Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: THURSDAY, May 27, 1993                   TAG: 9305270248
SECTION: VIRGINIA                    PAGE: C-1   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: RAY REED
DATELINE:                                 LENGTH: Medium

HISTORICALLY, YUGOSLAV POLITICS ARE CONVOLUTED, DEADLY

A: Yugoslavia's politics defy stereotyping.

Early in World War II, Croats allied with the German forces occupying Yugoslavia. Conservative Muslim leaders encouraged their people to do the same, said Professor Paul Shoup of the University of Virginia.

The Croats and Nazis massacred Serbs at a savage rate in the first years of the war.

Serbs responded by killing Croats and Muslims, according to Encyclopaedia Britannica. Then and until recently, there was a nominal alliance between the Croats and Muslims.

Communists led by Marshal Tito - a Croat - emerged during the war to court survivors from all three factions, gaining support by advocating national unity. Many Muslims turned to Tito, as did Croats and Serbs.

When World War II ended, the communists executed the Serb nationalists' leader, Draja Mikhailovich.

The Muslims always have been a minority, though a significant one. In 1992, they were estimated at 9 percent of the population in Bosnia.

Too small in number to be a major player in military and political struggles, the Muslims' sketchy history indicates that at least sometimes they leaned toward the power prevailing at the moment, trying to go along to get along.

From the end of World War II until communism collapsed in Europe, the Yugoslav peoples lived in their most stable period. The government, while communist, was independent of Soviet influence.

Yeltsin's thumb

Q: I've noticed in several pictures of Boris Yeltsin that he does not have a left thumb. Is this from an accident, congenital defect or optical illusion? L.P., Salem, and D.F., Roanoke

A: Wow. Put a picture in 125,000 newspapers and someone will notice every detail.

When he was 11, the future Russian president and two friends sneaked into a weapons warehouse and stole two hand grenades.

"When we started to disassemble them, one of the grenades exploded," he told David Remnick of The Washington Post in an interview in May 1989.

Yeltsin lost the thumb and forefinger of his left hand in the accident.

We are indebted to the reference desk of the Roanoke Public Library for finding that interview.

Got a question about something that might affect other people too? Something you've come across and wondered about? Give us a call at 981-3118. Maybe we can find the answer.