Which people in history have experienced hell on Earth?

 

Momčilo Gavrić.

I first thought that it was a propaganda story, but it does not seem so.

He lived from 1906 to 1993 and became the youngest Serbian soldier when he was 8 years old.

And he was not used as a "child soldier" as we know it.

But, as I see his story, it was his way to survive and to cope with the history of his family.

Because we cope with trauma when we are not passive victims.

In August 1914, Austro-Hungarian soldiers attacked his family.

Momčilo was with his uncle that day.

The soldiers hanged and mutilated his parents and his seven siblings.

The boy must have seen them.

There are reports that he came home and the soldiers had also slaughtered the pigs and consumed them with relish.

In any case, the boy escaped.

He went to the 6th Artillery Division of the Royal Serbian Army, which was just nearby.

Their major took the boy in after learning what had happened to him. His soldiers were supposed to take care of Gavric.

And the boy took revenge that very evening.

He showed his unit where the location of the murderous soldiers was.

His son told about it later.

And he was promoted from commander to sergeant. He was eight years old then.

He was also given a little uniform.

I think he looks extremely small in the picture.

The major also sent him to school, so he could attend elementary school for 4 years.

But the boy always stayed with the soldiers, lay with them in the trenches and also suffered wounds.

After the war, the major helped him get help from a British mission.

He was sent to the United Kingdom, where he was able to finish his schooling.

After that he came back to Serbia.

Three of his brothers had survived the raid and he found them again.

He later became a graphic designer and married and became a father.

And he is an example of how to cope with such a bad trauma.

He took control of his life.

And he sought help and was lucky enough to find a mentor.