Tito's
Widow Living in Troubled Housing
BELGRADE, Serbia-Montenegro (AP) -The widow of the former Yugoslavia's
Communist dictator, Josip Broz Tito, lives in a decrepit, government-owned
house under a leaking roof and without heating, an official said Thursday.
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| Jovanka
Broz, Tito's 81-year-old widow whose ordeal began in 1977 when she fell
out of the autocratic leader's favor and was forced out of the dictator's
sumptuous Belgrade residence. |
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Rasim
Ljajic, Serbia-Montenegro's human rights minister, spoke after visiting
Jovanka Broz, 81, who fell out of favor in 1977 and was forced out of the
dictator's sumptuous Belgrade residence.
After Tito's death in 1980, his successors put Broz under virtual house
arrest and confiscated all her belongings. Later, as Tito's personality
cult crumbled and his once glorified role in the country's history came
under scrutiny, she mostly remained in seclusion.
Broz continued to shun publicity and lived on a meager state pension
as Communism collapsed and the Yugoslav federation broke apart.
Her spacious, government-provided but decaying 1920's villa in Belgrade's
plush Dedinje neighborhood is in "catastrophic condition" with a nearly
collapsed roof, Ljajic said.
His visit to Broz was the first in many years by a government official.
He pledged government support to repair the residence.
January 19, 2006 9:28 PM
