Book on the Righteous - Jevrejska opština Zemun

Righteous Among The Nations - Serbia
Stories About The Righteous
IN WAR EXPECT DANGER
FROM ALL CORNERS
The majority of Belgrade’s Sephardim Jews lived in
Dorćol prior to World War Two. The family of BenAvram
Saul - his wife, Ester, nicknamed Netika, and their
three children: the eldest, Chaim, born in 1922, Rosa,
known to all as Ruža and12 at the time, and Josef, two
years her junior - lived at 13, Jevrejska Street. Their
grandmother, Barbara, lived with them as well. A large
number of Netika’s relatives also lived in the same building.
Her sister, Matilda, was married to Josef Josifović.
The pair had no children of their own and Ruža was
their favourite. Two of Netika’s brothers, Josef Judić,
with his wife and three children, and Uroš Judić, with
his wife and son, also had flats in the building.
Ruža and Josef went to the elementary school close to
the house they lived in. After the signing of the Tripartite
Pact and the subsequent rejection of the alliance
with the Axis forces in the demonstrations of March
27 th , 1941, it became absolutely clear that Hitler and
his collaborators were going to attack the Kingdom of
Yugoslavia. The teacher instructed the pupils that the
only bomb shelter in the neighbourhood was the one
inside the school, and that they should run to the school
yard on hearing the air-raid sirens. Ten days later the
bombing of Belgrade began. Both children and their
parents sought shelter in the school; Serbs, indigenous
Germans, Jews, Hungarians, all packed together in the
small space.
Netika had yet another brother, who lived in Kragujevac
with his family, as well as another sister, Lenka, married
to Avram Levi. Lenka and Avram lived in Belgrade in
the Stari Djeram area. Since Kragujevac was too far and
Stari Djeram was at the time on the Belgrade periphery,
the large family decided to seek shelter with Lenka and
Avram. To reach their sister, they had to walk the length
of Dušanova Street, then along Džordža Vašingtona
Street, up Kraljice Marije Street, to Vukov spomenik
Square, and from there, straight down Kralja Aleksandra
Street until they reached Stari Djeram. All these
streets named after monarchs and notables, kings and
queens, were now reduced to rubble. To the odd-looking
line of Jews it seemed as if the ruins, the dead and the
wounded were propelling them to hurry on. Although
it was crowded at Lenka’s, they all stayed on since that
part of the city had been spared from bombs. Once the
bombs stopped falling on Belgrade, they all returned to
Dorćol.
Before long, Yugoslavia surrendered and the German
military administration instated in Belgrade at once
began introducing and applying Fascist laws stemming
from their ideology. The first to feel the brunt of their
rule were Jews and Communists; the Communists for
their organized resistance against the occupying forces,
and the Jews for the simple reason that they were Jews.
Jews were made to wear yellow bands on their sleeves
and from the first were sent to compulsory forced labour
duties. Incessantly exposed to degradation, both verbal
and physical, they were ordered to clear debris, pull
the dead out from the crumbling ruins, and perform the
most humiliating jobs. Among them were Saul BenAvram
and his son, Chaim. When the first camp was established
on Banjica, Jewish forced labourers stopped
returning to their homes.
One day Chaim came home unexpectedly. He wanted
to see his family once more. As he was taking leave
of his mother, he told her that he would try to escape
from camp and head for territories under Italian rule,
from where he hoped to find his way to the Palestine.
Chaim’s girlfriend lived on Zvezdara. He wanted to
see his intended before he left. Before he could bring
himself to say goodbye to her, he told her of his plans.
The girl’s father strongly disapproved of the notion of
returning to camp. He told Chaim to flee instantly be-
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