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My grandfather, Imre, was born in Kisber, Hungary, in 1885. He changed his name from Mirko Bohem to Imre Biro in order to ease his assimilation into the local life. My grandmother Ilona Biro (nee Mendelssohn) was born in Budapest in 1891. My father, Zoltan Biro, was born in Budapest on March 30, 1912, and died in Belgrade on April 2, 1998. His father worked for the Yugoslav railroad and was stationed in Vinkovci, Yugoslavia at the time of Zoltan’s birth. My grandmother did not want to give birth alone in this town where she didn’t know many people, so she returned to Budapest, where her family lived. She gave birth in her parents’ apartment in Budapest and remained there for a brief time before returning with her newborn son to Yugoslavia.
My father spent most of his childhood moving around, because of his father’s job with the railway. When he was born they lived in Vinkovci. After that, from 1914 to 1918, they lived in Subotica. There, they lived close to the train tracks. My father liked to watch the trains go by. One day, at the end of World War One, his curiosity got the better of him and he wandered off to watch the trains for longer than usual. He was mesmerized by the Moroccan soldiers returning from Thessalonica through Subotica. He spent the day watching these dark, strange-looking soldiers passing through his town, and he lost track of the time. When he returned home at 7 pm, his parents were distraught. Once they saw that he was safe, Grandfather gave him the worst beating the child was ever to receive.
When my father finished primary school, they moved from Subotica to Mostar. He completed high school in Mostar and then enrolled in law school at the University of Zagreb, where he lived in the student dormitory. I don’t know whether this was a Jewish dormitory. If there was a Jewish dormitory in Zagreb at the time, he certainly would have lived there; if not, he lived in the regular dormitory.
He shared a room with a Jew named Tibor Szekely. Tibor was a fascinating character who happened to look like a short version of Lenin. He finished law school but never practiced as a lawyer. Instead he became a professional traveler and anthropologist. He wrote many books, many of them travelogues, and knew many languages. In his later years he became the director of a museum in Subotica. He died in the 1980s in Subotica.
My father finished his first year at the University of Zagreb and then transferred to the University of Belgrade, because his father had planned to retire and to move to Belgrade that year. However, Grandfather's retirement was pushed back one year, so Father spent his second university year in the King Alexandar dormitory in Belgrade on Revolution Boulevard. The next year his parents were in Belgrade and he lived with them in their apartment on Charlie Chaplin Street. During his studies, my father was an active member of the leftist students’ organization, but I do not know whether he was a member of the Communist Party before the war.
He finished his law degree in Belgrade and then served in the Yugoslav Army from 1934 to 1935. His service included completing an officers’ training course. After leaving the Army he began his apprenticeship with a Belgrade law firm.
My father spent most of his childhood moving around, because of his father’s job with the railway. When he was born they lived in Vinkovci. After that, from 1914 to 1918, they lived in Subotica. There, they lived close to the train tracks. My father liked to watch the trains go by. One day, at the end of World War One, his curiosity got the better of him and he wandered off to watch the trains for longer than usual. He was mesmerized by the Moroccan soldiers returning from Thessalonica through Subotica. He spent the day watching these dark, strange-looking soldiers passing through his town, and he lost track of the time. When he returned home at 7 pm, his parents were distraught. Once they saw that he was safe, Grandfather gave him the worst beating the child was ever to receive.
When my father finished primary school, they moved from Subotica to Mostar. He completed high school in Mostar and then enrolled in law school at the University of Zagreb, where he lived in the student dormitory. I don’t know whether this was a Jewish dormitory. If there was a Jewish dormitory in Zagreb at the time, he certainly would have lived there; if not, he lived in the regular dormitory.
He shared a room with a Jew named Tibor Szekely. Tibor was a fascinating character who happened to look like a short version of Lenin. He finished law school but never practiced as a lawyer. Instead he became a professional traveler and anthropologist. He wrote many books, many of them travelogues, and knew many languages. In his later years he became the director of a museum in Subotica. He died in the 1980s in Subotica.
My father finished his first year at the University of Zagreb and then transferred to the University of Belgrade, because his father had planned to retire and to move to Belgrade that year. However, Grandfather's retirement was pushed back one year, so Father spent his second university year in the King Alexandar dormitory in Belgrade on Revolution Boulevard. The next year his parents were in Belgrade and he lived with them in their apartment on Charlie Chaplin Street. During his studies, my father was an active member of the leftist students’ organization, but I do not know whether he was a member of the Communist Party before the war.
He finished his law degree in Belgrade and then served in the Yugoslav Army from 1934 to 1935. His service included completing an officers’ training course. After leaving the Army he began his apprenticeship with a Belgrade law firm.
Location
Serbia
Interview
Judita Jovanovic