Book on the Righteous - Jevrejska opština Zemun

Righteous Among The Nations - Serbia
Stories About The Righteous
what everybody needed in times of war. No one was
spared from the harsh conditions that had transpired,
their neighbours and now god-parents included. The
Panić’s younger son, Vladimir, a student and prewar
leftist, was under constant surveillance of the Sombor
occupying forces. He was suffering from tuberculosis.
Nonetheless, he underwent repeated interrogations by
the police. His parents kept fighting for his life indefatigably.
After undergoing an extensive operation, the
Panićs reckoned that he would at least be left alone
to recuperate. They were wrong. A police agent regularly
came to check on the convalescent. The police
had decided to arrest Vladimir and bring him before a
court which meant only one thing: the death penalty.
His parents managed somehow to appease the Sombor
authorities to at least leave Vladimir at home until he
was better. Each day the diligent policeman visited, he
would demand the bandages to be removed so that he
could personally ascertain Vladimir’s healing progress.
He did not get his chance to arrest Vladimir. The illness
was by far more relentless than he was. Vladimir died
of natural causes.
The situation in Sombor and the entire territory of Vojvodina
drastically changed in 1944 when the Germans
entered Budapest. They occupied their former allies and
naturally all the territories held by Hungarians up till
then. It may sound incredible, but certain sources say
that the Germans invaded Hungary displeased with the
way they had handled the question of Jews. Although
Hitler was losing ground on numerous battlefields, his
ideological cohorts were still engaged in eradicating
Jews from the map of Europe. An unrelenting process
of persecution, imprisonment and deportation of Jews
to death camps was set in motion. The same process was
put into operation in Vojvodina.
Renica and her husband had agreed to ask the Panić’s
to take in the infant Branko. The imprisonment of Jews
in Sombor was approaching. Renica sensed that neither
she and Branko nor her husband could escape internment.
The fact that he was a Serb no longer warranted
his freedom; his wife was Jewish, the child was a Jewish
offspring. To take the boy in was a great responsibility
for Anka and Svetozar since Sombor was a small town
with a close knit population. Where could they hide
him Svetozar’s completely white hair was a constant
reminder of how his life had been ultimately spared by
a fellow townsman, now a Hungarian soldier and prison
guard, whom he had once defended in court free of
charge. The attorney had been imprisoned as a hostage
after an action carried out by members of the Resistance.
The morning after his interment, the Sombor inmates
were to be placed before a firing squad. The Hungarian
guard, who was on duty the night before the execution,
released him from prison. In that one night Svetozar’s
hair had turned completely white. Anka and Svetozar
now lived alone in Sombor since their older son lived in
Belgrade with his family. Despite the danger they were
exposing themselves to, they decided to take Branko in.
One night Branko was moved to their house.
Soon enough, Renica and Ilija were deported to a camp.
Fortunately, the war was, in fact, nearing its end. Anka
and Svetozar lovingly hid Branko as if he were their
very own grandchild. Only Branko could call them
grandfather Sveta and mother Anka. From their own
children they expected to be addressed by name only.
The war ended. When Renica and Ilija came back from
captivity, there was no end to their joy. Beside his parents,
Branko now had another grandfather and mother.
Angelina and Dr. Svetozar Panić
both awarded a Righteous among Nations
in 1993
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