In Nikšić, two days ago, the 100th anniversary of the founding of the Socialist Workers' Party of Yugoslavia (communist) was marked, and on that occasion, the oldest communist in Montenegro, a peer of the Party, centenarian Danilo Miljanić, was awarded a plaque.
Miljanić recalled for "Vijesti" what it was like to live in the same country that changed its name eight times during his lifetime and admitted that if he were young today, he too would have gone "outside".
"I am the oldest of my siblings. I was born on May 10, 1920 in the village of Muzevice, Banjani, although all documents state that I was born on March 10. There were six of us brothers, four of us are alive and two sisters - both died, one when she was four years old," says Miljanić.
He was born in the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes, and spent his childhood in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, where he graduated from the NCO School in Bileća. He experienced military life and warfare in the Democratic Federal Yugoslavia, built the country in the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia, worked and raised a family in the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (SFRJ), where he retired, and spent his retirement days first in the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia, then in Serbia and Montenegro and today in Montenegro.
"I had the best time in SFRY. It was difficult after the war, everything was demolished, but already from 1955, life was good. And only because of one - we were all friends and wherever I went I was on my own".
Then, as he states, the gentlemen came, who came from the ranks of the communists, and "the devil took everything under his control".
"A sufficient example is Nikšić, which at the time had over 20.000 workers. I don't think anyone was at the labor office. Over 7.000 workers worked in the Ironworks alone - a real small town. When (Vidoje) Žarković, they say, ate a lamb, they called him and the others the 'lamb brigades'. Today, millions disappear and nobody gets anything".
He became a member of the Communist Party in 1945 and never regretted it. After the war, he worked on the road Velimlje - Jasen and Nikšić - Titograd, followed by jobs at the Brskovo mine, the company Gornja Zeta, where he was the financial director, Elektroprivreda, Kombinat aluminijuma, where he was an adviser on economic issues. They offered him the position of financial director of HE "Mratinje", but he did not like the place where they were located, so he did not accept. He graduated in economics from the University of Economics in Zagreb, taught bookkeeping for a year at the Secondary School of Economics and for several years at the Workers' University for Adults in Nikšić.
He retired in 1985 and continued to work. But, as he points out, exclusively on a voluntary basis. He formed the Farmer's Work Cooperative in Velimlje, helped his son who opened a store for ten years, and was a director in the Knjižare company in Nikšić.
"I have 56 years of service, but everything after 1985 was based on volunteerism. I don't know how I made it this many years. No one close to me has passed 90. I'm not good with my legs and that's the worst thing for me, and I can do the rest. The situation is difficult in Montenegro, but I would like everyone to stay here and not run away. But I understand them. I guess sometime this government will change and it will be better. But if it goes on like this for thirty years, it's not good for young people. They will have to go. If I were young now, I would go too. I would have to”.
For his achievements in NOR, he received a medal for courage, and for his work in economic organizations, he was awarded a medal for work and a medal for service to the people.
He published several professional works in the field of economics, as well as the books "Miljanići - a branch of Nastić", "Miljanići through the ages", "Huževice in the past", "Stories and anecdotes", "Banjani until the Brlin congress and the first population census" and "My hundred years". He also participated in the formation of the Miljanić Association.
Celebrated seven decades of marriage
He married his wife Stojanka, ten years younger than him, who is a native of Agramovići from Štedi, on December 16, 1948. Last year, they celebrated seven decades of marriage and gathered their family. They gave birth to four children - three daughters and a son (the oldest daughter died in the second year).
"We have ten grandchildren, all of them graduated from university and all of them work. We also have eight great-grandchildren - the oldest is a high school graduate, and the youngest is one year and four months old. I was most happy that the children were healthy, honest and did not go down the wrong path," says Stojanka.
The two of them, as he said, in 70 years, had a lot of beautiful moments, there were also difficulties, but they overcame everything together.
"There will be difficulties, but everything can be overcome together. One should forgive, and not for a small trifle so that the devil can take the work. It's wonderful to have both parents by your side."
Bonus video:
