Vera Erak's parents, Ilija and Edith Erak, in front of their store in Dubrovnik

The picture was taken in Dubrovnik in 1931. My mother Edith and my father Ilija are pictured in front of their store. We moved to Dubrovnik from Zemun in 1928 on the advise of a doctor, because of my father Ilija's bad health. After arriving my parents bought an apartment and two stores, one on the island Lopud and the other in Dubrovnik. In the shops they sold souvenirs and all other things that were of interest to tourists. The license for both of the stores was issued in my mother's name. In the shops they also sold local crafts such as handmade fabric rugs and Konavljanski embroidery. Also, there were Turkish coffeepots, bathing suits, photo equipment, etc. During the summer, the store on Lopud worked at full capacity. My mother Edith ran it. During the winter the store was closed, because there were few tourists. The Dubrovnik shop was run in the summer by my father Ilija and in the winter by my mother. Using the treatment his doctor prescribed for his kidney stones, my father had a full recovery. Every morning he had to drink two small glasses of sea water and one small glass of olive oil. He never had any other problem with his kidneys. In 1938 in Dubrovnik, intolerance of Serbs and Jews began. One morning they broke all the windows on my father's shop. It was obvious that there was no longer a chance for normal life in Dubrovnik and we moved to Novi Sad in 1939.