Life of the Jews of Bijeljina

Abstract

The film „Life of the Jews of Bijeljina“ is the work of a high school student „Filip Visnjic“ from Bijeljina, a town in the Republika Srpska, Bosnia and Herzegovina. It was created as a result of cooperation between the Serbian language teacher at the Bijeljina Gymnasium, Karmela Rakić, who was in Israel as a participant in a seminar for the study of the Holocaust in Yad Vashem, Jerusalem, and her students. The film consists of family pictures, old photographs of Jewish houses and shops, their current appearance, information about famous Jewish personalities and families from this city and region, and depictions of cemeteries, synagogues, societies and schools, all accompanied by selected lyrics and music. For the Jewish legacy, this is an important film trace about the life of Jews in this city in Semberia, from which we learn, among other things, about the first doctor in Bijeljina, Jakob Kohut, about the renowned and world-famous painter Haim Pinto, born in Bijeljina, but also about life stories and destinies of the Seferd families Altarac, Alkalaj, Danon, Salom, Papo, Baruch, as well as the Ashkenazi Gabor Grünfeld, Arpad Weill, Wilhelm Schwitzer, the Kaff family, the Malz family and others.

Film „Život bijeljinskih Jevreja“ delo je učenika gimnazije „Filip Višnjić“ iz Bijeljine, grada u Republici Srpskoj, u BiH. Nastao je kao rezultat saradnje profesorke srpskog jezika u bijeljinskoj Gimnaziji, Karmele Rakić, koja je boravila u Izraelu kao polaznik seminara za izučavanje Holokausta u Jad Vašemu u Jerusalimu, i njenih učenika. Film čine porodične slike, stare fotografije jevrejskih kuća i radnji, njihov današnji izgled, podaci o poznatim jevrejskim ličnostima i porodicama iz ovog grada i kraja, te prikazi groblja, sinagoge, društava i škole, a sve to popraćeno je biranim tekstom i muzikom. Za jevrejsku ostavštinu ovo je važan filmski trag o životu Jevreja u ovom semberskom gradu, iz koga između ostalog saznajemo informacije o prvom ljekaru u Bijeljini, Jakobu Kohutu, o priznatom pa i svjetski poznatom slikaru Haimu Pintu, rođenom Bijeljincu, ali i o životnim pričama i sudbinama sefardskih porodica Altarac, Alkalaj, Danon, Salom, Papo, Baruh, kao i aškenaskih Gabor Grünfeld, Arpad Weill, Wilhelm Schwitzer, porodici Kaff, porodici Malz i drugima.