1 00:00:10,920 --> 00:00:14,200 Speaker 1: Once upon a time, on a cold, dark night on 2 00:00:14,240 --> 00:00:18,480 Speaker 1: the outskirts of Stromitza, a town in Ottoman territory close 3 00:00:18,520 --> 00:00:22,040 Speaker 1: to the border with Bulgaria, a baby's cries were heard 4 00:00:22,320 --> 00:00:27,320 Speaker 1: coming from a small hut inside. Paris gave a Searchev 5 00:00:27,640 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: wrapped her newborn baby's bloody and vernick's covered body in 6 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:36,440 Speaker 1: a sheepskin rug and cradled her, while husband Panda watched on, 7 00:00:37,120 --> 00:00:40,640 Speaker 1: his eyes damp with tears as he prayed for a miracle. 8 00:00:41,960 --> 00:00:47,760 Speaker 1: The child, a girl, was two months premature, feeble and wrinkly. 9 00:00:48,240 --> 00:00:52,120 Speaker 1: With her eyes clenched tightly shut, she yawned and wriggled 10 00:00:52,159 --> 00:00:56,720 Speaker 1: in her mother's arms. It was October third, nineteen eleven, 11 00:00:57,120 --> 00:01:01,040 Speaker 1: and with little to their name, Paris Gava Panda had 12 00:01:01,040 --> 00:01:05,319 Speaker 1: no option but to simply hope for the best. But slowly, 13 00:01:05,720 --> 00:01:09,840 Speaker 1: day by day, as Panda rose early each morning to 14 00:01:09,840 --> 00:01:13,160 Speaker 1: work in the fields and Paris Gava stayed at home 15 00:01:13,360 --> 00:01:17,319 Speaker 1: to nurture their daughter, the child began gradually to gain 16 00:01:17,400 --> 00:01:21,760 Speaker 1: her strength. With the parents confident enough that the worst 17 00:01:21,880 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: was behind them, it was decided finally to give her 18 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:29,640 Speaker 1: a name, as was the custom. The child's grandmother was 19 00:01:29,720 --> 00:01:33,000 Speaker 1: promptly sent out into the street to ask a passer 20 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:36,440 Speaker 1: by for a suggestion, and so it was that the 21 00:01:36,560 --> 00:01:41,920 Speaker 1: nameless baby girl became Vangelia, from the Greek meaning bearer 22 00:01:41,920 --> 00:01:45,959 Speaker 1: of good news. In English, they called her Fanger for short. 23 00:01:47,560 --> 00:01:50,840 Speaker 1: If Vanger's entry into the world was a precarious one, 24 00:01:51,320 --> 00:01:55,200 Speaker 1: the next ten years would prove little different. By the 25 00:01:55,200 --> 00:01:58,960 Speaker 1: age of four, she'd lived through two Balkan Wars and 26 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:03,640 Speaker 1: the burning down for town. The following year, Fanga's mother, 27 00:02:03,960 --> 00:02:09,600 Speaker 1: Paris Gava, died in childbirth along with her baby. After 28 00:02:09,680 --> 00:02:15,160 Speaker 1: five years scraping through together, Fanga's father remarried. A young 29 00:02:15,200 --> 00:02:18,680 Speaker 1: woman named Tanker was due to marry her beloved, a 30 00:02:18,760 --> 00:02:22,400 Speaker 1: Bulgarian soldier, when her parents canceled the wedding at the 31 00:02:22,520 --> 00:02:27,679 Speaker 1: last minute. With the region around Strumitza recently coming under 32 00:02:27,720 --> 00:02:30,880 Speaker 1: the control of the Kingdom of Serbia in nineteen nineteen 33 00:02:31,320 --> 00:02:34,799 Speaker 1: in the aftermath of the First World War, a policy 34 00:02:34,800 --> 00:02:39,799 Speaker 1: of cultural cleansing had been enacted, Tanker's parents were fearful 35 00:02:40,000 --> 00:02:43,160 Speaker 1: that they would all be deported if the marriage went ahead, 36 00:02:43,880 --> 00:02:48,240 Speaker 1: so they offered their daughter to Panda instead. It was 37 00:02:48,280 --> 00:02:52,280 Speaker 1: an awkward, unwanted beginning to a union, but by all accounts, 38 00:02:52,320 --> 00:02:54,679 Speaker 1: they appeared to have made the most of it when 39 00:02:54,720 --> 00:02:58,480 Speaker 1: two years later they welcomed their first child, a brother 40 00:02:58,600 --> 00:03:03,520 Speaker 1: for Vanger named Vassal. While Panda worked as a shepherd 41 00:03:03,520 --> 00:03:07,000 Speaker 1: in neighboring villages that by then eleven year old Fanger 42 00:03:07,320 --> 00:03:10,000 Speaker 1: helped her stepmother to bring up the baby and take 43 00:03:10,040 --> 00:03:13,959 Speaker 1: care of the house. It was a difficult, impoverished life, 44 00:03:14,280 --> 00:03:18,560 Speaker 1: but one that was filled with love. Nonetheless, Fanger, especially 45 00:03:18,960 --> 00:03:22,200 Speaker 1: a bright and sociable girl who remained stoic in the 46 00:03:22,280 --> 00:03:25,679 Speaker 1: face of so much misery, was much loved by all 47 00:03:25,760 --> 00:03:30,160 Speaker 1: who knew her. And then a year later came the 48 00:03:30,240 --> 00:03:35,000 Speaker 1: moment that would change Fanger's life forever, and if the 49 00:03:35,080 --> 00:03:39,240 Speaker 1: stories are to be believed, the lives of many others too. 50 00:03:40,640 --> 00:03:52,800 Speaker 1: You're listening to Unexplained and I'm Richard McClane Smith. In 51 00:03:52,920 --> 00:03:56,800 Speaker 1: nineteen twenty three, Fanger and her family moved a few 52 00:03:56,840 --> 00:04:01,120 Speaker 1: miles east to Novo Cello, trekking By and Cart to 53 00:04:01,200 --> 00:04:05,320 Speaker 1: live with her uncle in his much larger home. Whilst there, 54 00:04:05,800 --> 00:04:09,440 Speaker 1: one bright summer's day, then twelve year old Vanger and 55 00:04:09,560 --> 00:04:12,640 Speaker 1: her two cousins were running an errand to fetch milk 56 00:04:12,920 --> 00:04:16,680 Speaker 1: when they took a detour to a nearby spring. Then 57 00:04:16,720 --> 00:04:22,000 Speaker 1: the world went suddenly dark around them. Looking up, they 58 00:04:22,000 --> 00:04:24,880 Speaker 1: saw that a vast bank of cloud had blotted out 59 00:04:24,920 --> 00:04:28,240 Speaker 1: the sun, like a veil being drawn across the sky. 60 00:04:29,279 --> 00:04:33,320 Speaker 1: Seconds later, a violent gust of wind whipped across the hills, 61 00:04:33,720 --> 00:04:36,960 Speaker 1: pulling at their bodies as it began to coil around them, 62 00:04:37,279 --> 00:04:42,440 Speaker 1: sending clouds of dust corkscrewing into the air. As Vanger's 63 00:04:42,440 --> 00:04:45,760 Speaker 1: cousins screamed and ran for shelter, they could only watch 64 00:04:45,800 --> 00:04:49,560 Speaker 1: in horror as Vanga was slowly lifted from the ground 65 00:04:49,880 --> 00:04:54,880 Speaker 1: and taken high up into the ever growing vortex. When 66 00:04:54,920 --> 00:04:58,799 Speaker 1: an eerie stillness returned to the land, the cousins lifted 67 00:04:58,800 --> 00:05:03,480 Speaker 1: their heads to mind that Fanger had completely vanished. A 68 00:05:03,640 --> 00:05:06,479 Speaker 1: small search party was sent out to find her, and 69 00:05:06,640 --> 00:05:10,320 Speaker 1: an hour later they found the girl lying unconscious in 70 00:05:10,360 --> 00:05:13,479 Speaker 1: a field close to the spring, covered in leaves and 71 00:05:13,600 --> 00:05:19,840 Speaker 1: broken branches. Then she began to stir my eyes, she 72 00:05:19,960 --> 00:05:25,039 Speaker 1: cried in agony, I can't open my eyes. Fanga's face 73 00:05:25,200 --> 00:05:28,400 Speaker 1: was smeared in soil and grit that had been pushed 74 00:05:28,400 --> 00:05:31,720 Speaker 1: so deep into her eye sockets it scraped and scoured 75 00:05:31,720 --> 00:05:36,680 Speaker 1: her eyeballs. At the slightest movement. After being diagnosed with 76 00:05:36,760 --> 00:05:40,760 Speaker 1: severe corneal abrasions, her father, with the help of friends 77 00:05:40,800 --> 00:05:45,240 Speaker 1: and family, miraculously managed to find enough money for an operation. 78 00:05:46,400 --> 00:05:49,560 Speaker 1: For it to work, however, fanger would be required to 79 00:05:49,640 --> 00:05:53,839 Speaker 1: rest and eat healthily. But no sooner had she returned home, 80 00:05:54,360 --> 00:05:58,120 Speaker 1: her father and stepmother had a second child, a boy 81 00:05:58,240 --> 00:06:03,160 Speaker 1: named Tomma. With the family already struggling for money, there 82 00:06:03,240 --> 00:06:06,960 Speaker 1: was no chance of maintaining the diet required for her recovery, 83 00:06:07,760 --> 00:06:11,480 Speaker 1: and now with one more mouth to feed, both Fangua's 84 00:06:11,520 --> 00:06:15,360 Speaker 1: parents had to work, leaving her to look after the babies. 85 00:06:16,800 --> 00:06:20,799 Speaker 1: As the weeks turned to months, Fangus's sight failed to return, 86 00:06:21,400 --> 00:06:24,679 Speaker 1: and by the age of fourteen, it was completely gone 87 00:06:25,120 --> 00:06:36,400 Speaker 1: for ever. With fanguars parents struggling to feed their three children, 88 00:06:36,920 --> 00:06:39,799 Speaker 1: it was suggested to Panda that he sent his daughter 89 00:06:39,880 --> 00:06:43,200 Speaker 1: to the School of the Blind, a charity about five 90 00:06:43,279 --> 00:06:48,279 Speaker 1: hundred kilometers north on the outskirts of Belgrade. Though it 91 00:06:48,320 --> 00:06:51,800 Speaker 1: was painful to leave her family, Fangus soon learned to 92 00:06:51,839 --> 00:06:56,159 Speaker 1: appreciate the opportunity that had been afforded her, being effectively 93 00:06:56,279 --> 00:06:59,960 Speaker 1: the first time she'd ever been to school, she learned 94 00:07:00,080 --> 00:07:03,080 Speaker 1: how to read Braille and how to navigate the world 95 00:07:03,120 --> 00:07:07,520 Speaker 1: independently without her sight. She even fell in love for 96 00:07:07,560 --> 00:07:12,160 Speaker 1: the first time with a fellow pupil named Dimita. The 97 00:07:12,240 --> 00:07:16,680 Speaker 1: pair fantasized about getting married and moving in together, but 98 00:07:16,840 --> 00:07:22,400 Speaker 1: then news arrived from Strumitza. Fanga's stepmother, Tanka, and her 99 00:07:22,520 --> 00:07:27,000 Speaker 1: unborn baby had died in childbirth, just like Fanga's mother. 100 00:07:28,040 --> 00:07:31,920 Speaker 1: Fanga's father requested that she returned home to help raise 101 00:07:32,000 --> 00:07:36,240 Speaker 1: her siblings, who by then included two year old Leubka, 102 00:07:36,280 --> 00:07:39,720 Speaker 1: a sister who'd been born while Vanger was in Belgrade, 103 00:07:40,720 --> 00:07:45,040 Speaker 1: and so after only three years of school, Fanga said 104 00:07:45,080 --> 00:07:49,800 Speaker 1: goodbye to Dimita and returned to Strumitza, where life continued 105 00:07:50,080 --> 00:07:53,520 Speaker 1: much the way it had been before, as Panda worked 106 00:07:53,600 --> 00:07:58,000 Speaker 1: whatever hours he could while Vanga cooked, cleaned, and took 107 00:07:58,000 --> 00:08:02,320 Speaker 1: care of her brothers and sisters, until one day when 108 00:08:02,440 --> 00:08:07,280 Speaker 1: Panda returned, exhausted from work, despairing at his family's plight. 109 00:08:08,640 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: That night, as Vanga lay in the bed she shared 110 00:08:12,160 --> 00:08:16,600 Speaker 1: with her sister, her father's desperate words echoed through her head. 111 00:08:16,960 --> 00:08:22,320 Speaker 1: As she drifted off to sleep. Through darkness, shapes began 112 00:08:22,400 --> 00:08:26,960 Speaker 1: to materialize, coalescing into the fragmented pieces of an old 113 00:08:27,040 --> 00:08:31,760 Speaker 1: abandoned village, the crumbling ruins of an old fortress standing 114 00:08:31,800 --> 00:08:36,040 Speaker 1: prominently among them. There was a river close by, too, 115 00:08:36,679 --> 00:08:41,559 Speaker 1: and a jagged black rock. Then something glinting in the light, 116 00:08:42,440 --> 00:08:47,760 Speaker 1: gold coins buried under the fortress. Vanguer woke with a 117 00:08:47,840 --> 00:08:52,360 Speaker 1: start the following morning, unable to forget the strange dream. 118 00:08:53,040 --> 00:08:55,800 Speaker 1: When she told her father about it, he thought nothing 119 00:08:55,840 --> 00:08:58,680 Speaker 1: of it at first, but then remembered the tale of 120 00:08:58,720 --> 00:09:03,360 Speaker 1: the nearby village, abandoned many years before after the outbreak 121 00:09:03,360 --> 00:09:07,720 Speaker 1: of a plague. It too had a large fortress and 122 00:09:07,840 --> 00:09:13,400 Speaker 1: a giant, jagged rock just outside its walls. Panda's plans 123 00:09:13,440 --> 00:09:16,720 Speaker 1: to investigate it, however, were curtailed when he broke his 124 00:09:16,880 --> 00:09:20,840 Speaker 1: arm at work, and coming to his senses, he dismissed 125 00:09:20,840 --> 00:09:25,760 Speaker 1: his daughter's unusual vision as nothing but a fantasy. It 126 00:09:25,800 --> 00:09:30,120 Speaker 1: wasn't long after that did Panda returned from work once again, 127 00:09:30,800 --> 00:09:34,840 Speaker 1: tired and embittered, as he explained to Vanger as he 128 00:09:34,880 --> 00:09:37,679 Speaker 1: took a seat at the table, a sheep he'd been 129 00:09:37,679 --> 00:09:41,400 Speaker 1: tending had gone missing, and now he was expected to 130 00:09:41,440 --> 00:09:45,440 Speaker 1: find the money to replace it. Fanger felt for the 131 00:09:45,559 --> 00:09:47,800 Speaker 1: edges of the table as she brought a bowl of 132 00:09:47,840 --> 00:09:52,000 Speaker 1: stew over for her father, then stopped suddenly and turned 133 00:09:52,000 --> 00:09:56,000 Speaker 1: her face toward him. It was a man from Mono's Beethovo, 134 00:09:56,160 --> 00:10:01,480 Speaker 1: she said, a village near by. He stole it. Panda 135 00:10:01,600 --> 00:10:04,640 Speaker 1: looked to his daughter with confusion as she went on 136 00:10:04,760 --> 00:10:08,600 Speaker 1: to explain the man in great detail. The following day, 137 00:10:09,080 --> 00:10:12,960 Speaker 1: her father made the short track to Monospetovo, where, much 138 00:10:13,040 --> 00:10:16,600 Speaker 1: to his astonishment, he found the missing sheep in a 139 00:10:16,679 --> 00:10:20,920 Speaker 1: flock belonging to a man identical to that which Fanga 140 00:10:21,120 --> 00:10:32,000 Speaker 1: had described. With the outbreak of another European war in 141 00:10:32,120 --> 00:10:37,160 Speaker 1: nineteen thirty nine, the Serbian government allied themselves with Hitler's Germany. 142 00:10:38,440 --> 00:10:41,760 Speaker 1: One morning, a then twenty eight year old Fanger and 143 00:10:41,880 --> 00:10:45,280 Speaker 1: her twelve year old sister Lyubka went to collect water 144 00:10:45,559 --> 00:10:49,240 Speaker 1: from the well outside the village of Hamzali, where they'd 145 00:10:49,280 --> 00:10:52,920 Speaker 1: moved at the beginning of the year. As Lyubka drew 146 00:10:52,920 --> 00:10:56,240 Speaker 1: the water, she saw her sister sitting with her face 147 00:10:56,320 --> 00:10:59,920 Speaker 1: turned away from her, seemingly looking into the middle distant 148 00:11:00,000 --> 00:11:05,600 Speaker 1: It's in a peculiar way, Vanger, she said, but Vanga 149 00:11:05,720 --> 00:11:10,319 Speaker 1: didn't reply. Lyubka dropped the bucket and rushed to her 150 00:11:10,320 --> 00:11:13,520 Speaker 1: sister's side, worried that she might be having some kind 151 00:11:13,559 --> 00:11:17,520 Speaker 1: of seizure. Then Vanga snapped out of it and told 152 00:11:17,559 --> 00:11:21,160 Speaker 1: her sister not to worry. She was just talking to 153 00:11:21,200 --> 00:11:24,280 Speaker 1: a man on horseback, she said, who was dressed in 154 00:11:24,400 --> 00:11:30,599 Speaker 1: shining armor and wanted to use the well. Liubka looked about, confused. 155 00:11:31,160 --> 00:11:36,120 Speaker 1: The two of them were completely alone. The following year, 156 00:11:36,520 --> 00:11:41,040 Speaker 1: Fanga's father, Panda, died from blood poisoning, and Vanga and 157 00:11:41,120 --> 00:11:45,720 Speaker 1: her siblings moved back to their home in Stramitza. Soon after, 158 00:11:46,240 --> 00:11:49,400 Speaker 1: Fanga claimed she was visited again by the man in 159 00:11:49,480 --> 00:11:53,679 Speaker 1: shining armor, who came with a message saying that soon 160 00:11:54,200 --> 00:11:57,880 Speaker 1: everything will turn upside down in the world and many 161 00:11:57,920 --> 00:12:03,000 Speaker 1: people will die. The man also insisted that Vanga should 162 00:12:03,040 --> 00:12:05,240 Speaker 1: stay in the village to speak of the living and 163 00:12:05,320 --> 00:12:09,400 Speaker 1: the dead, and that she mustn't be afraid. A great 164 00:12:09,440 --> 00:12:12,520 Speaker 1: war was coming to their home land that would begin 165 00:12:12,880 --> 00:12:18,160 Speaker 1: in April nineteen forty one. A few months later, on 166 00:12:18,280 --> 00:12:23,040 Speaker 1: April eighth, nineteen forty one, the German army marched across 167 00:12:23,120 --> 00:12:27,959 Speaker 1: what was by then the Yugoslavian border and into Vanga's country. 168 00:12:35,240 --> 00:12:38,040 Speaker 1: As words spread that the German army were nearing the 169 00:12:38,080 --> 00:12:41,720 Speaker 1: town of Stramitza. Those who hadn't already left to fight, 170 00:12:42,000 --> 00:12:44,280 Speaker 1: or who had been captured by the German army and 171 00:12:44,400 --> 00:12:48,040 Speaker 1: sent to work camps, hid in barns or cellars, or 172 00:12:48,080 --> 00:12:51,680 Speaker 1: abandoned their homes entirely as they sought shelter in the 173 00:12:51,720 --> 00:12:56,160 Speaker 1: nearby hills and forests, except for the blind Vanger and 174 00:12:56,280 --> 00:13:01,800 Speaker 1: her sister Lyubka, who had nowhere else to go. Before long, 175 00:13:02,200 --> 00:13:06,120 Speaker 1: the ominous roar of armored vehicles and the heavy steps 176 00:13:06,120 --> 00:13:09,800 Speaker 1: of booted feet drew near to their home, until one 177 00:13:09,880 --> 00:13:14,400 Speaker 1: day a German soldier arrived outside and kicked down their 178 00:13:14,400 --> 00:13:18,040 Speaker 1: front door. The young man took one look at the 179 00:13:18,120 --> 00:13:22,320 Speaker 1: pitiful scene inside, and, finding not even food to steal, 180 00:13:22,880 --> 00:13:28,560 Speaker 1: simply left Vanger and Leubka alone. Some time later, a 181 00:13:28,640 --> 00:13:32,000 Speaker 1: neighbor of Fangers appeared at the door, coming to check 182 00:13:32,040 --> 00:13:36,160 Speaker 1: if she and her sister were still alive. Stepping inside, 183 00:13:36,760 --> 00:13:41,640 Speaker 1: she found Fanger standing quietly in the corner. At first, 184 00:13:42,000 --> 00:13:47,319 Speaker 1: Vanger didn't move, Then slowly she turned around and fixed 185 00:13:47,360 --> 00:13:51,280 Speaker 1: the neighbor with an unsettling stare, the whites of her 186 00:13:51,360 --> 00:13:56,720 Speaker 1: upturned eyes seeming to look straight at her. Then a strange, 187 00:13:57,120 --> 00:14:02,000 Speaker 1: unfamiliar voice came from her lips. It spoke of people 188 00:14:02,440 --> 00:14:07,079 Speaker 1: and far off places and seemingly random events. Then the 189 00:14:07,160 --> 00:14:11,120 Speaker 1: neighbor realized Fanga was talking about all the men from 190 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:14,600 Speaker 1: the village who'd left to fight in the war, revealing 191 00:14:14,640 --> 00:14:17,959 Speaker 1: each of their stories from where they were to whether 192 00:14:18,000 --> 00:14:21,240 Speaker 1: they were dead or alive, and when, if at all, 193 00:14:21,720 --> 00:14:25,720 Speaker 1: they would be coming home. In shock, the neighbor called 194 00:14:25,720 --> 00:14:28,600 Speaker 1: on others to come and witness the miracle for themselves, 195 00:14:29,440 --> 00:14:33,080 Speaker 1: and soon women from all across Dramitza turned up at 196 00:14:33,160 --> 00:14:36,920 Speaker 1: Vangar's door, desperate to know more about their missing loved 197 00:14:36,960 --> 00:14:42,400 Speaker 1: Once a missus Nartanoff came in tears, looking for news 198 00:14:42,440 --> 00:14:46,000 Speaker 1: about her husband Milan, who she hadn't heard from in months. 199 00:14:47,200 --> 00:14:51,000 Speaker 1: Fanga told her not to cry, because Milan was safe, 200 00:14:51,280 --> 00:14:55,800 Speaker 1: albeit tired and hungry. He was hiding in a nearby ravine, 201 00:14:55,880 --> 00:15:00,560 Speaker 1: she said, in nothing but his underwear, having just escaped activity. 202 00:15:01,400 --> 00:15:04,680 Speaker 1: Vanger told the woman to go home and prepare some 203 00:15:04,760 --> 00:15:08,320 Speaker 1: clean clothes and a hot meal for him that night. 204 00:15:08,800 --> 00:15:12,480 Speaker 1: Natinov did just that and sat up waiting for her 205 00:15:12,560 --> 00:15:16,440 Speaker 1: husband to appear, But as the hours went by and 206 00:15:16,560 --> 00:15:22,160 Speaker 1: he failed to show sleep finally overcame her. It was 207 00:15:22,200 --> 00:15:25,600 Speaker 1: sometime around midnight when she awoke to the sound of 208 00:15:25,680 --> 00:15:30,520 Speaker 1: someone knocking against her window. When she pulled back the curtain, 209 00:15:31,040 --> 00:15:34,640 Speaker 1: there stood her husband in the front yard, his pale, 210 00:15:34,720 --> 00:15:39,240 Speaker 1: skeletal figure lit up by the moonlight, all but naked 211 00:15:39,760 --> 00:15:50,400 Speaker 1: in his muddy and sodden underwear. This podcast is sponsored 212 00:15:50,400 --> 00:15:53,440 Speaker 1: by better Help. Is there something interfering with your happiness 213 00:15:53,680 --> 00:15:56,560 Speaker 1: or preventing you from achieving your goals? Better help will 214 00:15:56,600 --> 00:15:59,040 Speaker 1: assess your needs and match you with your own license 215 00:15:59,080 --> 00:16:02,920 Speaker 1: to professional theorist. 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In 233 00:17:05,920 --> 00:17:09,679 Speaker 1: nineteen forty three, Fanger was approached by a stranger and 234 00:17:09,800 --> 00:17:13,720 Speaker 1: told to expect an important visitor with no time for 235 00:17:13,840 --> 00:17:16,879 Speaker 1: airs and graces. She had altered nothing of her home 236 00:17:17,240 --> 00:17:21,040 Speaker 1: when one afternoon, a car pulled up outside and the 237 00:17:21,080 --> 00:17:25,280 Speaker 1: same stranger once again appeared at the door. The man 238 00:17:25,320 --> 00:17:29,399 Speaker 1: then stepped back as another man entered the property, but 239 00:17:29,560 --> 00:17:33,359 Speaker 1: before he could speak, Fanga turned to him sharply and said, 240 00:17:33,960 --> 00:17:38,120 Speaker 1: your power is growing and to spread wide, but remember 241 00:17:38,240 --> 00:17:43,800 Speaker 1: the date August twenty eight. The man then left without 242 00:17:43,840 --> 00:17:47,880 Speaker 1: saying a word. At the sound of a door slamming 243 00:17:47,880 --> 00:17:52,480 Speaker 1: shut and the heavy car driving away Lyubka informed her 244 00:17:52,480 --> 00:17:56,919 Speaker 1: sister that the man was the Bulgarian King Boris the Third. 245 00:17:58,280 --> 00:18:03,520 Speaker 1: About the same time, in the town of Krinsolitza. Dimatar Kushkaroff, 246 00:18:03,960 --> 00:18:07,840 Speaker 1: a soldier in the Bulgarian army, tossed and turned in 247 00:18:07,880 --> 00:18:11,480 Speaker 1: his sleep as images of his brother being brutally attacked 248 00:18:11,480 --> 00:18:16,560 Speaker 1: and murdered flashed before him. Then a face materialized from 249 00:18:16,560 --> 00:18:20,240 Speaker 1: out of the chaos, while he recognized as the blind 250 00:18:20,280 --> 00:18:25,800 Speaker 1: woman he'd heard about in Straumitza. The following day, Dimatar 251 00:18:25,920 --> 00:18:29,000 Speaker 1: paid a visit to Vanger's home, only for her to 252 00:18:29,000 --> 00:18:31,880 Speaker 1: tell him immediately that she knew why he was there. 253 00:18:32,560 --> 00:18:35,080 Speaker 1: He wanted to know who'd killed his brother, she said. 254 00:18:35,680 --> 00:18:40,160 Speaker 1: As Dimatar looked at the woman dumbfounded, she continued that 255 00:18:40,200 --> 00:18:42,639 Speaker 1: she would give him the answer, but only if he 256 00:18:42,680 --> 00:18:46,720 Speaker 1: promised not to seek revenge and allow the justice system 257 00:18:46,840 --> 00:18:51,119 Speaker 1: to do its work. Dimatar agreed, and over the next 258 00:18:51,160 --> 00:18:55,199 Speaker 1: few months he returned often to Vanger's home, intrigued by 259 00:18:55,280 --> 00:19:00,280 Speaker 1: her apparent gifts. Slowly, over time, the pair fell in love, 260 00:19:00,640 --> 00:19:05,080 Speaker 1: and in May nineteen forty two, they were married. Over 261 00:19:05,119 --> 00:19:08,240 Speaker 1: the next year, having now moved across the border to 262 00:19:08,359 --> 00:19:13,520 Speaker 1: petrich in Bulgaria to live with Dimaita, Fanger continued dispensing 263 00:19:13,560 --> 00:19:16,760 Speaker 1: what knowledge she claimed to have about men fighting in 264 00:19:16,800 --> 00:19:20,359 Speaker 1: the war to anyone who came asking for it. It 265 00:19:20,520 --> 00:19:23,480 Speaker 1: isn't quite known what King Boris the Third made of 266 00:19:23,520 --> 00:19:28,480 Speaker 1: their alleged encounter, but as August nineteen forty three came around, 267 00:19:29,000 --> 00:19:34,159 Speaker 1: he found himself in an increasingly delicate position, having concluded 268 00:19:34,240 --> 00:19:36,719 Speaker 1: that he had little choice but to ally himself with 269 00:19:36,760 --> 00:19:40,160 Speaker 1: Adolf Hitler, believing it the safest option for his country. 270 00:19:40,680 --> 00:19:42,639 Speaker 1: He is said to have spent a large part of 271 00:19:42,680 --> 00:19:47,119 Speaker 1: the war resisting Hitler's demands that he deport tens of 272 00:19:47,200 --> 00:19:51,159 Speaker 1: thousands of Bulgaria's Jewish population into the hands of the 273 00:19:51,200 --> 00:19:56,119 Speaker 1: German government. Though many Bulgarian Jews were put into forced 274 00:19:56,200 --> 00:19:59,919 Speaker 1: labor to build roads in Bulgaria, it has been argued 275 00:20:00,119 --> 00:20:02,960 Speaker 1: that this was in fact a ploy to avoid having 276 00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:05,360 Speaker 1: to send them out of the country, with the full 277 00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,800 Speaker 1: understanding that to do so would mean almost certain death. 278 00:20:10,040 --> 00:20:14,399 Speaker 1: Boris also resisted calls to send Bulgarian troops to fight 279 00:20:14,480 --> 00:20:19,159 Speaker 1: against the Soviet Union's army, since many Bulgarians supported the nation. 280 00:20:20,520 --> 00:20:23,840 Speaker 1: After being summoned to another meeting with Hitler in August 281 00:20:23,920 --> 00:20:28,280 Speaker 1: nineteen forty three, King Boris the Third returned to Bulgaria, 282 00:20:28,520 --> 00:20:33,200 Speaker 1: seeming a little unwell. On August twenty eighth, the day 283 00:20:33,240 --> 00:20:36,680 Speaker 1: that Fanga is alleged to have warned him about King 284 00:20:36,720 --> 00:20:41,560 Speaker 1: Boris died. Some have suggested that he was poisoned at 285 00:20:41,640 --> 00:20:53,280 Speaker 1: Hitler's request for his refusal to cooperate. As word of 286 00:20:53,400 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 1: Vanger's apparent gifts spread throughout the Balkans, more and more 287 00:20:57,840 --> 00:21:01,080 Speaker 1: people came from far and wide to seek her knowledge. 288 00:21:01,920 --> 00:21:05,280 Speaker 1: Some were afraid of the spiky and assertive blind woman, 289 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:09,280 Speaker 1: believing she was a witch, while others questioned if the 290 00:21:09,359 --> 00:21:13,480 Speaker 1: stories and her predictions were exactly what people said they were, 291 00:21:14,560 --> 00:21:19,760 Speaker 1: But the stories kept coming. In nineteen forty four, Fanga's 292 00:21:19,840 --> 00:21:23,679 Speaker 1: elder brother, Vasil, told his sister that he was leaving 293 00:21:23,920 --> 00:21:28,399 Speaker 1: to join the Yugoslav partisan movement. Fanga begged him not 294 00:21:28,480 --> 00:21:31,840 Speaker 1: to go, warning her brother that he'd be dead by 295 00:21:31,880 --> 00:21:35,760 Speaker 1: the age of twenty three if he did. Meanwhile, Vanga's 296 00:21:35,840 --> 00:21:39,440 Speaker 1: husband Dimita was also sent back to the front to 297 00:21:39,440 --> 00:21:44,560 Speaker 1: fight in Greece. Though he would return, albeit severely ill, 298 00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:50,639 Speaker 1: having contracted malaria, Vasil would not be so lucky. It 299 00:21:50,800 --> 00:21:53,399 Speaker 1: is said that after blowing up a bridge in order 300 00:21:53,440 --> 00:21:57,359 Speaker 1: to hamper the retreating German army, Vasil was tracked down 301 00:21:57,400 --> 00:22:01,400 Speaker 1: by German soldiers to a nearby village. When the villagers 302 00:22:01,440 --> 00:22:04,840 Speaker 1: were given the ultimatum to turn Vasil over or face 303 00:22:04,960 --> 00:22:08,399 Speaker 1: the consequences, the young partisan is said to have given 304 00:22:08,480 --> 00:22:12,800 Speaker 1: himself up, after which he was allegedly brutally beaten and 305 00:22:12,920 --> 00:22:16,800 Speaker 1: eventually shot to death, his body left to rot in 306 00:22:16,840 --> 00:22:19,800 Speaker 1: the open as a warning to any others who might 307 00:22:19,880 --> 00:22:24,959 Speaker 1: feel inspired by his actions. Vasil, just as Vanguer had 308 00:22:25,000 --> 00:22:31,560 Speaker 1: apparently warned, was twenty three when he died after the war, 309 00:22:31,920 --> 00:22:35,240 Speaker 1: As Vanger's fame continued to grow, she soon came to 310 00:22:35,280 --> 00:22:40,919 Speaker 1: the attention of paranormal researchers. One afternoon, a young scientist 311 00:22:41,119 --> 00:22:45,080 Speaker 1: named Georgi Lozonov traveled to Vanger's home to find a 312 00:22:45,119 --> 00:22:50,240 Speaker 1: crowd of almost three hundred people milling about outside. Many 313 00:22:50,359 --> 00:22:53,160 Speaker 1: had come on a pilgrimage simply to get a glimpse 314 00:22:53,160 --> 00:22:57,679 Speaker 1: of the avowed mystic. When Lozonov's turn to speak with 315 00:22:57,760 --> 00:23:01,760 Speaker 1: her came, Vanguer turned to him in her inimitable way, 316 00:23:02,359 --> 00:23:07,200 Speaker 1: her eyes now kept permanently shut, and said, you're a doctor, 317 00:23:07,560 --> 00:23:11,960 Speaker 1: and you've come to test me. Lozonov smiled with disbelief. 318 00:23:13,200 --> 00:23:16,879 Speaker 1: Lozonov would go on to lead a Bulgarian government funded 319 00:23:16,960 --> 00:23:22,040 Speaker 1: laboratory known as the Institute of Suggestology and Parapsychology, and 320 00:23:22,160 --> 00:23:25,199 Speaker 1: devoted a large part of his career to investigating the 321 00:23:25,240 --> 00:23:29,679 Speaker 1: possibility of clairvoyance. He would become famous for developing a 322 00:23:29,720 --> 00:23:34,639 Speaker 1: process that he termed suggest Apedia, which, according to Lozonov, 323 00:23:35,160 --> 00:23:38,280 Speaker 1: enabled people to learn a second language at a faster 324 00:23:38,359 --> 00:23:41,760 Speaker 1: than average rate. What brought him most joy in his 325 00:23:41,800 --> 00:23:48,160 Speaker 1: professional career, however, was Vangor. Over twenty years, Losonov continued 326 00:23:48,200 --> 00:23:51,399 Speaker 1: to visit her to record the many predictions she made 327 00:23:51,480 --> 00:23:55,119 Speaker 1: about all manner of people, and claimed that roughly eighty 328 00:23:55,119 --> 00:24:06,639 Speaker 1: percent of them could be considered accurate. By the nineteen sixties, 329 00:24:06,960 --> 00:24:09,960 Speaker 1: Baba Vanger, as she would come to be known, was 330 00:24:10,000 --> 00:24:13,960 Speaker 1: a much loved iconic figure in Bulgarian society, who was 331 00:24:14,040 --> 00:24:16,720 Speaker 1: even said to have been placed on the government payroll 332 00:24:17,080 --> 00:24:20,000 Speaker 1: as a member of the civil service for her services 333 00:24:20,040 --> 00:24:24,800 Speaker 1: to the people. After her husband Dematar died in nineteen 334 00:24:24,840 --> 00:24:28,639 Speaker 1: sixty two, she entered a permanent state of mourning and 335 00:24:28,760 --> 00:24:32,440 Speaker 1: was rarely seen without a black shawl clasped around her head. 336 00:24:33,480 --> 00:24:36,200 Speaker 1: Fanger often said that when she met with a stranger, 337 00:24:36,680 --> 00:24:39,960 Speaker 1: she was struck instantly by a reel of footage playing 338 00:24:39,960 --> 00:24:43,280 Speaker 1: out the entirety of that individual's life in her mind. 339 00:24:44,119 --> 00:24:47,160 Speaker 1: It was from this that she drew her apparent knowledge 340 00:24:47,160 --> 00:24:52,760 Speaker 1: and predictions. Other times, she claimed that invisible creatures whose 341 00:24:52,760 --> 00:24:57,600 Speaker 1: origin she couldn't explain, communicated the information to her within 342 00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:03,640 Speaker 1: human voices. Many continued to question her apparent psychic abilities, 343 00:25:04,000 --> 00:25:08,199 Speaker 1: with some even speculating that these invisible creatures were in 344 00:25:08,280 --> 00:25:13,240 Speaker 1: fact the Bulgarian state intelligence agency, who fared information to 345 00:25:13,320 --> 00:25:18,120 Speaker 1: Fanger in return for money. With this information, as is claimed, 346 00:25:18,400 --> 00:25:21,200 Speaker 1: she was able to fool people into thinking she knew 347 00:25:21,200 --> 00:25:24,919 Speaker 1: things about them that she couldn't possibly know. Once she 348 00:25:24,960 --> 00:25:28,040 Speaker 1: had them on side, she could then extract more information 349 00:25:28,080 --> 00:25:31,840 Speaker 1: about the individual to pass on to the intelligence agency. 350 00:25:33,119 --> 00:25:36,719 Speaker 1: More recently, Fanger has become known for a string of 351 00:25:36,760 --> 00:25:41,280 Speaker 1: extraordinary global predictions, such as apparently predicting the attack on 352 00:25:41,320 --> 00:25:44,800 Speaker 1: the Twin Towers in New York on September eleventh, two 353 00:25:44,800 --> 00:25:48,160 Speaker 1: thousand to one, and the destruction wrought by the two 354 00:25:48,200 --> 00:25:52,760 Speaker 1: thousand and four Indian Ocean earthquake and soon army. It 355 00:25:52,840 --> 00:25:56,639 Speaker 1: is also said that she predicted Barack Obama's presidency and 356 00:25:56,760 --> 00:25:59,879 Speaker 1: that Donald Trump's presidency would mark the beginning of the 357 00:26:00,160 --> 00:26:04,560 Speaker 1: end for America. Further to this, she is also said 358 00:26:04,600 --> 00:26:08,280 Speaker 1: to predicted that Europe would cease to exist after twenty 359 00:26:08,320 --> 00:26:12,760 Speaker 1: seventeen and President Putin of Russia would become lord of 360 00:26:12,800 --> 00:26:16,760 Speaker 1: the world. The fact that such claims tend to appear 361 00:26:16,840 --> 00:26:20,520 Speaker 1: first on Russian message boards suggest there is good reason 362 00:26:20,840 --> 00:26:32,399 Speaker 1: to question their validity. In August nineteen seventy six, Baba 363 00:26:32,440 --> 00:26:37,160 Speaker 1: Vanga was visited by Yugoslav superstar the singer and actor 364 00:26:37,160 --> 00:26:41,200 Speaker 1: Sylvana Armenelich, who was on tour in Bulgaria at the time. 365 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:46,159 Speaker 1: Fanga rarely asked for any money for her predictions, but 366 00:26:46,280 --> 00:26:51,120 Speaker 1: Sylvana insisted she wanted to give her something. No, replied 367 00:26:51,119 --> 00:26:54,080 Speaker 1: the blind woman, you don't have to pay anything. I 368 00:26:54,119 --> 00:26:57,240 Speaker 1: don't want to talk to you. Go now and come 369 00:26:57,280 --> 00:27:02,000 Speaker 1: back in three months. Wait, actually, you won't be able 370 00:27:02,040 --> 00:27:07,880 Speaker 1: to come. Two months later, the thirty seven year old 371 00:27:07,920 --> 00:27:13,840 Speaker 1: Sylvana performed in Belgrade with the Serbian National Orchestra. Afterwards, 372 00:27:13,880 --> 00:27:16,520 Speaker 1: she and her twenty five year old sister, who was 373 00:27:16,600 --> 00:27:19,840 Speaker 1: five months pregnant at the time, decided to get an 374 00:27:19,840 --> 00:27:23,080 Speaker 1: early night and planned to drive home in Sylvanah's car. 375 00:27:24,160 --> 00:27:27,800 Speaker 1: Mire drag Yassevitch, the head of the Serbian National Orchestra 376 00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:32,760 Speaker 1: was tired too, and offered to drive them. Roughly thirty 377 00:27:32,800 --> 00:27:36,960 Speaker 1: minutes later, with the Assovich at the wheel, Sylvana's forward 378 00:27:37,040 --> 00:27:41,480 Speaker 1: grenada feared across into the opposite lane and plowed headlong 379 00:27:41,880 --> 00:27:44,760 Speaker 1: at a hundred and thirty kilometers an hour into a 380 00:27:44,800 --> 00:27:49,000 Speaker 1: truck coming the other way. The entire front part of 381 00:27:49,040 --> 00:27:52,719 Speaker 1: the car disappeared under the front of the truck, killing 382 00:27:52,760 --> 00:27:59,200 Speaker 1: all three passengers on the spot. By nineteen ninety six, Babavanger, 383 00:27:59,640 --> 00:28:03,320 Speaker 1: now eighty four years old, was suffering from breast cancer, 384 00:28:04,320 --> 00:28:08,120 Speaker 1: tired and weary from life. In July, it is said 385 00:28:08,160 --> 00:28:11,000 Speaker 1: that she made the prediction that she would die on 386 00:28:11,119 --> 00:28:17,320 Speaker 1: August eleventh. The following month, almost completely incapacitated by the cancer, 387 00:28:17,760 --> 00:28:20,760 Speaker 1: she was moved to a hospital to receive palliative care. 388 00:28:22,040 --> 00:28:25,760 Speaker 1: On the morning of August eleventh, Vanger requested to be 389 00:28:25,840 --> 00:28:29,800 Speaker 1: bathed and dressed in a clean set of clothes. When 390 00:28:29,840 --> 00:28:32,880 Speaker 1: the process was finished, she lay back on her bed 391 00:28:33,320 --> 00:28:36,840 Speaker 1: and held her face to the ceiling. Now I'm fine, 392 00:28:37,280 --> 00:28:42,560 Speaker 1: she said. Then, at just after nine am, she claimed 393 00:28:42,560 --> 00:28:45,840 Speaker 1: to see people in the room with her, her family 394 00:28:45,920 --> 00:28:49,240 Speaker 1: and loved ones from the mother she'd lost at only 395 00:28:49,280 --> 00:28:52,360 Speaker 1: four years old, as well as her father and her 396 00:28:52,400 --> 00:28:57,240 Speaker 1: beloved Dimita. They've come for me, she said, as she 397 00:28:57,320 --> 00:29:00,560 Speaker 1: made movements with her hand as though she were stroking 398 00:29:00,600 --> 00:29:04,680 Speaker 1: the head of a young child. And then, at ten 399 00:29:04,720 --> 00:29:16,040 Speaker 1: am on the day she predicted, Baba Vanger died. If 400 00:29:16,080 --> 00:29:18,440 Speaker 1: you enjoy Unexplained and would like to help support us, 401 00:29:18,720 --> 00:29:21,960 Speaker 1: you can now do so via Patreon To receive access 402 00:29:22,000 --> 00:29:25,280 Speaker 1: to add three episodes. Just go to patron dot com, 403 00:29:25,360 --> 00:29:29,160 Speaker 1: forward slash Unexplained Pod to sign up. Unexplained, the book 404 00:29:29,200 --> 00:29:32,720 Speaker 1: and audiobook, featuring ten stories that have never before been 405 00:29:32,760 --> 00:29:36,160 Speaker 1: covered on the show, is now available to buy worldwide. 406 00:29:36,480 --> 00:29:39,880 Speaker 1: You can purchase through Amazon, Barnes and Noble, and Waterstones, 407 00:29:40,000 --> 00:29:44,600 Speaker 1: among other bookstores. All elements of Unexplained, including the show's music, 408 00:29:44,720 --> 00:29:48,240 Speaker 1: are produced by me Richard McClain smith. 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