My forty-seventh (47) writing to my grandchildren = Moj (47) opis mojim unucima

My dear grandchildren, I will try to use all my memories to interpret and explain to you so that today, in 2022, you can compare life in the countryside then and life in the countryside today. It will be very difficult for you to understand, because you were not born or raised in the countryside like your grandfather “Babu” Milan. But still for you it will be a comparison of life in the countryside and life in the city.

From the very young days of my life, I started doing physical work in the fields with my dad, your great-grandfather Peter. I will take one year as an example of life in the Croatian village of Bobanova Draga. It was the same with others in our province where tobacco was planted along with all other products for a living, but tobacco production was the number one of all our products. Why? Because tobacco was a state monopoly, and you were not allowed to sell it to anyone but the state. Thus, we tobacco farmers could have money for all other necessities of life that we could not produce in our fields. For example, coffee, olive oil, shoes and clothes, sugar, haberdashery, etc.

My father Petar, as the head of the house, would start making the schedule right after the new year. The first thing was to sow tobacco seeds in front of our house, so the place was chosen so that from sunrise to sunset that place would be exposed to the sun. Tobacco seeds are very small and black. One full wine glass is enough to plant over 15 thousand tobacco plants. Between 1,500 and 2,000 kilos could be harvested from these 15,000 plus tobacco plants.

My dear grandchildren, this time I will refer only to the area of tobacco, because I would not want to get lost by mixing in this writing with other branches of production that were so necessary for our life.

We, our family in our village – it was the same in other villages – had several plots of land and not all in one place. The explanation for this is: Around the 1490s, the Ottoman Empire conquered a large part of eastern Croatia, known as Bosnia and Herzegovina, by military force. Then the Turks established their system by confiscating all the land; they left the peasants only that part of the land where it was not possible to plow with horses. That Turkish oppression lasted for almost four centuries. During that time, the Turkish or Ottoman authorities, anyway, it’s one and the same, gave great privileges to those Croats who would convert from Catholicism to Islam. And in those four centuries, there were many Croats who converted to Islam. That is why today in Croatian Bosnia and Herzegovina, the Muslim population is more numerous than the Christian one. This went on until the first Berlin Congress in 1878. Then the Turkish empire began to decline and lose its strength to such an extent that they began, little by little, piece by piece, to sell the land to the peasants. People started buying that land and it went on like that until the beginning of the First World War. My great-grandfathers bought that land piece by piece so it couldn’t have been all in one piece.While the tobacco seeds would grow, it would take a full three months, father and I would dig and prepare the land for planting tobacco. Planting tobacco would begin at the end of April and would last for three or even four weeks. And why would that planting take 3 to 4 weeks? The answer is:
1 – The plot of land was not in one place, so we concentrated on planting tobacco there, which we would water for two or three days so that it would not die from the heat and lack of moisture.
2 – This would be the case for every plot of land. We had to bring water for watering tobacco from surrounding wells that belonged to the community or individuals. We had 3 wells of our own. My father and I would put three barrels on our wagon, pour water into those barrels and water each tobacco plant in the morning.

3 – Between 3 and 4 weeks the tobacco had grown enough to pick the leaves. When the first leaves start to turn yellow, it is a sign that the first leaves can be picked. This goes on until the end of the tobacco harvest, which is at the end of August or even at the end of September.

4 – During that time, while we are picking tobacco, we thread one leaf at a time with a needle 15 to 20 centimeters long, which has a hole at the end through which we put a string 2 meters long and put that green tobacco on that thread, put in front of the house to dry in the sun. It takes about a week. I am putting a picture which shows tobacco when it is dried.
That’s how it goes until the whole tobacco procedure is over, which is at the end of September.

5 – All the dried tobacco is still on the string and stored in a special room marked for this purpose. My dear grandchildren I am putting a picture of my parents, your great-grandfather and great-grandmother in front of their house standing in tobacco and behind them you can see the grapes.

                            

6 – Since it is autumn, winter time, the climate is humid, the tobacco has become moist and soft, we, the household, now take the tobacco and leaf by leaf and put them together according to size.
7 – We do this until we finish with all the tobacco. During this time we are all very busy and we all want to get it over with as soon as possible. It will take us at least a month and a half to finish it.

8 – It is now the beginning of December, and we are preparing to hand over the tobacco to the state. The state rule was that all tobacco should be handed over to the state by the end of January, which means that we have two months to hand over the tobacco to the state. After the month of January, the state would send a house search commission to see if tobacco producers had hidden a few kilos of tobacco for themselves so that they could sell it for double or even triple on the illegal market.
9 – The state would pay tobacco producers by category from 1 to 5, which is if category no. 1 the most expensive and category 5 the cheapest. That day when you handed over the tobacco to the state, they gave you a paper with all the information to come tomorrow to collect the money.
10 – That’s how the whole household worked for the whole year so that at the end they were paid and received money for all our annual work.My dear grandchildren, in response to your question, I described my life memories in a little more detail that I went through and that I still remember. That’s how it was then, and today it’s completely different. Today’s technology has changed many old traditions and customs. Everything in its time. There is no going back to the old ways, but one can write about old virtues so that the past is not forgotten. I was in my village Bobanova Draga in August 2019. Life has completely changed and different. There are no more oxen, horses, cows, or donkeys, etc. Technology has replaced all of that. Life looks like here, there is almost no difference.

I am attaching a picture for my grandchildren of their grandfather “Babu” Milan in tobacco so that they can see what tobacco looks like when it grows in the field. The picture was taken on July 20, 1956 in Bobanova Draga, when I was 16 years and 11 months old.

My dear grandchildren, I hope I have answered the question:

“How has the village changed during my lifetime?” Thank you so much for this question!

Your eternal grandfather “Babu” Milan.

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                         Moj četrdeset (47) sedmi opis mojim unucima.
Naslov je:
“Kako se je selo izmijenio tijekom tvojeg života?”Dragi moji unuci ja ću nastojati svim mojim sjećanjima vama rastumačiti i objasniti kako bi vi danas, godine 2022 mogli usporediti život na selu tada i život na selu danas. Za vas će to biti vrlo teško razumjeti, jer vi niste rođeni niti odgojeni na selu kao vaš djed “Babu” Milan. Ali ipak za vas će to biti jedna usporedba života na selu i života u gradu.

Ja sam iz vrlo mladih dana mojeg života počeo sa mojim tatom, vašim pradjedom Petrom raditi fizičke poslove na polju. Uzet ću jednu godinu kao primjer života u hrvatskom selu Bobanova Draga. Tako je bilo i kod drugih u našoj pokrajini gdje se je duhan sadio uz sve druge proizvodnje za život, ali proizvodnja duhana je bila broj jedan svih naših proizvodnja. Zašto? Zato što je duhan bio državni monopol i nisi ga smio prodavati nikome drugome osim državi. Tako smo mi seljaci od duhana mogli imati novca za sve druge životne potrebe koje mi nismo mogli proizvesti u našim poljima. Primjer, kafa, maslinovo ulje, obuća i odjeća, šećer, galentarija itd.

Moj otac Petar kao kućni starješina bi odmah po novoj godini počeo praviti raspored. Prvo je bilo posijati sjeme duhana pred našom kućom, tako da je mjesto izabrano kako će od izlaska do zalaska sunca to mjesto biti izloženo suncu. Zrnca sjemena duhana su vrlo mala i crna su. Jedna puna vinska čaša je dovoljna da bi se moglo zasaditi preko 15 tisuća biljaka duhana. Od thi 15.000 biljka duhana moglo se je ubrati između 1500 do dvije tisuće kila i više.

Dragi moji unuci ovog puta ću se osvrnuti samo na područje duhana, jer ne bih želio se zagubiti mješajući u ovom opisu i druge grane proizvodnja koje su nam bilo ite kako potrebne za život.

Mi, naša obitelj u našem selu – tako je bilo i u drugim selima – smo imali više parcela zemlje a ne sve na jednom mjestu. Obješnjenje za to je: Oko 1490-tih godina otomansko carstvo je vojničkom silom osvojilo veliki dio istočne Hrvatske, poimenice Bosnu i Hercegovinu. Tada su Turci uspostavili njihov sistem tako da su svu zemlju oduzeli; ostavili su seljacima samo onaj dio zemlje gdje se nije moglo s konjima orati. Taj turski zulum je trajao skoro puna četiri stoljeća. Za to vrijeme turske ili otomanske vlasti, svejedno, to je jedno te isto, davali su velike privilegije onim Hrvatima koji će s katoličke preći na islamsu vjeru. I za ta četiri stoljeća bilo je mnogih Hrvata koji su prešli na islam. Zato danas u hrvatskoj Bosni i Hercegovi muslimansko stanovništvo je brojnije od kršćanskog. To je tako išlo sve do prvog berlinskog kongresa 1878. Tada je tursko carstvo počelo opadati i gubiti svoju snagu do te mjere da su počeli, malo po malo, komad po komad prodavati seljacima zemlju. Ljudi su počeli tu zemlju kupovati i tako je to išlo sve do početka prvog svjetskog rata. Moji pradjedovi su komad po komad kupovali tu zemlju tako da to nije moglo biti sve u jednom komadu.

Dok bi sjeme duhana raslo, to bi uzelo puna tri mjeseca, otac i ja bi kopali i pripremali zemlju za sadnju duhana. Sadnja duhana bi počela koncem travnja i trajala bi neka tri pa čak i četiri tjedna. A zašto bi ta sadnja uzela 3 do 4 tjedna? Odgovor je:
1 – Parcela zemlje nije bila na jednom mjestu, tako da smo se mi skoncentrirali da posadimo duhan tu, kojeg bi vodom zalijevali dva tri dana da ne ugine od vrućine i bez vlage.
2 – Tako bi to išlo za svaku parcelu zemlje. Vodu za polijevati duhan smo morali dovoziti sa okolnih bunara koji su pripadali zajednici ili pojedincima. Mi smo imali 3 naša bunara. Otac i ja bi stavili tri bačve na naša kola, nalili vode u te bačve i ujutro zalijevali svaku biljku duhana.
3 – Između 3 i 4 tjedna duhan je narastao da se mogu lišća brati. Kada prvi listovi počnu žutjeti, to je znak da se prvi listovi mogu brati. Tako je to išlo sve do kraja berbe duhana, a to je koncem kolovoza ili čak koncem rujna.
4 – Za to vrijeme dok mi beremo duhan, list po list mi nižemo jednom iglom dužine 15 do 20 centimetara, koja na kraju ima jednu rupu kroz koju mi stavimo špagu dugo 2 metra i taj zeleni duhan stavimo na taj konac, stavimo pred kuću da se na suncu suši. Prilažem sliku kako je duhan na koncu izgledao kada je bio osušen.
To uzme oko tjedan dana. Tako to iđe sve dok cijela procedura sa duhanom nije završila, a to je konac listopada.

5 – Sav osušeni duhan je još uvijek na koncu i pohranjen u jednu posebnu prostoriju označenu za tu svrhu. Dragi moji unuci prilažem sliku moji roditelja, vaše prababe i pradjeda sto je duhanu a pozadi njih se vidi njiova kuća i grožđe.

6 – Pošto je sada jesne, zimsko doba, klima je vlažna, duhan ovlažio i mekan, mi, ukućani sada uzimamo duhan i list po list i po veličini stavljamo zajedno.
7 – Tako radimo sve dok ne završimo sa svim duhanom. Za to vrijeme svi smo vrlo zauzeti i svi želimo s tim završiti čim prije. To nam uzme najmanje mjesec i pol da sa tim završimo.

7 – Tako radimo sve dok ne završimo sa svim duhanom. Za to vrijeme svi smo vrlo zauzeti i svi želimo s tim završiti čim prije. To nam uzme najmanje mjesec i pol da sa tim završimo.
8 – Sada smo početak prosinca i pripremamo se predati duhan državi. Državno pravilo je bilo da se sav duha preda državi do konca siječnja, što značu da imamo dva mjeseca predati duhan državi. Poslije mjeseca siječnja država bi slala komisiju za premetačine kuća za vidjeti da li su proizvođači duhana sakrili nekoliko kila duhana za sebe kako bi ga mogli prodati duplo pa čak i troduplo na crnoj burzi.
9 – Država bi duhan proizvođačima plaćala po kategoriji od 1 do 5, što je da je kategorija br. 1 najskuplja a kategorija 5 najjeftinija. Taj dan kada si duhan predao državi, oni ti dadnu papir sa svim podacima i da dođeš sutra po novac.
10 – Tako je cijela kućna čeljad je radila cijelu godinu da bi na koncu bili plaćeni i dobili novac za sav naš godišnji rad.Dragi moji unuci ja sam vama na postavljeno pitanje malo opširnije opisao moje životne uspomene kroz koje sam ja prošao i kojih se još uvijek sjećam. Taka je tada bilo a danas je sasvim drugačije. Današnja tehnika je mnoge stare tradicije i običaje promjenila. Sve u svoje vrijeme. Povratka nema na staro, ali se može pisati o starim vrlinama da se prošlost ne zaboravi. Ja sam bio u mojem selu Bobanova Draga u kolovozu 2019. Život se je potpuno izmijenio i promjenio. Tamo nema više volova, konja, krava ni magaradi itd. Sve je to tehnika zamijenila. Život izgleda kao i ovdje, skoro razlike nikakve nema. Prilažem sliku mojim unucima njihova djeda “Babu” Milana u duhanu da vide kako duhan izgleda kada raste na njivi. Slika je uzeta 20 srpnja 1956. u Bobanova Draga, kada je meni bilo 16 godina i 11 mjeseci.

Dragi moji unuci nadam se da sam odgovorio na pitanje:

“Kako se je selo izmijenilo tijekom mojeg života?” Neizmjerna vam hvala na ovom pitanju!

Vaš vječni djed “Babu” Milan.