The Bruck family in their yard

This photo was taken in 1936 in the Backa vineyard in the yard of the house which is situated in our vineyard. From right to left are: my mother's aunt, Erzsike Nemenyi, my mother, Magda Bruck, my grandmother, Ilona Nemenyi, my father, Matija Bruck, and a relative named Sandor Nemenyi, who was a pharmacist. My mother, Magda Bruck (maiden name - Nemenyi) was born in Pancevo on August 18, 1905 and died in Subotica on February 1, 1977. She came from a rather well off family. She met her future husband when she was very young. My father was already a student, and there was a 15 year age difference between them. After primary school and four years of secondary school, she was sent by her parents to a boarding school in Vienna for future housewives, with the hope that this would distance her from Matija. But this did not prevent the sweethearts from seeing one another. Whenever Matija was passing through he would visit her at the dormitory presenting himself as her uncle. Their love was culminated by their marriage in 1926 in the Subotica synagogue. My father, Matija Bruck, was born in Bacsalmas, Hungary on December 21, 1890 and died on January 11, 1961 in Subotica. My father came from a very poor family. He used to tell us how he went to another Jewish family's house for lunch every day. It was known exactly which family he would go to on which day. He suffered a great deal during his education. After graduation, he went to Berlin where he studied chemistry. During the days he gave classes and tutored children and in the evenings he studied. After graduating from the university, he found work. In the meantime, he noticed that the grapevines on his father's small parcel of land produced very weak grapes. Experimenting in the different laboratories where he worked part-time to gain experience, he invented a material for protecting grapevines. He did not have enough money to pay for registering the patent, which was called 'COSAN,' so he went into partnership with a friend who paid the money for him and with whom he later shared the dividends equally. He received the dividends continuously until 1934, with the arrival of Hitler the dividends were discontinued. They still use his patent all around the world, under different names, and today they are still making it in the 'Zorka' factory in Sapac, Yugoslavia. From the proceeds of the dividends he bought a 30-hectare vineyard in the Backa vineyards, a house in Belgrade on Sava Kovacevic Street (with 14 apartments) and a villa in Palic, where we spent our vacations. .