00:01I want to tell you about Petar Blagojevic, a Serbian peasant who died in 1725 in the village
00:07of Kisilova, now thought to be Kisilovo.
00:18His death, sudden and mysterious, sparked a wave of fear and superstition across the
00:23community ultimately birthing one of the earliest recorded vampire hysteria cases in Europe
00:30shortly after Petar passed away.
00:32Nine villagers died within just eight days.
00:36Each succumbed swiftly within about 24 hours, and allegedly claimed on their deathbeds that
00:42Petar was strangling them.
00:45Adding fuel to the fire, Petar's widow reported seeing his ghost at night, asking for his shoes,
00:52and in some versions he allegedly returned to demand food from their son Wooden.
00:57Refusing him, was killed and reportedly drained of blood.
01:02Panic gripped the villagers, and they called in Kameralprovisor Ernst Frambold, an Austrian
01:09official together with the local priest.
01:12Initially reluctant, Frambold insisted on awaiting permission from the authorities in Belgrade,
01:18but the villagers feared that if they waited, the vampire would decimate them all, as it
01:24reportedly had in Turkish times.
01:27Under pressure, Frambold agreed to exhume the body immediately.
01:32When they opened the grave, they claimed to find something shocking.
01:37The body appeared fresh and undecomposed.
01:39Hair, beard and nails had grown.
01:43New skin had formed where the old had peeled away.
01:47And there was fresh-looking blood in the mouth classic vampiric signs to them.
01:52Overwhelmed by fear, the villagers drove a stake through his heart.
01:57After doing so, they said, fresh blood gushed from his mouth and ears.
02:02Finally, they burned the body to ensure it would never rise again.
02:08In his report, Frambold urged that if his actions were deemed improper, he shouldn't be held responsible.
02:15They were, after all, driven by terror.
02:19The authorities seemed unconcerned and took no further action.
02:24This case was documented in the Wienerischer's diarium, later Dai Wienerzeitang, and quickly
02:30spread across Europe, helping to ignite widespread vampire obsession in places like Germany, France,
02:38and England.
02:40Scholars believe it was instrumental in shaping the modern vampire myth.
02:45Today, explanations range from misinterpreted decomposition processes, like hair and nails
02:52seeming to grow as skin retracts to the likelihood that Frambold may have exaggerated details to
02:58protect himself from blame.
03:00Whether superstition, science, or mass hysteria, Petter's story speaks volumes about fear, folklore,
03:09and how the unknown can turn ordinary events into legends.
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