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Josip Broz Tito (Žika Vučić for Tanjug, file) BELGRADE -- Josip Broz Tito was "not of Yugoslav origin," a recently declassified document published on the CIA website has asserted.The U.S. intelligence agency said that a phonetic analysis of his speech suggested this conclusion. Broz - who came to power in the post-WW2, single-party communist Yugoslavia, and remained president until his death in 1980 - was officially of mixed Croat-Slovenian heritage. But the paper says that the manner in which he spoke "Serbo-Croatian" - allegedly his mother tongue, but spoken with a foreign accent - meant that his true native language,...

The Tekeriš memorial (BetaMUP) The Serbian army won the battle - the first Allied victory over the Central Powers in the First World War. The Austro-Hungarian army launched its attack on Serbia from Bosnia-Herzegovina on August 12, 1914 and went on to take the town of Šabac, but the Serbian forces made a strong stand at Mt. Cer, 35 kilometers from the city. The first big confrontation occurred in the night between August 15 and 16 near the village of Tekeriš, and the two armies continued to fight through August 20 along a 50-kilometer-wide front. The Austro-Hungarian forces, commanded by...

<p>MEMPHIS, Tenn. (AP) — Elvis Presley fans from around the world made their annual pilgrimage to Graceland on Thursday to pay their respects to the rock n' roll icon with a solemn candlelight vigil on the 36th anniversary of his death.</p>

THE IMPOSSIBLE AUSTRO-HUNGARIAN ULTIMATUM TO SERBIA IN 1914Aleksandra's Note: What follows is the impossible ultimatum presented to the Serbian government by Austria-Hungary on July 23, 1914, just over 3 weeks after the June 28th assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo, Bosnia. Fair historians have assessed this ultimatum as being both unreasonable and, more importantly, clearly intended to set Serbia up to fail to meet the demands, thus giving the green light for the war against the Serbs the Empire had been planning all along. All dates indicated are according to the current [Gregorian] calendar. The "old calendar" [Julian] date...

Aleksandra's Note: I had the pleasure of meeting RCAF veteran Norman Reid in Chicago in 1994 at the 50th anniversary celebration of the Halyard Mission, as part of a week long world-wide commemoration of the 50th anniversary of D-Day. He impressed me as a kind, soft-spoken, unassuming gentleman who escorted me to the D-Day activities on Lake Michigan that same week. I had hoped to keep in touch with Mr. Reid in the following years. I do not know if he is still alive and hope that if anyone does know, they will get in touch with me.These are the...

Graffiti portrait of Russian Emperor Nicholas II on Ulitsa (Street) Tsara Nikolaja II in the Vrachar district of Belgrade, Serbia. Artist unknown. Aleksandra's Note:On this day, July 17, in 1918, the Communists murdered Russian Tsar Nicholas II Romanov and his family. Tsar Nicholas II did not live to see the end of the First World War or Serbia's glorious victory in that war.Sincerely,Aleksandra Rebic**** By Paul Gilbert: A rare historical figure is the subject of a graffiti drawing in Belgrade, Serbia. An enormous image of Emperor Nicholas II can now be found on Ulitsa Tsara Nikolaja II, in the Vrachapy...

Curtis Diles' yard in Ohio with 500 American flags honoring the Mihailovich Serbs of WWII. Photo courtesy of the Diles family, date unknown. Aleksandra's Note:American WWII Air Force veteran Curtis "Bud" Diles, one of the "Forgotten 500" of the great Halyard Mission rescue operation, turned 88 on July 15, 2013. He has lived a full, rich life, and to his great credit to this day he has never forgotten what was done for him almost 70 years ago, a lifetime ago, by strangers whose language and culture he did not share and in whose land he had become a "visitor"...

The overwhelming reception for his forthcoming biopic about Nikola Tesla has led American director Michael Anton to deliver a new name to sum up the iconic nature of the man and his unique legacy. “Nikola Tesla does not need a controversial label,’ said Michael Anton. “The fact that his name is not as familiar as it should be is one of the issues we intend to address with this film, which has progressed from a strong script with a modest budget into a potential voice that will finally break the great silence that is the history of Nikola Tesla. “From...

"Were we to seize and eliminate from our industrial world the result of Mr. Tesla's work, the wheels of industry would cease to turn, our electric cars and trains would stop, our towns would be dark and our mills would be idle and dead. His name marks an epoch in the advance of electrical science."Vice President Behrend of the Institute of Electrical EngineersNikola Tesla symbolizes a unifying force and inspiration for all nations in the name of peace and science. He was a true visionary far ahead of his contemporaries in the field of scientific development. New York State and...

Battle of Kosovo 1389 / Adam Stefanovic, 1870-1871 Niti cemo se pokoriti, niti ukloniti!(We shall neither submit, nor yield!)...For Serbs, scattered over the central, northern, and western Balkans, living in 2 independent Serbian states born through revolutions and wars during the 19th century, as well as subjected to the Ottoman and Habsburg rule, Vidovdan embodied their "historical memory." ...Generations of Serbs and historians divided the national past into 2 periods: before and after the Kosovo Battle. Later, following the birth and ascendancy of the modern Serbian state in the 19th and 20th centuries, 3 kinds of traditions emerged: the old...

The Remains of Saint Lazar at Ravanica Monastery Saint Lazar the Great Martyr of KosovoPrince Lazar was born in 1329 in Prilepac to the aristocrat family Hrebeljanovic. His father Pribac was a Logotet-secretary doing very confidential work for King Dusan the Powerful in the royal palace. Young Lazar was raised in the palace, and was respected by the King who entrusted him with the rule of two parts of his kingdom: Srem and Macva. Lazar married Milica the daughter of an important aristocrat named Vratko also known as Yug Bogdan - a very wise and honorable man from the Nemanjic...

Field of Kosovo Peonies / Painting by Nadezda Petrovic "...A century later, we still do not know with certainty who knew what, and when they knew it."David FromkinJune 28th is a sacred day in Serbian history. It is on this day, "Vidovdan", many years ago, that the Christian Serbs, under the command of their beloved leader St. Lazar, sacrificed their entire army of 70,000 men on the fields of Kosovo, fighting against the Ottoman Turks, the Islamic army that was pushing into the Balkans and into the heart of Europe. That was 1389, and the beginning of Turkish rule over...

June 27, 2013 By Aleksandra Aleksandra's Note: Today is Thursday, June 27, 2013. Exactly 99 years ago today was the day before everything in the world changed forever. History tells us that it was a beautiful summer in 1914 - everything a summer should be. The peaceful atmosphere in Europe had only 24 hours left. The next day, June 28, 1914 was Vidovdan, a most sacred day in Serbian history. It was also the day that an Austrian Archduke and his wife would come visiting and go for a carriage ride in a city in Bosnia. It was a day...

Aleksandra's Note: On October 25, 2010, Lt. Col. Milton Friend (USAF, ret.) and his wife Shirley embarked on a very important trip overseas to Serbia. It would turn out to be the trip of a lifetime and the first time Milton Friend was returning to Serbia since World War Two! The main objective of the visit to Serbia was for Halyard Mission veteran Lt. Col. Milton Friend to testify at the October 29th hearing in Belgrade regarding the Rehabilitation of General Draza Mihailovich. Following this note you will find a photo essay courtesy of Milton and Shirley Friend of this...

Aleksandra's Note: June 10th marks the anniversary of when the Mihailovich Trial began in Belgrade in 1946. This trial would end in a "Guilty" verdict, a "Conviction", an "Appeal Denied", and an execution that would be carried out on July 17, 1946, only two days after the verdict and conviction were handed down. The trial was a sham, one of the biggest of the 20th century. It didn't last long by today's standards - just over a month. I'm convinced that General Mihailovich knew he was a "dead man walking" from day one, but he remained calm and testified and...

Ultimately, the Ustashe murdered more than 30,000 Jews, or 75 percent of the country’s [Croatia's] prewar Jewish community. Photo by: (Reuters) Just over a month from now, on July 1, a historic event will take place in the heart of Europe, when the EU welcomes Croatia as its 28th member state. The move will mark the culmination of a grueling decade long process, one in which the former Yugoslav republic had to implement widespread changes in a number of fields – ranging from intellectual property law to the free movement of capital – to bring itself in line with accepted...

Painting of Kaiser Wilhelm II by Max Koner 1890 Aleksandra's Note: It never ceases to amaze me how decades, and in this case an entire century, of cataclysmic change can run its course through the world and the history of its nations and peoples, but some things truly don't change. For the Serbs, "Deja Vu" has become a constant common denominator in the course of their history. This important bit of history from a 100 years ago should serve as a reminder to the Serbs that the passage of time, even a full century of time, really means nothing when...

Christ opening the gates of Dachau In 1945, a Paschal Liturgy like no other was performed. Just days after their liberation by the US military on April 29, 1945, hundreds of Orthodox Christian prisoners at the Dachau concentration camp gathered to celebrate the Resurrection service and to give thanks. The Dachau concentration camp was opened in 1933 in a former gunpowder factory. The first prisoners interred there were political opponents of Adolf Hitler, who had become German chancellor that same year. During the twelve years of the camp's existence, over 200,000 prisoners were brought there. The majority of prisoners at...

Aleksandra's Note: One of the best publications ever issued about the Kosovo legacy is KOSOVO by William Dorich, published in 1992. If you can find the book, get it. Dorich's beautiful tribute includes an essay by Thomas Emmert which should be a must-read for anyone searching to understand what the legacy of Kosovo is all about. It should also be a must-read for Serbs who need to be reminded about this legacy and why it is essential to preserve and protect their sacred KOSOVO. Sincerely, Aleksandra Rebic ***** "THE KOSOVO LEGACY" By Thomas Emmert On 28 June, 1389 an alliance...

Alyse Radenovic (http://www.alyseradenovic.com) was born in 1973 therefore during her early adult life the war in the former Yugoslavia was blazing. This extremely talented artist was born in America and her adorable fine art covers many different themes and often flows in many directions. Many strong passions exist within Alyse Radenovic and this applies to her love of art and her deep respect towards many political issues. Of major concern for Alyse Radenovic is the distortion of reality when it comes to the coverage of what happened to the Serbs in Bosnia, Krajina and Kosovo. Therefore, this article is about...