American Serb History 101

Up until yesterday (Thursday, March 27, 2014), I had not heard of Admiral Vladimir Shashkevich until I received an email message from Bill and Barb Scharf, alerting me to the Facebook page they had created on the Admiral.  No, they had no relation to him, but Bill's father worked at Kolcast Industries with Vladimir Shashkevich in Minerva, Ohio before the former Admiral passed away.  When Bill's own father died, he found these exciting photos / stories and thought they were too valuable to history to be lost.  I'm grateful to Bill for allowing me to share this information with all my readers.  It's exciting and needs to be known more widely.

Admiral Vladimir Shashkevich

April 2,1895-November 22, 1963

from Rajevo Selo, (Austro-Hungary) Yugoslavia

Escorting the body of King Alexander I of Yugoslavia off the "Dubrovnik," after his  assassination in Marseilles, France,  on October 9, 1934.  Returning King Alexander's body home was probably the outstanding national event in Admiral Shashekevich's Naval career.

Newsletter where Vladimir Shashkevich worked.

Article says he began his KOLCAST career in Cleveland, in January of 1952, and when the operations moved to Minerva, OH, he was there to help tranistion in 1956.

Click photo on lower left side to enlarge

Click photo on lower left side to enlarge...

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Vladimir Shashkevich -a 9 yr.old cadet

in Eisenstadt, Austria

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Captain Shashkevich, as Commandant of the Naval Base on October 31, 1940, during the Slava ceremony in honor of St. Luke, the Patron Saint of the Royal Navy.  Behind him is his Aide.

The Slava is the most significant holiday to the Serbs, it is fundamental to the  origin and identity, you can say the Slava is the universal religious / traditional trademark of the Serbs.

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Vladimir Shashkevich, after coming to America in 1960. 

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Perhaps one of the most exciting parts of this story  is that Aleksandra Rebic of Chicago, Illinois, has known Admiral Vladimir Shashkevich's son, Michael, since the 1990's.  He is a professor at one of the universities in Illinois, and wrote about Mihailovich and the so-called excavation report in 2004!

Aleksandra also wrote about MICHAEL'S connections to the famous Serbian WWII General,  Draza Mihailovich!

Michael's father was a personal friend of Mihailovich and learned from his relatives that Draza had married a widowed friend of his from school, who bore him a daughter, Gordana and a son, Branko.  He says the person known as "Drazin's grandson" is not a bilogoical descendant of General Mihailovich.

Also killed with General Draza Mihailovich was General Kosta Musick, from one of the most distinguished families.  Lukijan Musick  (Archimandrite and Bishop, well-known poet) was the uncle of the grandfather of General Kosta Musick. 

Michael says that it is well known that before being killed by the Communists, General Kosta Musick shouted, "Long Live Serbia!" (Zivela, Srbija!)

Michael says that General Kosta Musick is his blood cousin and he would be willing at any time to give his DNA to prove his relation and the story.

Too, he says, that Musick's body was thrown in the pit with General Mihailovich's body. And, most probably,  also the bodies of Arsa Jovanovic and Andrija Hebrang.

The cliff-hanger is that Michael was with General Mihailovich at the same time in Ada Ciganlija prison, although only a young boy in his teens!

To read more about Aleksandra Rebic's blog, be sure to visit:  www.heroesofserbia.com 

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WWI Postcard of King Alexander of Yugoslavia

I've always had a fascination with Prince and later King Alexander (Aleksandar) of Yugoslavia ever since I found a two-spread photo of him decades ago in the middle of an old French publication from WWI, in an antique book shop located in Alexandria, VA.  (This has since been sent to HRH Prince Aleksandar of Serbia.)

Too, my Aunt Rose Mamula, was studying Philosophy as an American student in Belgrade only a month, when they learned of King Aleksandar's untimely assassination on October 9, 1934, in Marseilles, France, while he was attending a Peace Conference with Prime Minister of France, Louis Barthou.  She wrote a letter home to her mother, my grandmother, Andja Mamula Mamula, explaining the grief that had overcome the whole country.  I found a copy of that letter in the American SRBOBRAN which I will talk about later, including how the 9 USA stipendists carried a wreath from the SNF to Oplenac, where he was buried.

I will talk more about the amazing funeral elsewhere, covered so eloquently and in great detail by the major newspapers from all over the world. 



According to Wikipedia: "As Foreign Minister, Barthou met King Alexander I of Yugoslavia during his state visit to Marseilles in October 1934. On 9 October, the King and Barthou were assassinated by Velicko Kerin, a Bulgarian revolutionary wielding a handgun. One of the bullets struck Barthou in the arm, passing though and fatally severing an artery. He died of excessive blood loss less than an hour later. The assassination was planned in Rome by Ante Pavelić, head of the Croatian Ustaše, in August 1934. Pavelić was assisted by Georg Percevic, a former Austro-Hungarian military officer. France unsuccessfully requested extradition of Percevic and Pavelić.^[1"

Prime Minister of France, Louis Barthou was killed along with King Alexander of Yugoslavia on Oct. 9, 1934.

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And I can't help but mention, as we read about Admiral Vladimir Shashkevich's duty as the bearer of King Alexander's body back to Yugoslavia, how our Kum Rudy Ignatovic told us so many times of his walking on foot over a hundred miles, just to see the body of his slain beloved King Alexander pass throough on its journey throughout Yugoslavia in 1934.  That would be 80 years ago now, but only 13 years since the passing of his loyal subject, Rudy Ignatovic, 11/28/00, who had spent part of WWII in Stalag IX C as a POW.

Royal Standard of Yugoslavia from Wikipedia 3/28/14

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(Click all photos on the lower right hand side to enlarge.)

!928 V. Shashkevich seated in the middle in Dubrovnik

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1934

V. Shashkevich with young King Peter aboard the year he became King after his father's assassination.

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1937

V. Shashkevich with Admiral of the First Italian Fleet, the Marchese Riccardi at Boku Kotorshu Naval Base, Bay of Kotor.

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1939

V. Shashkevich dining in Split, Yugoslavia, with the Turkish Ambassador