Yugoslavia [antikvár]

Bartul Alujevic, Osman Alibasic, Alojz ICorosec, Miloje Crnogor-cevic, Miladin Nedic, Radisav Nikolic, Ljudevita Vitaus, VukoLazovic, Mara Fras, Bogomir Ivkovic, Abdula Osmani, KazimirOstrogovic, Rista Marjanovic, Jova Kovacevic, Ljubica Antulov,Obren Kovacevic, Mane Ljube, Jusuf Demulcaj, Miro Posega,Branko Pungartnik, Ranko Pastrovic, Joza Tome, Vlatko Bourek,Gina Vreco, Petra Trifunovslca, Milja Obradovic, Dusan Krajcinovic,Zivota Sesic, Milorad Ristic, Istvan Sivak, Ljiljana Nikolic work-ers, civil engineers, doctors, peasants, students, teachers, officeworkers, miners, artists, pupils, men, women, children.What do they do? They build ships, construct machinery whichproduces other machinery, descend into the bowels of the earth,smelt ore, teach children, study matter, heal and advise, experi-ment, invent, give signals to locomotives and jet aircraft; theyinvent games for others to play, organize recreation, answercountless questions.Is it possible to present their lives during the past twenty yearsin two hundred pages ? What has become of the lives and move-ments of their brothers and sisters, of their families and relatives,of their neighbours and friends, of their acquaintances, and of allthose others whom they meet or do not meet ?We say twenty years. But they include the times of our sufferingsand endurance: the immediate past of this country, the occupation,devastation, fighting for freedom.Everything this book contains is true and real. But we cannotpresent the whole reality. It is not only all-encompassing and moreprofound than what we have to say, but it is also faster in its deve-lopment. It is often so fast that it takes on new colours, othervariants, as we endeavour to put it down in writing. But it is menwho change most and quickest.A backward agricultural country is being industrialized. It isbeing mechanized and electrified. Do we not find a contradictionhere between man and machinery? If we ask the shipbuilder,Bartul Alujevic (Split), or the foundry worker, Osman Alibasic(Zenica) whether the greater use of machinery deprives their workof something living and personal, they may not understand thequestion. Or perhaps they will say: Technical developmentrelieves us of hard manual labour. The worker is no longerburdened by the backwardness of the means of production; nowhe concentrates incomparably more on the further improvementof productive and human relations.Opposing the idea of self-isolation is the idea of self-determination.The worker who plans, organizes production and distributes thewealth of his making does not feel antagonism towards his machine.If we ask Miladin Nedic, president of the workers' council of the"Natron" factory in Maglaj, Bosnia, to define self-managementin his factory, he will give some data by way of answer:On March 30, 1959 the workers' council decided to found a restcentre for the factory at Biograd na Moru (on Sea) and to allocate2,470,000 dinars for it.On September 24, 1959 the workers' council took steps againstthe manager of the rest centre because of his arbitrary methods.On November 16, 1959 the workers' council approved 42,000,000dinars for the purchase of machinery to improve natron paperwith polyethylene. The workers' council empowered the generalmanager, Nazim Hasic, and the manager of accountancy, StankoCrnkovic, to sign all contracts and documents concerning thispurchase.On December 25, 1959 the workers' council decided to summonall parents and guardians of the factory's scholarship recipientswho did not sit for their examinations regularly, or who had badmarks. The factory had granted scholarships to twenty-fourstudents, twenty-three secondary school pupils and one pupilof the industrial school, or forty-eight scholarships, amounting to4,817,000 dinars for that year.On December 30, 1959 the workers' council decided to transfertwo of the factory's dwelling blocks to the local community unit