"Kosutnjak Film presents" "Where The Yellow Lemon Blooms" "produced by" "Screenplay" "Narrator" "Actors" "Costimography" "Edited by" "Directed by" "Ninety years ago....." "in the winter of 1915-16, history recorded that the army, the king, parliament, government, inhabitants -the entire state - moved into exile." "That was a march over ice- covered Albanian mountains, along Albania's malaria-ridden coast to the island of Corfu." "And from there, through the Salonika frontline, back to the homeland." "This is the story of the retreat of the Serbian army, people and the entire state through Albania and of the resurrection of the moribund Serbian state in Corfu." "But what had preceded these events and how the great war broke out?" "In the spring of 1914, peace still prevailed in Europe, but dangerous antagonisms existed among the big powers not only over colonies but also over influence in countries of the south-east Balkans which had been vacated by the Turks." "Everything smacked of war on a worldwide scale." "Belgrade heaved a sigh of relief after the two Balkan wars." "In the spring of 1914, the Austro-Hungarian frontier was down there, along the river Sava." "What you can see on the other bank of the Sava from the Belgrade fortress was Austria-Hungary." "Ever since the annexation crisis, it threatened Serbia with war and looked out for a chance to launch it." "The "Young Bosnia" secret organization, determined to liberate Bosnia-Herzegovina from Austro-Hungarian occupation, assassinated the Austrian Crown prince Ferdinand." "The assassination became renowned as the pretext for causing the world's widespread bloodbath." "Austria-Hungary immediately accused Serbia of being behind the assassination and launched an international campaign for war against Serbia." "The Austro-Hungarian press wrote:" ""We go to war with enthusiasm!"" "Germany's Under-secretary of state Hoyss said:" ""Serbia must disappear!"" "And the Vienna Archbishop Gustav piffle:" ""Long live war!" "Down with Serbia!" ""This is a just and holy war representing the voice of God who speaks through cannon thunder."" "Thus having prepared its own and parts of international public opinion, Austria-Hungary sent an ultimatum to Serbia on July 23 laying down demands that infringed on its integrity and independence." "The Morning post tried to infuse some reasonableness." "It said:" ""Ferdinand's murder is a pretext for the assassination of a state."" "British Foreign Secretary Edward Gray said:" ""This is the most horrible document that one independent state addressed to another"." "Your Majesty, I'm coming from the Austro-Hungarian legation." "You handed over our reply to the ultimatum?" "I arrived 20 minutes before the 6 o'clock deadline for a reply." "Legation chief Gisl trembled with excitement." ""l hope" -- l told him" ""your imperial government will be satisfied with our answer."" "And now we are waiting for an answer?" "Envoy Gisl told me he had his government's precise instructions and that he would compare them with the note to see if it complies with the instructions or not." "He had written down what we should write?" "He had." "That's why I didn't want to wait for him to do the comparing." "He didn't even ask me to take a seat." "I told him to bring the answer to the ministry, but I already knew what it was going to be." "Take a seat." "Did he say when he would present it?" "Well, as soon as I arrived back in the ministry, there came Gisl to announce that our note was unsatisfactory and that relations between Austria-Hungary and Serbia were at that moment broken." "He has already left Belgrade." "He was running away so you could not stop him." "He was wearing his traveling clothes." "His personal belongings were packed in suitcases and the legation's possessions were already in the train on the way to Zemun." " lf l knew that, I wouldn't have asked you to deliver our reply to their ultimatum." "I know." "That's why we didn't inform you." "The entire world had waited for our reply to the ultimatum." "If we wanted the world to be on our side, we had to deliver it." "I've received the Russian Tsar's reply to my pleadings that he should take interest in Serbia's fate." "There is still hope that the bloodshed will be stopped." "All our efforts are to that end." "If despite our most sincere wishes we fail in this," "Your Majesty may rest assured that Russia will not remain indifferent to Serbia's fate." "The Russian Tsar is a great compassionate man." "Your Majesty.... lt is addressed to you..." " To Serbia, your Majesty." "please read." "Your eyesight is better than mine." "The Royal Government of Serbia has failed to respond satisfactorily to the note dated 23 July 1914, which the Austro-Hungarian envoy submitted in Belgrade." "Therefore, the Imperial Government is compelled to rely on the force of arms in order to preserve its interests." "Austria-Hungary holds to be at war with Serbia from now on." "Austro-Hungarian Foreign Minister, Count Berthold." "The Austro-Hungarian army launched its offensive on Serbia early in the morning on 12 August 1914 when the 5th army cross the river Drina near Loznica." "This is how the French journalist Henri Barbie summed up the moment: "The whole world was taken aback by the war that Austria-Hungary declared on Serbia." "It came unpredictably and suddenly as an earthquake, a huge fire or flood water." "Austria-Hungary declared war on Serbia." "At the first moment the world didn't believe a world war had begun." "The Serb command did not expect the main strike to come from across the Drina." "The surprise helped their troops to make fast advance into Serbian territory." "The decisive battle, in which General Stepa Stepanovic distinguished himself by his leadership, took place from August 12 to 24, 1914, on Mount Cer after which this famous battle was named." "The Cer battle was important not only because the brilliant victory made it possible to drive all Austro-Hungarian troops back across the Drina." "It was the first victory by allied forces in this war which greatly facilitated their operations at other battlegrounds." "Furious at the heavy defeat and huge losses in this first campaign against Serbia, the Vienna court dispatched across the Drina a military force never seen before." "The Austro-Hungarian army advanced like a merciless expeditionary force which burned down villages and destroyed vital goods, leaving behind countless gallows from which hanged innocent men and women." "The Swiss criminologist, Dr Archibald Reiss, investigated the crimes and informed international public opinion about them." "The Serbian army in retreat mounted a desperate defense." "At the crucial hour, 20,000 French grenades arrived at Salonika." "The inscription on the containers said:" ""Don't save ammunition"" "The enemy stopped operations for a short while." "General Misic used the break to rest his men for a major counter-offensive." "The decisive battle opened on December 3, remembered as the Kolubara battle in which the Serbian army defeated the enemy forces and pushed them out of its territory." "The Kolubara battle went down to history as an example of an army which after a long retreat comes back to mount a counter-offensive and win an unprecedented victory." "All credit for this goes to the main strategist of the battle and commander of the First Army, General Zivojin Misic." "The Entente powers realized that in the Serbian army they had a serious ally." "This victory struck a chord in the world press." "The Observer of London:" ""A remarkable victory." "All friends of freedom are now filled with the hope of triumph"" "The New York Times:" ""Obituaries had been written for Serbia." "The small Serbian people who reduced the army of a mighty Empire to ashes."" "Lord Kitchener, Secretary of State for War:" ""The delicate maneuvers on Mount Cer and the Kolubara conducted with wisdom, high spirits and mastery, the qualities that distinguish Serbian military leadership, deserve to take a prominent place in our strategic studies."" "French president poincare to Regent Alexander." ""Good news has reached me about the victory that the courageous Serbian army has won over the joint enemy"" "Russian Tsar Nikolai ll wrote." ""With my heart full of joy, I congratulate your Royal Highness on the great success"" "Serbia entered the year 1915 with a wreath of glory but also of martyrdom caused by the sufferings in the year 1914." "Towns and villages and vital facilities were destroyed, the many wounded not cared for yet." "Hungarian soldiers taken prisoner spread typhus and hospitals were crammed with the infected." "Enthusiastic praises for the Serbian army increasingly turned into appeals to help the Serbian people." "Medical teams from a score of countries began arriving." "American journalist John Reed described dire scenes of dying in Serbia which he described as a country of death." "Typhus carried off hundreds of thousands of patients." "Mister Crown prince, stop!" "Don't leave the vehicle!" "Beg your pardon?" " That's an order." "What order?" " From hospital commandant." "I'm superior in rank. I am the Supreme Commander." "I know." "Nobody can come in." "Especially not the Supreme Commander." "We are under quarantine." "To stop typhus." "Tell me what you wanted." " Aren't you a bit bold?" "Yes, I am, a bit." "That's why, Mister Supreme Commander, they said "You go and stop his Royal Highness"." "Wait a minute." "Who are you, in fact?" "They call me English woman though I am Irish from the Women Volunteer unit of Great Britain,Miss Flora Sands." "So, you are the nurse Flora Sands who for lack of surgeons in Kragujevac began operating patients herself." "Yes, but the imprisoned Austrian surgeons have shown me a little how this is done." " A little!" "I'll report you to the Red Cross." " What can I do." "Human life is more important than anything else." "You've been back to England." " When the peace arrived I went to get some medical aid for Serbia and I obtained some." "Some!" "It's not some. 110 tons of materials and huge amounts of medical equipment." "That's why I've come, to express my gratitude to you." "But I don't know how." "The generosity of your people in the most difficult of situations is the greatest gratitude to me." "It is a great honor for me that you have come personally." "I would gladly shake hands with you, your Highness, but I have been in contact with typhus patients." "I thank you for everything, Miss Sands." "I'll always be sorry for not shaking hands with you." "Austria-Hungary and Germany wanted to avoid opening a front in the Balkans and this is why they offered to conclude a separate peace with Serbia." "Several times in its history, Serbia has faced the dilemma to accept a war with a stronger adversary or seek some other solution." "Regardless of the desperate situation in which it found itself in 1915, Serbia rejected the offer and opted for the war with Germany and Austria-Hungary." "The German Emperor warned his soldiers: "l'm sending you to war with a small but brave nation which provided proofs of its virtues in battle and utmost military capabilities." "Only contempt for death will enable you to defeat that heroic nation and take its lands." "On October 5, armies numbering more than half a million men and commanded by the German Field Marshal Mackensen attacked Serbia on a front 1,200 kilometers wide." "On Sept. 6, Germany and Austria-Hungary signed a treaty with Bulgaria which a little later would attack" "Serbia from the rear." "This would prove fatal for Serbia." "The Serbian army repeatedly evaded encirclement and withdrew southward in the face of a superior enemy." "Endless columns of troops floundered along muddy roads." "Many civilians and government officials followed the army." "Mr. John Reed, Mr. Robinson." " Thank you, Mr. premier, for receiving us in this situation at short notice." "Mr. Reed, can our desperate situation be described?" "I know that you've tried that in your Metropolitan Magazine." "Since I came to Serbia, I could almost write about nothing else but death, the graves of typhus patients, and the hospital near that grim monument, the Cele Tower, where the past and present meet in a delirium of history." "You've see our devastated settlements?" "We went to Gucevo, the graveyard, the battlefield...." "We walked among the dead." "We walked over the dead and our feet at times sank into putrefied flesh, crushing bones." "You've come to know Serbs..." "Yes, I've been writing about the Serbs as a democratic people and about the army which holds that close friendship between officers and soldiers does not destroy discipline." "I've illustrated this with drawings in which a colonel, a lieutenant,a corporal and two privates sit at the same table." "Why haven't you consented to a separate peace with Germany, Austria?" " l beg your pardon?" "I haven't heard of it." "They offer you the whole of Bosnia-Herzegovina, the entire Military Frontier in Slavonia, Banija, Lika, Kordun, and a large portion of Dalmatia..." "Mr. prime Minister, the offer is acceptable." "If we accepted a separate peace and they won the war they would take away not only what they had given us but our statehood as well, for their goal is to liquidate Serbia for good." "An allied victory is the only hope for our survival." "This is why we must believe in it." "To the offer for peace, we have only one answer." "Vladimir Becic shot pictures showing four oxen pulling the King on a gun-carriage." "The New York Times and the French L'lllustration immediately acquired the rights to publish the photographs." "Edmond Rostand, the author of Cyrano de Bergerac, devoted a poem to "King peter' Four Oxen"." "All this mass came together in Kosovo." "The army managed to avoid encirclement but the military and government leaders faced a dilemma-what to do next to avert a most dangerous crisis of the Serbian army since the start of the war." "Capitulation was rejected as it would mean the end of the state." "Misic's proposal for a counter-attack was inadequate to the balance of forces." "The top state leadership went for the hardest solution." "It decided to order retreat through Albania to the Adriatic coast." "There the allies would give shelter to the Serb army and help its recovery." "The recuperated army would then join the allied forces at the Salonika front." "The Serbian government to the allies: "Although it has found itself in a difficult position, which can get even worse, Serbia is determined to go the whole hog in the struggle against the invaders." "Loyally and faithfully, together with our allies, we will endure the whole war which will end in defeat for the enemy." "November 1915."" "To this end, a supplies commission composed of French, British, Russian and Italian military and naval envoys and a Serbian military representative." "Agreement was reached to set up bases at Shkoder and Durres where allied ships would be sent with food and other provisions." "The Serbian government reached an agreement on the passing of the Serbian army across Albania with Albanian prime Minister Essad-pasha," "Serbia's great friend, who had lined up with the Allies." "On 26 November 1915, a first group including the King, government and diplomatic corps set out from prizren across Vezirov Most towards Shkoder and Ljes." "A second group left prizren on November 30 towards Ljum" "Kula, peshkopi, Elbasan and Tirana and three army corps, the bulk of the army, were on their way from pec." "The German military command informed world public opinion:" ""Since the Serbian army no longer exists, apart from some miserable remnants who have fled to the Albanian mountains where they will meet their death, all further operations have stopped and no communiqu s on the Balkan theatre of war will be issued."" "Endless columns stretched out as far as the eye can see towards the Albanian border." "On the move apart from various services of the army- platoons, battalions, batteries, squadrons - there were animal-drawn and other vehicles piled with things and crammed with women,children and elders." "The King and his government, members of parliament, senior state officials, the diplomatic corps, foreign war correspondents, foreign missions, actors, singers, policemen, prisoners of war, released criminals - an entire small nation- were also on the move." "The King had deposited his crown and other accoutrements in the Decani monastery before going into exile." "The entire state in columns of refugees crossed the Albanian frontier in the midst of winter." "Comedy playwright Branislav Nusic was also in the column." "On the Albanian border he took leave of the homeland:" ""We are taking leave not of dead but of living people who will with anguish and hope await our return." "Fatherland is not a limited, corporeal entity." "Fatherland is a thought and belief, and thoughts and faith don't die." "Farewell our bloodied homeland!" "Your exiled children salute you."" "Nobody knows what trouble is until they cross over Albania on foot." "All the riders had to dismount and walk on the right-hand side." "If a horse lost its footing, its rider would let it go lest he himself tumbled into the abyss." "In this gorge we saw some soldiers carrying a coffin." "They were led by the old metropolitan Dimitrije." "They were carrying the holy Serbian King Stefan, the first crowned, from the pec patriarchate to Ostrog." "The Vizier' Bridge over the turbulent River Drim, remembered as hazardous is no more. lt's been sunk." "The old stone bridge was ice-bound and neck breaking." "Man and horse risked their lives by crossing this bridge." "Many tied rags over their footwear to avoid slipping." "I felt immensely relieved when I reached the other side." "Here soldiers had to get rid of surplus burden." "Only food and some blankets were to be carried further." "All inessential things were strewn on and around the road." "It was with a heavy heart that artillery men parted with the weapons with which they had waged war since 1912." "The crew of a battery dug in their guns in silence." "And when the emplacement for the last gun was prepared, the commander with two platoon officers kissed the worn-out barrels." "They were followed by others." "Wiping the eyes with the sleeves of their tunics, they headed for the bridge." "The dissolution of a state was carried out in this narrow space between the rocks and the imposing river." "Again a mythic scene: the soldiers made what looked like a closed sedan chair to carry their famous, but now old and sick, Vojvoda putnik over the Albanian crags." "The day before we came across dead,frozen bodies in the snow." "The wind was whistling, bent on finishing off the remnants of the unhappy Serbian people." "On both sides of the well-trodden path, refugees immovably rested in the snow, their heads drooping on the chests." "They were being snowed under while mountain winds were howling a death song." "poet and excellent translator Stanislav Vinaver, one of the young intellectuals from the unit called a thousand three hundred corporals distilled his memories into a poem." ""Our Serbia is imbued with freedom, it helped us breathe, it suffused villages and towns on mountain slopes, by rivers and brooks." "They carried it with them, not casual things, when fleeing, retreating, to breathe it a little longer, to gladden themselves with it, and to die with it." "From time to time, someone would cry for it, perhaps an old man, a woman, children, they would wail for it for everyone to hear." "At first a village and then the whole Serbia as if a huge graveyard would join in the unbearable grief." "The white, ice-covered Albania struck fear in our hearts." "We had to scale heights of over 1,800 meters in freezing cold that was not in living memory." "French journalist Henri Barbie accompanied the Serbs through Albania and recorded:" ""No pictures of the French retreat from Russia can depict desperation such as the withdrawal of the Serbs." "An entire nation, old people, women and children, wading through a snow storm." "Of a sudden we came across the dead body of an old man." "He was moved aside." "Further on, there was another poor old man, a piece of canvas round his shoulders." "He pointed at his frozen legs and said something but I didn't understand." "I offered him a biscuit but it wasn't what he wanted." "He raised one hand and showed me what he wanted." "He wanted me to finish him off with a revolver bullet."" "Step by step we walk in a row." "Who knows who is before me, and who behind." "Faces unknown." "Soldiers from all armed services." "Some family members." "Everyone is in deep thought about their own affairs which are of consequence only for today and perhaps tomorrow." "Only to stay healthy..." "Essad-pasha appealed to his rebellious tribes to show compassion towards the Serbian refugees." "On 3 December, he ordered that his soldiers must accept" "Serbian money. "Albanians and Turks, listen to me." "Who attempts to devalue the dinar will suffer badly."" "Essad-pasha did not hold firm power throughout the country and his friendly attitude could not guarantee safe passage through Albania to the Serbian army and refugees." "Apart from extreme tiredness, freezing and hunger, surprise attacks by criminals and outlaws cost many lives." "Arnauts welcomed us with bursts of fire." "26 officers and 70 soldiers were killed in ambushes." "At least they kept count of us." "There was nobody to count the killed civilians." "An artillery captain, a woman, a young girl and a boy lay on a plateau-all dead." "Beside them there was a three-year-old girl-alive." "We took the child along with us." "This epopee has been looked at from very many different angles." "The president of France's dramatists union, pierre de Kursin, compared scenes from Serbian golgotha to mythical scenes from Shakespeare's plays." "He said:" "In this exalted and tragic d cor, two men struggled through, supporting themselves with long canes." "One of them is an old man with hair and long moustaches as white as the snow around." "His appearance in the magnificent wilderness inevitable reminds one of a figure in some Shakespearian tragedy." "is it King Leer?" "is it Richard the Third?" "No!" "It is the Serbian King peter." "Defeated." "Alone with his adjutant, he gives way slowly under pressure from the preying victor, leaving his devastated kingdom." "There is nothing more tragic than such a shadow of this wandering majesty." "But also there is nothing greater than the King's hope that behind these barren mountains, his people was waiting for a bright and salutary future that would recompense for his martyrdom and reward for his faith." "King peter does not pass through Albania." "He passes through history over its heights." "How are you, Vojvoda?" "How can I be, immobile and fragile as I am." "They hurt me putting me in the chair, they hurt me lifting me out of it to straighten me on the stretcher." "Your Majesty, doesn't this chair remind you of a coffin put upright only somewhat wider and with small windows?" "I can see how the people...." " Vojvoda, for God's sake!" "I can hear jokes as well. lt's easy for putnik (a traveler) to be a putnik when he's being carried." "That's how people are." "Joking." " Joking, people can overdo it." "I've come to ask if there's hope." "There is hope." "We have found our King again." "I don't quite get it." "What have you found?" "Our King, Your Majesty." "We've found the charter on your election as King, signed by all members of parliament." "Isn't that charter held with other state documents?" "It was thrown away with other documents by the river Bistrica near pec patriarchate." "Luckily, it was found by Vojvoda Misic's soldiers." "Then, there is hope!" "I'm happy when in the snow I come across a bush to sit on." "The wind swings me into a sleep.Wrapped in the overcoat I don't feel the snow falling." "How blissful is a sleep after a long trudge. I sleep walk with my eyes open." "I can hear the tramp of people and the thud of horses." "I'm afraid of snoring for people who snore freeze to death." "But at the moment of freezing, they feel immeasurably happy." "We set up a camp to spend the night by the fire." "Suddenly, a shot." "We were surrounded by Arnauts with rifles at point blank." "Their leader ordered us to remain calm and give them our word of honor that we wouldn't harm no one in their village." "They then conferred and then gave us their firm promise that we would not be harmed during that night." "The big cortege for the state of Serbia silently mourns." "It is clear to me that the coming efforts and sufferings I could not endure. I'm not afraid of death, I'm reconciled with my fate." "Only uncertainty is more fearful." "I will be either frozen dead or die of hunger." "On one such path I met perunovic, the gusle player." "The scene like in classical drama:" "he was sitting by the dead bodies of Serbian soldiers singing songs about heroes." "He inspired the soldiers and refugees to persevere on their hard journey." "Hey, old man, why nobody is sitting by this fire?" "There are ten people sitting there...and you are here alone." "Don't know. perhaps I'm not a good man." "Will you sit here to keep me company?" "Tell me, good man, has the old man arrived to sleep here?" "What old man?" "There are many old men in the column." "This old man is the one only." "Our old man" " King peter!" "You're just waiting for King peter?" "is he a relative of yours when you show such concern?" "You know, I heard on the way here that he suffers much." "He's old." "That's why he handed over the command to his son." "He doesn't deserve such trouble." "No Serb does." "But not every Serb is a king." "This is why I feel sorry for the King." "Why should he have such a hard time. lf l knew where he was I would have offered to carry him on my back." "It wouldn't be hard." "Where do you come from, soldier, when you speak like that?" " From Lika, old man." "I was recruited by Emperor Franz Joseph and sent to fight Serbia." "As soon as we crossed the Drina, I deserted to our Serbian side." "And what shall we do now, soldier?" "Now we retreat, go hungry and die." "But I don't lose faith." "We suffer." "So be it." "Christ also suffered and was resurrected." "I still feel that God has not deserted us yet." "You think so?" "To tell you the truth, I feel bad and go hungry, but in my soul I am not the cold." "In the end Serbs will be victorious." "If we don't die of cold and hunger until then." "Old man, you're a grumbler, frightening me with the cold." "I now know why you are sitting by this fire alone." "You're bad-tempered and you drive other people away." "Why are you grinning?" "You should be ashamed of King peter." "You're of his own age." "Soldier, why are you here?" " Mr. Colonel, I wonder myself what I'm doing beside this grumbler." "Leave him alone, Colonel!" " Your Majesty,a concealed place has been found where bed is laid for you to rest." "God help me,Your Majesty. I.." "Soldier, thank you for convincing me that God has not yet forgotten the Serbs." "Thousands of children found themselves in the column." "French education inspector, Etienne pop, concerned himself with their fate." "Many Serb children even at moments of greatest hardship took trouble to write down their impressions." "They speak of the cold and hunger they had suffered." "Seeing how small and alone I was, a soldier approached me and offered me a bunch of small fish." ""Take these fish and keep them safe." "Each day eat only one fish and then drink some water, because the fish is salty." "That'll be enough to survive."" "We traveled from October 4 to January 17." "We walked on the snow for a month, eating only corn bread." "Once I slept in a house and paid 10 dinars for it." "The rest of the time I slept out of doors, on the snow." "We slept on the snow exposed to the bitter wind at temperatures of at least 20 degrees below zero Celsius." "We rubbed our faces with snow for fear that we might be frozen dead and become the quarry for the wolves." "From Kursumlija to Shkoder we had seen such horrible scenes that I don't dare to remember." "Not to speak of carcasses of cattle and horses strewn along the road." "But I also saw people who had died of freezing, tiredness and hunger, with bewildered eyes, gone mad." "The column of Serbian refugees arrived in Kastrata, the center of mostly Catholic Albanians." "In the fine Catholic church, an Albanian priest preached a sermon." ""Brothers Arnauts, God has got angry with a peaceful, brave and noble people and brought them into our country to seek protection and hospitality." "is there a worse death than to see bread and die of hunger." "All hungry people would brutally go for our bread, without any consideration." "The Serbian people is rare in history who would rather die than touch what belongs to others." "Such an honorable people deserves to be appreciated." "I call on you in the name of Jesus Christ to do your Christian duty."" ""Oh Jesus, Jesus, the poor Serbian people" - cried old people and immediately started bringing corn bread to the military station to feed the hungry and tired army." "Lake Skadar and the Albanian town of Shkoder on its shores, not far from the Adriatic Sea, is the destination of this campaign." "In mid-December, Serbian troops grouped around Shkoder with the aim of reaching the coast at Medova, in the vicinity of Elbasan." "Here is how the Supreme Commander of the allied forces, Marshal Joffre, assessed this campaign of the Serbian army:" ""At the end of November and the beginning of December 1915, the Serbian army started its march on the Adriatic Sea which can rightly be described as martyrdom." "It was great by its motives and historical consequences." "Under such conditions, it was inevitable that numerous faithful sons of the fatherland should die along the way." "They had the will but not enough strength to survive all the hardships and sufferings that by their magnitude surpassed everything recorded in history so far." "French envoy to the Serbian court, Auguste Bop, crossed Albania and joined the Serbs who had headed for Shkoder." "He noted down that exhausted soldiers were coming into Shkoder looking as if about to die, thin, walking with difficulty." "No complaints came from the lips of those who suffered so much." "As if some ill fate drove them, they walked in silence, occasionally uttering the word "bread"." "Around Shkoder and Durres there were some 185,000 starving, exhausted men." "The government realized that the allies failed to secure the promised bases and reception centers and by buying along the littoral supplied 950,000 food rations." "It was here that the Serbian peasant-soldiers for the first time encountered the sea." "Many approached the water and tasted it." "They cried "Hey, this is really salty."" "With the arrival at the Adriatic coast, the troubles of the army and civilians continued." "Not even there they could find the promised allied aid." "The allies had delivered considerable quantities of food to the Italian port of Brindisi." "The first ship that the Italians sailed towards the Albanian coast was sunk by an Austrian submarine." "They decided to stop further transports." "This is the small Albanian port of Medova where crowds of civilians and soldiers kept arriving in hope that they would sight ships bringing salvation." "Instead they encountered unbroken ground and the sea from which allied ships jut out after being bombed by Austrian planes which now targeted Serbian refugees." "The allies offered Regent Alexander to go to Brindisi for medical treatment." "He refused and underwent delicate surgery on the spot, continuing to appeal for assistance for the dying Serbian army and people." "Disagreements among the allies and their squabbles over some separate interests exposed the Serbian army to the danger of perishing on the Albanian shore." "Views were advanced in the allied press that there is no sense in helping people already dead to recuperate." "The state of affairs began to change only after Russia intervened energetically." ""lf the Serbian army is not shipped out of Albania at once," "Russia will end its alliance with the Entente and conclude a separate peace with Germany,"" "the Russian ultimatum said." "The French government heeded the Russian Tsar." "On 26 December. it decided to transfer the Serbian army to Biserta." "The first 12,000 soldiers, mainly the most vulnerable, were embarked at Sen Cin on the fourth and in Durres on the sixth of January 1916, and transported to the Tunisian port." "The Serbian government objected to the troops being taken so far from the homeland." "It decided to move remnants of the army and civilians to the Greek island of Corfu." "To this end, a dispatch of French Alpine troops at Bizerta disembarked on the island and occupied it." "As Medova was imperilled by Austro-Hungarian troops from the Bay of Boka Kotorska, the troops had to move southward." "Italians refused to take the Serbs aboard, fearing infection." "They allowed on board only Austrian prisoners of war the Serbs had brought along." "Exhausted and hungry, the Serbian soldiers were forced to walk another 200 km." "A new march along the Albanian coastline began, another golgotha of the Serbian army which resulted in a trail of new dead bodies." "During the march, people got stuck in the malaria-ridden" "Albanian littoral." "Many died of exhaustion, hunger and diseases." "While crossing the river Mace alone, a thousand people drowned." "Then the Italians stopped the march to Vlote allegedly because of contagion." "British doctors in vain claimed that the diseases were caused by exhaustion and hunger." "For ten days they were kept hungry within reach of the the port full of foodstuffs." "The greatest drama was encountered by young recruits who set off from Fier." "Only after the intervention of the French the Italians opened the road to Vlore." "But we were not accompanied by about 400 recruits who had died during the ten days of waiting." "Moving slowly towards Vlote, I was eating raw horse meat and entrails." "Here we are at the Albanian port of Durres." "The evacuation from here of troops and civilians began at the end of January." "The embarkation on allied ships started at the port of Vlore." "The First and Third Armies embarked here at Durres." "Troops from the new areas and from the Timok region and Belgrade defenders were evacuated via Vlore." "This time the Italians acquitted themselves well making available most of the ships but full recognition must go to the French who undertook the huge task of organizing things." "Through their efforts it was possible to embark some 3,000 to 9,500 people daily." "The Russian diplomat, prince Grigorije Nikolajevic Trubecki, boarded a ship for Corfu together with Serbian troops." "He described the event:" ""l realized then how very unusual this whole journey was."" "We departed from Albania, leaving Serbia far behind." "Here were ministers, generals, army commanders, representatives of foreign states." "That was the beginning of the deliverance of a nation which had never stopped believing that one day they would return to the promised land." "I felt I was a witness of a tremendous historical drama which had befallen one of its most tragic sons." "I sat beside pasic." "He was lost in thought." "Then he roused up and spoke of past events:" ""Yes, we have lost everything but have saved Serbia's honor"" "This was an immense undertaking by allied naval forces." "Their transport fleet included 45 ltalian ships, 25 French, 11 British and six Italian and French hospital ships." "Directly involved in protecting the convoys were 70 warships which included destroyers and torpedo and patrol boats, about 100 minesweepers and submarine hunters." "In protecting the transport of refugees, the allies had to wage naval battles." "Ships of the Otranto barrage drew fishnets carrying anti-submarine mines." "They patrolled between Vlore and Corfu." "In these operations, the allies lost eight transport and 11 warships, including one battle cruiser, two destroyers, three submarines, and six minesweepers and patrol boats." "In attempts to thwart these operations," "Austrian submarines carried out 26 attacks and their aircraft 25 attacks with the loss of two destroyers and 5 submarines." "None of the transport ships carrying Serbian troops were sunk." "All reached their destination undamaged." "This is how Milutin Bojic poetically summed up the moment:" ""An entire nation set sails in galleys and found itself on the high seas, seeking a safe haven for its weary body and recovery, faith and hope under the warm sun in Corfu," "Algeria and France." "The last echelon of the Serbian army left Durres on 16 February so that the French government considered the operation completed and transferred its transport ships to Salonika." "The great efforts of the Entente forces and the casualties they incurred in this undertaking resulted from their moral commitment to the allied Serbian army whose past offensives put out of action many enemy soldiers." "The allied intentions coincided with the keen desire of the Serbian army to recuperate, rearm and return to the front as soon as possible for decisive battles that lay ahead in the war." "Corfu, one of the most attractive of Mediterranean islands." "Its Greek name, Kerkira," "Corfu got after the beautiful nymph Kerkira, poseidon's wife." "Once upon a time, the waves after a shipwreck threw Odysseus and his sailors out." "Beautiful Haysikaia found him exhausted and in deep sleep and took him to her father, King Alcinoy." "Odysseus recovered there, obtained a ship and sailed for his Ithaca." "When the Serbs landed on the island, 100,000 people lived on it," "30,000 in the town of Corfu alone." "Corfu inhabitants were certainly astounded when a large numbers of people in rags, who outnumbered them, came ashore." "A Greek compared King peter to Odyseus." "After wandering about Albania with his army and people, waves of disaster threw him on to this island where he found salvation." "Guvia, a small harbour close to the town of Corfu." "This monument is a reminder that the harbour welcomed all ships with Serbian refugees." "The first allied ship with Serbs on board sailed into it on 6 January 1916." "This is what the Serb soldier looked like on arrival in Corfu." "Those who retained some strength and health felt that extremely harsh conditions, freezing and hunger they had suffered were now over." "As if we were bathed in a glow of kindliness." "We hoped that nothing would mar the goodwill." "What they found was a mild climate, olive groves, lemons, food, drinks." "As if they arrived in paradise from hell." "More than 150,000 people disembarked on the island on February 21." "We went to Govino." "There were tents there, surrounded by olives and oranges." "And bread was in plenty." "Rations of white bread and cooked meals were handed round to each soldier." "Good French food and Italian Chianti wine." "But suddenly eating too heavy food without supervision caused the death of many emaciated soldiers." "There was a triage station on the small island through which most officers and soldiers had to pass to be cleaned of vermin and dirt." "After everyone was disinfected, bathed and sprayed, those found infected with contagious diseases remained in the lazaret." "Most foreign medical missions passed through the Albanian golgotha even though no one asked them to." "The Corfu medical corps consisted of doctors and medical staff from Serbia," "Great Britain, Russia, the United States, France," "Switzerland, Japan, Greece, Italy and other countries." "But many were on the danger list, especially among unlucky young recruits." "Most of these reached Vlore on foot from Durres." "Among them were men who didn't have more than 27 kilos." "For them, Corfu rather than salvation was disaster." "They were sent to the island of Vido, not far from Corfu." "It looks like this today...." "Formerly, it was stony and desolate." "The people of Corfu called it "the Snake island"." "The Morava hospital disembarked here on January 21 with the urgent task of setting up a facility to put an end to the high mortality rate." "From the harbour, the way to the location chosen for the hospital is uphill." "At this elevated position, medical corps centers were put up." "The French were among the first to set up field hospitals." "There was room for 1,500 beds for patients." "pieces of canvas from Britain, supported by oars from the French ships, were used to raise makeshift tents." "The ends of canvas were weighted down to prevent them from being blown away by the wind." "Walking through the tents, orderlies couldn't avoid stepping on dead bodies or still living patients." "Congestion was such that removal of the dead caused the living to howl with pain or fresh injuries." "Death, stalking its victims, did not have a difficult task for its victims were utterly exhausted and reduced to skin and bone." "It was raining hard for weeks." "In this hell, the whole tragedy of Serbia was played out." "New patients were constantly brought in unconscious and died on admission still lying on stretchers or in the arms of orderlies." "Close to the tents was a place where the dead were brought." "At first, they were buried in shallow stone graves on the sea shore." "The first 1,200 victims were buried there." "But soon there was simply no more space in the stony ground." "On this slope there was a two-way traffic with some stretchers taking the diseased uphill and others taking the dead downhill to the harbour." "On the shore there were piles of naked human bodies, put on top of one another like cut logs." "Until i die I will be troubled by the question why we had to pay so dearly." "These were scenes until then unknown in human experience." "The bodies were taken by boat to the French ships," ""St. Francis of Assisi" and "Notre-Dame de Salut"" "anchored at some distance." "They would take the bodies further out and lay them into the blue depth of the sea." "We are approaching the unique cemetery of the Serbian youth, that holy place of pilgrimage called the Blue Graveyard." "About 6,000 martyrs have been lowered into the sea." "poet Milutin Bojic with restrained pathos sang about the Blue Graveyard in a poem of the same name." "The Blue Graveyard:" ""Stop imperial galleys!" "Still your stern-wheelers" "Sail with quite oars I'm serving a requiem over this sacred water at the chill of night." "There, at the bottom, where shells are falling asleep and peat falls on dead algae is the graveyard of the brave, brother lies beside brother." "prometheus of hope, the apostles of grief, don't you feel that the sea flows quietly not to disturb the eternal repose of the dead platoons." "From the deep abyss peaceful drowse ebbs and in tired flight the moon light slowly passes." "Stop imperial galleys, hush your trumpets, let sentinels sing the requiem where waves are stilled." "I want eternal silence to rule so that the dead can hear how their hot blood boils in the veins of their children under the aegis of glory." "That's why I want to serve a wordless requiem without tears and quiet sighs to blend the scent of incense with the breath of the ashes to the beat of distant drums." "Stop imperial galleys to pay due respect by gliding quietly over this sacred water." "I serve the requiem the sky has never seen before over this sacred water." "At the end of February, dying on a mass scale was brought to an end on Vido." "The early Ionian spring arrived." "But the Serbian government on foreign territory lacked money." ""We are not moneyless, gentlemen,"" "the resourceful official of the Finance Ministry," "Milan Stojadinovic, announced." ""We have considerable assets in foreign banks." "I have the account number on me." "In half an hour the money can arrive."" "Salaries began to be paid out, money was being spent, restaurants and shops came to life and all this pleased local people." "All over the place the Serbs opened their stores:" "butcher's, restaurants, bars and grills, and they cooked, ate and drank a lot." "The Greeks were puzzled over it all." "Smoke rose over the Serbian grills, lambs were slaughtered, wine flowed." "The Greeks asked themselves in wonder:" ""They must enjoy life even more in their own home country."" "The allies developed a taste for Serbian cuisine and almost everyone in Corfu adopted it as their own." "The allies and Serbian state officials took urgent steps to solve the question of nutrition." "Food supplies arrived from all sides." "The allies even brought 5,000 oxen from the Sudan." "Old Vojvoda putnik made the rounds of his troop before leaving for medical treatment in Nice where he was soon to die." "With the last refugee, prince Alexander also arrived in Corfu aboard the last scheduled ship." "French and Serbian units formed a guard of honour to welcome him." "I saw an old Colonel wiping tears from his face." "The Regent bought cigarettes before visiting the hospital." "Mr. Supreme Commander," "First Army Second Regiment corporal Flora Sands reporting." "At ease, sergeant Sands." "I owe you a handshake ever since the Valjevo hospital." "I saved you but I was infected with typhus." "I was lucky, still alive." "Tell me what you were doing later." "I went to England but returned in November." "November!" "My God, Miss Sands, at the worst time for us!" "Should I have left my Serbian soldiers to cross Albania alone?" "The First Army admitted me as a private and here I am." "But how did you endure the hard days of marching and hunger across Albania?" " l did fine." "Enjoyed great sympathy from your brave soldiers." "Those dear soldiers gave me the mare Diana and looked after me as they would their sister." "I've heard of your courage Miss Flora." "I've heard you proved a crack shot in the battle at Kuks." "I've heard of your violin with a soul, from which you never part." "For all you have done I decorate you with our order of honour, St.Sava." "The Serbian state began functioning on foreign territory." "All over the city, brass plates were put up on buildings:" ""Railway directorate", "Head of the Kosjeric District"," ""Belgrade National Theatre", "Kragujevac District Court"." "Telephones were installed and voices can be heard:" ""Hello, district command, can you hear me?" "This is Cacak school inspector, could you please send me office material as soon as possible."" "Offices had brought with them their stamps and were sending documents to the Jagodina district economy manager in Tunis, the Topcider police commissariat in paris..." "The building of the Corfu Theatre, served for sittings of the Serbian parliament where debates were noisy and often acrimonious." "It should be mentioned that the controversial Corfu Declaration was signed there." "It envisioned that after the war South Slavs should unite in a common state." "For Croats and Slovenians this was the first step in a roundabout way towards creating their own independent state which they succeeded to realize at the end of the century." "For the Serbs, this was a fallacy, the beginning of an adventure from which they have not yet disentangled themselves." "The army was re-formed according to a plan developed by France in cooperation with Serbian experts." "New uniforms and completely new French arms were supplied." "It was with some sadness that soldiers parted from the rifles with which they had fought in three wars to receive new French rifles." ""put down, brave soldier, that valiant Serbian rifle." "Here is the rifles with which you'll liberate your country,"" "said the commander." "Flower beds and paths were laid out in the camp, there was frequent singing and Serbian kolo dance." "Corfu residents provided instruments for a new military brass band." "Numerous new friendships were made with the people of Corfu, and many soldiers and officers and even future prime ministers married Corfu girls." "Allied officers watched with admiration the supreme discipline with which Serbian soldiers conducted themselves." "They were blamed for no theft and no damage to local people." ""Many armies have come here," the locals said," ""and they all wanted to stay here for good but you crave to return home, you glance far across the sea and sing 'There, far away'."" "Thousands of Serbian children had followed the army across Albania and many of them found themselves on Corfu." "The Education Ministry headed by Ljuba Davidovic took care of them." "The French government extended hospitality to 4,000 children who stayed with families throughout France." "Tens of thousands of people in Marseille, Rouen, Nice and other towns took to the streets to welcome little Serbs." "On behalf of the Royal government, Ljuba Davidovic sent letters of gratitude to the French government and 4,000 French families:" "Following the noble tradition of your great fatherland, you have taken part in a mission unique in history and I have the honour in the name of the government of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia to express the sincere thankfulness of the parents who, knowing that their children are safe," "will better be able to bear the hardship and suffering." "The ministry took care of numerous school children and students who attended schools in France," "Great Britain." "Greece, Switzerland, Italy, Russia." "Many of them later returned to Serbia to repay their debt to the homeland." "Before the sinking of the ship on board which he was returning from France, poet Vladimir petkovic-Dis wrote down:" ""When we return to our hearth and home, if our children are still alive, they will simply ask us:" ""Where is France?"" "Instead of an answer we will place their hand on our heart and tell them 'France is here' and our children will understand."" "In the town of Corfu, the English set up a hospital that has accommodated the most vulnerable small children." "An elementary and a grammar school were built in Corfu for children who had not been sent to France and Corsica." "Military priests performed religious services." "Easter was celebrated festively in particular." "The Canadian priest, Dr. Boyd, noted down:" "Regent Alexander faced the army and cried:" ""Christ resurrected, brothers"." "And all soldiers replied in unison:" ""Indeed he resurrected"." "A sovereign, like an apostle, announced to the army that Christ returned alive and the army confirmed the words of their sovereign." "The Church of St. Nicholas, one of the three churches that the Corfu ecclesiastical province transferred to the Serbs for their services." "After the service all the present sang "There, Far Away."" "A very lively social life developed." "A theatre was opened and especially popular was the Cvetkovic cabaret where patriotic song were sung." "Both the Greeks and the French learnt to sing "There, Far Away"" "A Serbian printer's started work." "Important books were printed." "Never before had so many celebrated Serbs assembled in such small space." "Gathered there were Regent Alexander, putnik, Stepa," "Misic, Bojovic, Jurisic." "pasic was also there with his ministers and all party leaders, then Ducic," "Nusic, Bojic, Dragisa Vasic, Slobodan Jovanovic," "Todor Manojlovic, Rastko petrovic, Nikolaj Velimirovic," "Branislav petronijevic and many other prominent Serbs." "Ave Serbia, the Blue Graveyard and other works of art were created there." "The Miroslav Gospel was kept safe like the apple of their eye." "The recuperated army eagerly looked forward to the move to the Salonika front on the way to the occupied fatherland." "pantell from petlovaca, good?" "From Upper petlovacha, Sister Margarita." "pantell from Upper petlovaca, good?" "I'm well if you say so then I must be well." "I understand pantell well." " You've understood everything and you've forgiven everything." "God himself must have sent you to comfort and care for me." "God is merciful and works miracles." "You will soon be up." "Have you got sisters and brothers?" "I tell you that already." " l know you did." "But I must ask you again." "We must talk about what you understand." "Have you got parents in France?" "I also told you that already." "They live in a village." "You will soon return to your Serbie." "I've just had that dream." "As if I am ill in Serbia and you take care of me." "What your Serbie is like?" " Oh, what is it like?" "Sheer beauty. I'll tell you what it is like." "What your olive groves are here, our plum orchards are there." "Your sea here is our fields." "You must come with me to see..." "you must come to petrovacha." "You must show me the fruits you grafted." "I'll show you my grandad's old mulberry-tree." "And under the mulberry-tree your dad, your mum, your brother who return from war and sister Dragojla who never marry." "How do you know all that, Sister Margarita?" "As if you come from our parts." "And dad and mum ask you who is this, pantela." "And you keep silent." " l keep dead silent." "And Sister Dragojla says this must be a good soul who is good to pantela in that foreign world so he brings her here to show her how our Serbie is beautiful." "Oh, yes, I would overcome even the worst of wounds." "The people of Corfu have preserved the memory of the Serbs' stay on their island." "Even after 90 years, these hospitable people will recount for you many a preserved story." "To keep this memory for good they presented this house as a gift and named it "The Serbian House"." "While they were still there, soldiers of the Drina division put up a monument in Agios Mateos with inscribed verses by poet and field hospital sergeant Vlada Stanimirovic." ""On the graves in a foreign country," "Serbian flowers won't grow." "Tell our children, we'll never come home." "Greet the fatherland, kiss the native soil!" "Let these graves be reminders of the struggle for freedom."" "peasant Janus Janulis gave away one of his fields." "After the bones of the dead were taken to the charnel house, he stopped cultivating it." "Serbs erected a monument to him in his Agios Mateos." "Witnesses recount that visiting the island of Vido and this charnel-house arouses strong emotions and even tears among Serbian pilgrims." "Metropolitan Dimitrije said that Vido should become the Serbian Jerusalem for happier generations." "Here lie comrade-in arms of my granddad, Radonja Nikolic, a private of the Serbian army." "Glory and gratitude to them!" "Dragan Nikolic." "The time had come to leave for the Salonika front." "Not even at the worst of times did the soldiers cease to believe that this hour would come." "The hearts of the Serbian soldiers were beating fast for joy as the departure for Salonika meant the beginning of the return to the home country." "Whoever could say that these were the same soldiers who - poorly clad, bare-footed, hungry, thirsty and half dead had landed in Corfu." "Until recently, there was talk about the Serbian army existing no longer." "The embarkation on allied ships started on April 13." "Saying goodbye to the people of Corfu could not pass without tears on both sides." ""God bless you, good Serbs, we wish you to reach your fatherland and those awaiting you at home as soon as possible."" "The island of Corfu is part of Serbian history." "Serbs will forever remain associated with that beautiful island and its noble people." "In April 1916, allied ships began sailing into the Salonika Harbour, packed with soldiers of the re-formed Serbian divisions." "French soldiers who happened to be there welcomed them with cries:" ""Long live Serbia"." "From here, the Serbian army set off for the Salonika front where the allied countries - France, Britain, Greece, Italy and Russia-already had their forces." "Wounded Serbs were taken away from here by French ships." "This gave rise to the song" ""The French ship sails from the Salonika port"." "Zejtinlik, near Salonika." "A memorial cemetery of allied forces killed on the Salonika front." "Another huge charnel-house of the Serbian army." "Buried here are 4,000 English, 400 Russian, 2,000 Italian, 8,000 French and 8,000 Serbian soldiers." "Altogether 21,400 men." "In 1916-17 there was a long pause on all fronts." "On the Salonika front, the allies hesitated long to push for a breach on the front." "They had some argument with the Serbs keen to rush to the native country." "But the Salonika front is not the subject of this story." "It will suffice to say that the Serbian army went it alone and advanced irresistibly in a glorious and unprecedented operation." "Heavy bombardment from 580 guns for 24 hours began on 14 September 1918." "previously," "Clemenseau telegraphed to Franchet d'Esperey:" ""You are authorized to go into action whenever you saw fit."" "The next day, Serb and French forces made a breach 14 km. wide." "The French then paused for two days but the Serbs could not be restrained until final victory." "The Bulgarians who had claimed that all Serbs had died in the Albanian mountains started crying" ""Run away, the living." "There come the dead."" "They dropped their arms and ran headlong for their lives." "The Serbs made fast penetration ignoring the unprotected flanks for the allies remained in the initial positions." "They no longer counted on them and did not heed their warnings." "They advanced 50 km." "After a week they crossed the river Vardar thereby breaching the Salonika front." "The German command ordered general retreat." "Military historian peter Kirch:" ""The Serbian breach is the first penetration into Fortress Germany." "In this way, this secondary battlefield assumed decisive significance for the further course of the war." "Bulgaria capitulated on 29 September." "And an army of 700,000 men was thus put out of action." "Bulgarian soldiers gladly status of prisoners of war." "Kaiser Wilhelm was bitter about them:" ""Should 62,000 Serbs decide the outcome of the war?"" "The English admitted their mistake." "Lloyd George:" ""Of all the secondary theatres of war, the neglected Salonika front proved the most important." "It was there that the mortal blow was dealt to the Central powers."" "In vain the allies warned Misic not to rush along so recklessly." "Misic's soldiers marched for 17 hours and joined the battle." "The French cavalry found it hard to keep pace with them." "Finally,they entered the home country, advancing from Kumanovo to Nis, a distance of 160 km., in six days." ""That was the greatest and fastest advance by the allies"" "said Gustav Ebre." "General Bojovic ignored d'Esperey's order to stop outside Belgrade." "His advance guard entered the Serbian capital city after pursuing the enemy for 600 km." "This is how this huge epopee came to a close." "This is how the exiled Serbs realized their dream of returning to their country and to their homes." "The price was excessive." "immeasurable." "With losses amounting to 26 percent," "Serbia was far ahead of all the participants in that war." "In World War Two, the Serbs remained faithful to the allies but again suffered proportionately one of the largest number of casualties." "Most other nations in the region, who sided with the enemy in the war, have fared much better in Europe of today." "Mestrovic's statue "The Victor" stands in the Belgrade fortress as a reminder of the forgotten glory." "In the twentieth century, Serbs convincingly proved that they know how to die." "At the start of the twenty-first century, there is hope that the price of life here will increase and that Serbs will know how to save lives better." "Translated by Stevan Zivanovic"