Grandma Oma's World

There were many more things that I needed to see in Futog. Here they are: My neighbors house When we were young right across from our house  was this neighbor (he passed away long time ago)  who used to stand in his doorway and watch what was going on in the street. When he saw the young people do something inappropriate, such as be intimate or kiss, he would report it to the parents. With his, and many other people's help there were no secrets in our little village - everyone knew everything about everybody. My old high school. Before WWII it was referred to as castle This is the high school I attended between 1955 and1959. It was an agricultural school.  We studied everything from taking care of animals to growing grapes and making wine. Every day, and in the summer we had "practice" work. That meant we worked in the fields or in the stables with pigs, cows, sheep and horses. The morning work started at 5am and the afternoon work would be after the clas...

This time again the final leg of my trip was to visit my family in Futog, Serbia.  As, I get older, I feel a certain urgency to go "home" as often as I can. When I was younger I felt, I will visit next year, or maybe the year after, but now this urgency to go back to my birth place is really strong. Maybe it is because I want to catch up with what I missed by leaving my home, my family and my friends in 1963, or maybe it is because both my brother and my sister had triple heart bypass last year, or maybe it is because many of my old friends have already passed away and I do not want to miss anything anymore, or maybe it is just because I have free time to think and  travel. I do not know for sure, but when I am back there, I feel safe, I feel at home, I am at peace. Each time I am there I visit all the places I used to enjoy, I visit my old friends and I join my brother in his daily chores like taking care of pigs and chickens and working in the fields - all jobs that I left...

While visiting my home in Futog, Serbia I came across some old slides.   My father made these in the early forties, when we were 2 ans 3 years old. These pictures were taken in the backyard of our home in Futog. It amazes me how the colors so well preserved. He even developed and printed his own pictures. Putting together slides was done professionally. Me in 1944 in Futog, Serbia My brother, Elemer, and I in 1944  My mother Maria, my Grandmother Hermina, my brother and I