Commando Komandos Nikola Kavaja Book Memoirs Serbia Chetnik Anti Communist
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Nikola Kavaja (Serbian Cyrillic: Никола Каваја; 3 October 1932– 10 November 2008), nicknamed Tito's hunter, was a Serbian nationalist andanti-communist known for his 1979 bombing of a Yugoslav consul’s home and thehijacking of American Airlines Flight 293. He tried to assassinate Josip BrozTito four times, hence his nickname.Origin and youthKavaja was born in 1932, in Peć, Zeta Banovina, Kingdom ofYugoslavia (now Kosovo), to gendarmerie father Mitar Kavaja and mother M...ilja(née Čađenović). Mitar, as a member of the gendarmery, fought numerous timeswith kachaks (Albanian brigands). Nikola's paternal grandfather was a perjanik(personal guard) of King Nikola I of Montenegro. His paternal family descendedfrom Dobrsko Selo near Cetinje, and were originally surnamed Radišić, however, after a krvna osveta (blood feud), the family changed its name into Kavaja. Oneof the Radišić brothers had killed a Turk bey, and was forced to flee in orderto save his life. The feud brought him as far as Kavajë, in Albania, and whenthe situation had calmed down he returned to Dobrsko Selo, where the villagers begancalling him Kavaja, from where a new brotherhood (bratstvo) emerged, the"Kavaje". Still, to this day, there exist two brotherhoods in DobrskoSelo, the Kavaje and Radišići, which are kin by blood.He was brought up in Peć. In April 1941, Nazi Germanyinvaded and occupied Yugoslavia and his family was split up and sent todifferent prison camps in Albania. In 1944 he returned to Peć to find hisfamily. By his own account, he killed someone for the first time in his lifethat year when he pushed a wounded German soldier into a well.Military and intelligence careerEarly in his life, Kavaja served in the Yugoslav Air Force(RV i PVO), a branch of the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA), studying at the AirForce Academy in Pančevo where he rose to the rank of second lieutenant. Laterhe grew disillusioned with the communist regime that controlled FPR Yugoslavia, and joined a secret anti-communist group. In June 1953, as part of hisclandestine activities, he sabotaged gas tanks at the Sombor airport. He evadedarrest, and a man who was not involved in the explosion was tried and executed.When his commander in the secret group was arrested, he deserted the air force.He was arrested by Yugoslav authorities while attempting to cross the borderinto Austria; however, after serving four years of an 18-and-a-half year prisonsentence, Kavaja escaped and finally made it to Austria. There, he was detainedby Austrian authorities and transferred to an American Army base. After sevenmonths of investigation by American authorities who suspected him of ties tothe KGB, Kavaja began to carry out missions for the CIA against Yugoslavia andthe USSR, including "sabotage, spying, exposing double agents, assassinations." In the 1960s he was living in Paterson, New Jersey makinga living as an auto mechanic and good friends with famed criminal authorityVojislav Stanimirovic and his son Pavle Stanimirović.According to Kavaja, one of his major assignments from theCIA was to assassinate Josip Broz Tito, president of Yugoslavia. Tito traveledto Brazil and Kavaja followed, but the chance to kill the leader was foiledwhen Tito stayed indoors for his entire stay. Kavaja followed Tito from Brazilto Chile, Mexico, and the United States. Upon arrival in America, he and hiscompanions had to be especially careful because he was wanted by the FBI, whichdid not always share sources with the CIA. Kavaja claimed that in 1971, hestaked out Camp David (near Thurmont, Maryland), disguised as a Maryland StateTrooper, in order to kill Tito, who was visiting United States PresidentRichard Nixon. Once again, he was foiled when Tito stayed indoors.Freedom for the Serbian FatherlandKavaja was a central figure in a group called the SerbianHomeland Liberation Movement (Serbian: Српски ослободилачки покрет Отаџбина, Latin abbr. SOPO). Kavaja claimed that this organization bombed the Yugoslavembassies in Washington, D.C. and Ottawa, Canada and consulates in New YorkCity, Chicago, San Francisco, and Toronto.1990s recruitment flyer by KavajaIn 1978, Kavaja and SOPO companions numbering over onehundred (including Stojiljko Kajević) were arrested in New York City by U.S.law enforcement officials. Kavaja was released on $250, 000 bail, and aftervisiting his family in New York City, on June 20, 1979 he hijacked an AmericanAirlines 727 (Flight 293 from New York City to Chicago). He planned to demandKajević's release and then fly to a destination of Kajević's choosing. When herealized that Kajević would not be released, he let the plane's passengers go, retaining only the pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer. In an odd twist, included in this group was his own lawyer, David Lenevsky, who is the sameattorney used by renowned Serbian-American crime lord Vojislav Stanimirović forthe Vizcaya Heist case. He forced the crew to fly back from Chicago to JFKAirport in New York City. There, he transferred to a larger plane (a Boeing707) and demanded to be taken to Johannesburg, South Africa. On the advice ofhis lawyer David Lenevsky he flew to Ireland, which he was told did not have anextradition agreement with the United States. Hoping for political asylum, Kavaja surrendered in Shannon, Ireland and was returned to America to againface a criminal trial.Kavaja was in prison from 1979 until being released in 1997and was to have remained on parole until 2019. He violated his parole byreturning to Yugoslavia; had he returned to the United States he would havebeen arrested and returned to prison.Kavaja formed a military unit for the defense of Serbs inKosovo and Metohija. A training camp was established in Piva, Montenegro, whererecruits undertook six months training. However his unit was never givenpermission to be used against the Kosovo Liberation Army.Nikola Kavaja was arrested on April 1, 2003 during OperationSablja following the assassination of Zoran Đinđić. Kavaja was soon released, however.Filmmaker Milan Knežević made a documentary about Kavajacalled Nikola Kavaja - lovac na Tita ("Nikola Kavaja - Tito'shunter"), which was shown at the 1994 Edinburgh Film Festival. He was an associate of Boško Radonjić and VojislavStanimirović., and considered a ranking authority and inspiration by the PinkPanthers.Kavaja died from a heart attack at his home in Belgrade onNovember 10, 2008.New unused book , hardcover, format 22 x 31 cm, Serbian language Cyrillic letter , illustrated, 511 pages + 202pages with photographs and illustrations
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