Escape From Tyranny: Through a Child's Eyes

By Sylvia Bigit

It was the 1950s, and life in communist Yugoslavia was difficult under the iron fist of Josip Broz Tito. Hordes of people tried to escape the regime's tyranny for a better life in America, but many failed and paid the consequences ... some with their life. Escape From Tyranny tells the story of one family's attempts to flee communism, and how th

• Language: English
• Publisher: SB Publishing
• Release date: Jul 10, 2021
• ISBN: 9780578953137

Sylvia Bigit

Sylvia Bigit's latest book, The Friar Cave Mysteries, is an action and adventure murder mystery fiction that takes place on a paradise island off the Dalmatian coast of Croatia. Her first book, Escape From Tyranny: Through a Child's Eyes, is a memoir of her early childhood living in communist Yugoslavia. She has also written numerous business articles, press releases, Wikipedia pages, technical user software manuals, and other business-related documents. Prior to writing her books, Sylvia held positions such as VP of Operations, Director of IT Services, Business Manager, Systems Analyst, Business Analyst and Corporate Communications Writer. Sylvia has a passion for world culture and has traveled extensively to many parts of the world both for business and pleasure. She now lives in the sunshine state, Florida.

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Escape from Tyranny

Through a Child’s Eyes

Sylvia Bigit

Escape from Tyranny: Through a Child’s Eyes

Copyright © 2021 by Sylvia Bigit 

All rights reserved under the International and Pan-American Copyright Conventions.

No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any manner, or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publisher—except in cases for brief quotations or reviews where credit is given to the author.

Published by: SB Publishing

Dedication

To my beloved late mother, Ivka Skrokov, for all she scarified

Chapter 1

Prosciutto and Goat Cheese Sandwiches

It was another clear and sunny day on the island and the scent of sage filled the air. From atop the mountain, five-year-old Slavica looked out over the tranquil Adriatic Sea. Her mind raced with images from last week as she recalled the nightmare of the midnight attempted escape when her mother and three other families sailed with Captain Boris to escape from Yugoslavia. It was 1956 and life was difficult in communist Yugoslavia under Josip Broz Tito’s iron fist.

She thought about Captain Boris and how he stood on the shore and threatened her and the other children in the dead of night. Quiet! he yelled, his voice deep and raspy. You must be quiet the entire time or you’ll risk being shot to death! he said sternly while looking each child in the eyes. If you make any noise at all, you’ll alert the patrol boats. That means no talking. No crying. No peeps at all out of any of you. If I hear anything from any one of you, I’ll throw you overboard.

With that, all the children began to cry. 

Oh God, said Boris rolling his eyes. You’d better get all your crying out now or you’ll be sleeping with the fishes, understand?

He did a good job in scaring them into silence. Slavica was terrified that one of the kids would start crying again, but none of them did.

Captain Boris, despite his reputation, was a kind and compassionate man. He was a tall, slender, dark haired man with bluish eyes and a large chevron mustache and neatly trimmed beard. He had a no-nonsense look about him. He understood the plight of some of the locals to seek a better life in America or Australia. He ran his boat like an underground railroad made famous by Harriet Tubman in the United States. While Harriet Tubman helped people escape from slavery, captain Boris helped people escape from communism.

After seeing the size of the boat, Angelo, one of the men who was escaping with his family, found his voice and asked, How will we all fit in that small boat?

Captain Boris, annoyed that Angelo even asked him that question, assured him everyone would fit just fine. Including Captain Boris, there were 4 men, 4 women and 6 children ranging in age from five to ten years old. First, he told the children one-by-one where to sit inside the bow of the boat and reminded them not to talk or make any noise. Next, he sat the men on the port and starboard sides of the boat and the women were seated in the middle of the boat.

Slavica was no stranger to boats, but with all the people getting on and rocking the boat to and fro so much, she felt a little queasy. She smelled the salty sea air, which cleared her nostrils, but the musty smell of the wood just added to her queasiness.

After everyone was on the boat, he again repeated his instructions, Stay low and be quiet, especially you kids, he said. Not a sound. Do you understand? Everyone nodded. He then silently took off and they started their journey toward Italy.

Captain Boris knew the islands like the back of his hand, and skillfully navigated the boat through the islands that lined the west coast of Croatia and into the open sea. He intentionally sailed during a new moon as it would provide added camouflage from the patrol boats. The night was pitch black, and even though the Adriatic was tranquil, Slavica could hear and feel the boat as it splashed against the water in its forward motion.

Just as they sailed a few miles past the coast of the last set of islands, a bright light pierced the darkness. It was the patrol boat’s spotlight. A moment later, they heard the shrill sound of the patrol boat’s siren. Slavica was the shortest and youngest of the children, so she sat in front of the other kids. From her vantage point, she could see the spotlight and hear the officer barking orders at them through the bullhorn. She heard the officer order them to head back to shore immediately. Knowing it was futile to disobey the command, Captain Boris turned his boat around as the patrol boat followed close by his side. When they got close to the mainland, the patrol boat ordered the captain to follow them into port.

As soon as everyone was on dry land, the police quickly loaded everyone into a police van and drove the escapees to the police station. Everyone was grim, and some of the men whispered among themselves with concerns about being either locked up for the rest of their lives or executed. The women had their concerns as well. They were apprehensive about what would happen to their children should they be locked up in a jail cell.  And some of the children were whimpering as they had no idea what was going on.

Once inside the jail, the adults were finger printed and thrown into a jail cell.

The captain of the patrol boat wore the customary navy-blue uniform with gold stripes on the sleeves, gold double breasted buttons on the jacket, and a blue cap with a red star in the front and a gold braid around the rim. As intimidating as he looked, it was the gun he carried that scared Slavica the most. The patrol boat captain was very harsh with his instructions to the escapees.

What you all have attempted to do is a very serious crime, he barked while scanning their faces individually. Slavica had never seen someone with such a disgusted look of their face. You all could wind up spending a lot of time in prison and could even be shot to death! How will your children survive without their parents? Huh? Have you even given that any thought before pulling this stunt? He made some of the children whimper and cry out in fear.

The police took Captain Boris and the other men to the interrogation room, leaving the women and children in the jail cell. All the children, except Slavica, were crying at this point because they were scared.

Once the initial commotion started to calm down, the police got a good look at their fugitives. Some chuckled at them because of how they were dressed. Each of the escapees had on two layers of clothing. The men had on two pairs of pants, two shirts and two sweaters. The women had on two skirts, two blouses and two sweaters. The children also had two of everything. This was necessary because, prior to sailing, Captain Boris had told them to only bring the bare essentials. One couple tried to bring a suitcase, but Captain Boris made them leave it behind on the dock.

Did I not say to only bring the clothes on your backs? he asked sternly. This suitcase will have to remain here. If there’s anything of importance in there, retrieve it now and do it quickly, Captain Boris had barked at them.

But, to Slavica, this was all a great big adventure. She had never been to the city and she was fascinated by the differences between the city and her island. She had never seen a building more than two stories high and she had never seen a