A Family at Last

By Nedeljko Zeljkovich

This is a true story about the life of Nedeljko Zeljkovic. The journey starts when his mother gives away her five year old son to an orphanage so she could pursue her career.
At the age of fifteen years, at the beginning of World War II, he had to survive on his own, living in the streets, dodging bullets and bombs. When he was finally old enough, he joined the British service, met Anneliese, married and moved to the United States.
This memoir delivers a portrayal of the hardships he endured during his childhood and early adult years. However, he never lost his faith, compassion or courage. It is a compelling book which will humble, uplift and inspire its readers.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 26, 2013
• ISBN: 9781483677019

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Copyright © 2013 by Nedeljko Zeljkovich.

Library of Congress Control Number:      2013913773

ISBN:      Hardcover      978-1-4836-7700-2

Softcover      978-1-4836-7699-9

Ebook      978-1-4836-7701-9

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted

in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system,

without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

Rev. date: 08/13/2013

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CONTENTS

Acknowledgments

A Tribute to my Father

Chapter 1—The Good Life of my Mother and Father

Chapter 2—Milena’s Struggles

Chapter 3—Orphaned at Five

Chapter 4—Another Orphanage

Chapter 5—A Third Orphanage

Chapter 6—Forced Labor

Chapter 7—Hospitalized with Malaria

Chapter 8—The Penalty Camp

Chapter 9—I Wasn’t Broken

Chapter 10—The War is Over

Chapter 11—A New Camp

Chapter 12—British Soldier Meets German Beauty

Chapter 13—My Life is Now Complete

Chapter 14—George Maas’s Story in Anneliese’s Words

Chapter 15—Our Marriage

Chapter 16—New Baby—New Country

Chapter 17—Lady Liberty

Chapter 18—American Babies, Friends, and Jobs

Chapter 19—Our Sponsor Dies

Chapter 20—Visit to Germany

Chapter 21—Life Goes On

Chapter 22—Losses

Afterword—My Friends Became My Family

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

To my beloved wife, Anneliese, who taught me how to love and trust and who gave us the best gift of all—our special family. I would like to say thank you to my children, Rita Cunningham, Milena Johnson, Vera Kankowski, and Rosemarie Hauer, who encouraged me to write my autobiography.

To my grandchildren, Nedine Cunningham, Christina (Cunningham) Matoski, Ryan andJeffrey Johnson, Julie (Kankowski) Markley, Jason Kankowski, Stacie (Hauer) Wilson, Laurie and Aaron Hauer.

To my great-grandchildren, Bronwyn and Addison Matoski, Dirk Safoske, Logan and Aiden Johnson, Avery and Audrey Johnson, and Emma Markley.

To my friend and companion Florence Kozak to whom I dictated my story.

Finally to all future generations of the Zeljkovich family.

A TRIBUTE TO MY FATHER

This book is a memoir written by my father, Nedeljko Zeljkovich, who also happens to be my role model and hero.

He overcame so many obstacles and hardships, from being led by the hand at age five by his mother and left at an orphanage all alone and abandoned, to losing Anneliese, his wife (my mother), to cancer after fifty-two years of marriage and building a lifetime of memories.

This is a story about wondrous accomplishments and survival in overcoming all odds. My father is a man of great intelligence, fortitude, compassion, and love. His life experiences are amazing and unmatched.

At the age of fifteen, in the midst of World War II, he was deported to Germany from Yugoslavia, dodging bullets and bombs, enduring starvation and cold. At the age of nineteen, while serving in the British Service, he met my mother. After their marriage, they immigrated to the United States of America, where the story continues with more incredible experiences.

This memoir is the story of his life, but he has many stories left to tell. This is about a man who did it his way and about how miraculous and incredible a man he is.

Pop, you may not have been loved or wanted as a child, but you sure made up for that by making us feel very loved and wanted.

Thank you, Pop, for showing all of us the way.

CHAPTER 1

The Good Life of my Mother and Father

1916

Krupa in Bosnia

My grandfather answered a loud knock on the door of his home in Krupa, Bosnia, where he lived with his wife and two sons.

Mr. Zeljkovich? asked the Austrian soldier on the front porch.

Yes. What do you want?

Is Uros Zeljkovich your son?

Yes, answered my grandfather. Is anything wrong?

Hearing his name, Uros came to see what was going on.

Are you Uros Zeljkovich? the soldier asked Uros.

Yes, I am.

You are drafted into Austrian military service. You are ordered to report to the army base tomorrow morning before eight o’clock.

But I am not Austrian. Although I am living in Bosnia, I am Serbian. There must be some mistake.

The uniformed man answered, You swore allegiance to the Austrian Empire every morning when you were in school. Austria is in control of this country. If you do not appear tomorrow morning, you will be arrested and sent to jail where you will work at hard labor for ten years.

Pointing his finger directly into the face of my grandfather, the Austrian soldier asked, Mr. Zeljkovich, you have another son, don’t you?

Yes.

What is his name, and how old is he?

My grandfather could see the soldier looking at his papers, and he knew he couldn’t lie about his younger son. Bosko is nineteen.

If Uros doesn’t report by eight o’clock tomorrow morning, your other son will be conscripted instead. Do you understand, Mr. Zeljkovich?

The older man hung his head. Yes, I understand, he answered.

The Zeljkovich family knew there was no choice. If Uros ran away, he would be a fugitive for the rest of his life, and his younger brother would be drafted in his place. At the age of twenty-one, Uros was drafted in the Austrian army in 1916 and was sent to the Russian front. He was forced into World War I on the German and Austrian side against the alliance of Russia, England, and France, even though his sympathies were with his native Serbia and the Allies.

Thirty-eight years prior to this event, at the Congress of Berlin in Germany in 1878, by the Great Powers, they decided that the Austro-Hungarian Empire would receive authority to occupy Bosnia and Herzegovina away from the Ottoman Empire. Serbia, Montenegro, and Croatia did not like this, especially Serbia since they wanted to annex Bosnia and Herzegovina themselves because majority of the population of that country was Serbian.

On June 28, 1924, the heir apparent to the Hapsburg throne, Archduke Francis Ferdinand, was assassinated by a young member of the Bosnian Serbs whose name was Gavrilo Princip. The assassination led to the outbreak of World War I.

In 1917, a year after Uros was drafted, he was shot in the leg. Although he was still officially in the Austrian Army, he was sent back to his home in Krupa, Bosnia, to recover from his wounds. There he helped in his family’s tavern as soon as he was able to. Although their family was Serbian, their home and business were in the Bosnian section of the Austrian Empire. The different Slavic ethnic groups, although they didn’t mix socially, had been getting along for centuries, and Krupa was a prosperous metropolitan area with pleasant homes, some of which were located on paved streets.

One evening in 1917, he took time off from his responsibilities at his father’s tavern to attend a festival in Krupa. His hometown always had a lot of activities at the marketplace, often including music and dancing.

My mother, Milena; her brother, Nikica; and her younger sister, Savka, would also go there on weekends.

Bosko and Uros were eating sarma and cevapcici, which are cabbage rolls and sausage with onions and bread, while watching a group of people hold hands in a line dance called the kolo, the Serbian national dance. Uros noticed a raven-haired beauty.

Look, he said to his younger brother Bosko, pointing at a young woman who was dancing the Serbian national dance in a line while holding hands with the men next to her. Isn’t she the most beautiful girl you’ve ever seen? I must meet her.

How are you going to do that? You can’t dance with your stiff leg.

I’ll need your help. You join the kolo line next to her. When the music stops, ask her if you and your brother can come to her table because I want to meet her.

Bosko did as his brother suggested.

Yes, I will meet your brother, Milena agreed.

Bosko motioned to Uros, and the two men went to Milena’s table. Uros bowed and said, May I ask your name?

I do not give my name to anyone without a proper introduction, she replied.

Uros nudged his brother. Miss, this is Uros Zeljkovich, said Bosko.

Now we have been introduced, said Uros. But if you still won’t give me your name, I shall call you Angel.

Uros ordered an apple strudel for himself and one for Angel so he could linger at her table and find out more about her. He learned she was Serbian, but she wouldn’t say who she was or where she lived.

Bosko left the two alone to get acquainted, and Uros was intoxicated with the smile and the smell of the perfume of this beautiful lady. He talked to the dark-haired young woman for a long time, until she said, It’s getting late. I must be going home.

But you haven’t given me your name, Uros protested. And where will I see you again?

There is another festival in two weeks in my village of Bastra, and I am going, she told him.

And although he hadn’t learned her name, Uros was familiar with her village, and he knew it was about ten miles from where he lived in Krupa, Bosnia. Two weeks from today, I will be there, he said.

True to their words, the two young people came together again a fortnight later. Uros learned that his beautiful lady was named Milena Mandic, and in the next few months, they met at festivals around the area.

From the first day, Uros longed to kiss his attractive new friend as he became more and more attracted to her, but it wasn’t until their fourth date that he got up his courage. One evening he pulled her to him and kissed her. To his immense relief, Milena returned his affection, and it was obvious that their friendship had blossomed into love.

Milena didn’t tell anyone in her family who she was seeing because she thought they wouldn’t approve.

And she was right.

Her sister Savka and her older brother, Nikica, attended these festivals with her. Her siblings noticed that their sister was becoming too fond of Uros, and they felt responsible enough to tell their parents.

Milena is seeing a crippled soldier from Krupa, they said.

Her parents were not happy when they discovered the liaisons their daughter was having with her new friend.

You are not to see this young man again, they ordered.

Don’t I have anything to say about who I date? Why are you forbidding us?

Milena’s parents had all the answers. He is beneath your station in life. His family has a tavern, and they aren’t as wealthy as we are. Our grocery store has a much better income, they said. You are used to a better lifestyle than you will get with Uros.

And, they added, he has this bad limp. He is also still in the army.

Milena listened to her parents, but against their orders, she continued to meet Uros at festivals whenever she could get away from her family’s watchful eyes.

After the war ended in 1918, Uros was freed from his military obligation, and he could seriously court the woman he loved.

One day Uros went to see Milena’s parents to ask their permission to marry their daughter. They refused again by saying he lived too far away, but he knew this was just an excuse.

In spite of her parents’ refusal, Uros met Milena the next day at another festival. He went down on his good knee and asked for Milena’s hand in marriage, and she accepted at once.

Let’s elope, Milena decided. My parents will have to accept our union once we are married.

On a dark night, Uros hitched a horse to his wagon with the help of his younger brother Bosko, and they set out for Milena’s home in Bastra. They took a gun with them, although they weren’t sure why. Perhaps they thought they would be set upon by robbers, or perhaps they expected trouble from Milena’s family.

They drove the wagon to Milena’s house. The grocery store was on the first floor of the Mandic home, and the parents’ quarters were on the second floor. Milena and her sister and brother lived on the third floor, and for this reason the men brought a long ladder.

Park close to the house right under her window, Uros directed his brother.

Uros unhitched the horse and tied it to a tree. He then put chocks under the wheels to secure the wagon.

The two men put the ladder in the wagon for extra length, and they steadied it against the side of the Mandic home. Along with an extension, the height of the wagon made it just long enough to reach Milena’s third-story window.

Uros was unable to climb the ladder because of his disabled leg, and this became Bosko’s job.

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