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My father knew that we were alive because we had written to him during
the war, using special envelopes the Germans issued for sending letters to
prisoners of war. In time, we found each other and we were truly one of the few Jewish families who had survived the war intact. Most others didn’t survive at all.
We thought about emigrating to Israel, but because my father was a doctor, they refused to give him an exit visa. We also had to return to Pristina for a while.
After the war, I started using the last name Baruh. It just seemed more natural. All of my friends knew me as Baruh and my university diploma has that name on it. But when I joined the army and started working they forced me to make a decision concerning my name. The administrative process for changing names is complicated so I decided to stick with Baruhovic.
My father continued fasting on Yom Kippur even after the war, and we always were members of every Jewish community we lived in—meaning, Pristina and Belgrade.
I got my degree in engineering, and when my sister finished her degree in physical chemistry in 1963, she went to Israel on a month-long holiday. During her trip she met Shimon Malina, a Jew from Argentina. They married in Kiryat Moskin in 1963 and today she has three sons and four grandchildren and is still as active as ever.
I am still working as an engineer but I intend to retire in the near future. I live in Belgrade with my wife, Jelena. In my spare time I enjoy painting and am currently working on pictures with Biblical themes. A rather big surprise for me was that I was asked to become vice president of the Belgrade Jewish community, and of course I said yet.
We thought about emigrating to Israel, but because my father was a doctor, they refused to give him an exit visa. We also had to return to Pristina for a while.
After the war, I started using the last name Baruh. It just seemed more natural. All of my friends knew me as Baruh and my university diploma has that name on it. But when I joined the army and started working they forced me to make a decision concerning my name. The administrative process for changing names is complicated so I decided to stick with Baruhovic.
My father continued fasting on Yom Kippur even after the war, and we always were members of every Jewish community we lived in—meaning, Pristina and Belgrade.
I got my degree in engineering, and when my sister finished her degree in physical chemistry in 1963, she went to Israel on a month-long holiday. During her trip she met Shimon Malina, a Jew from Argentina. They married in Kiryat Moskin in 1963 and today she has three sons and four grandchildren and is still as active as ever.
I am still working as an engineer but I intend to retire in the near future. I live in Belgrade with my wife, Jelena. In my spare time I enjoy painting and am currently working on pictures with Biblical themes. A rather big surprise for me was that I was asked to become vice president of the Belgrade Jewish community, and of course I said yet.
Location
Serbia
Interview
Josef Baruhovic