NASLEĐE / HERITAGE 1926. CRNJANSKI I SONDERMAJER: DVOBOJ ZBOG AEROPLANA CRNJANSKI AND SONDERMAJER: DUEL OVER A PLANE
WHAT WOULD REMAIN RECORDED FROM THE pre-war days was the great friendship between Tadije Sondermajer and Miloš Cr- njanski, who was also a lover of aviation and a long-serving editor of the magazine “Naša krila” (Our Wings). The two men once quarrelled fiercely over which aeroplane was better. Crnjan- ski defended the honour of French aircraft, while Sondermajer sided with German ma- nufacturers. In order to bring the dispute to a conclusion, the writer theatrically sla- pped the officers in attendance across the- ir faces with white gloves and challenged all of them to a duel. The officers declined, not wanting to lose Crnjanski in an uneven duel, but Sondermajer accepted the chance to defend his honour. The duel was scheduled to take pla- ce on 26 th September 1926 in the vicinity of Vršac. The battle was fought gentlemanly, with minutes taken and in the presence of seconds (Crnjanski was represented by di- rector Branko Gavela and writer Dušan Ma- tić), with trophy weapons borrowed espe- cially for the occasion from the Dunđerski family. The first shot was fired by Crnjanski and, as expected, missed the target. So- urces, however, disagree on how the du- el ended. According to some, Sonderma- jer aimed at Crnjanski for a short time, then lowered his gun and said in French: “I give up, you are forgiven”. At Crnjaski’s passio- nate insistence that the duel continue, Son- dermajer shot into the air and departed. Ac- cording to others, Sondermajer didn’t give Crnjanski his life so easily. He tried three ti- mes to fire from his fancy holster, but wit- hout success. Dušan Matić then intervened and requested they both accept to be sa- tisfied with an unresolved outcome. Son- dermajer was permitted to fire into the air only to confirm that his weapon was opera- tional. Whatever actually happened, both duellers survived, preserved their honour and renewed their friendship.
IZ PREDRATNIH DANA OSTAĆE ZABELEŽENO VELIKO prijateljstvo Tadije Sondermajera sa Milošem Crnjanskim, koji je takođe bio za- ljubljenik u avijaciju i dugogodišnji urednik časopisa Naša krila . Jednom prilikom njih dvojica su se žestoko posvađali oko toga čiji su aeroplani bolji. Crnjanski je bra- nio čast francuskih, a Sonderma- jer nemačkih letelica. Kako bi iste- rao stvar do kraja, pisac je prisutne oficire teatralno išamarao belim rukavicama i sve ih izazvao na dvo- boj. Oficiri su ga odbili ne želeći da ostanu bez Crnjanskog u nerav- nopravnom duelu, ali je Sonder- majer prihvatio da brani svoju čast. Dvoboj je održan 26. septem- bra 1926. godine u okolini Vršca. Borba se vodila džentlmenski, uz vođenje zapisnika i prisustvo se- kundanata (Crnjanskog su zastu- pali reditelj Branko Gavela i knji- ževnik Dušan Matić), s trofejnim
oružjem koje je za tu priliku pozaj- mljeno iz porodice Dunđerski. Pr- vi je pucao Crnjanski i, prema oče- kivanju, silno promašio. Izvori se, međutim, razilaze kako je duel okončan. Po jednima, Sonderma- jer je kratko ciljao u Crnjanskog, a zatim spustio pištolj i na francu- skom rekao: „Odustajem, oprošte- no vam je.“ Na vatreno insistiranje Crnjan- skog da se dvoboj nastavi Sonder- majer je pucao u vazduh i otišao. Po drugima, Sondermajer nije tek tako poklonio život Crnjanskom. Triput je pokušao da opali iz gizda- ve kubure, ali bez uspeha. Inter- venisao je Dušan Matić i zatražio od obojice da prihvate zadovolje- nje i nerešen ishod. Sondermaje- ru je dozvoljeno da opali u vazduh tek da se utvrdi da mu je oružje bi- lo ispravno. Šta god da je zapravo bilo, obojica su preživeli, sačuvali čast i obnovili prijateljstvo.
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