In the final years before the outbreak of the Second World War, a need emerged in Novi Bečej for the establishment of a new football club that would bring together working-class and artisan youth. At that time, Football Club Zvezda already had a stable squad and was, to some extent, closed to the admission of new players from these social groups. As a result, in 1940, a group of young men—mostly of Hungarian origin—founded Sports Club Napredak.
"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.
In the "Sveska Matice srpske" (Materials and Contributions to Culture and Social History), number 6/1987, Mr. Milana Bikicki, in the article "First Steps in Musical Education of Serbs in Hungary," writes:
June 3 and October 4, 1999
After two open solo-vocal competitions (1995 and 1997) and two invitational composition contests (1996 and 1998), the organizers of “Horizons on the Tisa” planned the seventh edition of the event with great ambition.
A considerable amount of time had passed since our trip to Šumica before we embarked on a new adventure to Matejski Brod. We were eagerly waiting for Voja Glavaški to get a bicycle so that the three of us could ride together. This anticipation lasted almost until the end of the school year. Voja finally got a Vesta-brand bicycle, just like mine, but his was newer and more stylish by two years.
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).
Dragiša Bunjevački, a painter from Novi Bečej and the founder of the group “Selo,” was born in 1925 in Pančevo.
He was an artist who lived to paint, but never lived from painting nor painted merely to survive.
May 11–13, 1994
The successful organization of the first “Horizons on the Tisa” festival did not go unnoticed in the musical circles of Serbia.
László Gomba appeared on the football scene of Novi Bečej at a very young age. Together with Ferik Kiš and József Čanji, he was among the group of young enthusiasts who initiated the founding of a new club in Novi Bečej in 1940, originally named Napredak. Shortly after its establishment, the club changed its name to S.K. Zanatlija, where Laci quickly secured a place in the first team and proved his footballing quality.
The renowned artist and painter Tibor Nađ was born in Novi Bečej on March 23, 1952. He completed his primary education in his hometown and later graduated from the Bogdan Šuput School of Design in Novi Sad, majoring in Interior and Furniture Design.
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:
Folk songs like "Hey homesteads, I will come to you again..." or "Hey homesteads in the north of Bačka," with their exceptional melody and perhaps perfectly chosen words, awaken a longing for homesteads even in those who have never experienced their charms in reality.
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.
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.
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:
During the summer, the occupying authorities made sure that every resident over the age of 18 was supplied with an identity card. Without such a document, no one could leave the village, and often, it was impossible to move freely even within the town. This measure by the occupiers was a novelty for the population. In the pre-war period, very few villagers possessed identity cards, so the introduction of this new regulation sparked various reactions. However, it was clear that the primary purpose of these identity cards was to help the occupiers implement more effective control over the movement of the population, as well as to identify suspicious individuals, of whom there were more and more, causing the enemy increasing concern.
The way of life in Banat and Bačka differed under Ottoman rule and after their expulsion, up until the late 18th century. People initially lived in small settlements, but with colonization and land distribution, successful farming created the necessity for farmsteads (salaši).
At the end of the 9th century, specifically in 895, the Hungarians invaded the region along the middle course of the Danube and Tisza rivers, where they encountered numerous South Slavic tribes. Initially participants in and organizers of raids, they gradually transitioned to a settled way of life and adopted many habits and customs of the indigenous South Slavic population.
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.
The total length of navigable canals currently amounts to:
I begin to feel my homeland even on the road to Novi Bečej, right after leaving Kumane. On that road from Kumane to Novi Bečej—whether by train or bus—I start recalling everything that once existed there or what ties me to that path, from the time when my love for my homeland was most deeply growing.
19–21 May 2004
Open Competition for Solo Singers
The biennial alternation between the solo singers’ competition and the invitational composers’ competition for solo songs found its rhythm, so the 12th edition of “Horizons on the Tisa” was marked by the fifth open competition for solo singers.
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.
It’s pleasant to recall the wonderful and unforgettable dances at the Sokolana, or at the “kolo”—as the dances held in taverns were called—at Uncle Arsen Pecarski's and Uncle Nova Trbić's place in Vranjevo. It was so beautiful that now, I feel as though in those youthful years, we lived for nothing else but that.
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.
A master of watercolor and a guitar virtuoso, Branislav Stojančev—affectionately known to the people of Novi Bečej as Paša—was born in 1952. A lover of art, nature, and the Tisa River, he began his watercolor journey in 2001, dedicating himself to this delicate yet demanding painting technique. Since then, he has embraced its challenges with great success, finding in watercolor a source of peace, inspiration, and inner balance.
Sometimes, enchanted by the magic of summer evenings, sitting on the benches of the embankment, we would decide to share our joy with those who were not with us that night. And so, we would make the decision to perform a serenade for one of our dear friends or a charming guest.
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.
In geographical terms, Banat is a region in the southern part of the vast Pannonian Plain, bordered by the rivers Mureș, Tisza, Danube, and the Transylvanian Alps. A large portion of Banat lies in Romania, a small part in Hungary, while the Yugoslavian section is located along the lower courses of the mentioned rivers.
Novi Bečej, unlike most places in Vojvodina, celebrates in this year, 1991, nine hundred years since the first written record of its existence, although there is fairly convincing evidence that it existed some fifty or more years earlier.
