My father (on the right) and my mother (the woman on the left) with an army friend of my father’s Nencic.
The other woman is our servant Marija. The photo was taken near Zagreb in 1935.
My father studied medicine and dentistry in Zagreb and in Prague. When he finished his studies, he Serbianized his name.
He was not compelled to make this change but felt it would help his career and make life less complicated for him.
In 1935 or 1936 my father was transferred to Zagreb and my mother and I went with him. My sister, Rahela (Seli or Selika as I call her) was born in Zagreb in 1939. She was a very precocious child.
Before the war in Zagreb, we had a non-Jewish servant named Marija, who lived with us. She was from a village somewhere near Zagreb.
During this time it was normal for village women to come to the city to work as servants.
Since my father was an officer we also had many military people around our house helping us. My father even had a car and a chauffeur to drive him.
As an officer, my father, in general, socialized with other officers. My mother generally socialized with Jews in Zagreb.
As my family was Sephardi my mother probably socialized with the small group of Sephardi Jews in Zagreb.
