In preparation for meeting Lud’s cousin for lunch we walked into town to buy a gift. We found a nice mum plant to give along with some candy we brought from the US.
On our trip last year Lud had suggested we stop and meet his second cousin, Milka, but we had not planned to be in that area so it didn’t work out. This year we weren’t sure if it would work out either because Milka had surgery recently and wasn’t sure if she could receive guests. But her recovery had been going well, so when I wrote to inquire about a visit she said yes, please come. I replied saying we could stop by for a short visit. She replied immediately and insisted we not come for a short visit but that we come for the afternoon and have lunch.
We drove 40 minutes from Samobor to the small town of Jastrebarsko to meet Milka and her husband, Miran (or Maran?). Her background is Serbian, his Croatian, from Slavonia. They married in Zagreb before the war.
Jastrebarsko is in a pretty location, on flat farming land but right next to the same range of small mountains and park land that stretches to Samobor. The town has a scarred history, however. During WW 2 there was a ‘camp for children’ (meaning a prison camp) where over 3000 mostly Serb, but also Gypsy and Jewish kids were held and abused by the Ustaše fascists and Catholic nuns in charge of the place. Between 500-1500 kids died there before the Yugoslav Partisans freed them. Today there is no monument or acknowledgment of this terrible thing at the site (one of the buildings, once a castle, still stands and has been renovated), but I read that there is a memorial in the cemetery (which we did not see).
Milka and Miran live in a small Yugoslav era apartment building on the edge of town. They have a maltese puppy, Judy, who was sweet, affectionate, and not a barker. They have a nice garden and fruit trees. They speak no English but welcomed us warmly, and their dear friend, co-worker and unofficially adopted daughter, Mirana, who knows some English, was there to translate. Mirana’s parents died when she was young and she has no siblings. Her husband is a plumber and they have a 14 year old daughter, Antonia. They live in a nearby village.
The old building looks run down from the outside, as most do, but their upstairs apartment has high ceilings, nice windows, and comfortably sized rooms. There is a large entry hall, a kitchen/dining/living room, a bedroom, and a large living room/study, as well as a room with a shower and a small room with toilet and sink. The couple said they really don’t need so much space (we would want more space). They have an office on the first floor where they run an accounting business. Marina shares the office with them but has her own accounting business. Some of Miran’s paintings hang on the wall.
Milka’s grandpa and Lud’s grandpa were brothers in Vojnić(close to where my ancestors are from). She is 59, her husband 63. We did not discuss it but the religious images in the house are Catholic. Miran sings in church and also, for fun, plays the traditional instrument, the tamborica. He sang and played for us at our request. His voice is warm and robust.
After serving us (homemade) rakija (honey flavored) and coffee they served soup with homemade pasta, a delicious roast (lamb? And potatoes, carrots and onion), homemade pickles, bread and green salad. Miran said he made 300 liters of rakija one year! They served a lovely cake after the meal. Miran does most of the cooking but Milka made the cake and the soup.
They have two kids- a daughter studying opera in Basil, and a son who (we think) recently completed studies to be a magistrate in Zagreb. He is married and has a baby boy due in November. They played a video of their daughter singing and indeed she sounded wonderful.
We asked how they ended up in Jastrebarsko. They said they chose it because of its proximity to both Vojnić and Zagreb. They like it there.
After lunch Miran and Marina (and energetic little Judy) led us on a walk in the park across from their housing complex. An earthquake in 2011 and a big storm a few years ago caused many old trees to fall. The park was large and pleasant but unremarkable except for the renovated old castle (once used for the prison camp).
Once back at the apartment they offered us another piece of cake. We declined. We made an attempt to leave, not wanting to over stay our welcome, but they insisted we stay and said another friend would be arriving soon, and she would be bringing cake! Soon Eva arrived with her cake. She is another close friend of the couple, another adopted daughter of sorts. Her English was better than Marina’s and Marina was happy to give the translator role over to Eva. Eva, originally from Bosnia, was chatty. She lived in the US in Connecticut as an exchange student 30 years ago. She is a violin teacher at the school in town
Before we left Milka gave me a gift of an embroidered sash-like piece of fabric thatbis traditionally given as a gift at weddings (if i understood correctly). I was touched. We took photos together and then said our goodbyes. They also gave us pieces of both cakes, a bottle of rakija, a bag of serbian coffee, bread, and a healthy portion of home cured meats. So kind. These good people welcomed and treated us like family even though we are not related. We are happy to have made that connection with them and will surely keep in touch.
We made it back to Samobor and went for dinner at the same place we ate our first night in town. On the way we saw one of those leg-less lizards that are so bizarre. They look like a cross between a snake and a giant worm. Dinner was good. Back at the apartment i felt a tinge of regret that we were leaving the next day. We would have liked to have hiked in the area. But we enjoyed our time wandering through the town.
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