20000A
104-10326-10022
2025 RELEASE UNDER THE PRESIDENT JOHN F. KENNEDY ASSASSINATION RECORDS ACT OF 1992
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CONF: CE/BOGYA
INFO: CE/BOGB, CEDORECORD, DCCE/BA, LIMITED, MDSX,
ODPD, RYBAT, FILE, C/CE, CE/BOG, CE/BOGBT, CE/BOGIS, CED/CIC (7/P)
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TOT: 3016102 SEP 97
DIRECTOR 522218
301610Z DIRECTOR 522218
TO: PRIORITY BELGRADE.
FROM:
DCCE/BA
LIMITED DISSEM CE/BOGYA INFO CE/BOGIS, CE/BOG, CED/CIC,
SLUGS: WNINTEL RYBAT
SUBJECT: TRACE RESPONSE
REF:
TEXT:
NIKOLA KAVAJA
BELGRADE 20520 97 9106046
1.
ACTION REQUIRED: NONE, FYI ONLY.
((KAVAJA)) IS THE
2. PER REF, HQS HAS CONFIRMED THAT NIKOLA
SUBJECT OF 201-0764698. PROVIDED BELOW ARE EXCERPTS FROM THE
EXTENSIVE NVTAG SOURCE REPORTING COMPILED ON KAVAJA OVER THE
YEARS.
BASED ON OUR REVIEW, THERE ARE NO INDICATIONS THAT KAVAJA
PER PARA 5 REF, BELOW
HAS EVER BEEN IN CONTACT WITH TQHIGHROAD.
INFORMATION CAN BE SHARED WITH THE RSO AND COM.
3.
FOLLOWING IS DRAWN FROM DIRECTOR 824658 DATED 17 FEB 84:
A. NIKOLA ((KAVAJA)) WAS BORN 3 OCTOBER 1933 IN ISTINIC,
YUGOSLAVIA. "AFTER HIGH SCHOOL HE GRADUATED FROM THE YUGOSLAV
MILITARY ACADEMY. BETWEEN 1947 AND 1952, HE SERVED AS A FIGHTER
PILOT WITH THE YUGOSLAV AIR FORCE, HOLDING THE RANK OF FIRST
LIEUTENANT. IN THE COURSE OF THIS SERVICE HE BECAME DISENCHANTED
HE WAS ACCUSED
WITH THE COMMUNIST REGIME AND WAS COURT-MARTIALED.
OF BEING A MEMBER OF A SECRET ANTI-COMMUNIST, TERRORIST
ORGANIZATION COMMITTED TO OVERTHROWING THE COMMUNIST REGIME OF
YUGOSLAVIA, AND WAS ALSO CHARGED WITH THE<ASSASSINATION>OF THREE
HE WAS
BORDER GUARDS (KAVAJA DENIED BEING GUILTY OF THIS CHARGE).
FOUND GUILTY AND SENTENCED TO EIGHTEEN AND ONE-HALF YEARS OF
IMPRISONMENT.
B. ON 15 AUG 57, KAVAJA ESCAPED FROM PRISON WITH ANOTHER
YUGOSLAV. THE TWO MEN CROSSED INTO AUSTRIA ON 21 AUGUST 57 AT
DOLJNA RADONJA. THEY PROCEEDED TO SALZBURG AND TURNED THEMSELVES
IN TO THE POLICE. AFTER SPENDING 21 DAYS IN JAIL THEY WERE
GRANTED POLITICAL ASYLUM. KAVAJA-THEREAFTER-WORKED AS A PAINTER
AND JOINED A LOCAL ANTI-GOMMUNIST ORGANIZATION IN AUSTRIA HE
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HE
MARRIED MARIE (-(MOSEG)-) ON 13 JUNE 59. FIVE DAYS LATER, SHE LEFT
HIM AND MOVED TO BRITISH COLUMBIA. HE HAS NEVER OBTAINED A
DIVORCE FROM HER, THOUGH HE CONSIDERS THAT THEY ARE SEPARATED.
REMAINED IN AUSTRIA UNTIL 15 AUGUST 61 WHEN HE DEPARTED FOR THE
U.S.
C. KAVAJA WORKED IN THE U.S. AS A PART TIME PAINTER FOR
VARIOUS EMPLOYERS IN THE PATERSON, NEW JERSEY AREA FOR NEARLY
EIGHT MONTHS. DURING NOVEMBER 1962, KAVAJA LEFT PATERSON FOR
CHICAGO, WHERE HE TOOK A JOB WITH THE SERBIAN NATIONAL DEFENSE
COUNCIL (SND). HIS DUTIES INCLUDED SUPPORT FOR THE EMIGRE
PUBLICATION "SLOBODA, AND ACTING AS CUSTODIAN AND WATCHMAN FOR
THE BUILDING. HE SAID A WATCHMAN WAS NECESSARY BECAUSE THE
COUNCIL CONSIDERS THE YUGOSLAV CONSULATE IN CHICAGO TO BE AN
ENEMY. AS PART OF HIS SALARY, KAVAJA WAS PROVIDED FURNISHED
QUARTERS IN THE BUILDING. KAVAJA REMAINED WITH THE SND UNTIL
DECEMBER 1963. FOR THE NEXT THREE MONTHS HE SUPPORTED HIMSELF BY
TAKING ODD-JOBS PAINTING.
D. IN MARCH 1964 KAVAJA DROVE WITH A FRIEND TO CALIFORNIA.
AFTER THEIR ARRIVAL IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA, THEY WERE ARRESTED
FOR POSSESSION OF A .45 CALIBER AUTOMATIC PISTOL WHICH KAVAJA HAD
LEFT ON THE BACK SEAT OF THE AUTOMOBILE. THE LOS ANGELES POLICE
DETAINED KAVAJA FOR TWENTY DAYS. A LOCAL BUSINESSMAN WHO
INTERPRETED AT THE HEARING FOR KAVAJA, INDICATED THAT KAVAJA WAS
AFTER
"CRAZY AND A LOUDMOUTH," WHO WAS INTENT ON KILLING CASTRO.
HIS RELEASE FROM JAIL HE RETURNED TO CHICAGO, AND THEN TO PATERSON
TO WORK ON OBTAINING HIS CITIZENSHIP.
E.
IN OCTOBER 64 HE RETURNED TO CHICAGO. SOMETIME BEFORE
THE SUMMER OF 1966, HIS LIVE-IN (MARRIED) GIRLFRIEND GAVE BIRTH TO
DAUGHTER IN PATERSON. IN JUNE 1977, YUGOSLAV CONSULATE GENERAL,
CONSULAR OFFICER TOMISLAV DJORDJEVIC, CONSIDERED TO BE SDB OFFICER
BASED IN NEW YORK, LEARNED FROM THE CHICAGO CONSULATE THAT KAVAJA
AND HIS GROUP OF RADICALS MAY BECOME ACTIVE, AND AS A RESULT WAS
KEEPING CLOSE WATCH ON THEM. IN NOVEMBER 1977, NEW YORK CONSULATE
OFFICIAL PETAR G. ((BOZINOVIC)), ALSO CONSIDERED TO BE SDB, WAS
COLLECTING INFORMATION ON KAVAJA, AND MENTIONED THAT HE HAD BEEN
ADVISED THAT KAVAJA WAS INSTRUCTING EMIGRES ON HOW TO MAKE BOMBS.
ON 4 AUGUST 79, AT A MEETING OF YUGOSLAV OFFICIALS AT THE NEW YORK
DJORDJEVIC,
CONSULATE GENERAL, KAVAJA WAS A TOPIC OF DISCUSSION.
HIS SUCCESSOR (AND SDB OFFICER) NJEGOSLAV ((PANTELIC)), CONSULAR
OFFICER NINO ( (KOPAC)), OSMAN ( (GASI)), AND CONSUL GENERAL VESELIN
( (VESKOVIC)) DISCUSSED ACTIVE ANTI-REGIME EMIGRES IN THE AREA.
THEY INDICATED THAT KAVAJA HAD RECENTLY HIJACKED AN AIRPLANE
OUTSIDE CHICAGO TO NEW YORK CITY, AND THEN TO SHANNON, IRELAND,
DURING THIS
WHERE HE SURRENDERED TO THE IRISH AUTHORITIES.
MEETING, THEY AGREED THAT KAVAJA, WHO WAS AT THE TIME IN A U.S.
PRISON, DESERVED TO BE PUNISHED. DJORDJEVIC DISPLAYED A
SERBO-CROATIAN REPORT ON KAVAJA ENTITLED "WHO ARE THE TERRORISTS
END OF ONE CONSPIRACY."
SOPO
F. ONE SOURCE WHO TRAVELED TO YUGOSLAVIA IN APRIL 1981
REPORTED HE WAS INTERVIEWED BY THE SDB. HE WAS ASKED AMONG OTHER
THINGS TO IDENTIFY-YUGOSLAV EMIGRES WHO VISITED_KAVAJA IN JAIL
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IN 1964 KAVAJA TOLD ONE SOURCE HE IS UNALTERABLY OPPOSED TO
HE PROFESSED GREAT ADMIRATION FOR
COMMUNISM WHEREVER IT IS FOUND.
AMERICAN DEMOCRACY BUT FELT THAT MORE THAN MERE WORDS WERE NEEDED
IF AMERICA WAS TO WIN OUT OVER COMMUNISM. KAVAJA INDICATED THAT
HE WAS A MAN OF ACTION. HE ADDED THAT HE HAS DEDICATED HIMSELF TO
THE ERADICATION OF COMMUNISM AND THAT AN OPPORTUNE TIME, HE WILL
ACQUIRE AND CARRY A PISTOL, AS A PATRIOT, NOT AS A CRIMINAL, FOR
USE AGAINST THE HEAD OF ANY COMMUNIST STATE INCLUDING TITO
KHRUSHCHEV AND CASTRO, REGARDLESS OF THE CONSEQUENCES TO HIMSELF
OR HIS RELATIVES. (KAVAJAZINDICATED THAT IN OCTOBER 1963 HE HAD
AND WASHINGTON FOR
STALKED TITO AT (NEW YORK CITY, WILLIAMSBURG,
*THE PURPOSE OF<ASSASSINATING>HİM. HE WAS DRESSED IN THE BLACK
CLERICAL GARB OF A PRIEST, AND HE WAS ARMED WITH A .45 CALIBER
HE SAID HE NEARLY SUCCEEDED
PISTOL AND 48 ROUNDS OF AMMUNITION.
IN HIS EFFORT IN WILLIAMSBURG), BUT WAS THWARTED WHEN TITO LEFT THE
KAVAJA INDICATED THAT THE
AREA BY HELICOPTER RATHER THAN BY CAR.
*COMMUNIST PARTY WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE LATE<PRESIDENT KENNEDY'S>
*<ASSASSINATION. > IT WAS ALSO HIS OPINION THAT THE COMMUNIST PARTY
WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR THE FREQUENT BLACK RIOTS IN THE EAST? KAVAJA
MENTIONED THAT HE AND HIS ASSOCIATES FELT THAT THE TIME HAD COME
WHEN FORCEFUL AND AFFIRMATIVE STEPS MUST BE TAKEN, IF THE WORLD
WAS TO AVOID A COMPLETE TAKE-OVER BY COMMUNISM.
G. ANOTHER SOURCE REPORTED THAT KAVAJA APPEARED TO BE
SOMEWHAT 'DIFFERENT" FROM THE AVERAGE MEMBER OF THE_SND), AND HE
PAPPEARED TO HAVE MORE OF AN AGGRESSIVE NATURE. THE SOURCE_
INDICATED THAT KAVAJA WOULD PROBABLY DO THINGS OTHER PEOPLE WOULD
NOT DO]
ON ONE OCCASION KAVAJA CONFIDED TO THE SOURCE THAT HE HAD
BEEN PAID NEARLY USD 3,000 BY A SERBIAN ORTHODOX BISHOP TO KILL
TITO THE DEAL INVOLVED HIS KIDNAPPING A FORMER LEADER OF THE
CUSTASHI MOVEMENT RESIDENT IN THE LOS ANGELES AREA TO AVENGE THE
HOWEVER, HE DID
SERBS KILLED DURING WORLD WAR II BY THE CUSTASHI
*NOT SUCCEED IN THIS<ASSASSINATION>PLAN BECAUSE, WHILE HE WAS
STAKING OUT THE MAN'S RESIDENCE, HE WAS APPREHENDED BY THE POLICE
AND ARRESTED FOR POSSESSION OF A HANDGUN.
H. ANOTHER SOURCE REPORTED THAT KAVAJA FREQUENTLY PROMISED
TO COMMIT SOME ACT OF VIOLENCE AGAINST A COMMUNIST PERSON AND ON
HOWEVER, BECAUSE HE
THIS BASIS COLLECTED MONEY FROM THE SERBS.
HAD NOT YET DELIVERED, SERBS IN THE CHICAGO AREA WERE DISENCHANTED
WITH HIM.
I.
ACCORDING TO ANOTHER SOURCE, KAVAJA WAS DESCRIBED AS AN
OPPORTUNIST, A BULLY, AND AN UNTRUSTWORTHY TYPE OF PERSON WHO WAS
WITH REGARD TO KAVAJA'S CLAIMS
PRIMARILY INTERESTED IN HIMSELF.
OF BEING AN ANTI-COMMUNIST, THE SOURCE ADDED THAT HE HAD NO
INFORMATION ON HIS POLITICAL SYMPATHIES, EXCEPT THAT HE WAS
HE WAS REPORTEDLY
EXTREMELY PREJUDICED AGAINST NON-SERB SLAVS.
NOT LIKED BY FELLOW SERBS, BUT FEARED BY THEM BECAUSE HE HAD THE
REPUTATION OF BEING A FIGHTER AND ONE WHO USUALLY PICKS ON MEN WHO
ARE EITHER SMALLER OR OLDER THAN HE.
THE SOURCE
LINDICATED THAT SOME SERBS-VIEWED-KAVAJA-AS-A-HERO.
HOWEVER,
ACCORDING TO CIA 823841,_DATED_02_SEP 84, TQHIGHROAD
4. ACCORDING
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RECEIVED_A_REQUEST-FROM-AUSTRIAN LIAISON FOR INFORMATION ON NIKOLA.
KAVAJA. THE AUSTRIANS CARRIED SUBJECT AS A TERRORIST WHO MAY TRY
TO DISRUPT THE SARAJEVO OLYMPIC GAMES USING AUSTRIA AS A STAGING
AREA. THEY PLANNED TO ENTER INFORMATION INTO THEIR COMPUTERS AT
BORDER CROSSING POINTS TO ENABLE THEM TO PREVENT KAVAJA FROM
ENTERING YUGOSLAVIA VIA AUSTRIA.
5. ON 31 JUL 93, NVTAG PROVIDED AN ASSESSMENT OF POTENTIAL
FOR YUGOSLAVIAN TERRORISM IN THE UNITED STATES, WHICH WAS SENT TO
SEVERAL TQHIGHROAD STATIONS. THE ASSESSMENT WAS NOT PART OF THE
NVTAG
U.S. TERRORIST THREAT WARNING SYSTEM, BUT JUST INTENDED TO
PROVIDED INFORMATION TO ALL RECIPIENTS. IN THIS ASSESSMENT,
EVALUATED THE YUGOSLAVIAN DIPLOMATIC AND NON-OFFICIAL PRESENCE IN
THE UNITED STATES. THE ASSESSMENT MENTIONED KAVAJA AS ONE OF THE
INDIVIDUALS INVOLVED IN THE BOMBING OF THE YUGOSLAV EMBASSY IN
WASHINGTON, D.C. KAVAJA WAS ALSO MENTIONED TO BE A MEMBER OF
SOPO.
6. FILE: 201-0764698.
CL BY: 2184825, CL REASON: 1.5
(C), DECL ON: X1, DRV FROM: HUM 4 82.
CABLETYPE: GECO STAFF 4.0.1.>
RELNO: DORELS0100792925
ORIG
-CE/BOGYA¯(XDEBRUC-5-1-70-6-)-;-AUTH: _DC./CE/BOGYA (DEL_PRINCIPE);
REL: C/CE/BOGYA (PIPKIN).
INFO: CE/TRG (FRREEMAN);
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