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.
Thus, this was not highly emphasized in data about emigrant families (CONTRIBUTIONS: List of emigrated Jewish families 1883-1940). Of the total 46 families recorded as having emigrated from 1919 to 1940, only 13, or less than 13, left between 1919 and 1921. Among them were families of three state officials and two cantors. It is clear that the state officials changed locations as needed for their service, and cantors, who were often poorly paid, frequently moved as well. Therefore, these relocations or migrations could have occurred independently of the regime change. The remaining 8 cases of emigration could be seen as a result of the changing social reality, accounting for no more than 10% of all families.
These data show the adaptability of the Jews and their willingness to align with the new society. That economic reasons were the primary motivation for moving can be seen from the migration data during the economic crisis, when over 20 families left Novi Bečej.
The third wave of migration occurred after 1933, when it became clear that the persecution of Jews was imminent, following the rise of Nazism in Germany. However, this cause had a dual effect: on one hand, those whose families were already on the move from Novi Bečej returned to their place of birth and their ancestral families; on the other hand, those who had previously sought their fortunes elsewhere returned.
As can be seen, these three waves of migration defined the development of the Jewish community in Novi Bečej from 1919 to 1941.
The vast majority of Jews in Novi Bečej gradually entered into the life currents from 1919 onward. After about a decade, and before the economic crisis, some families became very wealthy. They owned stores, houses, and large land estates. Many Jews were engaged in financial and stock market speculation. A significant portion of the grain trade fell into their hands, and at that time, two large grain warehouses were built, owned by Jewish companies LEO WEISS and KLEIN and HORVAT. Both companies were from outside, and the Jews of Novi Bečej were their permanent tenants. Tragically, these warehouses would become the final shelter for the Jews of Novi Bečej before their destruction.
The onset of the economic crisis in the 1930s began to change many things. Some companies went bankrupt, while new ones emerged. Among them was a steam sawmill, which operated successfully for over sixty years. However, the company redirected its funds to a mill, which it renovated and expanded, operating successfully until the Germans burned it down in October 1944. The beer warehouse, established in Vranjevo by Ferdinand Gerber, also ceased operations, and many large shops reduced their scope of business. In an attempt to find a way out, Jewish owners expanded their business or changed the type of business. For example, Artur Schlesinger, the owner of a large colonial and delicatessen shop, opened a confectionery next to his store in his house. The manufacturing shop of Kristina Kanic and the textile shop of Vajs Geze, who moved to Novi Sad, ceased operations. Other changes occurred that we cannot enumerate here.
Nonetheless, despite everything, the basic network of trading shops remained mostly intact and would have continued to develop had it not been for the war.
The overall structure of occupations on which families depended changed little, mostly moving toward modernization and specialization.
Prominent positions in the economy, especially in trade in Novi Bečej, were held by shops such as: Artur Schlesinger’s "Colonial-Delicatessen Shop", Naj Bernát’s spice shop, Hugo Richter’s large ironware store, Dezider Hamburger’s flour and grain products shop, Jenea Vajs’s agricultural products and wool shop, Max Cigler’s large building materials and fuel shop, Izidor Schlesinger’s medicinal herb drying shop, and Geza Vajs’s textile shop. According to the 1938 trade register, there were 10 independent craftsmen of various types: Pal Ereš, saddler; Erne Fodor and Franja Hamburger, electricians; Rudolf Vajn Berger, plasterer. A new and notable development was the emergence of female craftsmen: Ruža Kenig, owner of a butcher shop; Helena Kraus, cosmetologist; Adela Lebl, dressmaker; and Lora Schlesinger, confectioner. Just before the war, Alfred Berger, a Jewish businessman involved in feather trading, opened a cotton cloth production workshop with 12 looms.
In the same 1938 year, nine young Jews of both sexes were registered as craft apprentices. Interestingly, three of these young Jewish women were learning the women’s tailoring trade: Verona Grin, daughter of Dr. Bela Grin, Mor Grin’s daughter, Samuel Kraus’s daughter Magda, and Margita Huven, daughter of Adam Huven, leather buyer.
The overall picture of occupational structure should be complemented by data about intellectual professions. In this period, Novi Bečej had the following doctors: Dr. Bela Goldman, Dr. Mor Grin, and Dr. Imre Hubai. The lawyers were: Dr. Deže Kanic, Dr. Gustav Samek, and Dr. Bela Patai. For several years, there was a pharmacy in Novi Bečej run by Mr. Bernard Hercler. The dentists were Mikša Hajdu and Elener Fekete. The state officials were: Bela Bihari, head of the tax office; Zoltan Pancel, court clerk; Samuel Ištvan, postal official; Eden Jakobovič, military officer. In economic branches, clerks worked as clerks in the grain trade: Dr. Izak Garai, banker; Nikola Kenig, Erne Kraus, Jožef Cigler, and Lipot Hauzer. The most prominent figure in economic affairs was economist Imre Deri, director of the "Senćanska Steam Sawmill and Mill" company, who was also president of the board of "Trusko-Bečejska Savings Bank."
In the 1930s, the number of Jews with intellectual occupations in Novi Bečej was around 25. When adding students, the percentage of those with secondary or university education was about 20%, possibly more, which was a significant potential influencing the overall life and internal relations in the community.
It goes without saying that the number of students, young professionals, doctors, lawyers, and modern young merchants increasingly turned their interest to the life around them, becoming involved in sports and culture in the town. This somewhat narrowed and impoverished the internal religious life, although it always existed in its most important manifestations. Religious holidays and rituals were always an internal matter for the community, maintained with due respect and care, but they did not distance them too much from public life.
Among the purely Jewish organizations, we know of the religious Jewish society "HEVRA KADISHA," but we have no information or insight into its work. The Jewish women's association was well-known, primarily engaged in humanitarian solidarity actions with poor Jewish and other families. They held their annual GALA BALL, with proceeds directed towards humanitarian causes. We do not know much about other actions or programs, but it is known that they cooperated with other similar women’s organizations in Novi Bečej.
When observing the participation of Jewish youth in cultural, sports, and political organizations, it is clear that they were mostly oriented toward sports activities. Jews were found in all sports societies. In football, as mentioned earlier, they were even the founding force. Popular football players of the time included Hauzer Arpad, Jakobovič Eden, Erne Kraus, and others.
In the "SOKO" organization, which had a national character, only one active Jewish member was recorded. This was Bergl Jožef – JOŠKA, who was an active gymnast.
The Scout organization was very popular among Jews. Several Jewish members were part of it, including the most well-known: Šlezinger Đerđ, Bergl Herman, Kenig Henrih, and others.
Jewish youth participated in individual sporting events, which had a propagandistic character. For example, Herman Bergl was a member of the first team of Novi Bečej in the first public table tennis match between Novi Bečej and Senta.
When the swimming club was established in Novi Bečej in 1935, it included both Serbs, Hungarians, and Jews. We know that active swimmers at that time included Deneš Đurka and Kanic Magda, and when the club resumed activities in 1939, Jewish members Šlezinger Đerđ – Đurika and Bergl Herman played prominent roles. In September 1940, Bergl Herman completed a swimming coaching course in Aranđelovac and became the first professional swimming coach in Novi Bečej.
A special group of young people consisted of students, young clerks, and merchants – children of affluent parents. They socialized with other young people of similar social status. They led a comfortable life full of sports and social activities. They played tennis in the GRADIŠTE grove, where they built and financed their tennis court. They spent summer days swimming and rowing on the Tisa River, living carefree and very dynamic lives. In fact, they were separated from the majority of other Jews, just as their Serbian and Hungarian friends were separated from their lower-status compatriots.
Socializing based on status was characteristic of all citizens, including Jews. They socialized with neighbors, colleagues at work, or people with similar interests. The most successful businessmen among Jews, along with their peers from among Serbs and Hungarians, gathered in the exclusive social club "GRAĐANSKA KASINA," where they engaged in various forms of entertainment, discussions, and business dealings.
Older Jews rarely visited taverns and other places of entertainment. However, some of them agreed to become active functionaries in social organizations. For example, Hauzer Lipot, a civil servant, was a valuable functionary in the football club, and Maks Cigler, an astute wholesaler, served as the president of the fire department for one term and supported youth organizations, especially the Scout organization and the swimming club, with his financial contributions.
Older generations of Jews did not participate in politics, as they were not interested in it. Only their children – the generation of students and pupils of the 1930s – turned to politics when the danger of fascism emerged. While they understood the impending danger, only a few young Jews engaged in concrete forms of resistance. Here we find solitary anti-fascists who proved their beliefs even at the firing squad. The most prominent active political fighter was Šlezinger Đerđ – "Đurika," a popular, sociable, and always active law student, whom we encountered both at sporting events and as a participant in cultural and artistic programs of the Hungarian civil reading room. He was an active member of the SKOJ (League of Communist Youth) and an organizer of SKOJ youth groups in Novi Bečej. Quietly and conspiratorially, but persistently and tirelessly, he carried out his political tasks, making him the first on the list of dangerous opponents to the occupying regime. Another of them was Herman Bergl, also a law student, an enthusiastic swimmer, and table tennis player, and a political anti-fascist. He followed Zionist, anti-fascist literature and persistently and publicly expressed his opposition to the coming fascism. He acted as a solitary resistance fighter, but remained unwavering.
These committed anti-fascist fighters were joined in some way by Huven Margita – "Dunda," a sympathizer of SKOJ, who socialized with like-minded youth. Šlezinger Ištvan – "PIŠTA," a commercial assistant, was an active social figure in the Merchant Youth organization, although he did not have pronounced political activity.
These four young people were marked by their Nazi-minded fellow citizens as dangerous opponents, and they were the first group of Jews from Novi Bečej who were executed on July 31, 1941, in a large group of 90 hostages from Banat.
In the last decade, Albert Vajs, initially a law student and later a legal intern with lawyer Jeremija Zlatar, lived in Novi Bečej. Vajs, who later became a professor at the Faculty of Law in Belgrade, was also an anti-fascist, but we have no data on his activities. As a war prisoner, Albert Vajs survived the destruction and lived and worked in Belgrade, where he died in 1983.
Comments