A turning point for Zvezda, and perhaps for football in Novi Bečej in general, came in 1939. Players who had once been children had now matured into young, competent footballers, whose skills far surpassed those of Jedinstvo players. Most of these footballers had come up through the youth clubs Zvezda and Banat, where they systematically honed their football abilities without guidance from older players.
According to Radnički list, Ljubomir Čolić, president of the Local Party Organization in Kumane, was elected as a delegate to the Second Congress of the Party, held from June 20 to 25, 1920, in Vukovar. In June, a local party conference was held at which seven delegates were elected for the Second Party and Trade Union Congress.
The Tisa River Dam near Novi Bečej is the largest facility of the Danube–Tisa–Danube Hydrosystem. Its primary function is to release water by gravity into the main canal network of Banat, enabling the irrigation of vast agricultural areas and supplying water to other users. In this way, the released water can be used for multiple purposes simultaneously.
Immediately after the release of my book The Charms of Days Gone By, Ljubica Nićin (this is her maiden name) and a few others noticed that I had forgotten to describe the blooming of the Tisza. This account serves as proof that I truly did forget. The Tisza mayfly, without a doubt, belonged to the exceptional charms of the past. Especially since it, too, has vanished, just like many other former joys of life.
Hajnalka Zerebelji is the first female lawyer in Novi Bečej. After several decades of professional work, she has gained extensive experience, which she gladly shares with younger colleagues.
The defeat against Banat, which had experienced adult players, did not discourage the boys of Zvezda. On the contrary, they devoted themselves even more to training and played two away matches – the first in Bašaid and the second in Baodra. In these games, Zvezda also included a few former Jedinstvo players, which added physical strength to the team, but it came at the cost of the technical combination play that had been their trademark. Had they continued this way, Zvezda probably would not have fared better than Banat.
Among the many tragic memories from the time of the Jewish deportations in Novi Bečej, one account stands out. Senji Maćaš recalled how Gabriela, the wife of merchant Adolf Berger, carrying her infant son Ladislav—born on January 19, 1941—managed to bribe a guard and escape through a prepared route into Bačka.
A large number of polluters have been registered across Vojvodina. Industrial pollution is the most dominant, followed by pollution from agriculture and livestock production, as well as pollution originating from settlements. Additional pressure comes from many smaller sources — villages without sewage systems, agricultural land, and small livestock farms.
Afforestation of disposal sites and land along the canals, as well as forest management, represents an integral part of the project for constructing the primary canal network. These activities have two main objectives:
May 14–15, 1993
After months of preparation and searching for the right concept and content, the first Days of Josif Marinković – “Horizons on the Tisa” were held on May 14 and 15, 1993, at the Workers’ Hall “Jovan Veselinov Žarko” in Novi Bečej.
In his manuscript “The Great Swimming Day,” Branislav Kiselički writes about the start of the competition on August 29, 1943:
Vilmoš Kujan, born in Novi Bečej, moved to Novi Sad as a boy to learn a trade, where he stayed until 1942. During his time in Novi Sad, he played football, which made him one of the top players in Novi Bečej upon his return. In DMKS Turul, during the early war years, he quickly established himself as one of the team’s most important first-team players, alongside István Berta.
Flood protection, or the management of external waters, is achieved by improving the defense conditions on the watercourses that cross the state border, specifically those coming from Romania. These watercourses include the Zlatica, Begej, Tamiš, and others, which have embankments built along them and, before the construction of the Main Canals, faced serious problems with flood defense.
The word salaš is of Hungarian origin (szállás) and has been in use since the 13th century. Even today, numerous settlements in Hungary bear the suffix -szállás in their names, such as Kisújszállás, Jakabszállás, Kunszállás, Fülöpszállás, Szabadszállás, and others.
"The Formation, Development, and Destruction of the Jewish Community in Novi Bečej" is the title of an extensive work created through the years of effort by Branislav-Bata Kiselički. As he explains in the introductory notes, the author approached this monumental task due to his sense of duty and obligation to his Jewish friends from his youth, and later to their fellow countrymen who lived in Novi Bečej in the near and distant past.
As the years went by, I wanted to pass on my love for nature to my older friends and join together for excursions around the surroundings of Novi Bečej and Vranjevo. However, it wasn’t easy, as, as I mentioned earlier, there were no established traditions.
Altered economic conditions and the development of productive forces in agriculture are the main reasons for the disappearance of farmhouses. With the reduction of land ownership limits after World War II, first to 20, and then to 10 hectares, farmhouses lose their previous significance in production.
The total length of navigable canals currently amounts to:
In early 1992, following the adoption of the Serbian Water Law, three public water management companies were established across the territory of Republic of Serbia, covering the entire country. These companies are:
Ivan Jovanović, an only child of Dragomir Jovanović, a merchant, and Zlata Jovanović, née Aranka Stanišić, a teacher, was born in Novi Bečej on February 13, 1928. The Jovanović family house was located in the heart of the town on Žarka Zrenjanina Street, number 1. While his father Dragomir was busy with the family business, Ivan mostly grew up alongside his mother and his aunt Leposava Jovanović, a teacher, who were known not only for their strictness but also for their versatility and fair pedagogical approach toward children.
Bela Mičik was born in Novi Bečej in 1970 and is today recognized as one of the finest citera (zither) players in Vojvodina. A versatile musician, he plays as many as fourteen instruments, with a special affection for traditional Hungarian ones — the citera and the tekerő (hurdy-gurdy).
The new government of the Kingdom of SHS brought significant social changes, but the foundation of economic development remained the same. Jews, whose lives were mostly tied to the economy, adapted quickly to the new order. Although the vast majority considered Hungarian their mother tongue and almost felt like Hungarians, they did not find it necessary to change their environment.
At the same time, from the synagogue in Novi Bečej, young Jewish anti-fascists were deported to a special prison near the District Court in Veliki Bečkerek. Among them were Đerđ “Đurika” Šlezinger, Herman Bergl, Ištvan “Pišta” Šlezinger, and Margita “Dunda” Huven. They never returned—on July 31, 1941, they were executed as part of the first large group of 90 hostages from across Banat.
Perhaps the reason must be invented
Perhaps the relation between the idea and its conventional realization in traditional painting techniques, as well as the relation between such an image and its photocopy (which contains additions from photographs and objects), can be measured—perhaps even considered identical.
In the years leading up to World War II, the Jewish community of Novi Bečej lived much like the rest of the town’s population. They did not perceive the rise of fascist movements across Europe as an immediate threat to their survival, believing that, if war broke out, they would manage like everyone else. This belief was perhaps reinforced by the fact that there were very few ethnic Germans in Novi Bečej, and anti-Semitism was not openly felt.
In the photographs that tell a story of the past, we see Boško Maksić, known as "Šeboj," once a symbol of hard work and prosperity. Born in Kuman, he was a wealthy farmer and a respected member of his community. However, after World War II, his life took a tragic turn. The forced expropriation of his property by the regime completely shattered his life and stability.
The general characteristic of this era was the strong development of industrialization, modernization of transportation, with a marked preference for railroads. Novi Bečej, in such conditions, had nothing to offer. In fact, it lost its previous advantage, and this was the cause of its increasing lag behind Veliki Bečkerek and Velika Kikinda, which gained new momentum.
One account states that, during a brief period of partial freedom, some wealthier Jews from Novi Bečej managed to escape by bribing German soldiers—often drivers—and fleeing beyond the borders of Serbia. There is also a theory, based on unconfirmed information, that Verona, the daughter of Danijel Cigler, a timber merchant from Novi Bečej, managed to reach Romania thanks to her relationship with a German officer, and later emigrated to Israel after the war. However, this information was never officially confirmed.
Janos Mesaros entered the stage of naïve art in the early 1960s. As a young and talented painter, he became a member of the group of naïve artists “Selo” founded in Novi Bečej by Dragiša Bunjevački. Alongside Bunjevački, one of the most remarkable representatives of naïve art in Serbia, the group also included Milica and Milivoj Mirić, Svetozar Kiselički, Tivadar Košut, and Janos Mesaros.
Ljubiša Jocić was a poet, writer, painter, director, and an experimenter with form and meaning—but above all, a man of play and artistic exploration. His creative journey spanned half a century, leaving behind a rich body of work that includes poems, novels, anti-novels, plays, films, and paintings.
