Introduction

It has been one hundred years since the beginning of the First World War, one hundred years since the reopening of the Red Cross Branch, and one hundred years since the operation of the Lazarus¹ hospital in Tursko Bečej. Let this centenary serve as an opportunity to remember all the fallen victims of the Great War, as well as the dedicated members of the Red Cross Branch in Tursko Bečej, and the selfless and devoted staff of the Lazarus hospital.

The leadership of the Lazarus hospital was chosen from the ranks of the members of the Red Cross Society², with Arthur Ambrus appointed as the president of the Red Cross Society. The hospital, equipped with 240 beds, was located in the "Royal" hotel on Građanska Street, in the primary school, in the Dunđer family house, and in the Šoljmoševi castle with 24 beds. The staff consisted of 30 volunteer nurses, two doctors, one assistant doctor, four supervisors, and one economist. The national composition of the Red Cross Society members, as well as the hospital staff, reflected the population of Tursko Bečej, consisting of citizens of Hungarian, Serbian, German, and Jewish nationalities. During the hospital's operation, over 1000 wounded soldiers were treated, and more than 300 patients were cared for. In the last year of the war, the hospital also assisted the newly arrived orphans, disabled individuals, widows, and impoverished homeless people.

¹ The term "Lazarus" has become familiar in our environment for an auxiliary hospital, although it technically refers only to its infectious part, and I used it in my work for that reason. In German literature, I found it under various names such as Reserve-Spital, Das Rroten-Kreuze Spital, Das Rekonvaleszentenhaus, vom Roten-Kreuze, Filialspital des Rothen Kreuz Vereines.

² The Red Cross Society in the following text refers to the concept of the Tursko Bečej branch of the Red Cross.

Photograph taken by Konstantin Vukov in 1915 in the courtyard of the Šoljmoševi house; the photo features wounded soldiers and hospital staff, including the president of the Red Cross Society, Arthur Ambrus, Amalija Pulai (lilika), and the widow of the wealthy landowner Pulai Romana