Vladimir Orsag

Story

I was born in 1934, in Zagreb, capital of Croatia, part of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Two historical events took place that year. Adolf Hitler consolidated his power in Germany & King of Yugoslavia was assassinated, in Marseille, France. Both events played a crucial role in my early development & followed me on my journey throughout life.

In 1941, Yugoslavia was occupied by the Third Reich, which installed a fascist regime in Croatia Ð a watch dog of the Balkans. To the majority of Croatian people it was known as the darkest chapter in 1000 year old history of Croatia (925AD). In 1945, Croatia was liberated. In agreement between England & USSR, Croatia was incorporated into an ill-fated artificial union, known as Yugoslavia, the union of 6 states & 2 territories. Despite their diversity in culture, language & religion, their union was visualised by some as a bridge between the East & the West.

In 1951, my father was declared an ‘enemy of the state\’ simply because he was a follower of Stjepan Radic, a Croatian Deputy, who initiated a peaceful secession of Croatia from Yugoslavia in 1924. Radic was assassinated in Belgrade parliament in 1928. My father was sent to a labour camp, comparable to the Russian gulag or in the modern time similar to Srebrnica, in a rugged part of Bosnia. My education was immediately terminated while my sister, Nada (meaning hope), a qualified primary school teacher was sent to a village without electricity, running water or bitumen roads – the ideal landscape, years later, to make a film, Fiddler on the roof.

In 1958 my father & I escaped, on our fourth attempt, to Vienna where we received refugee status confirmed by the Commissioner for Refugees in Geneva. Due to the existing immigration regulations in Australia at that time, we weren\’t permitted to travel together. Therefore, in 1958 I sailed from Genoa onboard of a beautiful Greek liner, Queen Frederika. Our trip took 22 days, stopping at Valletta, Malta; Piraeus, Greece; Port Said, Egypt; Aden,Yemen; Colombo in today\’s Sri Lanka & ultimately arrived in Port Melbourne. From there we travelled by a train to Bonegilla camp, for many of us the first taste of mutton & an enormous nuisance Ð the presence of numerous bush flies.

In 1960, I married to Lidia, who came to Australia in 1958 with her parents from Zagreb. We have two sons, Tom & Peter & now two grandchildren, Holly & Fenian.

In 1964, I undertook a diploma course at Australian Academy of Investigation, the only kind in the Southern Hemisphere. In 1965, I was appointed as a draughtsman to Ministry of Navy in Canberra. In 1970 I travelled back to Victoria, to work at the Williamstown Naval dockyard for a year to familiarize myself in all aspects of Naval Architecture.

In 1967, I was granted a purchase of a government built home in Macquarie, ACT. In collaboration with several parents we formed the Belconnen Soccer club. I was a manager of a team, 7 years old boys, which lasted until 1977 when we formed Canberra City Soccer club to enable our guys to play the interstate games. In 1985, I was promoted to a supervising position. Upon my retirement in 1989, I continued part time work as a Private Investigator & a Process Server.

In 1999, I retired permanently. This retirement enabled me to pursue the publication of my modern historical novel, The Balkans Conspiracy, which was published in 2002. My manuscript under a different working title (The Baron\’s Legacy) received a literary award in the Sixth Literary Award contest in the USA in 1987. The main reason why I changed a title in 1999 was a detail, which is still a secret in the UK. Unfortunately my main character (the blood thirstiest dictator of 20th century according to Professor Rudy Rummel from Hawaii University) is still a taboo subject in the UK, the USA, Indonesia, Egypt, Cuba, India & some African countries. So the secret about his origin still lingers on. Since then I translated my novel, but many publishers who would be keen to publish it in Zagreb are starved of funds in order for some to control publishing industry.

During our residence in Canberra we travelled throughout Australia & remained loyal citizens to our new homeland which gave us an initial sanctuary, citizenship & an opportunity to develop ourselves. Quite naturally we consider ourselves the citizens by choice.

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