Who will get 11 sacks from safe 555

Eleven sacks have been kept in safe deposit box number 555 in the National Bank of Serbia for more than four decades. The safe was opened once, in 2013, under the veil of secrecy in public, and three parties are interested in its contents - the state, the heirs of Josip Broz Tito and members of the Karađorđević royal family. These are the items that were received by the National Bank on May 14, 1982, that is, those that the Presidency of the SFRY listed and collected in the White Palace in Dedinje after the death of the former president of the country, Josip Broz. Among them are gold bars, gold objects, gold coins, decorations, silver dishes, medallions, badges, cash, but there are doubts that a lot of it has disappeared from the list in the meantime, that is, it was stolen. The Broz family is still waiting for the epilogue of the probate proceedings, the Karađorđević family is counting on restitution, and the state, it seems, cannot easily give up the contents of the bank's vault.

Until all procedures are completed, the state is officially the owner of all these items that are kept under lock and key. The National Bank of Serbia explained to "Vreme" that the legal successor, that is, the legatee, is the General Secretariat of the President of the Republic, which alone can give an order to open the safe, as well as any other actions related to the values ​​found in it. The NBS also reminds that, by order of the president, this storage room was last opened on February 18, 2013, when a report was made on the contents of the safe.

"Based on the letter of the General Secretariat of the President of the Republic dated July 25, 2017, it was determined that the data generated in the work of the National Bank of Serbia, and in connection with the depot number 555 - Values ​​received from the Presidency of the SFRY, after the passage of time - are no longer secret data. On the basis of all the above, it is necessary to contact the depositor in order to view the contents of the deposit", the NBS reply states.

In the president's office, however, when asked by "Vremena" what is planned with the items kept in safe 555, they answer that since 2013, the topic has never been raised and that they have no new information.

photo: photo service of the office of the President of the Republic, Museum of Yugoslavia

THE LONGEST PROCEEDINGS IN HISTORY

The inheritance dispute about Tito's legacy, which is kept in the state vaults, was initiated in 1983 by the now deceased son of Josip Broz - Žarko. The heirs of the president of the former Yugoslavia are the son Miš and grandchildren Josip (Joška), Zlatica, Svetlana and Edvard Broz, as well as the heirs of Tito's widow, sister Jovanka Broz.

In 1989, the court passed a decision on the division of property, which Jovanka Broz contested at the time, and with the declaration of unconstitutionality of the Law on the Management of Social Property, which is the property of Josip Broz, in 2002, a new process was opened. Then a new procedure began to determine what were the personal belongings of the president of the former SFRY.

It was only in 2015 that the First Basic Court in Belgrade rejected as unfounded the proposal of Josip Broz Tito's heir to issue a supplementary probate decision on the distribution of property because the legal requirements for it were not met. According to the court's explanation stated in the decision, a necessary prerequisite for passing a supplementary decision is that it is about property that at the time of the decision was not known to belong to the estate, which is not the case here, because the probate procedure for the division of Broz's property was legally terminated in 1991 . year.

In the explanation of the Decision from December 2015, which "Vreme" received from the First Basic Court in Belgrade on the basis of free access to information of public importance, it is stated that the final decisions of the then Fourth Municipal Court in Belgrade from 1984 and 1991 discussed the legacy of Josip Broza Tito. According to the first, as it is added, the part related to copyright is divided into three parts - Jovanka Broz and her two sons, while the second one discussed the inheritance, which consisted of money and personal clothing. The document says that it is about the lists from 1982, which list Tito's clothing belonging to the heirs under serial numbers from 1 to 384 and items that can be considered personal belongings of Broz under serial numbers from 1 to 485.

On the request for the adoption of a supplementary probate decision, after it was established that the Law on the Management of Socially Owned Things Related to the Life and Work of Josip Broz Tito is unconstitutional, the court "taking into account the statements of the hereditary participants, the state of the case files, attached and obtained evidence, which the court inspected, found that the proposal was unfounded".

Namely, in that law, they recall, it was prescribed that charters, plaques, diplomas, batons and other items that were awarded to Josip Broz Tito as signs of recognition and honor, archival materials related to his life and work, things he received as a gift in the country and abroad, trophies, collections of works of art and other objects and valuables and other things used by Broz in the performance of state and other social functions, as things in social property, are managed by bodies and organizations determined by the Federal Law. In 2012 and 2013, the State Attorney's Office requested that certain items be exempted from the proceedings "considering that during the life of the testator, a number of items were given to cultural institutions, which by their nature are cultural assets" and that all the assets of the Museum of the History of Yugoslavia are public property of the Republic of Serbia, pursuant to Article 18 of the Law on Public Property.

In the same decision, it is pointed out that the request of the Karađorđević family to be included in the probate proceedings of the estate of Josip Broz Tito was rejected since they are neither legal nor testamentary heirs. It is also added that, bearing in mind that the inventory of depot 555 found that the found items may represent the legacy of their legal predecessors, they can fulfill their demands in other legal procedures.

photo: photo service of the office of the President of the Republic, Museum of Yugoslavia

After an appeal against this decision, the proceedings moved to the High Court, which rejected the heir's request about a year and a half ago. The representative of Zlatica Broz, Violeta Kočić Matiček, tells "Vreme" that the review before the Supreme Court is underway.

"The probate hearing has been legally concluded, and the revision is an extraordinary legal remedy. We are waiting for a decision", says Violeta Kočić Matiček. The Supreme Court replied that the case was received on February 20 of this year, that it is "in progress" and that the judge is Zoran Hadžić.

"The procedure will never be completed because it does not suit the state. They believe that none of that is Tito's and ours as a family. There is an obstruction going on for several decades", Tito's granddaughter Svetlana Broz assesses for our newspaper.

Grandson Josip Joška Broz is not optimistic either, who points out that "nobody can do anything anymore".

"Half of it has been stolen in the meantime, many things are gone", emphasizes our interlocutor and adds that the only thing that has been inherited so far is the money that Jovanka, Misha and Žarko received from copyrights. His lawyer, Nikola Barović, explains to us that the High Court rejected the proceedings due to deadlines, that is, procedural reasons, which means that everything belonged to the state.

"CRATE 23" AND CLAIMS OF THE KARAĐORĐEVIC FAMILY

Bearing in mind that it turned out that among the items that were left behind by Tito were also things that were taken from Karađorđević even after the Second World War, members of the royal family also became interested in the probate proceedings. Since it was about Broz's estate, the Karađorđevićs could not be officially involved in the proceedings, because they are not his heirs, but they followed what was happening.

Uroš Parezanović, head of the public relations and protocol service of the royal court, states that the items from safe 555 are part of the request for restitution of the Karađorđević family, which was submitted in 2014 and is still ongoing.

"It is interesting that even on the documents from 1982, when it was placed in the safe, it can be seen that it says 'belonged to the Karađorđević family.' So, even then they did not deny that it was the private property of the royal family, just as they did not in 1947, when the confiscation was carried out. In the order of Edvard Kardelj, by which the seizure of property was carried out, it is clearly written from whom what is being taken, that is, to whom it is directed", explains Parezanović.

He adds that in 2013, during the opening of the safe for a large number of cases, court expert Rajko Dupalo stated that the findings indicated that they belonged to the Karađorđević family.

"There is jewelry, cufflinks with royal monograms, decorations, watches, old coins, but also dishes... There is also a pendant with the inscription 'Peter, born on September 6, 9 - baptized on October 1923, 21 in Belgrade.' , or a brooch with the letter M (Mary) and a crown, generally a lot of valuables with a crown. "It is interesting that the communists did not mind the crowns on the jewelry and watches that they stole, excuse me, appropriated, but they were on the walls of the royal court, where they crossed them together with the double-headed eagles, so as not to remind them of the real owners," Parezanović assesses.

One of the interesting objects that illustrates this whole story, as stated by our interlocutor, is the order of the Karađorđe star of Queen Mary in diamonds, which can be seen in her photos before the Second World War, and which was also part of the famous "Box 23". When the war started, according to him, the valuables of the royal family were packed in several boxes and taken away from Belgrade.

"Part of these coffins reached the Ostrog monastery, where they remain hidden after the evacuation of King Peter the Second and the Government of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. Part of the chest in the monastery was found by the Gestapo very soon after the occupation, so that what remained hidden was found by the OZNA in 1945. "When you compare the lists of safe 555 and what OZNA took away, even a layman can see that there is a lot of coincidence," says Parezanović.

As for "box 23", he states that it was handed over to the National Bank, and that its contents are detailed in the files after 1945. After confiscation of the property, he adds, this chest was placed under the jurisdiction of the Ministry of Finance of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and the National Bank, noting that those valuables that are not of interest to the Ministry can be handed over to museums.

"This Order of the Star of Karađorđe was obviously interesting to the Ministry since it did not end up in the museum like other objects from the chest. It was separated and eventually ended up in safe 555, unlike, for example, the marshal's baton of King Alexander the First or his saber, which were in the National Museum until 2003, and then were transferred for permanent preservation to the Endowment of King Peter the First at Oplent. The order only temporarily left Depot 555 on May 26, 2013, when it was displayed on Queen Maria's coffin during the state funeral of the members of the royal household," says Parezanović on behalf of the Karađorđević family.

Svetlana Broz, as she says herself, was one of the few heirs who agreed during the proceedings that everything that was owned by Karađorđević should be returned to them because it "clearly belonged to them".

WHAT'S ON THE LIST?

According to the list published ten years ago by the media, in 1982 gold in bars and powder, with a total weight of 29,366 kilograms, 2.663 gold coins, objects made of gold, diamonds and diamonds belonging to the Karađorđević family, totaling 149 pieces, were handed over to the National Bank of Yugoslavia in 251. , but also objects made of gold and other precious metals that were taken from the vaults of the National Bank of Yugoslavia after the war, confiscated or acquired from state funds, a total of XNUMX pieces.

The list also allegedly includes numismatic coins of higher value, a total of 1.271 pieces, decorations that belonged to the Karađorđević family - 13 pieces, dishes made of silver and silver with gilding, a total of 18 sets.

Other items of lesser value, such as cufflinks, cigarette boxes, medallions, pendants, badges and the like were also listed - a total of 83 items, but also foreign currency in cash - 26.219 US dollars, 36.000 marks and 2.200 Danish crowns.

MYSTERIOUS OPENING OF THE SAFE IN THE PRESENCE OF THE AUTHORITIES

Although the heirs of Josip Broz demanded that safe 555 be opened in the National Bank of Serbia in order to determine whether it contained everything that was received in 1982, and the First Basic Court in Belgrade requested the permission of the NBS and the Presidency, the cabinet of the then president Tomislav Nikolić In 2013, he opened the safe and formed a three-member commission to list the items. Neither the representatives of the court nor the heirs were invited to the opening of the safe, which is why the whole procedure was characterized as non-transparent, causing numerous suspicions and conspiracy theories.

"We were not allowed to attend the opening of the safe and it was opened without our presence. It was said that the property of the Karađorđević family was among the items on the list, so they also asked to see what it was about. We never found out what was listed then from the contents", says Violeta Kočić Matiček, representative of Zlatica Broz.

The commission that opened safe 2013 for the first time in 555 years in 30 was led by Oliver Antic, adviser to President Nikolić, and the opening was also attended by Nikolić's second adviser, General Milorad Simić, as well as Nenad Jevremović, the deputy general secretary of the president.

Oliver Antic then stated that nothing was missing from the list and that they even found a few more items. "Now everything is in the probate court. Whoever he appoints as the heir, and when it becomes legally binding, he will be able to take over the valuables," said Antic on that occasion and added that "for security reasons, all things were returned to the deposit."

After that, he also stated that he received an expert's report on the contents of the so-called "Tito's safe" in the National Bank of Serbia, stressing that there is nothing belonging to Tito in that safe and that it is all the belongings of the Karađorđević dynasty.

Joška Broza's lawyer, Goran Petronijević, stated at the time that the entire procedure of opening the safe and storing the items was carried out illegally: "The commission that opened the safe invalidated the court as an institution. When probate proceedings are initiated, the court is the only competent authority to make all decisions related to that process, including opening the safe. The court had to expressly forbid the commission to list things without the presence of the court and the attorney of the heir". Petronijević believed that the prolongation of the proceedings was an attempt by a number of people who were in power after Tito's death to cover up that a lot was stolen.

What does the law say today?

According to the current Law on Assets in the Property of the Republic of Serbia, gifts received by the representative of the Republic, i.e. a territorial unit, from foreign states, bodies or organizations of those states, international organizations or foreign citizens and foreign legal entities are state assets. It is also added that the recipient of such gifts can acquire ownership of the appropriate gift of lesser value, and that otherwise the received gift must be handed over to the competent institutions.

photo: photo service of the office of the President of the Republic, Museum of Yugoslavia

Tito had no personal real estate

Yugoslav President Josip Broz Tito did not own personal property when it comes to real estate, although he used a large number of residences and vacation homes during his reign. Most of these objects belonged to the republics that made up Yugoslavia. In Belgrade, he used the villa at Užička 15 in Dedinje and the White Palace of the royal family. The complex in Karađorđevo, a village near Bačka Palanka, was used by Tito mainly for hunting, where he sometimes received important guests. He also used a villa on Zlatibor, which was returned by restitution to the previous owners, so it was sold.

Tito's most famous residence in Croatia was in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea, on Brioni. In Kumrovac, Croatia, where Tito was born, a villa was built in 1947, which today is owned by the Croatian Ministry of State Property. Villa Dalmacija in Split is owned by the city of Split and is rented out for various events. In eastern Croatia, near Ilok, there is also the Dunavka villa, which is also owned by the state today, as well as the Tikveš castle. Villas in Koprivnica and Gorica, near Bugojno, formerly Tito's favorite hunting spot, are now abandoned. The Montenegrin government has sold or leased most of Tito's property, but he is still the owner of the Galeb villa in Igalo. Villa Lovćen in the Boka Kotor Bay was leased to the Azerbaijani company Azmont Investment. Of the ships, the Government of Montenegro sold "Galeb" and the yachts "Primorka" and "Jadranka". In Slovenia, Tito used a villa in Bled, and in Macedonia in Ohrid. Both objects were given the states in which they are located. The Manhattan apartment he also used has been sold.