They called him Marshal, the greatest son of our peoples and nationalities, the greatest statesman in this region, the supreme commander and later a hero who stood up to Stalin...
But they also called him a dictator, a limping man, a fascist, a spy and a traitor...
And me?
I didn't call him at all.
I didn't have the opportunity, because I was only 4 years old when he died.
After his death, from 1980 to the present day, the complex in which his grave is located, known as the "House of Flowers", remained in operation for visits.
I presented that complex to you during a tour, on the day of his death, May 4.
Villain or benefactor, hero or dictator, traitor or patriot?
Considering that history is written by the victors, in the textbooks after World War II, as well as in those after 1980, only one side of the truth was written.
Those who were his contemporaries were either not alive to tell the truth or were so afraid for their lives and the lives of their families that it was not possible to get a single word against Tito out of their mouths.
I didn't know the truth until I started reading.
The communist regime and communist ideology had one motto - equality for all.
That equality may have brought some good, because it lifted them out of the mud, but it threw some others, members of the former elite, into the same.
Brotherhood and unity of all peoples and nationalities in this area was a concept that had a very negative impact on one of those peoples, the Serbians.
The Serbian people were divided into several republics, with administrative boundaries that did not follow ethnic lines.
The formation of the autonomous provinces of Vojvodina and Kosovo further complicated the political situation in Serbia, the republic with the largest percentage of Serbs.
After the end of World War II, the communist government led by Tito started a fight with political dissidents, among whom there were many Serbs, who were imprisoned, tortured and killed without adequate judicial processes.
The infamous Goli Otok camp was the place where many people perished, most of them Serbs, political dispossessed people, but also part of the elite who lost their property in the process of nationalizing private property into state property, when rich people of pre-war Yugoslavia were robbed of their property and sometimes their heads were taken off their shoulders.
The process of abolishing Serbian nationalism in Yugoslavia and portraying Serbian national interests as a threat to the interests of other nations brought anti-Serb rhetoric in later years and was one of the basic tasks of the KPJ.
The reduction of Serbian influence in Yugoslavia along with a negative demographic trend - large losses in World War II, the displacement of Serbs from Croatia and Bosnia, the settlement of Albanians in Kosovo, the removal of Aleksandar Rankovic from office, led to decentralization and the fueling of the national aspirations of other peoples, which later in the early nineties, led to the collapse of the state.
Life may have been good in "Tito's time", but the consequences of his rule and that "good life" are still very noticeable in almost all former Yugoslav republics.
Well, I can conclude, as far as I'm concerned, Tito, and the communist party he was in front of, but he still didn't independently decide on everything, was garbage.
We jokingly say that it is no wonder why flowers grow so well in the flower house, when there is such quality garbage under it.
With him at the helm, it was easy to manipulate the masses who saw him as a savior and almost as a deity.
His birthdays were celebrated by holding landings and carrying the baton throughout Yugoslavia, which is proof of the extent of those "crazed" masses.
These are examples of some old, first relays.
But I have to admit one thing, in addition to the lunatics from these areas and the members of the KPJ who, even if they had an interest, love him and make him a star, he was loved and respected by the statesmen of many countries, both Western (because he resisted the Russian dictator Stalin, because he was the commander of the army that came out victorious with the allies from World War II, and who knows for what other reasons...), but also African, because of the non-aligned movement, in the founding of which he participated.
And precisely because of that respect, to this day his grave and house of flowers are visited by various foreign delegations, as well as regular tourists.
That interest, no matter how much we don't like it, should definitely be used and tourists who come to tour this complex should be offered as comprehensive a tour as possible.
As proof of the adoration and respect he had, in the old museum of Yugoslavia, next to the House of Flowers, there is a permanent exhibition with gifts that Tito received during his lifetime.
Many objects from the Second World War were also exhibited, as well as gifts that Tito received from the citizens, from labor organizations, school institutions, but also from foreign diplomats.
Only when you see how many of these gifts are on display in this space, which takes almost an hour to tour, when you read where and from whom they arrived and from which period, you conclude that this is a truly impressive collection.
A special part of the exhibition is the part with Tito's personal items, as well as the part with his hunting props, weapons, hunting suit, binoculars, glasses, and there are also souvenirs from those hunting expeditions.
The most interesting of the objects on display, in my opinion, are the objects made of stone, these stone fiddles, as well as this beautiful decoration "Ball in a ball" that was presented to Tito by Chinese President Mao Zedong.
Objects from the ancient and Egyptian periods are also interesting: helmets, figurines, vases, and signed photographs given as gifts.
Tito's hunting props, rifles, carbine knives and the equipment he carried to the hunting grounds are also very interesting, but they cannot be compared with some of the other weapons that were given away, sabers and daggers.
The brooches, medals, awards and keys to the cities that were given to Tito as an honorary citizen, and a man with merits, show what greatness many foreigners considered him to be.
For that reason I believe that this complex should live as long as there is interest in its tour.