“My only regret is that the new generation of Cro kids in Geelong won’t ever experience this…”
FOR the many young Croatian men in Geelong who were approached by the late Vlč Stjepan Gnječ to don the Apostle’s robes and later the Roman soldiers’ costumes (stražari), at the time it seemed like a good opportunity.
It may have been a case of youthful fun, entertainment, an opportunity to ‘perve’ at the hot, young Croatian girls from the altar or even a chance to get out of the church service itself, while their parents were inside.
A pang of sadness and regret
These days, however, when the now middle aged – and in the case of the earlier generations, ageing – men look back at those days with fondness and nostalgia, there is also a pang of sadness.
Sadness and regret that the current generation – in many cases their own kids – will not experience that what their parents and grandparents did.
Many years ago…
“It was the most exciting time of the year for us youngies at the time,” recalled David Deak, who these days lives in Melbourne with his young family.
“Usually, people would run away from being asked things by ‘pokojni’ (the late) Gnječ. But this was the one thing we ran to him for, to get our names down,” he laughed.
According to Deak, who father Ivica remains a crkovnjar (church elder) to this day, to be a part of something so unique was a really warm nice feeling that’s now hard to explain.
“When I see people I haven’t seen in literally decades, one of the first things that comes up is the time we did stražari together. I hold those dear memories for life,” he admitted.
The mid 1990s was a time when Croatia was going through a turbulent period in its history, exploring its newfound independence but at the same time fighting a bitter Homeland War against the Serbian aggressors to secure its freedom and sovereignty. Which it ultimately did.
In Australia, in Geelong, the Croatian community was arguably living its most active and proudest period.
Community’s camaraderie and togetherness
Steve Vasilevski recalls with great fondness the camaraderie and togetherness of the community back then. Especially his own connections with the Croatian Catholic Church and the older generations of the stražari.
“To me, it was a real privilege to be part of the apostoli and stražari at Easter time,” said Vasilevski, whose mother Vida – who has since passed away – was a ‘Volaruša’ (her maiden name was Volarević) and also hailed from Vlč Stjepan Gnječ’s hometown of Metković, back in Croatia.
“I did it back in 1995 and it was a lot of fun to be involved with the celebrations of the most holiest time of the year,” recalled Vasilevski, a massive fan of heavy metal music who back then possessed long flowing locks and would have genuinely not looked out of place in Jesus’ times!
Recollections of the last Starješina
Tomislav Butković is the president of the Croatian Community Centre in Geelong, He was a member of the final group of stražari in 2012 and was in fact the group’s last starješina (elder).
“It really was a good time of year. Especially if you hadn’t seen some of the boys for a while,” he recalls fondly.
“We would all wait for the phone call or visit from pok. Gnječ. I remember I got my call from David Deak asking if I wanted to do it. A few years later, we had to reject boys because we had too many!” he smiled, as the memories came flooding back.
“There were little traditions passed on from the older boys to the younger boys. For example, letting the older boys go to 7/11 down the road or to McDonalds, as there were those that could drive by that stage,” he recalled.
“Pushing people into the bushes on the side of the church, putting the new boys in for the longest shift and the older boys having the first pick of costumes since they were all starting to fall apart,” laughed Butković as he remember the events that shaped his youth and that of many others, from a bygone era.
“It was sad to see it end with the passing of Stipe. I was looking forward to passing on the role of leader to one of the younger boys,” continued Butković.
“The boys who did the stražari together will always have those memories that we often bring up when we get together,” he added.
Coming of age ritual
For Deak, it felt like a coming of age ritual, as part of growing up in Bell Park.
“You’d do stražari for the first time and then be initiated in certain rituals like being pushed into the bushes,” he laughed.
“Then you be doing it for 3-4 years and suddenly you would dictate when you would want to go inside. The newbies would always get the longest “shift” at protecting the grob (grave), whilst the older heads get to kick back outside!”
“Soon you would become leader and realize you’ve been doing it for seven years!” continued Deak his nostalgic trip down memory lane.
“You look back at some of the best leaders before you and you are proud to be on that list of names as the ‘starješina’ (elder), alongside such people as Alojz Kožina and Anton Cosić.
“Then it was myself and I in turn passed the batten on to Tomislav Butković, who was the last one before the tradition died with the Great Gnječ,” said Deak.
The final legion of stražari appeared at the Holy Family Church in 2012 and included the following young men: Tomislav Butković (leader), Luka Sesar, Tomislav Tabak, Damian Matijević, Luka Fantela, Petar Ivelja, Antony Ivelja, Danijel Roksa, Mile Iličić, Joey Čičak and Mario Ivanković.
‘Trećeg dana, vrlo rano!’
Apart from the stražari, the young girls in the community were also catered for. Each year, three young maidens would proudly be selected to assume the role of three Marys attending to Jesus’ tomb who in turn would be greeted by an angel, while the members of the female girls’ choir were known as the ‘slavuji’ (nightingales).
According to Deak, a certain phrase will always pleasantly haunt him for life.
“There are four words that I will never forget. Moments before falling down in front of the altar, with the light show going crazy and the congregation waiting with bated breath, pok. Gnječ in his booming voice would start the show with the now iconic… ‘trećeg dana, vrlo rano’ (very early on the third day)!
“My only regret is that the new generation of Cro kids in Bell Park – in Geelong – won’t ever get to experience what we did.”
PART 1 – There is an old Croatian saying that suggests, “Only when you have lost something, do you truly appreciate what you once had”. This is especially true when it comes to an Easter tradition in Geelong that many still hold dear…
To read the first part, click on the following link:
Forgotten Easter tradition in Geelong Pt1