Šabac i Jevreji u susretu ed. by Miloš Jevtić, and: People with Big Heart: Friendship without Borders ed. by Miloš Jevtić (review)

These two books, the latter a translation of the former, compile a beautiful tribute to the people of Šabac, throughout history and into the Second World War, who have celebrated a history of openness and friendship, as the English title suggests.

In the opening words of this book entitled “Reč unapred” (translated “Forward”), Miodrag-Mile Nikolić offers homage to his maternal grandfather, Dr. Miodrag-Mile Petrović, a former officer of the Serbian Royal Army, doctor of law, diplomat, and a city mayor. He performed an exceptionally brave and risky humanitarian act by accepting to house and care for 1300 Jewish refugees in Šabac, Serbia, during the summer of 1940, “when no one else dared.”¹ It was a unique phenomenon, “one lonely spot on the European map that signified compassion and hospitality, the city where the destiny of Serbs and Jews would, once again, become intertwined and joined.”² Yet, it is only one part of a long shared history from the 18th century to the tragic period 1941–45, when the presence of the Jews in the Šabac region was completely extinguished.

Some twenty-five years earlier the Jews and Serbs of Šabac bravely and fiercely fought the same invader during the First World War, with devastating results for the people and their city. The economy recovered after the war with European influences coming from Srem and Mačva, down the Danube, with the influx of Jewish settlers.

Prominent writer Stanislav Vinaver saw the hospitality of the people of Šabac, their tolerance, cultural progressiveness, and liberalism as a strong sense of humanity. One of the Šabac Sephardic Jews, the famous Oscar Davičo, author of the best poem dedicated to Serbia, said, “I loved being a Serb, a Serb of Moses” and explained it with “together we triumphed over the Germans.”³

The goal in Šabac was to help Jews survive until they could leave for Palestine, the land of their forefathers. With the Germans quickly advancing, other countries, in fear of retaliation, closed their boarders to refugees. Yet, many local Jews refused to leave their homes, saying, “Why should we leave? We are Serbs, like you.” They served and fought for their country in the Serbian Royal Army, together with neighbors, friends, and other soldiers, receiving awards for bravery, becoming one body and spirit in good and bad times. The joint history of Serbs and Jews is filled with such examples.

Dobrilo Aranitović, author of the first chapter of this book, “The Candle at the Doorstep Is Burning Out,” sets the historical background for events taking place during World War II in Šabac, Serbia, Yugoslavia, as well as Eastern Europe under the occupation of the Germans and their Allies. Candles were burning in many homes for those killed in the numerous massacres, death camps, gas trucks, local rivers, and other available places within the invaded countries.

Mile Nikolić, now a citizen of Los Angeles, expresses his feeling of pride for his native’s Šabac’s citizens’ compassionate protection of Jews and Gypsies as if they were their own blood. However, this beautiful act did not succeed, because the Nazis immediately initiated “the final solution to the Jewish question” and efficiently killed hundreds each day. The book People with Big Heart names local residents as witnesses, used for labor around the corpses, to collect jewelry, wedding rings, and gold teeth, using pliers to cut fingers and gums, “as needed.” Valuable, documentary evidence about the history of the Jewish presence and contributions in Šabac are captured in the book. It is hard to believe, especially for those who have not lived during that time or place, the cruel details, like the slaughter of mothers with children, forced on a 30 kilometer “march...