Old man killed himself after oak gets axed

[promKing]

A Croatian pensioner committed suicide after a tree growing in front of his house was cut down to make way for a highway, local media said on Wednesday.

The 83-year-old man, Bozidar Secak from Zlatar, in northwest Croatia, shot himself in front of road workers Tuesday shortly after they had cut the oak down, media reported.

The oak tree was cut down to allow widening of a nearby highway.

The pensioner, who was distraught about the tree being cleared, had earlier threatened local authorities with extreme action in an attempt to save his favorite tree.

http://en.rian.ru/world/20080820/116149977.html

[Donnie Darko]

Wow...talk about being passionate. Poor man. He should have just asked the city to have it moved closer to his house or something. No need to off yourself over a tree.

[Still Waters]

The pensioner, who was distraught about the tree being cleared, had earlier threatened local authorities with extreme action in an attempt to save his favorite tree

Poor man......he certainly felt very strongly about the tree. I wonder, if he had told the authorities 'exactly' what he intended to do perhaps this could have been avoided in some way, it's likely though they wouldn't have believed him......who would if you think about it

[Helen of Annoy]

The pensioner, who was distraught about the tree being cleared, had earlier threatened local authorities with extreme action in an attempt to save his favorite tree

Poor man......he certainly felt very strongly about the tree. I wonder, if he had told the authorities 'exactly' what he intended to do perhaps this could have been avoided in some way, it's likely though they wouldn't have believed him......who would if you think about it

Nothing would change... local authorities care about bribe but don’t give a damn about human life. Also, it's a proper epidemic of suicides here, often in gruesome manner (it’s popular to use hand grenade to end your life). It’s nothing unusual anymore to see people sitting on a household liquid gas container (what’s the word? I hope I managed to describe the object I’m talking about) with hand grenades, threatening to blow themselves up in attempt to stop repossession of their house or something similar.

People with automatic weapon left from war coming to “seek justice” or “speed up the process” in various offices and institutions are almost common too. Some of us tend to see death as lesser evil than life lately, while some don't value human life at all anymore.

I feel truly sorry for this poor man, cutting down his tree was obviously the last drop in his cup of sadness.

[goalienan]

I'm a huge tree lover and where I live we have these magnificent 100+year old oaks. They are majestic and when I see a developer cutting them down to profit from building a home, it breaks my heart. I can see where this man was coming from, but what a shame that he ended his life because of uncaring and money making people.

[ASOP]

This is sad im sure they could have did something other then to cut it down like..... move it.

[Shalashaska]

It’s nothing unusual anymore to see people sitting on a household liquid gas container (what’s the word? I hope I managed to describe the object I’m talking about)

Sounds like a Jerry can to me.

Poor guy, with stories like these i would normally expect him to slay all the workers first, but good on him for not.

[swtp]

I'm a huge tree lover and where I live we have these magnificent 100+year old oaks. They are majestic and when I see a developer cutting them down to profit from building a home, it breaks my heart. I can see where this man was coming from, but what a shame that he ended his life because of uncaring and money making people.

I know what you mean, where we live they have cut down so many trees it sickens me to see them go only to be replaced by condos etc... And my mom, and i took a drive past my grandparents old home which is now concidered a heritage home, but all the gorgeous trees that were on the property that we kids played in, and under are all gone! I nearly cried when i saw what had been done to the place i so loved, so i can understand how upset this poor man must have been! It's so sad to hear about such heartache, and frustration!

[emberlake]

Bless his heart. This is so sad.

[Grandpa Greenman]

Nothing would change... local authorities care about bribe but don’t give a damn about human life. Also, it's a proper epidemic of suicides here, often in gruesome manner (it’s popular to use hand grenade to end your life). It’s nothing unusual anymore to see people sitting on a household liquid gas container (what’s the word? I hope I managed to describe the object I’m talking about) with hand grenades, threatening to blow themselves up in attempt to stop repossession of their house or something similar.

People with automatic weapon left from war coming to “seek justice” or “speed up the process” in various offices and institutions are almost common too. Some of us tend to see death as lesser evil than life lately, while some don't value human life at all anymore.

I feel truly sorry for this poor man, cutting down his tree was obviously the last drop in his cup of sadness.

That is truly sad, to live though a war only to die from sorrow and depression. I would guess your govenment is doing nothing to help the suicide rate.

[Helen of Annoy]

That is truly sad, to live though a war only to die from sorrow and depression. I would guess your govenment is doing nothing to help the suicide rate.

Well, politicians are giving passionate speeches before elections, but people would prefer jobs and minimum of security and dignity. We still have “limited offers” for handing over weapons to the police in exchange for not asking any questions, every time there’s a pile of guns, automatics, explosives, even small artillery pieces collected and yet there’s more than enough weapons everywhere. At least we stopped celebrating Christmas and other holidays with few hours of shooting and detonations instead of fire-crackers.

To be honest, the government can’t really do much about suicides, it looks like something broke inside many of us. I can even understand that severe PTSD may push someone towards suicide, but I’m horrified to hear about suicides done with no warning signs.

Just few days ago, an elderly couple decided “to go”. Husband shot his wife and himself, while the rest of the family was at work and children out of the house. They left an envelope without letter, but with exact amount of money to cover expense of their burial. I guess they felt like burden to the family. Something like that was never heard of before.

A girl from the building I use to live in took one of her father’s “trophy” grenades, went to the river bank and blew herself up. No-one has any idea why. Our other neighbour had one insignificant, half-drunken fight with his friends and blew himself up in front of the café. War veteran blew himself up after hearing music that reminded him of war. Another set himself on fire in his car after fight with his wife. Elderly people who can’t work on their farms anymore are jumping into the wells or hanging themselves in the woods. Two teenaged girls jumped off the church’s bell tower. Two boys set themselves on fire in school. Man set himself on fire in the middle of park. Few months ago one depressed man parked his car in front of major’s office and threatened to blow himself and his dog up because his tool shed was torn down. Another charged inside with automatic gun demanding his rights. We even had one who took hostages at doctor’s office because of the reason he couldn’t explain later. And so on… it’s not normal rate. We are tiny country, with less than 5 million citizens and suicide or waving guns in public place was never a part of our tradition and before 90’s it was rare and shocking to hear about someone killing himself or thrashing an office in frustration.

Today, it’s not news anymore, it’s “oh, another one”.

Geez, this is one loooong reply. Sorry, folks, I had to vent this out. It bothers me and I can’t do anything about it.

[TheBlueDragon]

That is sad to hear. I mean to fight for what you belive in yeah. But it sucks that he killed himself.

[PixieDust_]

Indeed really sad. I understand that he loved the tree, but suicide? ...

[little_dreamer]

I don't hear much about Croatia since the end of the Balkans war. From what I heard there were many war atrocities committed.

It sounds like people are still recovering from the trauma.

It is my hope that people can put their ethnic differences behind them. I don't know if breaking up into many small countries helped or hurt.

[Guyver]

I tried to upload a picture of a manzanita tree from my backyard but the file size was too large.

I understand what it means to love trees - like goalienan and others here. My favorite tree is the manzanita. I really love redwoods too. The point is; one of my favorite local places to hike is in the Los Padres National Forest. The area that I go hiking/trail biking is loaded with manzanitas. For five years the Forest Service kept this place closed for conservation of the red-legged tree frog because one dirt road crossed a river in their habitat. After five long years I was finally able to go back into the forest closest to my house. Last year there was a fire about fifteen miles away from this place. The forest service came in with bulldozers and literally mowed down thousands of acres of forest. So much for the red frog huh? They destroyed hundreds, maybe thousands of manzanitas and oaks, many on my very favorite trail - for what? The fire never even came near this spot. When I saw this disaster I felt ill - literally and physically. The place is now a moonscape.

I think that this old man may have had some serious ties to this tree. Maybe his wife was buried under it? Maybe he planted the tree himself as a boy with his father. I admit that suicide was a little bit of an extreme overreaction but in some ways I understand it.

When Mt. St. Helen's was threatening to blow back in the 80's there was an old man who had property near a lake there. It was his life. They asked him to evacuate and he refused. He said he'd rather die than be separated from the land he loved so much. The eruption came and he died.

[promKing]

Well I must say if that guy really loved that tree so much he could of bought the land around that tree and he would have law on his side. Also some articles claim that that oak was planted at the day he was born, while some other articles say that he was on his vacation at his resting cottage - who knows.

[Stormcrow]

I think the most disgusting part about this is probably that the workers didn't give a damn about him anyway, and were most likely, "Hey, can you move the body too? This stuff has to GO. Just get it out of here already."

I wouldn't have shot myself, I would have shot them.

[Helen of Annoy]

I don't hear much about Croatia since the end of the Balkans war. From what I heard there were many war atrocities committed.

It sounds like people are still recovering from the trauma.

It is my hope that people can put their ethnic differences behind them. I don't know if breaking up into many small countries helped or hurt.

Uh, sometimes I think part of us is left permanently frozen in that time. We go on, but there’s always a part of the brain that constantly goes through the memories. For example, it took me about 5-6 years to stop freaking at sound of thunder – it reminded me too much of artillery fire.

I do hope too that we can put our differences behind us. Those differences are far less than some extremists like to paint. I had a cup of coffee the other day with a lady from Belgrade and we talked about everyday life “here” and “there”. It turned out it’s pretty much the same, rather – excuse me - crappy.

I often meet people with rigid or even rabid nationalistic views and I’m trying to explain that it wasn’t a neighbouring nation that did atrocities, but sick individuals among them. Our side has its share of guilt too, and I think it’s damned wrong to let the shame fall on us all, it has to be investigated and made public who fought the war honorably and who committed crimes. The spectacle in Hague didn’t help at all… but my reply is getting too long again.

The breaking up into small countries was inevitable because former Yugoslavia was hybrid state and it’s wonder it lasted for so long. But the war was absolutely unnecessary and it threw “us” and “them” in crap so deep we still have no idea how to get out of. Of course, politicians ride the wave of national pride because it’s far easier than actually doing something useful.

Well I must say if that guy really loved that tree so much he could of bought the land around that tree and he would have law on his side. Also some articles claim that that oak was planted at the day he was born, while some other articles say that he was on his vacation at his resting cottage - who knows.

Unfortunately, not even the ownership over the land wouldn’t save the oak. If he was the owner state would give him compensation for the land and cut down the tree. Only thing that could have made any difference is what many people do – he should have gathered a crowd of supporters, block the way with heavy machinery, wrap himself in a flag, strap grenades on his body and wait for reporters to come. He would get few months of prison, but authorities would probably save the damned tree in order to make themselves look humane.

And it's a custom to plant a tree when a baby is born, but my tree got cut down too and I haven't killed myself over it. He had his reasons, the tree just pushed him over.

[Enigmatic Ghost]

It is tragically sad his death, and it is odd as people have great passions for trees and nature to the point of taking their lives over a Oak, a Maple, and Pine, Loving a Tree to such an extent and in the end he was laid to rest in a box made of none other than trees…

Pavot

[sandlot]

That is so tragic I wonder why he had such an extreme attachment to the tree?

[Postulant]

He must have been a Druid, the Oak tree or Alder is very powerful in Druidry.

[Stormcrow]

He must have been a Druid, the Oak tree or Alder is very powerful in Druidry.

The oak is highly regarded in any type of magic, for it's broad strength in many spells and rituals. The birch, I believe, is considered only second most powerful to the oak--as the oak's "female" counterpart in the work of feminine magic. I could be mistaken, I haven't read up in a while... *Shame*

[Rosewin]

That is truly sad, to live though a war only to die from sorrow and depression. I would guess your govenment is doing nothing to help the suicide rate.

He would have lived through WW2 as well as the Bosnian War. Though in both cases not sure how much danger a Croat was in who lived in Croatia proper. In WW2 they sided with the Nazis mostly and in the Croatian War of Independence it was the Serbs who were ethnically cleansed from Croatia mostly. Still sadness for this man and I suspect the tree had tremendous sentimental value for him. Perhaps it reminded him of his wife?

Edited August 26, 2008 by Rosewin

[Helen of Annoy]

He would have lived through WW2 as well as the Bosnian War. Though in both cases not sure how much danger a Croat was in who lived in Croatia proper. In WW2 they sided with the Nazis mostly and in the Croatian War of Independence it was the Serbs who were ethnically cleansed from Croatia mostly. Still sadness for this man and I suspect the tree had tremendous sentimental value for him. Perhaps it reminded him of his wife?

Let me tell you the truth instead of propaganda:

It was not the “Bosnian war” it was first the Serbian aggression at Croatia, then followed by war in neighbouring Bosnia. The goal of Serbian aggression at Croatia was taking big parts of Croatia’s territory and annexing them to Serbia. The goal of aggression at Bosnia was splitting Bosnia between Serbia and Croatia and annexing parts to both countries. Zlatar, the place from the article, was not in the zone of fighting, but we’re small nation and there’s no family that had not at least one member in the combat.

“The Croatia proper” hasn’t been under heavy artillery fire (like my home town was) but still it was attacked with planes and long-range projectiles.

In WWII first partisan (guerilla fighters against Nazism) units were formed in Croatia. Croats haven’t “sided with Nazis mostly”, it was Pavelic’s government that did. My grandfather fought in the WWII as partisan, but he fled out of the country after the war because Marshall Tito (Josip Broz Tito, leader of resistance, Croat by the way) didn’t keep his promise of free elections, but instead forced socialist system with communist party as new all-powerful aristocracy of the land.

The ethnic cleansing was done in Croatia – this is the sad truth. Just as it was done in Bosnia and Serbia. Serbs who were willing to stay in Croatia were forced to leave their homes by Serbian paramilitary forces, not Croatian, because Milosevic wanted to trade territories and have no obligation to let Croats driven out of their homes back. This is the sad truth too.

If poor Serbs were good guys here, can you explain to me who cleansed 200 badly wounded Croatians out of the Vukovar hospital and slaughtered them like animals? Martians?

I spent the entire damned war under heavy fire and I’m extremely touchy to “interpretations”. I also have friends of all nations, and we can function together as long as we have good will to do so. We don’t need the making up of the history in order to reconcile. We have to know, admit and forgive, not to distort the facts. Thank you.

[Rosewin]

Well some of that you just stated is the version (propaganda) the Western press wishes us to believe but I do appreciate the finer details you have offered as one of the several groups that were on the inside. You are correct in that the Bosnian War is not the same as the Croatian War of Independence though they are all part of the greater War in the former Yugoslavia.

Here is the story not many get to hear about and that is not reported by the Western press.

The ethnic cleansing of Serbs from the Krajina by the Croats will not be forgotten by some. The Serbs were the ultimate victims of that conflict. The American government and the other ex-Allies of Europe forgot the Serbs were on their side in WW2 while the Croats were on the side of the Nazis. Ustashi. The same Ustashi reformed in the 1990's. And while the UN peacekeepers merely stood back and watched as the Serbs were ethnically cleanses from Krajina the Americans would send jets to bomb the Serbs when they were just as aggressive. All sides in the conflict hurt each other and used the same tactics in the war but for some reason the Croats were allowed to do terrible things while the Serbs were not. Do not assume I am uninformed simply because I do not have the same viewpoint as you. It is quite sad that tiny Serbia which has resisted foreigners for over a thousand years has finally fallen to the EU. We all know Germany was behind starting the last two World Wars but what many do not realize is the main country behind the EU. By nice or vice the Germans want to rule Europe and since they lost the military conflicts they now use political and economic means to entice others. After WW2 the German military never left their territory for many years and the first time was....yes, in the former Yugoslav. They must have reveled in finally being able to dominate the little thorn in their side in the Balkans that have refused to submit to them all this time. The world is fooled and twisted and backwards now.

Serbia do Tokija!

Edited August 27, 2008 by Rosewin