Who was Tito?

[Eniac]

I read about these conspiracy theories that state that Tito was Russian or Austrian or whatever, because he cannot speak Croatian properly, and I was born quite some time after Tito and fall of communism around here, so naturally, I was wandering about youtube, and boy, was I amazed.
He does know how to speak the actual language, but his accent is absolutely wrong, the part of Croatia he springs from (Kumrovec) actually has UNESCO protected specific dialect, I heard, and he's not speaking that I can guarantee!
Also, his missing finger.

Was he Josua Ambroz, his halfbrother, or was he Walter Weiss?
Could his bad speaking be explained by growing up in Slovenia with his grandparents, but what about his missing finger, and the fact he was not recognized in Kumrovec and he rarely visited his birthplace?

Whoever he was does not in any way reduce or increase the value of his deeds, his role in world war 2 and history as such, I just wonder, who the hell is this guy?

P.S. I am writing this in english and in this section, because though I know there are people here who can speak Serbo - Croatian, and have probably been around at the same time Tito did, some of you who don't may have something interesting to say about the subject.

[RedCeltic]

I have always found Tito an interesting figure. Though I was 10 when he had died and recall well the breakup of yugoslavia, I know very little about him or the language. I did glean from reading wikipedia however that he did spend part of his childhood years with his maternal grandfather Martin Javeršek in the Slovenian village of Podsreda... which I believe is in the south while his birthplace is in the north. Could this account for the different dialect?

[EdvardK]

In my opinion, those are absurd allegations. The guy spent much of his childhood in neighbouring Slovenia where he learned Slovenian and one can hear a Slovenian "melody" in his uttered sentences.

[DarkPast]

Yes, the accusations are absurd crap toted by fascists who want to "prove" that Tito was one or more of the following:

a) not a Croat (ALL Croats are "patriots" and good Catholics, of course :rolleyes:)

b) a Jew (because Communism is a Jewish conspiracy, of course :rolleyes:)

c) of noble birth (because "peasants" are too stupid to become leaders or something :rolleyes:)

Basically what it boils down to is crude racist/conservative conspiracy-mongering that tries to show Tito wasn't "one of us".

Anyone who can understand Serbian/Croatian and is interested in the topic should read Novi Prilozi za biografiju Josipa Broza Tita vol.2 by Vladimir Dedijer, which contains more than enough material to dispel these myths (it's not true that the locals didn't recognize him when he returned to his home village for example).

The reason he has a funny accent is: he lived half of the first seven years of his life in Slovenia, and that he spent like 10 years in Russia later on (first as a P.O.W. in the First World War/Russian Civil War, later as a Communist Party agent).

[EdvardK]

Here's a NSA declassified document on Tito and his origin - he was apparently believed by the Americans to be an impostor, too :)
http://www.nsa.gov/public_info/_files/cryptologic_spectrum/is_yugoslav.pdf

There's an interesting paragraph: "Even if the present Tito is not the original Josip Broz, it does not matter a great deal. All of Tito's major accomplishments, from his successful struggle against the Germans to his rise to world prominence as a leader in the non-aligned movement, have taken place after 1941. Thus, it is doubtful whether a further inquiry concerning his real identity would serve more than a purely academic purpose, because he gives every indication of intending to go down in history as Josip Broz, the Yugoslav."

[AustinBert]

if this all is true then it is very informative..!
It is very encouraging for me and now i am thinking to search about Tito..!
Thanks to share useful info....! keep it up dude..!