Julian Malacko at Electro-technical Faculty worked
till 1964. This time his job was far more peaceful,
there were no more pressures from the worried parents,
who wanted better notes or safe future for their
off springs, to be enrolled in The Technical High
School.
Julian practically escaped from this sort of pressure
to the Faculty!
Even his salary was slightly higher; only, the human
relations between the colleagues were not quite
splendid. They have been treated him as the one belonging
to some lower caste: what the language is this
Ruthenian-Rusin, after all?! Better could learn some more
useful language and not this one who was spoken by
less then 40,000 people in, then, Yugoslavia... Julian
have replied that this is his mother tongue, why
they are so troubled by this fact, what if it would be
gypsy, it does not matter, still Julian’s
children are speaking one more language in comparison
to their children!
Yes, during their education they could feel they were
different, not often but often enough to remember the
difference.
Julian was not nationalists, neither radical. He
traveled a lot, he studied abroad, he was actually
cosmopolitician but he truly respected his roots. He
respected the other people’s nationalities, but he
appreciated his people and loved them. He regularly
watched each year’s Rusin’s national fest the “Red Rose”;
nevertheless he had to travel almost 600 km to see it,
in his age of over 80!
In his room there were some framed photos, shot by
him: his father and mother, “slajs” at Begelj canal
(see this photo )...
In Zagreb, he was regularly attending the meetings at
the club of the‘Rusin-Ukraininan People’. When he died,
the choir of the Rusin-Ukrainian people led by Mr.
Krajcar was indeed nicely singing at the burial
service, paying in this way the last respect to
Julian, for which family thank to all those wonderful
people, at their nice gesture, once more...
The photography was the special chapter in Julian’s
life. He loved it; he shot some wonderful photos, some
of them were developed as the posters, by some family members.
He had to sell his Leica camera getting for gal stone operation,
and mentioning for several times with the bitterness in his voice,
we recognized that he did not overcame it easy.
Two the rolleiflex cameras one 12 x 9, the other 24x36 we could
borrow but must promise to return undamaged.
Natalia said he have even the microscope, but this went for sale
the first when family run into need, that happened several times,
but in times of his gal operation lasted the longest.
He documented first days of his children and not only them,
but as well the special events such as
the partisan’s meetings after the ‘deliberation’, when
the WW II ended.
People were forced to attend, the
partisans watched from the back who was missing or trying
to leave prematurely...
I used the quotation marks for the
expression ‘deliberation’ while my grand mother Maria from
the mother’s side, seeing The Red Army forces said: ”They did not come to free us but to rob us!” And
indeed was so, they literally took all they only
could, from bicycles to the wrist watches. The stories
The Red Army soldiers drunk anything made of alcohol,
including perfumes was not just the story, even those
and far worse stories were true...
He was not only shooting the photos, but he was
processing them, still, in Ruski Kerestur he had
installed his own photo lab. This appeared to be very
useful when, after the communists rooted in, the
official photographers dared not to shot the communion
photo at the beginning of 50-es.
Then the parish priest was dr. Joachim Segedi, who
died few years ago in age of 99( 2004 ); the pope John Paul II
waited his 100’s birthday to be promoted to cardinal,
but he died the month earlier not receiving this
birthday gift from Vatican. If receiving it, he would
be the first Rusin cardinal! And the eldiest too.
Lords will.
When the new assistant, dipli. Ing. S., appeared at
Electro-technical Faculty, the human relations at the
faculty deteriorated. His knowledge was a bit weak,
but he substituted it with his servility: each morning
he was awaiting the professor at the entrance doors
for taking his hand bag and carrying it to professor's Heim
office, he was bringing coffee, newspapers, if something had
to be done, his hand was always close to do it, he was always available...
When Mr. S. thought he took the position he wanted,
started to mistreat the other colleagues. Julian who
was almost as twice old as Mr. S. did not think he had
to stand it.
The breaking point was when the specialization study
was offered in the USA. Mr. S, although not speaking
English competed and won, Julian who spoke English,
failed.
This was his the last drop; Julian took his
documents and went to The Machine-Shipping
Construction Faculty.
Mr. S. never got back from the USA, he remained
working there...
Julian worked his quiet job until 1978, at the third
floor of the Faculty, room 312; the windows of his room were
turned towards the high way that leads to Ljubljana,
busy and noisy each point of time, only by night the
traffic noisy ceased.
Julian was teaching the subject called “The Machine
Elements” on The Machine-Shipping Construction Faculty,
The Oil, Geology and Mine Faculty, The High Technical
School' Djuro Djakovic' in Slavonski brod and The Shipping
Construction Faculty, Split.
Then, he was forced to retire, as after 71, he was not let
to lecture, following the legislation norms of the former
Yugoslavia.
At this Faculty, Julian was in charge for even
something that had nothing to do with his formal
education.
Due to knowledge of the foreign languages,
he was in charge to teach the foreign students
Croatian for which he was left 3-6 months time in the
most cases.
He was doing it by the way to his regular
duties, for free, of course.
If something he hated, it was it. The time
estimated for learning was too short; it seemed they were
not progressing at all...
Many times he came home telling us the funny
situations that occurred when students twisted the
words or their meaning...
Something similar to “The Faulty Towers”
and situations with Manuel there...
Now, this is done at Philosophy Faculty and takes
longer. Professors there are paid for it.
Then, in Split, Dalmatia province, the new The
Shipping Construction Faculty was established. Julian
was in charge to travel down there and lecture as the
eminent professor, the same position he had in
Slavonski Brod, Slavonia province at The High
Technical School there, that was actually the faculty as
well. Julian’s former students were producing trains,
ships, tanks and the tramways as well. The factory called
"Djuro Djakovic” for whose purposes this High School
was established, made as well the first all Yugoslav
made train, 1949, whose project led Dipl. Ing Sedlar,
Julians colleague, professor at the same faculty.
To the students of The Technology he was lecturing
'The Machine Elements' being beloved by female students
due his alikeness to the film actor Gregory Peck.
Mr. Sedlar was my teacher from the same subject, ’ 'The Machine Elements’. When I was at the exam, he was
specially demanding to me, ‘sqeezing’ me, forced me to
derive some equation we never heard of, but he
thought that I, having a bit more background,
have to be capable of it.
In the same way he wanted to show off, to the other
students, that the fact the relatives or family members are working there,
was not offering any sort of the advantages to anyone, for only
knowladge matters for notes.
Then, the part of this faculty was located at the nice site,
opposite to the national theatre, at the address The Marchal Tito's
Square 5, only the ruin of the building for, as it's a sort of
custom that universities are not having enough money to renew
such facilities...
The first building to it was 'Kavkaz' that had nothing to do with
the geography of former SSSR but was shortage that meant Theatre Caffe,
( Kavana Kazaliste); there you could meet prominent actors, conductors,
singers, writers, all 'creme de la creme' of Zagreb's cultural life.
For then, with Ruza Pospis Baldani, the famous singer who sung
with conductor Herbert von Karaja, Ruzdjak, Marijana Radev, Ljiljana
Molnar Talajic, Nada Puttar Gold, Noni Zunec, composer Zlatko Pibernik,
conductor Lovro Matacic, Zinka Kunc Milanov singing in The Met
but having concert or two here and there in her native city,
and many more, Zagreb was truly the cultural center
of Yugoslavia. the state of 20 mil citizens.
Julian played guitar having very good the Schneider's one, smashed by my
half brother who showed his disagreement with the own father, and the
violin, for this was his father's wish.
Julian left an unfinished work. All his life he was
collecting literature wanting to write the book from
the machine constructions subject, but he was
prevented of doing it by doing other matters ...
When he got well after the gall stones operation, his
colleague dipl. ing. G. got back from Brasil with all
his family, there he worked on some construction
project. But this was two years earlier as expected.
“The Herald”( Vjesnik) has written that the
representatives of the “Ingra” company were taking up
to 30 pct commission from the value of the projects
abroad, as their own, the ‘small pocket money’...
It was the scandal on the state level. I do not know was
Mr. G. involved in taking this high provision or not,
or was he only collateral victim of the Brasil project, of all
inolved in or not, a scape goat of the 'chistka', but in no
time all the representatives of “Ingra” were recalled
and withdrawn back home.
Upon his return, Mr. G. was
showing us, upon plea of JM, the raw diamonds he has
brought with, they looked no special alike, just like the glass stones...
For us, this coming back of family G. meant that we
have to get out from their apartment. Julian's
intention was to build up the own house, during the
absence of the family G. from their apartment, for
this purpose he has bought already some terrain, there
was even a small cottage there, far too small for all
of his family, while we had nothing else to move in to, then
there.
The plans were right, only the
events played in the different direction. The
telephone, tap water for inst. where the abstract
nouns. Family jumped from the civilization of mid 20
century, the whole century back. The first shop was
over a mile far away. In the first days there was no even
the electricity, although the electric wires were
drawn over his terrain to the neighbors.
Only when he threatened to the neighbor that he
is going to cut down the wires, this gentleman gave
his consent to plough in.
Instead of writing his book, Julian had to deal with
the basic existential problems. For inst., there were no running
water. There was only a well some three hundred
meters away, each drop of water had to be carried in the
bucket.
The initiative for connecting of the all households
to the official water supply system so as the sewage
system was undertaken in the community, by the
collecting the own money for paying the all costs,
from digging the trenches, laying the pipelines to the
connecting the households. For the small extra money
Julian convinced the other people, the bulldozer and
other machinery was borrowed by Julian’s colleague
architect’s company( who also worked in the Zeljezara
Sisak factory with Julian, some time ago, Mr. dipl. ing. S.)
for free, only the operator had to be paid, while he was working
after hours. But some people shared no Julian’s
optimism; they thought that Julian might to earn the
nice amount of money by tricking them, so they gave up
of paying for machinery digging the trenches, saying
they would rather dig it for themselves, by their own
hands.
Well, the problem appeared while exactly those
suspicious ones were not finished their trenches on
time. It was autumn over, soon we expected snow, when
all the action was over, with the month and a half
delay. We had the tap water, sewage system worked;
the threat of hepatitis was removed.
Of course, he paid his share. Julian ‘earned’ only
organizing the all project, revoking the machinery
while the hand digging was not finished in time,
convincing those who did not finish it, to do so. You
can bet, they had very firm reason why they did it not
on time.
I still recall the unbearable mud we had on the
street, but the each day we had to attend our school
neat. It was almost ‘the mission impossible’. People
got the idea to change the muddy shoes when they
reached the asphalts part of the street, hiding them
in the bushes. No one wanted to still that muddy
shoes, you can bet.
We did the same.
Julian applied for the building license, but he had
to wait for it almost three years, while our northern
neighbor sued us that the house to be had the windows
turned towards her house. Although the project clearly
showed that it was not so, she always found something to
extent the case at the court and it lasted indeed a long time.
When he finally got the license 1960, the Yugoslav
state decided to carry out the big project of
connecting the two biggest cities, Belgrade and
Zagreb, by the highway. Basically, it was good idea,
only, again against Julian’s plans. There was lack of
the cement, the concrete iron, lime... All that
material was delivered directly from the factories,
from the production, to the building sites, for
building the highway.
Julian, with the loan for building the house could buy nothing.
I recall how Julian was leaving our home at 4 AM to
wait in turn at the factory that was selling the
building material, waiting for nothing while again,
against the promises, the selling company got no
supply on that day, that week. month... while all the
production was redirected to the highway building
site. At 8 AM he was due to appear at work.
Nevertheless, Julian was the only person called in,
by the Commission for the Investigation of the Origins
of Properties, to prove from where he got the money
for building the house, from around Bukovac, the part
of Maximir’s community his family was living in, although he,
as all the other neighbors, took the building loan
with the 30 years extension, and interests, of course, was 3 pct.
At least, that was easy to check up; Julian was in
possession of all the documents.
If he might want to take anything he could not do it:
he could not take and bring home any student, he
needed no piece of choke, neither the toilet paper
from the Faculty!
The true reason for processing him were his ‘wrong
blood particles’, again.
The “Inform Bureau” was very fresh in my childhood, but
I was small and did not know what was it, the
politics. Many times my playing with the other
children was interrupted while the parents did not let
their children to play with me.
I was very seriously asked by worried fathers, mothers,
not to get back, EVER, to play with their daughters...
While in these few years the “Inform Bureau” took place, people
were put in prison for only knowing any person of the
Russian origin, blaming them for spying.
Many times Julian's family
have heard from those afraid people it would be better
for family to get back to Russia, what for they came to this
country, just to take the other’s people bread and
working place.
Funny is that the person investigated the family
roots and got the written documents that originated
the four hundreds years back in Bacz-Ruski-Kerestur;
he said that there is more documents to check up at
parish house, but he could not do it any more, the
lungs cancer made him too weak to do it, he died
before he finished his task.
Bacz-Ruski Kerestur is very much located in Backa
province, Vojvodina, and Vojvodina was very much
located in Yugoslavia. So much about the geography.
The Julian's house is still unfinished, although from the
death of Julian on July 21st 1997 is already nine
years over( this was written 2006).
But the loan with 3 pct interest was paid back to the last coin.
When Julian retired, started the eye troubles. He
underwent the cataract eye operation; his glaucoma was
developing by his aging.
I got back from Germany, where I was living at that
time, for the vacation and visited him at the
Stationary for Seniors. He complained of the breathing
problems for what we have been told is just a sort of
virus that was taken care of. I noticed that his
pillow was too low, but there was no other so I used
the blanket and put it below the pillow, while the
mechanism for rising up this part of the bed was not
working. By each next visit, the blanket was pulled
out, his chest was lowered. Each time I was repeating
the same operation, asking myself why someone wants
him to suffer more than he need to. Why the person who
only wanted to help to the other people, when needed
the help for him, this help was denied to him?
I must admit I did not realize how hard his condition
was, moreover, we were told it’s just virus, he was
taking the antibiotics. I expected him to recover
soon. I took him even the birthday cake for his 89th
birthday, on July 4th. After a week I went for
vacation, while his son Miroslav Daniel remained in Zagreb,
to take care about father.
After ten days I got the message that Julian was
taken to the hospital due to heart attack. Strange,
but this message was traveling around for the day,
finally it was taken to me by the person from the
other place, 17 km away. When I have heard it, I
grabbed the cell phone and tried to reach Miroslav. His
wife told me that Julian passed away less then hour
ago...
Standing in the sea water to the knees, while there
was the only place we could catch the signal from the
power station, at two o’clock on a perfect, warm,
sunny day I realized I must get back for funeral ceremony.
I was surprised how many people attended the service,
although only family obituary was announced. It was
mid summer, people were in vacations. The flow of the
people were expressing their condolescences, shaking
hands just like in some soundless film. After
the ceremony, the Rusin-Ruthenian-Ukrainian Society
Choir sung the national Rusin songs giving that event
the special respect for which family was grateful to
all the singers led by Mr. Krajcar.
On the doors of the Julian’s room in Senior’s
Stationary at Xaver, was all the time his visiting
card:
Dipl. Ing. Prof. Julian Malacko
Retired assistant of Faculty for Machine and
Shipping Constructions University of Zagreb
R U S I N
