In 1889, the “Der” Freimütige politisches Volksblatt” published a report of Serbian bandit robberies, murders and arson in southwestern and western Serbia.

Saxed from the newspaper:

Quoted:

“Almost all Belgrade newspapers, with very few exceptions, are filled with reports of the atrocities committed by bandits who are rampaging through the western and southwestern regions of Serbia, committing murder and arson. Below are just a few of the known acts of banditry as a sample of the situation in Serbia:

The wealthy farmer Milosch Toracic from Jezewika was attacked and robbed by bandits in the street; another farmer, Tioslav Selakovic from Sjenischte, was murdered; likewise, the farmer Anton Gruicic from Vranjanji was attacked in his sleep and murdered; the same fate befell his woman who had previously been tortured in an inhumane manner.

Thereupon, the robbers completely robbed the farmer’s house and fled into the mountains without the authorities doing anything to catch them. The mayor of Otanj Jesdic, Kmeten, had all his tax money stolen in broad daylight. The same thing happened to Miladin Previc from Gorian, who was also murdered after the robbery. Michailo Radovic from Potocan had his son Milivoj murdered first, then the father was attacked and his house completely plundered.

In this great distress, Radovic turned to the authorities, but without receiving the requested help. When the robbers heard this—it is even said that they had a confidant among the officials—they opened the grave of the murdered Milivoj, desecrated his body, and then again attacked the house of Michael Radovic, on whose head they demanded 200 ducats.

As a result, Radovic had to leave his home district. In Makowischte, a band of robbers overlooked the brothers Ivan and Bogosav Tebic and shot them dead in the middle of the street because they had allegedly betrayed the robbers whereabouts to the authorities. The same band attacked and murdered the Kmeten Slija Boschariakovic from Kacer and the merchant Jasic from Lubanja, as well as an unknown foreigner, on the Slatibor plateau.

Further robberies were committed against the priest Radovan Trifunovic from Cajetina and the community elder of Goliblej Obrem Tabicevic. There are also reports of partly new and partly repeated robberies from Otnja, Gorjane, Potocani, Leskovac and Kajetin. That Serbian bandits can also be amiable people is proven by the following incident, which is reported from Ljubljani.

There, on one of the last days, a large crowd of about 150 people, men and women, had gathered. Suddenly shots rang out and into the circle of the terrified people. The feared robber chief Josovac, along with two of his accomplices, confronted the farmers. However, the farmers’ fear was unfounded.

On a leisurely day, he placed his rifle in an old woman’s lap and danced the local kolo with the female members of the local band. Then he summoned the mayor and ordered him to officially summon the local residents who were not present at the public entertainment arranged by the bandits.

The mayor promptly complied with this order. Although the county capital, Užice, is only an hour away from the village of Ljubljani, it didn’t occur to anyone to report this to the county governor, nor did the large crowd dare to rid themselves of the insolent bandits. Instead, they spent the whole night singing, dancing, and drinking, and before leaving, they robbed some of the wealthier members of the bandit community.

Only the next day was the report made to the county governor in Užice, but he could do nothing more against the jolly bandits, as they were long gone. The outspoken one has already mentioned that even the The Belgrade district is not spared from the banditry, even though the Belgrade garrison is conducting training marches in the vicinity of the capital.

It would be high time to put an end to this scourge, which damages Serbia’s reputation abroad, all the more so as the opposition parties, especially the liberal ones, will likely use these and similar facts to demonstrate to the world and to the voters the complete inability of the radical government to maintain order and public safety in the state.

Regarding the success of the measures taken to suppress the banditry, it was reported from Belgrade on July 16th that two bandits were captured in the Belgrade district and two others were shot during the pursuit. All four belonged to the most daring and dangerous brigands who had recently been disturbing the population near the capital.

One of the prisoners allegedly made important confessions about the hideouts of the other bandits. Six hundred ducats were found on one of the shot bandits. Furthermore, a dangerous Robber captured on ships as he tried to flee to Germany”.

Source

“Der” Freimütige politisches Volksblatt für Jedermann. Einmalige Ausgabe 1889