Early Years
Zlomislić was born to Croatian parents in the region of Vojvodina during World War II. His father was killed by the Nazis while fighting with the Yugoslav Partisans against the German occupation of Yugoslavia in late 1944. His mother, Rose, was shipped to Germany in 1943 to work as slave labour for the Nazis and Vilim was placed in an orphanage. In 1945, Rose was told that her son had been killed in an air raid. After the war, she met and married Frederick Andrews, a Canadian working for a United Nations agency in a German displaced persons' camp. The couple moved to Toronto.
Vilim remained at the orphanage and was a member of the Communist Young Pioneers in post-war Communist-ruled Yugoslavia. He suffered an accident during a camping trip and a botched operation on his leg left him limping and scarred for life.
His mother continued to search for him after the war through the assistance of the Red Cross which located Vilim in 1952 and brought him to Canada where he was re-united with his mother and re-Christened Donald Clarke Andrews.
In Canada, Andrews developed a strong antipathy for Communism which he blamed for his physical disability. After graduating from high school he began reading far right tracts by the John Birch Society and George Lincoln Rockwell and adopted far right and ultimately fascist ideas.
Read more about this topic: Don Andrews
Famous quotes related to early years:
“Even today . . . experts, usually male, tell women how to be mothers and warn them that they should not have children if they have any intention of leaving their side in their early years. . . . Children don’t need parents’ full-time attendance or attention at any stage of their development. Many people will help take care of their needs, depending on who their parents are and how they chose to fulfill their roles.”
—Stella Chess (20th century)