Zvonimir Radolović

* 1948

  • -"How did you get the idea to cross the border? -Ok.. well I was in Uljanik so then .. and … went across the border and came bac.. they return me back … the idea I don´t know, you know, this is .. this is .. how to say it .. an adventure idea .. this is like … I wasn´t … with 18 years if age you do not have any political .. how to say it ... a political vision or something. But to go, go in .. in adventure. - Has anyone urge you to do this? - Like hell .. no but before we done this .. a lot of other people went, so we talk about it how we .. how we will go over the border. So we went. First time went in ´66., three of us, here is one, down there, Đani Buić and … he went to Australia and then, this … also Korba Berto went to Sweden where he live even today. Me, they return home as I was underage. But when came home was adult! So, I got 20 days of prison, in Kopar judged me for 20 days of … like judge said. - which border did you cross? - You .. go here, a, we went from..(Koprilove?) to Ancaran, to avoid, this, village and..here between Ancaran and Škofije, here we cross, the border. Where, we do not know, you don´t know as you go during night… and now we are in Italy, see an Italian bus, and then we knew we are in Italy. Hhh.. - Can we together reconstruct this journey? That day when you went? - Yes, we went by bus from Pula to Ko.. to Koper and there ..in Koper continue to walk, waited to …to get a … for a night to fell otherwise you have been stopped already in Koper. And .. and when night fell went through .. across a meadow and.. not through woods, but… across meadows, and a small river, think it was a river Rižana, then take the shoes off and cross over, the water was not deep..not even to the knee, and then we were thinking we are in Italy, did not know yet, continue to walk and hi.. and hide, while we noticed a bus, when saw the bus had Italian registration plates, then we knew we are in Trieste. "

  • -"...you came in Koper? - Yes, police was there, a.. police was to the border and in Koper. - You have been in prison in Koper? - Yes, yes, was there maybe two days, got the sentence of 20 days by their judge to spent in prison…after they took us to … only me ..in Rijeka, Via Roma, to this prison and from there I think a day after return me back, sleep over and then turn me back to Pula. By bus, I had a guard with me, he said:” Do not make any stupid things, see, I have handcuffs”. “No, I won´t..” and wen came to the bus, I found my niece, and ask a police officer can I give her a clothes to take it home as I still had a winter clothes, no..and..”Yees, no problem!” and no one new that I was going to prison. And passing through Pula I have met, like, from bus station till came to prison, a lot of people. “Where are you going?” “To prison”. “What will you do in prison?” Hahaha… this police officer was standing behind me so no one new, and … o, thinking, these are a funny stories… - How much time you spent in pula prison? - Thinking 17-18 days. Not sure, but .. was for 17 days and..(…) Then my sister use to come every morning and bring me biscuits, and this I split away with others who use to stay longer in prison like a year or so. This was a good “school”: you see, like, in jail I was glad to be there. Because I saw what is going on there and what can be done. You have everything. First day in prison one man said to me:”Tonight you will burn up”. New him from earlier from the city. Hhhh … he was, really he was a bandit, he was sentenced for 7 years. “Tonight you will burn up.” “O”, I said “ you will too”. “O no, no, just joking”, the same thing happened with some other man so he.. they have to placed him to the gate(??).. So, always, you know, you can learn something good and bad. Telling you I never regret for being in .. in prison but I .. disappointed my father. As my father did not tell me anything at the beginning but after a few months, said: “You are the first from Radolović family, from Sansovih who was in prison”. “No one was in prison ever”. “Someone had to go eventually”. Yes. - When came out of the prison what did you do? - Then we went to work, on .. on this smasher, up and then we destroyed this … history..of Histri and others..how I said before.. Illyrians. Yes. After, when finished we waited to get payed and then in the mean time I got a passport, they gave it to me. And.. and then we go…other four of us went to Trieste and today two of them are in France, one came back home, and one in Australia . - Do you remember with whom did you go next time? - We went by bus to Trieste. - This mean you go directly? - Yes, yes. - Two of them went two days.. a day before, and we went two days later. - At the border didn´t stopped you? - No… we had passports.."

  • -"We went to the city.. to town and there we slept a little bit, and did not knew, when woke up noticed that we slept at the cemetery… hahaha… in Trieste, yes. So here at the cemetery in Trieste fell a sleep and after continue our way, until we run into police to.. then apply there and they … do not know, can´t remember did they drove us or … or they just said to us, to go to … to the camp, in Padriciano, that was … it was a village if you know where it is, now it is Area di servizio and a large research was there, yes …and here inside was a camp, but maybe a year or two before a camp was in San Sabbo… in San Sabbo was this camp and.. yes..and.. I was not in San Sabbo camp but was in Padriciani. - Then, when came to Padriciano, to the camp, what happened then? - Nothing, then you pass medical check ups, they give you..(matricolu??), these older people were very fast moved to .. I mean, got visa for Sveden and for … for … for Sveden and Australia, they ask you where you want to go, if you have someone there, or a family, do you have … brothers or anyone .. and me .. I was underage and me .. they return me home. But return me when I was already adult. Hehehehehe… as I was .. I was born on May 29th and they return me … on June 6th .. - It means you spent a lot of time in…? - A month we were down, yes. Some of them were for 4-5 months, I know a man from Marčana, he was there … for about a year..yes.. a long time people waited to go… in depend where they wanted to leave, but if wanted to go to Sveden or Canada, than the procedure was faster, but for America than it was a little longer and difficult. - Can you please tell me, have you been scared? - - You want to say that you, Đani Buić i Berto Korba, went that first time, and … have you been scared at all? What did you expect? - When young there is no fear or intelligence.. - You just went? - .. people say this as an old saying. No fear. - Probably it is something.. I don´t know, but when was questioning, they .. they didn´t return people back home? - No, no. They return me back as I was underage. - You have been return as you was minor? - One psychologist was questioning me .. thinking, but also a translator was present, that man..o remember him well, had 182 kg, when he use to sit in a car …. pffff was a sound like this…."

  • Celé nahrávky
  • 1

    Marčana, 01.08.2013

    (audio)
    délka: 46:51
    nahrávka pořízena v rámci projektu Iron Curtain Stories
Celé nahrávky jsou k dispozici pouze pro přihlášené uživatele.

I was sent back home as I was underage

Present photo
Present photo
zdroj: Pamět Národa - Archiv

Radolović Zvonimir was born in Marčana in 1948. His father was a coul miner and his mother was a housewife. During Italians their family name was changed from Radolović into Radoli. Elementary school he went to Marčana and Secondary school in Pula. After education for a while he was working in shipyard of Uljanik. When he escaped and got caught he was sentenced for twenty days of prison. They did came to Italy and registered into the refugee office but then italians noticed that he is underage so they returned him back home to Pula. After, when he got passport he went to Trieste and after to north France where he worked in automobile industry untill his pension. Sometimes he come back home for a visit.