A Rotterdam icon has died in a "subway accident".
A Rotterdam icon is no more: Zekic 'Jacques' Slobodan died recently after a subway accident. He was a striking figure in the Rotterdam street scene, with his white-dyed coat and black-dyed hair. 'The Rotterdam Rod Stewart,' he was also called. He was God, he told himself, and strolled the city as a minister. "I collect evidence that we live in hell here on earth," he said.
Jacques leaves behind a widow, Dragica, who still lives in their home on Volmarijn Street, said retired pastor Herman IJzerman, affiliated with the neighborhood pastorate that housed next door to the couple on the street. "I heard from Riet Hoste, somewhat the mother of the street, that he had passed away. Fell in front of the subway at Dijkzigt, pushed or jumped. We'll leave that in the middle."
Reverend IJzerman did not have personal contact with Slobodan. "Some residents did, especially about his and the neighbor's cats, which he loved. Together with Riet, I visited his widow. The upstairs house was rather chaotic, full of books and pamphlets. Dragica was upset and affected."
Translated with
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Side streets of the city
In the house, he found many writings by Slobodan.
"He was always walking through the city, basically as a messenger. He had notes on the cosmos, evolution and creation. Also cited Dante. Actually, he had a theoretical universe in writing."
The pastor also discovered a clear mission for after his death. "He felt it was important that his message continue to be spread after he was gone. Actually, according to him, we are all ambassadors of heaven and hell. Heaven is the good in society and should be cherished. The bad is hell, which we should punish. He felt we have a responsibility to society."
He was a peer in a way, IJzerman says.
"He walked around town like an old-fashioned pastor. And he wasn't just anybody either. Slobodan was a striking figure of the city, thinking hard about life. And he did so from the city's side streets, not the avenues and canals that define the city's dominant narrative."
'I gather evidence that we live in hell here on earth'
De Rotterdammert, a website that paid tributes to striking figures from the city, interviewed Slobodan in 2014:
"Are you ready for the big shock?" Jacques moves his chin to his chest and stares at me just over the top of his sunglasses. Before continuing his story, he takes a good look around. We are in the Central Library on the fourth floor next to the copier.
He puts a small bill in front of me. "Just read carefully what it says," he says. 'Embassy of Heaven in Hell,' the bill reads. "Yaaa, you read it right!" Jacques laughs loudly. There are no teeth in his mouth.
"Do you really understand what it says?" he asks. "If you believe in God, you must also believe there is a hell. I collect evidence that we live in hell here on earth. It's the first time euthanasia has been legalized. That proves we live in hell, doesn't it?" He shakes his head. It remains silent for a moment as he looks at a newspaper clipping about euthanasia.
At home everywhere and nowhere
Jacques was born Zekic Slobodan (call sign Jacques) in Yugoslavia on August 26 (year unknown) and after many wanderings ended up in Paris. There he lived for six years, then thirty years ago went to work in Rotterdam as a heating repairman. Together with his wife, he lingered in this city.
After so many years, he feels at home nowhere and everywhere, he says. Jacques often has to search for the right words. "I taught myself Dutch," he says. "I can read very well in Dutch, but because I don't talk to people much, I don't speak the language very well." Jacques says he is a true autodidact and is not modest about it. "I can write very well and also make beautiful paintings, which I taught myself by reading a lot about it here in the library."
Most Rotterdammers can effortlessly make out Jacques. Long, white-painted leather jacket with metal plates and studs attached. Black-painted hair and always sunglasses on his nose, even when the sun is not shining. Leather gloves, where metal triangles are attached to the fingertips, making them look like nails.
Man with a mission
His clothing is a bit disheveled and held together with red, thick yarn. The plastic bag that invariably accompanies his standard gear is reinforced with tape. In that pouch, I gradually come to realize, is his work. That work means everything to him.
"I wear these clothes to keep people at bay and also somewhat out of self-protection. I look very dangerous, don't I, with all that metal on my clothes? People don't dare, because I look like this, to talk to me so quickly." Jacques is very busy with work and therefore has no time for friends, or to just chat with anyone. He has an important job to do and that comes first in his life.
Jacques fumbles a bit in his purse and takes out a piece of paper. He gets up and walks over to the copier and makes a printout of it. "Here you go," he says as he hands over the copy. It's a letter from Riagg Rijnmond.
God Proof
Dear one,
Today I was visited, signed, by Mr. Z. Slobodan. At Mr. Slobodan's request, I am writing the following:
Mr. Slobodan is God, he believes.
I cannot prove the contrary, nor that he is God.
Mr. Slobodan did manage to convince me through self-study that the end of the world may be near.
His conclusions are not improbable and impossible.
Sincerely,
Mr. Rik A.
Social psychiatric nurse
Jacques looks enough. For him, this is irrefutable proof that he is God.
It all started when he was thirty. Jacques began to feel more and more strongly that he was God, but initially thought he had gone mad. The powerful feeling continued to intensify over time. Jacques could no longer escape it: he was God. "To have proof that I was not crazy, I went to the Riagg to discuss my feelings with someone there. There they could not prove that I am not God. I asked if they would put that on paper as proof."
Not that Jacques now tells everyone that he is God, because he is far too busy for that.
"I'm working every day here at the library. I collect all kinds of articles and books, because it is very important to collect information about the world. There are a lot of problems, like the acidification of the oceans. And only smart people can do something about that."
The pope doesn't understand the Bible
That is why Jacques dives into the library every day to gather enough information to solve world problems. Of the articles, texts from books, but also comics that he finds important, he makes copies which are then neatly stored in his bag. At home he studies them again carefully.
But it doesn't just stop at reading other people's articles and books. He is also writing a book himself. "This will help people understand the Bible better. Hardly anyone really understands what it says. Not even the pope."
Jacques realizes that it is difficult to prove to people that he is God. "No one has ever really seen God, nor do miracles take place. People have to think for themselves first and solve problems themselves."
A huge flood
Therefore, he has not yet intervened in disasters plaguing the earth.
But Jacques believes that soon, when exactly he does not know, there will be a huge flood that will claim many lives. When that day arrives, Jacques is prepared and all the information he has gathered allows him to intervene and save humanity.
Jacques wobbles impatiently on his chair, reaches for his bag, takes out a Fisherman's Friend and puts it in his mouth. He gets up and walks for the last time to the copier where he pulls his library card from the slot. "I have to leave now. I have a lot of work to do. Saturday is always a busy day."
He walks toward the escalator, waves for a moment and goes back to the second floor. There, many newspapers and magazines are still waiting for him from which he must extract information. Because Jacques insists, "If you don't read anything, you don't know anything."
'He was a sign of connection between heaven and earth'
Since there was actually no money for a funeral, a modest funeral was arranged in cooperation with Dela. Reverend IJzerman led the service where he spoke the following words:
"Each of us has a different feeling and image of Slobodan. My image was of him coming out of his house in a white coat with things attached and going out into town like that."
"That's how he must have been seen by many in the city. As someone who stood out and meant something by his appearance."
"This past week a little more of that was revealed to me by Dragica.
She showed a card that read, "The Embassy of Heaven and Hell. Slobodan saw himself as the ambassador of heaven and hell."
Messages from the Cosmos
"Heaven represents good, how society should be. Hell stands for evil. That which is bad in society and what society should be punished for.
In the language of the Bible, you could say he was a sign. A sign is a connection between heaven and earth. To challenge heaven from earth to bring about a change in society.
Slobodan received messages from the cosmos and that made him so, in his white coat and wearing his glasses, he went into the city. As an ambassador of heaven and hell.
He hoped that we, who live on, will understand that and that we will carry on his mission and his message: a society where it is good life for everyone."