PEOPLE With Big Heart : (friendship without borders - Dr. Miodrag ...

le, openhearted women dressed in simple folkloric dresses
covered with starched and well ironed aprons. Their
heads were covered with scarves, colors corresponding to
their age. The older women wore dark, unadorned ones,
middle aged checkered, light ones, or decorated with
small flowers or spots, while the younger women wore
their hair tightly brushed in a bun.
In front of the mill, the atmosphere was almost festive.
Local children, both light and dark, were running around
making clouds of dust. The adults looked in wonder through
the fence. This mass of strange people of all ages,
from elderly to infants in the arms of their mothers, was
enveloped by an eerie tranquility as they calmly and orderly,
without any racket and clamor, entered the property.
As they penetrated the spacious front yard, they slumped
on their suitcases and bundles, waiting to be assigned.
Their conduct was most unusual for the spectators who
were watching them through the lace-wired fence. They
carried themselves with, for the situation, atypical poise
and dignity. It radiated from their every move. The locals
were moved; everyone felt compelled to help. As one group
continued passing the mill, I remember someone from
the crowd inquiring loudly: “Where are you going?” A
dark, man with a moustache frowned, and with obvious irritation
in his voice answered that this group was being
sent to the Lower Street where merchant Drago Toshkovich
and the Prague Bank had their wherehouses with
plenty of storage space. The Prague Bank had its branch in
Sabac, and had sold its warehouses to Mr. Richard Frelih,
a wheat merchant, one of the bank patrons, who at the time
lived in Belgrade. This space was at the end of Pop Lukina
Street, and, like all the other ones, had already been
prepared for the newcomers.
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