Selected text
I started school in the first grade of the Jewish school. I have no idea how many Jews there were in Pecs. It was a mining town with coal miners and a mining movement, one of the mining leaders was a Jew. In 1919 the Independent Republic of Pecs [Hungary] was declared. I remember this because there was no money and marks were used. It was a small town. After 40 years I returned to Pecs [Hungary] to hold a concert with my colleagues and it seemed so small to me. Nonetheless, it was a city that was under the Turks, there is a hamam, a Turkish bathroom, almost on the main square. We never went there. I do not know if there was a mikvah and if there was one if anyone from my family used it. The Jewish community there is very old. My good friend Jozsef Scheiber, who was the chief rabbi of Budapest, was from Pecs. He spoke Hebrew and he finished the Rabbinical Seminar. Pecs [Hungary] is the county capital of Baranya where there were many Jews and many Serbs. In general, there were many Jews in Hungary and every place had Jewish merchants.
In 1919, I returned with my parents and uncle to Zagreb. In Zagreb I went to a Jewish elementary school. I finished the first grade of elementary school in Hungarian. In Zagreb I continued my studies in German and Croatian, which my teacher taught me. I went to the Jewish school in the Jewish community at 16 Palmoticev Street in Zagreb. The director was Dr. Hozeja Jakobi, chief rabbi. It was a school like every other school but we learned Hebrew and the blessings, which I still know today. After finishing elementary school I went to secondary school, the Real Gymnasium, in Zagreb. I remember that there was a Real Gymnasium from the eighth grade.
We Jews socialized more than others. In our class in the Real Gymnasium there were five Jews. I think that I am the only one still living from this group. There was Ivo Kraus, who became the deputy attorney general in Zagreb. His son is the current president of the Zagreb Jewish community. Ivica Hirsl was the communist son of a lawyer; he became a judge on the Supreme Court in Zagreb. Kalos, is from Hungary, his father was the director of a steam mill in Zagreb. They returned to Hungary and died there in an accident. Srecko Stajner, he changed his name to Stanic, was a high functionary in the Statistical Institute. The five of us and all the other Jews in the other gymnasiums attended joint lectures given by Gavro Svarc.
I started to study piano, with my cousin Elza Podvinec, when I was just five years old. I loved to play so there was no need for anyone to force me. In Zagreb I went first to the preparatory, then the lower school and in the end the secondary school of the Zagreb Croatian Music Institute with Prof. Sidonija Gajger. I passed the graduation exams and the test for music teachers. At the age of 13, I was a child prodigy when I performed Liszt’s opera, Faust. When we returned to Zagreb, the apartment we had lived in before had been liquidated and we did not have an apartment so we moved into the shop on Jelacicev Square—an apartment without a bathroom. We lived there from 1919-1925. We had a piano, which my cousin Piroska and I shared.
During my secondary school years I joined the Ahdut Hasofim movement, like most other Jewish children. This was a youth society very leftist oriented, led by Salom Frajberger, who studied in Berlin at a college for Jewish sciences, and Cvilo Rotviler. They had a great influence and many people became involved in Zionism and left-wing Zionism. I was also in the society for secondary school students, the literary society, which included the debate club, we held lectures, papers, discussions about literature, Jewish and historical themes, our ideas flowed from here. Before me the president of the club was Pauli Svarc, son of the chief rabbi. I made quite a revolution [because] this was a society of men, like the Jewish religion, a religion of males. I say this because women do not have to perform any religious functions, they only have to know what kashrut is. I also brought girls into the movement, like Rut Lederer. Later I was in the youth movement which transformed into Hashomer Hatzair. All of its members were prepared for Halutziut, i.e. to move to Israel. This was a well-formed organization whose members were prepared for Hachshara, preparation for crafts and agriculture. In addition to Hashomer Hatzair, there was also Tehelet Lavan and Hedut, which were divided according to their political orientations. The Zionist movement covered a wide spectrum: on the left there were the Workers of Zion, in the center the General Zionists and on the right the Revisionists. All the youth were organized in the Federation of Jewish Youth Societies and this Federation organized meetings. There were lectures, discussions but the main activities were songs and dances in Yiddish and Hebrew where the youth came together. On our own we organized camping trips, machane. We organized everything by ourselves, in the evenings we lit a camp fire around which we held discussions, and sang and danced. There were theological courses, Hebrew courses. Later (after World War II), during my engagement in the Jewish community, I participated in summer camps, at that time they were organized by the Federation: creating programs, finding the place for the camp, I acted as business manager who took care of the food.
The time came for me to decide what I would do next. I wanted to become an engineer. Therefore, in the third grade of secondary school I decided to take geometric drawing instead of Latin. When it came time for higher studies, I wanted to study in the Leipzig Conservatory but this was a big financial strain and my parents wanted me to study something more practical. I was under the influence of ideology so I wanted to enroll in law studies but I did not know Latin. I failed the entrance exam. However, I found out that in Belgrade one could pass the entrance exam without Latin. In 1931, I spent two semesters in Leipzig and then came to Belgrade. In Belgrade I had friends, the Davico brothers. One was an aircraft engineer, the other Avram, a lawyer who died in Palestine and Lujo Davico a ballet dancer. He introduced me to the entire Jewish community. In September I passed the law school entrance exam.
There was a crisis and my parents were no longer able to finance my studies in Leipzig. I had to help my father and uncle in the tailor shop. I finished the law school in 1936. I began working in a big Czech firm as translator, but we understood that I needed to go further. I translated from German and French. German I learned from my governess and later in school. French I learned privately and English I taught myself. For my doctoral exam I passed three rigorous exams, which were called rigoroz. Two I passed easily and the third I failed. Only later did I pass and receive my doctor of law title. I became a law clerk with Dr. Mark Horn, who was our cousin and the president of the Jewish community. I distanced myself a bit from the youth movement because I did not want to go to kibbutz with the others. I became employed by Feliks Sternberg. In the political sense, I collaborated with unions and with the Zionist movement. There were Zionists and assimilationists and I was among the Zionists. I prepared for the bar exam because I had to have five years work experience, including one year in court. I passed it in March 1941.
In 1919, I returned with my parents and uncle to Zagreb. In Zagreb I went to a Jewish elementary school. I finished the first grade of elementary school in Hungarian. In Zagreb I continued my studies in German and Croatian, which my teacher taught me. I went to the Jewish school in the Jewish community at 16 Palmoticev Street in Zagreb. The director was Dr. Hozeja Jakobi, chief rabbi. It was a school like every other school but we learned Hebrew and the blessings, which I still know today. After finishing elementary school I went to secondary school, the Real Gymnasium, in Zagreb. I remember that there was a Real Gymnasium from the eighth grade.
We Jews socialized more than others. In our class in the Real Gymnasium there were five Jews. I think that I am the only one still living from this group. There was Ivo Kraus, who became the deputy attorney general in Zagreb. His son is the current president of the Zagreb Jewish community. Ivica Hirsl was the communist son of a lawyer; he became a judge on the Supreme Court in Zagreb. Kalos, is from Hungary, his father was the director of a steam mill in Zagreb. They returned to Hungary and died there in an accident. Srecko Stajner, he changed his name to Stanic, was a high functionary in the Statistical Institute. The five of us and all the other Jews in the other gymnasiums attended joint lectures given by Gavro Svarc.
I started to study piano, with my cousin Elza Podvinec, when I was just five years old. I loved to play so there was no need for anyone to force me. In Zagreb I went first to the preparatory, then the lower school and in the end the secondary school of the Zagreb Croatian Music Institute with Prof. Sidonija Gajger. I passed the graduation exams and the test for music teachers. At the age of 13, I was a child prodigy when I performed Liszt’s opera, Faust. When we returned to Zagreb, the apartment we had lived in before had been liquidated and we did not have an apartment so we moved into the shop on Jelacicev Square—an apartment without a bathroom. We lived there from 1919-1925. We had a piano, which my cousin Piroska and I shared.
During my secondary school years I joined the Ahdut Hasofim movement, like most other Jewish children. This was a youth society very leftist oriented, led by Salom Frajberger, who studied in Berlin at a college for Jewish sciences, and Cvilo Rotviler. They had a great influence and many people became involved in Zionism and left-wing Zionism. I was also in the society for secondary school students, the literary society, which included the debate club, we held lectures, papers, discussions about literature, Jewish and historical themes, our ideas flowed from here. Before me the president of the club was Pauli Svarc, son of the chief rabbi. I made quite a revolution [because] this was a society of men, like the Jewish religion, a religion of males. I say this because women do not have to perform any religious functions, they only have to know what kashrut is. I also brought girls into the movement, like Rut Lederer. Later I was in the youth movement which transformed into Hashomer Hatzair. All of its members were prepared for Halutziut, i.e. to move to Israel. This was a well-formed organization whose members were prepared for Hachshara, preparation for crafts and agriculture. In addition to Hashomer Hatzair, there was also Tehelet Lavan and Hedut, which were divided according to their political orientations. The Zionist movement covered a wide spectrum: on the left there were the Workers of Zion, in the center the General Zionists and on the right the Revisionists. All the youth were organized in the Federation of Jewish Youth Societies and this Federation organized meetings. There were lectures, discussions but the main activities were songs and dances in Yiddish and Hebrew where the youth came together. On our own we organized camping trips, machane. We organized everything by ourselves, in the evenings we lit a camp fire around which we held discussions, and sang and danced. There were theological courses, Hebrew courses. Later (after World War II), during my engagement in the Jewish community, I participated in summer camps, at that time they were organized by the Federation: creating programs, finding the place for the camp, I acted as business manager who took care of the food.
The time came for me to decide what I would do next. I wanted to become an engineer. Therefore, in the third grade of secondary school I decided to take geometric drawing instead of Latin. When it came time for higher studies, I wanted to study in the Leipzig Conservatory but this was a big financial strain and my parents wanted me to study something more practical. I was under the influence of ideology so I wanted to enroll in law studies but I did not know Latin. I failed the entrance exam. However, I found out that in Belgrade one could pass the entrance exam without Latin. In 1931, I spent two semesters in Leipzig and then came to Belgrade. In Belgrade I had friends, the Davico brothers. One was an aircraft engineer, the other Avram, a lawyer who died in Palestine and Lujo Davico a ballet dancer. He introduced me to the entire Jewish community. In September I passed the law school entrance exam.
There was a crisis and my parents were no longer able to finance my studies in Leipzig. I had to help my father and uncle in the tailor shop. I finished the law school in 1936. I began working in a big Czech firm as translator, but we understood that I needed to go further. I translated from German and French. German I learned from my governess and later in school. French I learned privately and English I taught myself. For my doctoral exam I passed three rigorous exams, which were called rigoroz. Two I passed easily and the third I failed. Only later did I pass and receive my doctor of law title. I became a law clerk with Dr. Mark Horn, who was our cousin and the president of the Jewish community. I distanced myself a bit from the youth movement because I did not want to go to kibbutz with the others. I became employed by Feliks Sternberg. In the political sense, I collaborated with unions and with the Zionist movement. There were Zionists and assimilationists and I was among the Zionists. I prepared for the bar exam because I had to have five years work experience, including one year in court. I passed it in March 1941.
Location
Serbia
Interview
Andreja Preger
Tag(s)