A war refugee’s journey across the Atlantic blossoms into a gift he continues to give
Things that refugees carry.
In 1985 Marija “Mati” Horvat, A Slovenian immigrant left O’Hare airport with a secret.
To avoid perception, Horvat held her in her palm.
A war refugee who left Slovenia with only what she could carry before moving to Wilmette as a housekeeper in the 1950s, she returned to her homeland to see her dying sister. While she was there, she forged a plan on how to bring the flower: more specifically, a small “sharp” old-fashioned geranium legacy he plucked from his nephew’s garden.
It was an American customs no-no.
“I warned her, but my mother just wanted to see the flower grow in America again – a memory,” Horvat’s daughter recalled. Danica Turk, who accompanied her mother on that trip back to Slovenia.
Although her daughter warned her that the suitcases would be searched and the tax lost, Horvat even hid the plot until the Turks left the customs.
“How cunning was that?” smiled Turk, who lives in Prospect Heights. “I was stunned when she told me what she had done!
“This pink geranium was a reminder of my mother’s family home on top of a hill surrounded by meadows,” added Turk, who will turn 96 later this month. “Mother remembered the hill where geraniums, roses and dahlias grew, glowing in the bright sun.”
Turk is comforted in the story of the flowers as he now observes the war unfolding in Ukraine. Her family tells a horrifying story of life in Slovenia during and after World War II, when her father was beaten and imprisoned by the Nazis.
I was 13 years old when Hitler’s Nazis confiscated our home in Slovenia in 1941 in order to use it for [local] headquarters, ”she recalled.
The family fled and broke up. Turk eventually ended up in England, where she proposed cotton as a war worker and later earned a degree in chemistry.
“I know how difficult it must be for the people of Ukraine facing an invasion of their own country. It’s a terrible thing,” she said.
“It’s awful to run into an attacker. We didn’t have a chance. I really do not believe that Ukraine has a chance. But I really hope they will. Please for that. But a miracle will be needed. I don’t want to sound negative. But fighting usually leads to flight after an attack on the country. “
The flight for her family was long and arduous.
“My mother knew the tragedy,” Turk said of her family’s experience. Horvat was even arrested, beaten and maimed when Slovenia was taken over by the communist regime after the war.
Turk and her mother separated and eventually came to the US at different times. Turk was granted American citizenship in 1979. The family now lives in the northern suburbs.
After a 1985 trip, the flowers were planted in a relatives ’nursery in Northbrook.
“When Slovenian geraniums began to bloom in America, my mother exclaimed:” She is here again. It’s here again! That’s how they made her happy. “
Mary Horvat died in 1989, and for the last four years of her life she enjoyed her secret “sunny day” flowers.
A clipping of flowering Slovenian gems is now blooming in the Turk’s greenhouse in Grayslake.
The company is now run by Claudia Turk, who married Danica Turk’s stepdaughter, Barnabas.
“Geraniums from Slovenia that we keep for the family – not as something commercial,” said Claudia Turk.
“Sometimes people find them and they like them and order them. However, we do not promote or advertise them. But it’s amazing how many plants were made from a single cutting in 1985.
“It’s like a survival story for future generations and we plan to pass it on to future generations of our family!”
The flower was named Danilo, after her cousin Marija Horvat, who gave her a cutting that came to America.
And, needless to say, five years ago I noticed Horvat’s high-pink family secret hiding unmarked in a corner near the Turks.
That’s when they found their way to my garden.
Ka-Ching!
Pappas Paper: Watch out for the Cook County Treasurer Maria Pappas On May 24 and 25, it hosted a summit on property tax and innovation on how it uses technology to manage the highly complex real estate tax system in Cook County.
Sneed said Pappas invited more than a dozen countries from the Organization of American States, including Brazil and Mexico, to test the advanced financial system it uses while attending the OAS conference in the Dominican Republic a few months ago.
“Our system allows Cook County residents not only to pay their tax bills online instead of having to head to our office, but we now have a website that allows them to seek refunds and verify their 20-year history of their property taxes in 108 languages.
“They wanted to see him, so I invited them,” Pappas said. “And we do that in my town hall office.
Sneedlings…
Saturday Birthdays: NFL Star Rob Gronkowski, 33; Founder of Facebook Mark Zuckerberg, 38 and film producer George Lucas, 78. Sunday birthdays: tennis player Andy Murray, 35; retired football exceptional Ray Lewis, 47 and a football legend Emmitt Smith, 53.
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