Josef Baruhovic's grandfather Josef Izrael and friends

My grandfather, Jozef Izrael (second from the left), is pictured with friends in a Sarajevo garden. The photo was taken in 1927.

This picture was a postcard that was sent from Sarajevo to Josef at an address in Austria. There is a handwritten note on the back written in German and the date on the note is July 25, 1927.

During WWI my grandfather was a supplier for the Austro-Hungarian army. I do not know what he supplied, but I imagine it was food products.

After the war he began collecting shares in companies and then lived off the dividends. He had shares in a factory that produced matches, soda water and in the Kljuc factory, which was an apparel company.

He was a very smart and capable man, and that was probably why he was given the nickname Bismark. His friends and family must have believed that he exhibited the wisdom and intelligence of the renowned statesman.

Despite his knowledge, he suffered from bad health and the Sarajevo climate only exacerbated it. To avoid health problems, he spent winters in a hotel in Herceg Novi, on the Adriatic coast.

He died in 1935 in Mostar at my mother's sister Erna's house. His body was transported back to Sarajevo where he was buried. He was lucky to have died "in bed" and not in a crematorium, as was the fate of many of my family members and so many other Jews here.

Photos from this interviewee