Selected text
There was a Jewish community in Mostar, which had its own kitchen, where we
received two meals a day. However, because of some agreement with the state
of Croatia, the Italian authorities had to hand over Mostar to Croatia. The
Italians knew that as soon as the Ustashe enter Mostar, they would come
after the Jews first. So, the Italians organized to have us transferred to
an island that remained under Italian authority.
We were transferred from Mostar to Jelsa Island, then to the city of Hvar.
We had our own kitchen in some deserted hotel on Jelsa. The women organized
themselves, and we had a stove and wood from the surrounding forests. We
children collected oak-apples. Every seven days the Italian authorities
gave us sugar, flour, pasta, parmesan cheese and jelly, according to the
number of members in a family. Each adult had to register at the police
station every day. After Jelsa, where we were for three or four months, we
were transferred to Hvar where we were put up in five hotels, which were
empty because there was no tourism. We were in Hotel Slavija, which had a
wonderful owner named Tonci Maricic, who gave us everything. He left us
alone to organize ourselves and he solved all the problems. The Italians
paid for this, but what was important was how he treated us. After
liberation, many people visited him and he came to Sarajevo and Zagreb.
This friendship lasted as long as he lived.
Then the Italian occupational authorities decided that all Jews who were on
Hvar, Korcula, Lopud and Kuparij should be transferred to Rab. On Rab there
was a camp where Slovenes lived before, under terrible conditions. Half of
the camp was comprised of brick buildings and the other half of barracks.
The camp was surrounded with multi-layered thorns, wires. When we saw this,
we realized this was a real camp, with wires. Later we realized this was
neither Jasenovac nor Auschwitz. We were organized. We had a big kitchen;
we organized cultural life. There were pianists, actors, doctors, lawyers
and other experts among us. We children were divided by age. The elder ones
worked. As children, we did not feel camp life. We were so small and we
were able to go swimming every day. There was one Italian guard for all 100
of us.
My mother was employed in the tailor shop that made uniforms - not new
uniforms; they repaired used ones. She worked seven hours in this tailor
workshop and the prize was one loaf of bread. My mother worked for that, so
that we would have a little more bread, for the growing children. We could
withstand all of that - until the Italians capitulated. The Italians were
anxious to do this because they were never soldiers like the Germans. This
is a nation that has a nice language, nice poetry, a nation that loves to
love - but they are not warriors. Yes, their army did damage throughout
Dalmatia, and certainly people were killed, but they were humane in their
treatment of us, if one can say that. The Italians threw down their
weapons, and the partisans came. In the camp itself, there was a partisan
organization, which we children did not even know about. The partisans knew
that we would be unable to hold the island much longer and, since they had
already liberated us, they wanted to transfer us to more secure territory.
received two meals a day. However, because of some agreement with the state
of Croatia, the Italian authorities had to hand over Mostar to Croatia. The
Italians knew that as soon as the Ustashe enter Mostar, they would come
after the Jews first. So, the Italians organized to have us transferred to
an island that remained under Italian authority.
We were transferred from Mostar to Jelsa Island, then to the city of Hvar.
We had our own kitchen in some deserted hotel on Jelsa. The women organized
themselves, and we had a stove and wood from the surrounding forests. We
children collected oak-apples. Every seven days the Italian authorities
gave us sugar, flour, pasta, parmesan cheese and jelly, according to the
number of members in a family. Each adult had to register at the police
station every day. After Jelsa, where we were for three or four months, we
were transferred to Hvar where we were put up in five hotels, which were
empty because there was no tourism. We were in Hotel Slavija, which had a
wonderful owner named Tonci Maricic, who gave us everything. He left us
alone to organize ourselves and he solved all the problems. The Italians
paid for this, but what was important was how he treated us. After
liberation, many people visited him and he came to Sarajevo and Zagreb.
This friendship lasted as long as he lived.
Then the Italian occupational authorities decided that all Jews who were on
Hvar, Korcula, Lopud and Kuparij should be transferred to Rab. On Rab there
was a camp where Slovenes lived before, under terrible conditions. Half of
the camp was comprised of brick buildings and the other half of barracks.
The camp was surrounded with multi-layered thorns, wires. When we saw this,
we realized this was a real camp, with wires. Later we realized this was
neither Jasenovac nor Auschwitz. We were organized. We had a big kitchen;
we organized cultural life. There were pianists, actors, doctors, lawyers
and other experts among us. We children were divided by age. The elder ones
worked. As children, we did not feel camp life. We were so small and we
were able to go swimming every day. There was one Italian guard for all 100
of us.
My mother was employed in the tailor shop that made uniforms - not new
uniforms; they repaired used ones. She worked seven hours in this tailor
workshop and the prize was one loaf of bread. My mother worked for that, so
that we would have a little more bread, for the growing children. We could
withstand all of that - until the Italians capitulated. The Italians were
anxious to do this because they were never soldiers like the Germans. This
is a nation that has a nice language, nice poetry, a nation that loves to
love - but they are not warriors. Yes, their army did damage throughout
Dalmatia, and certainly people were killed, but they were humane in their
treatment of us, if one can say that. The Italians threw down their
weapons, and the partisans came. In the camp itself, there was a partisan
organization, which we children did not even know about. The partisans knew
that we would be unable to hold the island much longer and, since they had
already liberated us, they wanted to transfer us to more secure territory.
Period
Location
Croatia
Interview
Albert Eskenazi