and it was held yearly even during the communist regime. They can sell their stories to someone else. It wasn't as bad here as the west thinks.[/QUOTE] the article's viewpoint is more a reflection of western opinion than anything else. painting any socialist regime in a sympathetic light (trying to use facts immediately makes people think you're a red sympathizer, here) in the west (particularly the united states) is suicidal.

[QUOTE=joes33431;43298219]the article's viewpoint is more a reflection of western opinion than anything else. painting any socialist regime in a sympathetic light (trying to use facts immediately makes people think you're a red sympathizer, here) in the west (particularly the united states) is suicidal.[/QUOTE] The Socialist regimes have certainly had their brighter points. The Soviet Union during the mid to late 1920s saw a near complete recovery from the wars and revolutions, along with improvements in the living standards, incomes, education, and nutrition of many inhabitants. Agriculture recovered to what it had been in 1913 (or surpassed it), while the control of the party in the countryside was in terminal decline (rural and town populations often ran their own affairs quite peacefully). A lot of Socialist regimes also saw impressive economic growth and general improvement throughout the 50s and 60s (North Korea was on par with South Korea til the 1970s).