Why they kill the poet in socialism

Dejan Stojiljković wrote the novel "Star over the Void" about Branko Miljković who, if he had not died tragically, would have been 90 years old tomorrow. On this occasion, the promotion of this new novel by Dejan Stojiljković was also organized.

"Star over the Void" has been attracting attention since it was published last summer, because it is based on true events, and above all on his claim that Branko Miljković did not die, but was killed by order of the UDBE.

The lifeless body of Branko Miljković was found early in the morning, on February 12, 1961, in Xaverska forest, on the outskirts of Zagreb, kneeling and hanging from a tree the thickness of a child's hand. He was 27 years old.

Stojiljković says that documents from that time were hidden or destroyed, and that he, in Zagreb, where he was staying to investigate the circumstances under which Branko Miljković died, talked to retired people from the Service who were active at the time of Miljković's death.

"According to the research I conducted and the claims of his family, it is definitely a case of murder." And what exactly happened, we will probably never know," said Dejan Stojiljković.

In the book, he describes Miljković's murder and what happened in the tavern where he was arrested for shouting "why do they kill a poet in socialism", as he discovered, naturally stylized and suitable for fiction.

The novel follows the last three years of Branko's life, with reminiscences of his childhood and early years. It deals with the tragic fate of a genius artist in eternal conflict with the world, and at the same time talks about the state and its Security Service.

In the novel, Branko Miljković is not dark, as we know him from photographs, because his friends describe him as a friendly, witty guy, whom women adored. And who wrote "I wake in vain", according to many the most beautiful love song in Serbian literature.

Dejan Stojiljković claims that Miljković presents himself as a poet of death only to present himself as a young man prone to suicide, in order to hide the truth about his death.