Rothbart Vladislav’s wife

This is me with my husband Vladislav in the 1990s in Novi Sad.

In 1947 Vlada, together with me in the same class, completed the 4th grade of secondary school so here he had met with me. We got married in Novi Sad. I was not of Jewish origin, but later, on the occasion of our trip to Israel I became a ger, I converted to Judaism. I wanted that, and it was necessary and desirable. When we met in 1947, to him it was absolutely not important whether I was a Jew or not, at that time it was not given much importance to that. Unfortunately, he didn't have parents who may have reacted differently to that. There was no one else but uncle Emil who too made absolutely no issue of it.

I was born in Cantavir, my mother tongue is Serbian, the degree of education, completed secondary school. I worked as a social worker till retirement. My parents were so to say peasants, mother would sit at home doing the housework, father worked at railroads. We have two children who were at school in Subotica till 1960 and later on in Novi Sad. It was normally important to get an education and become financially independent.

In regards to his non Jewish neighbors, then there was an euphoria, that the war was over, that we were all there and that it was not important anymore who was Jewish and who was of another religion etc. So there were no problems, all of them who remained in Novi Sad, were happy that someone survived. In regards to the apartment we had lived in, in Novi Sad, was not the property of our parents, so some completely different people lived there. Vlada, in 1947 along with his job as a journalist, completed gymnasium in Novi Sad, the 8th grade, today this is the 4th grade of gymnasium, and that he had been all the time employed as a journalist and then he got married and got 2 children, Verica, born in 1948 and Nada, born in 1956. 

In 1948 during the big aliyah to Israel, Vlada was married to me, and I was not a Jew, however I was willing to emigrate to Israel regardless of the parents who were here. Vlada communicated that he fought for this country and that this was his native country, here he was born, wished to live here. After all that he was deeply disappointed, that he had received nothing for his patriotism.