AMIR TELIBECIREVIC LUNJO: After Tito, again Tito

"LET'S KEEP BROTHERHOOD AND UNITY AS THE PUPIL OF OUR OWN EYE" - With this message deceased Josip Broz Tito used to start or finish many of his famous speaches at countless meetings all over the former Yugoslavia. Many of those to whom this message was sent, understood the message literally, while some others misunderstood it and some didn't want to understand it. After few decades of Tito's charismatic leadership, that was became mostly boring to domestic people here and it became almost unnoticable just like a chorus of some hit song which is constantly on the tops of hit lists in each Yugoslav republic. In the case of Bosnia & Hertzegovinia, ethnicly the most mixed area on balkan, that sentence had heavy meaning, but it's another story which is not ended yet after all.
Beside this message Tito had many other similar and legendary statements by which he was well known either by followers or opponents. these has been already so much written, spoken, told, recorded, fabricated and discovered about Tito but maybe not so much about people he was taking care of. Especially young people, previously Tito's pioneers and socialist youth and later on maniacs, war criminals, ethno fanatics, alcoholics, warriors and junkies. Of course not all of them got into one of these categories, but the last balkanian wars prooved there was a lots of them in it. There was even a bigger amount of the olders in all of that who involved youngsters, but after Tito's death even youngsters sometimes asked themselves whose pioneers and socialist youth they should be then, and what would be the purpose. For who to wear red scarfs, gilly flowers and relay sticks. About ten years after Tito's death this dilema lasted but those questions never got answered.
It only got countless new, creepy hard questions. Somewhere among space and time remained an specific relation between youth in Bosnia , with generations born at 70s and so it is with those born after Tito's death who are trying a little bit to adopt some experiences, knowledges and tricks from the previous ones who saved even foggy memories on times when they at least had something to believe in.
In down-town (in the famous snyper alley) of Sarajevo there is an metal statue of Tito in natural size. During the siege and bombing of city , the first battle front line was around hundred metres remoted from the statue. Three and half war years made almost all buildings destroyed or damaged and ground terrain digged around this statue, but the statue itself is hardly scratched. It's not damaged at all. Thousands of various calibres projectiles somehow missed that metal figure. Here it is well known that those who were destroying and demolishing the town definitelly hate Tito and yet they haven't demolished his statue although they could do it in many ways since the statue is not hidden or protected by some walls or houses, it is in the open space, visible from various positions. Beside that, there was also very often so called non-selected shelling and shooting on Sarajevo and so many houses, buildings and streets got hitted accidently and yet again our statue not even accidently. I am mentioning all of this as the fact, and I am not superstitios but I feel this story contains some things that are worthless to think much about it.
Regularly after the war, every year on 25th of May-Tito's birthday and youth holiday, next to this statue gathers a bunch of young people, first they would put flower coronets on the statue and then they would sit around it and sing old songs, drink and later on puke but they would feel happy or just temporary satisfied in their souls for all of that.
It doesn't have much with communist party or any relation with political connotes. The young population here are seeking for an imaginary "leader and idol". Deceased Tito as one of "serious candidates" for such a position presents a compromise. Just as his Yugoslavia use to be one significant great compromis within a geopolitical old world order. It was Tito's invention named 'the movement of non-aligned countries' as a sort of "sponge" between eastern and western power blocks. It was only one of many reasons why Tito's Yugoslavia from todays time distance looks like the most beautiful illusion in the world. However even among the teenage population here can be found some local nationalism which is sometimes partly justified and oftenly completely unjustified. It is either about those who heard from their parents that Tito was the enemy of their ethnic group only, or about those poor guys whose complete family is slaughtered in the last war plus they are unemployed now, and now they have more important things to deal with than to think about Tito or anybody else. Then we have young religious fanatics and persons with too strong complexes but their mental background is hard to make definition upon it. Because of almost extremely hard social and economic situation here, teenagers often says here is no future or they have no future only. Unfortunately it is pretty much justified opinion but still without definition. Even these guys who say so can't precisely define what means for them "future" and what means term "here". For the same reasons today they are wailing after "Tito's time" somewhere in Canada, Australia, Holland and USA.
"FUCKING TITO" , "TITO FUCKER" or "MAY TITO FUCK YOU"-are standarded swearing among Sarajevo's youth in last twelve years. Even so standarded that is already seriously endangering the oldest and the most common rude swearing here "mother fucker". To feel but not understand the basics of this swear you should be if not born here then at least grow up here. It have nothing with hate to Tito, it's not matter of hate at all. It' simply an modern balkan replacement for swearing on God.
Equal to this swear is epithet which mark someone in positive way like"HE IS TITO" or even "SHE IS TITO". Epithet is pronounced with admiring and mark persons who are impressive or in original way make many people laughing or just very cool persons. So there is some special and still not very clear relationship between todays Sarajevo balkan youth and myth which still in the air, the myth of Marshal Tito.
Teenagers subconsciously are wailing toward a leader who is connected to the public secret he had a short sexual adventure with attractive movie star Sophia Loren around fourty years ago, although Tito seemed like he wouldn't give a shit about the opinion of Sophia's husband Carlo Ponti or central committee's atitude and rumors. It for sure is not same as for example the case of Boris Yeltsin who in front of TV cameras once pinched the ass of one of his lady secretaries.
Tito had more intimate contacts with women but he did it with a style, so he got young followers and among tem where some of them who would proudly say they used to be Tito's pioneers or socialist progresive youngsters or those who feel sorry cause they missed a chance to be one of these.
If not a sexual revolution then at least sexual insinuations could be one day some leading motives for this youth who doesn't have (or it seem to them for now they don't have) future in this area. Such a possibility (since balkan have no surprises any more, almost everything is possible here) reminds me of one street drunker I've seen few weeks ago; he was drunk completely from the toes to the top of head while he was laying on the tram's floor and talking to himself. One of his many hardly spoken and pronounced words were as follows: "I am the biggest fucker here , I fucked half of Sarajevo, the other half fucked me, only rahmetli Tito was bigger fucker than me".

exp. Word "rahmetli" is bosnian Muslim word for deceased person

More about Tito on the web