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.
In March 1944, a group of underground fighters spent some time at the farmsteads of Dušan Malešev and Sava Pajić in Korektovo. By mid-March, joined by several more activists, they set out for Fruška Gora.
He was, heart and soul, bound to Vojvodina. However, those who ingratiated themselves with politicians, receiving authority and promotion to influence the cultural development of the province, saw his dedication as intrusive.
May 24–25, 1998
Invitational Composers’ Competition
After the first invitational composers’ competition on the theme Bread, Grain, Harvest, which resulted in 14 new solo songs, the organizers of this year’s Days of Josif Marinković decided that the new theme would be Hilandar, as 1998 marked the 800th anniversary of this Serbian sanctuary.
Winters, in the times I remember, were harsh and long, with plenty of snow. These days, such winters occur roughly every 8-10 years, but back then, they were almost a regular occurrence. Frosts would start in November, and snow would arrive by mid-December, lasting until the end of February.
Fifty years ago, Novi Bečej was the site of one of the terrible crimes of World War II. After five months of imprisonment, the Jewish community, which had existed in our town for more than one hundred and fifty years, disappeared in a single day and forever. Generations after the war could neither learn about nor experience the presence of these people, who were extremely important for the economic and cultural development of our community.
I remember certain streets, their dusty roads in the summer and worn-out, brick-paved sidewalks, or if I think about autumn, then muddy roads and ditches full of water, so in some parts, the entire street was covered with water. I can't imagine such a street without the noise of geese, bathing and chasing each other in the water, breaking the monotony of an otherwise very quiet street.
On the dike, from the river navigation agency, today’s Workers’ Home, to the ferry house at the corner of Svetozara Miletića Street, it was a promenade from spring to autumn. It was truly enjoyable to stroll along the dike, admiring the beauty of the Tisa and its forested banks.
The Party-Syndical Congress for Vojvodina, held in Novi Sad on January 7 and 8, 1920, was attended by Ljubomir Čolić, a delegate from Kumane, who was elected as a member of the Control Board of the Executive Board of the Provincial Assembly for Vojvodina.
The Kikinda Canal stretches from its confluence with the Main Canal to its junction with the Zlatica River near Sajan, with a total length of 50.34 km. Its primary function is to collect the Zlatica’s internal waters during periods when the sluice gate at Padej is closed, as well as its own internal waters along the route, and discharge them into the Main Canal.
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.
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.
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.
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.
I will not delve into a historical account of the development of education in Novi Bečej and Vranjevo, as I have already provided such a description in my book “Novi Bečej and Vranjevo Through History”. Instead, I would like to highlight a turbulent and almost revolutionary period in the school history of Novi Bečej between the 1920s and 1930s.
The very name of these gatherings suggests that they were created so that women could gather in the autumn and winter evenings to talk about everything that had happened in the village while spinning with a spindle. Once they exhausted the stories of events that had taken place during that time, they would tell folk tales. When the storytellers "ran out" of stories, the conversation would turn to songs, and this cycle continued from one gathering to the next.
After World War I, the parents of Gligorije and Jovanka Popov left Dragutinovo and moved to Rusko Selo in search of a piece of land as part of a “colonization” effort. That small plot of fertile soil, coupled with debt to the Agrarian Bank for building a house and other hardships, made life difficult and impoverished.
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.
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.
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 First Serbian Agricultural Cooperative was founded in Vranjevo in November 1909. The founders of the cooperative were: Dušan Vujackov, Bogoljub Malešev, Miloš Isakov, Ivan Popov, Nova Dujin, Živa Malešev, Živko Pejin, Nikola Tomašev, Marinko Perić, Arkadije Miletić, Živa Pantelić, Joca Vrebalov, and Isa Tomašev. Dušan Vujackov was elected president of the cooperative, and Bogoljub Malešev was chosen as the manager, who both played a major role in the establishment of the cooperative.
Between 1945 and 1963, two Water Management Organizations covered the area of the municipality: the Upper Banat Water Organization, with its headquarters in Kikinda, north of Novi Bečej, and the Tisa Water Organization, based in Zrenjanin, south of Novi Bečej. Thus, two water communities existed:
To successfully achieve the goals and objectives of preschool education, a qualified teaching staff was essential. Former educators with five years of secondary education graduated from the Pedagogical Academy for Educators while working between 1975 and 1979. They took pride in the fact that out of 21 educators, 19 graduated from the Academy.
After the Obznana proclamation of 1920, the authorities banned the activities of SKOJ, the revolutionary youth organization of the working class, which also gathered a significant number of rural young people. Despite frequent police raids and arrests, the organization was re-established in Kuman in 1923 and continued to operate illegally until the dictatorship of 1929.
The tenth edition of the Serbian Solo Vocal Music Festival, dedicated to the founder of Serbian art song Josif Marinković, was held from 23 to 25 May 2002 and centered on the Open Solo Singing Competition.
May 25–27, 1995
Open Competition for Solo Singers
After the first two “Horizons on the Tisa,” the organizers began preparations for the third festival with even greater enthusiasm and foresight.
The only prominent Jew from Novi Bečej who was not arrested at the time was Dr. Dezider Kanic, a lawyer. He made direct contact with the military commander of the town and, proving that he had served as a German "Uhlan" officer, managed to obtain permission to move to Hungary (see the testimony of Dr. Viktor Jordanić).
After the war, in 1948, Bogdan Čiplić wrote a new play titled Nad popom popa ("A Higher Priest than the Priest"). It was performed around ten times at the Serbian National Theatre in Novi Sad.
The renowned teacher from Kumanovo, Aleksandar "Šandor" Popović, was born in Bačko Petrovo Selo, where his father worked as a municipal official. Later, he lived in Belgrade, where he pursued his teaching career. His wife was Cveta Horvatova, the sister of the well-known pharmacist Dušan Horvat, and their father was a teacher, Radislav.
Often, especially at night when I wake up, I find myself walking in my mind through the New Bečej and Vranjevo of the past, as I left them in my youth, and how they became dear to my heart.
