Krsta Cicvarić ( sr-cyr, Крста Цицварић; September 14, 1879 – October 31, 1944) was a

Serbia , image_flag = Flag of Serbia.svg , national_motto = , image_coat = Coat of arms of Serbia.svg , national_anthem = () , image_map = , map_caption = Location of Serbia (gree ...

n political activist and journalist. During the first decade of the 20th century, he espoused

anarcho-syndicalist Anarcho-syndicalism is an anarchist organisational model that centres trade unions as a vehicle for class conflict. Drawing from the theory of libertarian socialism and the practice of syndicalism, anarcho-syndicalism sees trade unions as both ...

ideas. However, later in his life, Cicvarić was the editor of several openly

antisemitic Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...

tabloid journals, and a

Nazi collaborator In World War II, many governments, organizations and individuals Collaborationism, collaborated with the Axis powers, "out of conviction, desperation, or under coercion". Nationalists sometimes welcomed German or Italian troops they believed wou ...

. He was executed on 31 October 1944 by the

Yugoslav Partisans The Yugoslav Partisans,Serbo-Croatian, Macedonian language, Macedonian, and Slovene language, Slovene: , officially the National Liberation Army and Partisan Detachments of Yugoslavia sh-Latn-Cyrl, Narodnooslobodilačka vojska i partizanski odr ...

after the Belgrade Offensive.

Biography

Early life and education

Cicvarić was born on September 14, 1879, in the village of Nikojevići, near

Užice Užice ( sr-cyr, Ужице, ) is a List of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Zlatibor District in western Serbia. It is located on the banks of the river Đetinja. According to the 2022 census, the city proper has a popu ...

, then part of the

Principality of Serbia The Principality of Serbia () was an autonomous, later sovereign state in the Balkans that came into existence as a result of the Serbian Revolution, which lasted between 1804 and 1817. Its creation was negotiated first through an unwritten agre ...

. He attended the Gymnasium in Užice. He refused to attend religious classes and claimed to be an atheist and an unbeliever. Because of confrontations with his professor

Nastas Petrović Nastas Petrović (; 5 November 186722 February 1933) was a Serbian politician who served as interior minister of Serbia and Yugoslavia. Biography Petrović was born in 1867 in the city of Čačak, where he completed his early studies, and late ...

, a member of the

People's Radical Party The People's Radical Party (, abbr. NRS) was a populist political party in Serbia and later Yugoslavia. Led by Nikola Pašić for most of its existence, its ideological profile has significantly changed throughout its history, shifting from ...

, who claimed Cicvarić's political views to be "demonic", he dropped out of the Užice Gymnasium in 1896. He soon left the city altogether and moved to

Belgrade Belgrade is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Serbia, largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers and at the crossroads of the Pannonian Basin, Pannonian Plain and the Balkan Peninsula. T ...

where he completed the Gymnasium and enrolled at the

University of Belgrade The University of Belgrade () is a public university, public research university in Belgrade, Serbia. It is the oldest and largest modern university in Serbia. Founded in 1808 as the Belgrade Higher School in revolutionary Serbia, by 1838 it me ...

Faculty of Philosophy A faculty is a division within a university or college comprising one subject area or a group of related subject areas, possibly also delimited by level (e.g. undergraduate). In North America, academic divisions are sometimes titled colleges, sc ...

. Subsequently, he enrolled in the

University of Vienna The University of Vienna (, ) is a public university, public research university in Vienna, Austria. Founded by Rudolf IV, Duke of Austria, Duke Rudolph IV in 1365, it is the oldest university in the German-speaking world and among the largest ...

, but decided to leave his studies and return to Serbia where he became a journalist and

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

activist.

Anarchist political activism

Cicvarić was arrested and imprisoned several times for his writings. In 1905 Vasilije Knežević, a member of Cicvarić's group the Equality Workers' Club (Radnički klub Jednakost) founded the anarchist newspaper ''Bread and Freedom'' (Hleb i sloboda). Soon after, Knežević started to pay heavy fines for the paper and was imprisoned due to his inability to cover his debts. In this period Cicvarić took over the paper. The paper had only three issues, and Knežević moved to Valjevo after serving his sentence, disillusioned with the anarchists Cicvarić and Petar Munjić. Cicvarić and Munjić later founded the anarchist paper ''Worker's Struggle'' (Radnička borba) in 1907. The paper was closed down after the events related to the

strike Strike may refer to: People *Strike (surname) * Hobart Huson, author of several drug related books Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm * Airstrike, ...

led by sugar workers in

Čukarica Čukarica ( sr-cyr, Чукарица, ) is a Subdivisions of Belgrade, municipality of the city of Belgrade, Serbia. Name Like several other neighborhoods of Belgrade, Čukarica was named after a kafana. At the present location of the Sugar Refin ...

in February 1907. Cicvarić was imprisoned in

Požarevac Požarevac ( sr-cyr, Пожаревац, ) is a list of cities in Serbia, city and the administrative centre of the Braničevo District in eastern Serbia. It is located between three rivers: Danube, Great Morava and Mlava and below the hill Čač ...

because of his writing and was later released during the

Annexation Crisis The Bosnian Crisis, also known as the Annexation Crisis (, ; sh-Latn-Cyrl, Aneksiona kriza, Анексиона криза) or the First Balkan Crisis, erupted on 5 October 1908 when Austria-Hungary announced the annexation of Bosnia and Herzeg ...

in 1908. In 1911 Cicvarić met

Nedeljko Čabrinović Nedeljko Čabrinović ( sr-Cyrl, Недељко Чабриновић; 1 February 1895 – 23 January 1916) was a Bosnian Serb typesetter and political activist, known for his role in the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo on 28 ...

who was working on the printing press owned by Živojin Dačić, where Civarić's paper ''the New Age'' (Novo vreme) was being printed. Cicvarić gave Čabrinović many books including all of his own works. Čabrinović later smuggled the books to

Sarajevo Sarajevo ( ), ; ''see Names of European cities in different languages (Q–T)#S, names in other languages'' is the Capital city, capital and List of cities in Bosnia and Herzegovina, largest city of Bosnia and Herzegovina, with a population of 2 ...

where some were burned by his mother, while some were kept safe and were given to his friends as gifts. From 1911 to 1915, Cicvarić published the daily ''The Guard'' (Straža), the "free-minded organ of public thought". Cicvarić was drafted during the

Balkan wars The Balkan Wars were two conflicts that took place in the Balkans, Balkan states in 1912 and 1913. In the First Balkan War, the four Balkan states of Kingdom of Greece (Glücksburg), Greece, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia, Kingdom of Montenegro, M ...

. He is mentioned by

Leon Trotsky Lev Davidovich Bronstein ( – 21 August 1940), better known as Leon Trotsky,; ; also transliterated ''Lyev'', ''Trotski'', ''Trockij'' and ''Trotzky'' was a Russian revolutionary, Soviet politician, and political theorist. He was a key figure ...

in his war correspondence '' The Balkan Wars: 1912–13'' as a "free anarchist" and publisher of ''The Guard'', and as an outspoken critic of the Serbian Social Democratic Party. He writes "Since, in this little country, everyone knows everyone else and does not hesitate to poke his nose into the private lives of his political adversaries, the polemic against the leaders of Social Democracy is carried on in a form that would not bear translation into any European language". He was drafted again in

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, and surrendered, becoming a

prisoner of war A prisoner of war (POW) is a person held captive by a belligerent power during or immediately after an armed conflict. The earliest recorded usage of the phrase "prisoner of war" dates back to 1610. Belligerents hold prisoners of war for a ...

of the

Austro-Hungarian Empire Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...

Neusiedl am See Neusiedl am See (; ; ; ; ) is a town in Burgenland, Austria, and administrative center of the district of Neusiedl am See. Neusiedl am See is located on the northern shore of Lake Neusiedl. Geography Neusiedl am See is located in eastern Au ...

Tabloid journalism and Nazi collaboration

After World War I, he started writing for ''Belgrade Daily'' (Beogradski dnevnik), owned by Dušan Paranos and whose

editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The editor-in-chief heads all departments of the organization and is held accoun ...

was Mehmed Žunić. At first, he wrote introductory articles and was the chief polemicist. On 7 August 1922 he was signed as editor and director of the paper. From September 1922 on, the paper bore the title ''Krsta Cicvarić's Belgrade Daily'' (Beogradski dnevnik Krste Cicvarića). His main target were the

Radicals Radical (from Latin: ', root) may refer to: Politics and ideology Politics *Classical radicalism, the Radical Movement that began in late 18th century Britain and spread to continental Europe and Latin America in the 19th century *Radical politics ...

, as well as

Nikola Pašić Nikola Pašić ( sr-Cyrl, Никола Пашић, ; 18 December 1845 – 10 December 1926) was a Serbian and Yugoslav politician and diplomat. During his political career, which spanned almost five decades, he served five times as prime minis ...

and

Stojan Protić Stojan Protić ( sr-cyrl, Стојан Протић; 28 January 1857 – 28 October 1923) was a Serbian politician and writer. He served as the prime minister of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes between 1918 and 1919, and again in 1920 ...

as heads of the party. Pašić was a "thug", "scumbag", "villain" and, ultimately, "the most corrupt person in the entire history of Serbia", and when his son Radomir was beaten, ''Belgrade Daily'' wrote that "this act of the youth of the nation in

Novi Sad Novi Sad ( sr-Cyrl, Нови Сад, ; #Name, see below for other names) is the List of cities in Serbia, second largest city in Serbia and the capital of the autonomous province of Vojvodina. It is located in the southern portion of the Pannoni ...

is understandable and must be fully approved". His journalistic writing style in the

Kingdom of Yugoslavia The Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a country in Southeast Europe, Southeast and Central Europe that existed from 1918 until 1941. From 1918 to 1929, it was officially called the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, but the term "Yugoslavia" () h ...

was inflammatory, and his scandalous articles were criticized by many, so much that he was even compared with the influential American newspaper publisher

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

. In 1929 Cicvarić started working in ''Balkan'', owned by Svetolik Savić. Besides journalism, he sold herbs used for treating cancer, tuberculosis, epilepsy, and anthrax. Since Pašić had already died, Cicvarić's main target was president of the

Croatian Peasant Party The Croatian Peasant Party (, HSS) is an agrarianism, agrarian List of political parties in Croatia, political party in Croatia founded on 22 December 1904 by Antun Radić, Antun and Stjepan Radić as Croatian Peoples' Peasant Party (HPSS). The ...

Vlatko Maček Vlatko () is a masculine given name of South Slavic origin. Notable people with the name include: *Vlatko Andonovski (born 1976), football manager * Vlatko Blažević (born 1994), Croatian football player *Vlatko Čančar (born 1997), Slovenian ...

who he calls a "Jewish bastard", and a " long-nose". In his text "To Serbs of the Faith of Moses" from 29 April 1936 Cicvarić writes that "the Jews have ruined our Slavic motherland, Russia, and have spread their evil across the world" and states support for

Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...

. He spent the final years of his life living in Belgrade, almost completely blind. From May 1940 to March 1941, Savić and Cicvarić published the ''New Balkan'' (Novi Balkan), an antisemitic paper sympathetic to Hitler. In 1944 he writes

Apprehension and death

Cicvarić was accused of

collaborationism Wartime collaboration is cooperation with the enemy against one's country of citizenship in wartime. As historian Gerhard Hirschfeld says, it "is as old as war and the occupation of foreign territory". The term ''collaborator'' dates to the 19th c ...

and shot without trial during the night between October 30 and 31, 1944. His burial site remains unknown.

Works

Cicvarić wrote only a couple of books in philosophy, and most of his works were political. He was a columnist in a lot of newspapers and was a fierce critic of the Serbian philosopher and scientist

Branislav Petronijević Branislav "Brana" Petronijević (sometimes styled as Petronievics) (Serbian Cyrillic: Бранислав "Брана" Петронијевић; 6 April 1875 – 4 March 1954) was a Serbian philosopher and Paleontology, paleontologist. His major w ...

. His early political life was devoted to writing books on

anarchism Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

and

critique Critique is a method of disciplined, systematic study of a written or oral discourse. Although critique is frequently understood as fault finding and negative judgment, Rodolphe Gasché (2007''The honor of thinking: critique, theory, philosophy ...

of the

Western civilization Western culture, also known as Western civilization, European civilization, Occidental culture, Western society, or simply the West, refers to the internally diverse culture of the Western world. The term "Western" encompasses the social no ...

. He was a fierce opponent of

monarchism Monarchism is the advocacy of the system of monarchy or monarchical rule. A monarchist is an individual who supports this form of government independently of any specific monarch, whereas one who supports a particular monarch is a royalist. ...

communism Communism () is a political sociology, sociopolitical, political philosophy, philosophical, and economic ideology, economic ideology within the history of socialism, socialist movement, whose goal is the creation of a communist society, a ...

social democracy Social democracy is a Social philosophy, social, Economic ideology, economic, and political philosophy within socialism that supports Democracy, political and economic democracy and a gradualist, reformist, and democratic approach toward achi ...

and

imperialism Imperialism is the maintaining and extending of Power (international relations), power over foreign nations, particularly through expansionism, employing both hard power (military and economic power) and soft power (diplomatic power and cultura ...

. * ''Iz аnarhističkog progrаmа'', Novа štаmpаrijа S. Rаdenkovićа i Brаtа, Belgrade, 1909. * ''Plаvа knjigа o srpskom pitаnju'', Gecа Kon i Komp., Cetinje, 1909. * ''Socijаlisti na vlаdi. Sv. 1'', Štаmpаrijа D. Dimitrijevićа, Belgrade, 1909. * ''Ideаlizаm ili mаterijаlizаm, s naročitim pogledom na filosofiju Brаnislаvа Petronijevićа'', Štаmpаrijа Srbija, Belgrade, 1909. * ''Kаko ćemo pobediti Austriju'', Nаumović i Stefаnović, Belgrade, 1909. * ''Anarhizаm i аnarhisti'', Nаumović i Stefаnović, Belgrade, 1909. * ''Dаrvin ili Lаmаrk, pаd dаrvinističke doktrine'', Štаmpаrijа Srbija, Belgrade, 1910. * ''Svetozаr Mаrković i birokrаtski sistem pred sudom Slobodаna Jovаnovićа'', B. Dimitrijević, Belgrade, 1910. * ''Socijаlizаm i bаlkаnskа konfederаcijа ili Jedаn krupаn uspeh srpske socijаlne demokrаtije'', Štаmpаrijа Srbija, Belgrade, 1910. * ''Srpskа socijаlna demokrаtijа na prekretu'', Štаmpаrijа Petrа Munjićа i Komp., Belgrade, 1910. * ''O Sаnjinu, odbrаna i kritikа'', Štаmpаrijа Srbija, Belgrade, 1910. * ''Demokrаtijа i socijаlizаm, kritički pogled na njihovu prаksu i njihovu teoriju'', Izdаnje piščevo, Belgrade, 1910. * ''Štа je metаfizikа'', Štаmpаrijа Srbija, Belgrade, 1910. * ''Stojаn Protić i naš novi ustаv'', Beogrаdski dnevnik, Belgrade, 1919.