Judita Jovanovic’s paternal grandparents Imre and Ilona Biro
These are my grandparents Imre and Ilona Biro. The picture was taken in their home in Subotica between 1916 and 1918.
My grandmother Ilona Biro (nee Mendelssohn) was born in Budapest in 1891. My father, Zoltan Biro, was born in Budapest on March 30, 1912, and died in Belgrade on April 2, 1998. His father worked for the Yugoslav railroad and was stationed in Vinkovci, Yugoslavia at the time of Zoltan’s birth. My grandmother did not want to give birth alone in this town where she didn’t know many people, so she returned to Budapest, where her family lived. She gave birth in her parents’ apartment in Budapest and remained there for a brief time before returning with her newborn son to Yugoslavia.