Tito shook hands with everyone, only with me no

Legendary Slovenian basketball player Aljoša Žorga (1947) published an autobiography days ago at Buča. It can read about his sporting beginnings, the Olympic silver from Mexico and the Gold at the World Cup in Ljubljana, as well as the interesting history of his family and business paths, which he walked after a basketball career.

Your old uncle was one of the founders of the Slovenian Socialist Party, and the younger Jacob was once even with Tito. Have you listened to family anecdotes as a child?

These stories were a constant part of family conversations. My old uncle was a well -known revolutionaries, as a result, my old father, who was a railwayman, is often told about confronting with famous personalities, such as Tito. Written sources also state that in 1928, Josip Broz was appointed Deputy Jakob Žorge as the organizing commissioner of the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Yugoslavia. Later, the removal of the old communists began, among which the brothers of the Žorga were. According to our family legend, Jacob and Tito once stepped up, with Tito pulling shorter.

Interestingly, this story followed you as a basketball player.

Yes, but we can only guess about the background of this event. After winning the gold medal at the 1970 World Cup in 1970, we went for a reception with Tito. Just before the start of the ceremony, a man, probably a security service representative, asked me if I was related to Jacob Žorga. I affirmed, and he replied to me, « We just know. » Then the first one called me to Tito to congratulate me and give me a gift. This was unusual, as the first was usually the captain of the team. Tito handed me a gift, but he didn’t get into my hand, but he is all else. Unusual. I call this incident.