JEVREJSKA ZAJEDNICA “ PRIJATELJI LA BENEVOLENCIJE”

— LONDON
JEWISH SOCIETY “ FRIENDS OF LA BENEVOLENCIJA” —
LONDON
SARAJEVO AERIAL VIEW PHOTO BY MIRKO BOŽIĆ
 SLAVEN
1992
DAVOR
OGNJEN

2002

2012
CONTENTS

A. FOREWORD
B. WORD BY JANET COHEN
C. WORD BY JUDITH HASSAN
D. 1992 – 2012
E. ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS OF
THE YOUNG GENERATION
F. CHILDREN BORN IN
THE UNITED KINGDOM
G. MEMBERS WHO DIED IN
THE UNITED KINGDOM
H. PRODUCTION TEAM
 FOREWORD
It has been 20 years since we fled the war in our home-
land, our dreams shattered and our lives in ruin. Who
would have believed then that one day we were going
to mark that anniversary with our heads held high,
proud of all that we had achieved in the years gone by.
Metaphorically speaking we did not allow the sinking
ship to drag us to the bottom of the sea where we
would drown. We exposed ourselves to the elements,
navigated some very rough seas swimming for our lives
– as it was, we proved to be good swimmers and,
though exhausted, safely reached shores where we are
today.
Was it the pure fight for survival that made us what we
are and where we are today, or was it always ingrained
in us – this ability to never give up hope? Was this resil-
ience inherited from our Jewish forebears - this ability to
close our ranks in face of adversity and fight for both
our future and that of our children? Whatever it was,
here we are twenty years later, a living proof that hu-
man spirit is indomitable, that life can bring tragedy but
also joy, that human beings can inflict awful things to
one another but also have an immense capacity for
generosity.
A completely new dimension was added to our identity.
We became aware what being a Jew really means –
not only a victim throughout history but also mutual sup-
port, cordiality and a feeling of belonging. This under-
standing was kindly brought forth to us by the British
Jewish community through its various agencies who
were more than welcoming.
This anniversary is also time for reflection. Although the
scars of losing our homeland would be permanently tat-
tooed on our souls, the wounds do not hurt as much as
they used to. Our younger generation helped us to see
things differently; prompted us to look into future rather
than to constantly dwell on past. Some in our Commu-
nity have already retired, others are approaching retire-
ment. The majority of us were in their forties when we
first arrived here. Most of our children who were of pri-
mary school age then are now architects, engineers,
scientists, bankers. Today some have families of their
own. A lot of us are blessed with grandchildren who
were born here, in the country that 20 years ago
opened its doors, let us in and helped us rebuild our
lives brick by brick. You will always love your birth
mother but you can equally love your adopted mother,
the one that was there for you in your greatest hour of
need, who provided shelter and food and warmth when
you were abandoned and lost. And to her and our Jew-
ish friends goes our BIG THANK YOU today on the oc-
casion of our 20th Anniversary.
A WORD BY JANET COHEN
THE BOSNIANS IN LONDON 20 YEARS AFTER THEIR ARRVAL
It will be twenty years, since the Bosnians arrived in the U.K.
from a War in Bosnia. Many were in a mixed marriage, either
ethnically or religiously, but in every case one partner was Jew-
ish. Many had very different political affiliations and others came
to join children already here in London, leaving close family
members behind, mainly old parents, who were Holocaust Sur-
vivors, with terrible tales to tell. It was only because there was a
very strong team of people to help The Jewish Refugees Com-
mittee of CBF now WJR that we were able to deal with the
scope of all the problems. Jewish Care became a genuine and
hard working partner and The Holocaust Survivors Centre
helped us especially with all the elderly Holocaust Survivors and
the terrible problems of having to leave their homes for the sec-
ond time in their lives, due to war, and their terrible experi-
ences.
They started to arrive in 1992, to escape the war in Bosnia. The
numbers then began to increase and by the middle of the year
over Yontov, became a flood. We had no idea when or how peo-
ple would get to us or find us. They all left Bosnia, in hot
weather and arrived with a suitcase full of summer clothes and
nothing suitable for a cool damp October. One of our first jobs
was to obtain clothing for them all, apart from pushchairs, nap-
pies and many other basic needs, including fares and money.
The Jewish Refugees Committee had to sort out all their Docu-
ments and interview them, as we had no idea who any of them
were. Sometimes we had a list from JDC in Zagreb or Sarajevo,
some came to us through children already in the U.K. One fam-
ily came via Switzerland to join family in the U.K. Jewish Care
arranged the meals for them, CBF the accommodation. The
Jews Temporary Shelter, and a Jewish Hotel in Golders Green,
apart from those that went to friends and relatives, were the
main places where they stayed. No one spoke English, so this
was also a big problem and we had to organise English lessons
fairly fast and Jewish Care tried to find them some kind of jobs,
one couple helped them write a CV.
Some had suffered great trauma having to leave Bosnia, fami-
lies were divided and were re-united from Zagreb after the fight-
ing finished. A Lawyer, who arrived with his wife and a cousin of
the Ha'ham was the oldest refugee to come to this country, and
had written the Constitution of Yugoslavia. The next essential
thing we all had to do was to raise as much money as we could
as fast as we could. The Friends Committee WJR and myself as
the then Chairman of the Women's Division decided to do a joint
large Dinner at Sotheby's we collected items to sell in Sotheby's
sales and at small sale rooms and had a big very successful
Dinner at Sotheby's and auction.
It is now 20 years since the war in Bosnia, and everyone has
now, through the partnership and close work of the Holocaust
Survivors Centre, and World Jewish Relief, become part of both
Jewish and English life in the UK and the Meetings at the Cen-
tre, help to keep some Bosnian Language and Culture alive.
There were many people who helped to resettle the Bosnians
into life in the UK, something to celebrate and be proud off,
hence no names in this article, but grateful thanks are due to
you all.
Janet Cohen, Jewish Refugees Committee WJR
A WORD BY JUDITH HASSAN
“A long period of time has elapsed since I first became aware and
later involved with your group of refugees from the Former Yugosla-
via.
I had been working with refugees and survivors of the Nazi Holocaust
for about 20 years when I heard of the plight of the refugees from the
former Yugoslavia. My initial response to your group was based on
what I had learned from Holocaust survivors, namely, about the vital
importance of traumatized people being together, strengthening each
other, and having a sense of belonging and identity. I believe that
comparisons of suffering are not helpful as each experience is
unique. I used this background knowledge to guide me, but was
aware that I needed to open my mind, to make no assumptions, and
to see the differences in terms of newly arrived refugees compared to
those who had lived in the UK for so many years When I began my
work with your group it was a learning curve for me.
I need to pay tribute to WJR’s outstanding work in the reception and
settlement of your group including its assistance with benefits, finan-
cial support, English lessons, housing, immigration issues etc. With-
out their work I would not have been able to develop the services that
continue till today.
Branko helped me to understand the cultural background of your
group and the political and religious differences represented in the
group. I had to practice pronouncing your names and attuning myself
to the sound of an unfamiliar language. Working in partnership with
Branko, we set up a monthly lunch time social group for the older
Bosnian refugees.
Being aware of the potential emotional repercussions of war trauma,
it was decided that a member of the Shalvata team would also partici-
pate in the group and get to know them individually. This allowed a
gradual process of integration into the UK rather than immediate as-
similation.
I saw how you supported each other, how you disseminated informa-
tion, how you created a network of organizations that could help you
with work experience/employment and with issues related to Juda-
ism. For me the model of the Friends of La Benevolencia is a blue-
print of how to offer meaningful responses to refugees/survivors As
with the Holocaust survivors, I learned from you not to take things for
granted, including peace, stability, health and comfort. Exposure to
these raw emotions that I felt in relation to your experiences shaped
my responses.
The transfer of the group to the HSC was not just about offering bet-
ter premises, but also, I hoped, would give a message of permanency
and inclusion into the community.
It is very clear to me in my work that the Jewish dimension is funda-
mental to the services we provide. Without forcing religion on those
who attend, I believe that if the service is viewed positively this can
impact on someone’s Jewish identity. I found it interesting that over
time your group began to ask for lectures in Jewish history and in-
volvement in the Jewish festivals even though there is diversity in the
group’s religious background.
I have the greatest admiration for what you as individuals and as a
group have achieved. Despite all the odds against you, you have
made lives for yourselves, and for some of you, had to cope with ad-
ditional trauma since living in the UK.
I hope that I could also find some way of continuing to support your
group, and perhaps you have some ideas about how this could be
done. I will also use the enormous amount I have learned from you all
to guide me in my role with other refugee groups I consult to.
I believe that the Jewish Bosnian group should be brought to the me-
dia’s attention as an outstanding example of how well you have
coped and integrated into the UK”.
Judith Hassan OBE, Special Advisor
Therapeutic Service for Survivors and Refugees (Jewish Care)
Excerpts from an interview given to SaLon, September 2012
 1992 godina je godina početka rata u Bosni i Hercego- a nadom protkanog života. Sav taj prostor smješten između ove dvije kra-
vini koji je pokrenuo egzodus članova Saveza jevre- jnosti desio se te 1992. godine. Te godine, počev od 9-og januara, pa sve
jskih opština Bosne i Hercegovine. do oktobra, većina nas se obrela ovde u Ve-
likoj Britaniji sa turističkim ‘namjerama’ u
Glavne zemlje recipijenti su bile Izrael, Velika Britanija,
džepu. Te godine su ovdašnje imigracione
Kanada, Španija i USA.
vlasti od novembra uvele režim viza koji je
Izlazak iz Sarajeva je bio pažljivo planiran i organizovan, oduzeo dah i skoro nas zaustavio mnogo prije
pri čemu glavne uloge pripadaju Predsjedništvu Jevre- Hitroa i drugih zračnih luka, ali ne sas-
jske opštine u Sarajevu, Izraelskoj Jevrejskoj Agenciji i vim. Priteklo nam se u pomoć pa
Jointu (American Jewish Distribution Committee). su počela da frcaju garantna
pisma te je još poneko
Iz Sarajeva, evakuacija se kretala u dva pravca:
pristigao. No 1992. je
a. Sarajevo – Makarska – Pirovac – Zagreb – Izrael/ os- okosnica i začetnik
tale zemlje svega onoga što je iz
b. Sarajevo – Beograd – (Budimpešta) – Izrael/ostale tog priliva proizašlo.
zemlje BROOKLAND GUEST HOUSE Te godine smo
U Veliku Bri- stigli, svjesno ili
taniju je od januara do novembra intuitivno, razmišljajući ili nečijom sugestijom, ali
1992 stiglo oko 40 porodica ili preko tek tu smo se obreli i počeli se osvrtati u ne-
140 pojedinaca, pripadnika Saveza doumici. Na našu sreću ova nas je zemlja pustila
jevrejskih opština Bosne i Hercego- da uđemo, a na našu još veću sreću ovdašnja
vine. Jevrejska zajednica ovdje se Jevrejska zajednica je posjedovala ogromno
angažovala oko obezbjeđenja neo- iskustvo u prihvatu izbjeglica iz ranijih pogubnih vre-
phodnih garantnih pisama što je mena prije i za vrijeme Drugog svjetskog rata.
PAINFUL FAREWEL omogućilo ulazak još po nekom po- Kažemo na našu sreću, jer se ta Jevrejska zajednica,
BOLNI RASTANAK
jedincu ili porodici. personificirana u WJR-u, sa oduševljenjem, entuzijaz-
WJR pomaže u prihvatu i privre- mom, požrtvovanošću i nadasve velikim srcem, prihvatila
menom smještaju. U tu svrhu obezbijeđeni su zadatka da nam
hoteli ‘Croft’ i ‘Brookland’ u Golders Green-u i ublaži boli i strah. I taj
JTS (Jewish Temporary Shelter) u Willesden-u kolektivni odnos prema nama,
otvorio nam je do tada pre-
WJR se detaljno angažuje na snimanju bitnih morene oči da mi i jesmo neki
potreba izbjeglica, njihovom odijevanju i ishrani, kolektiv. Izgleda da smo taj dio
aplikacijama za legalni boravak u UK, svog života dobro pripremili, jer,
organizovanju kurseva engleskog jezika, evo, trajemo već 20 godina!
njihovim opcijama u uslugama zdravstva i dr.
Zapamtićemo ovu godinu kao
Šta znači ova godina? Japancima ništa, godinu straha, zebnje, poni-
Englezima zabrinuti pogled na istok. A nama? ženja ali i hrabrenja, nade i po-
Kraj i…početak. Kraj jednog poznatog, predvidi- četka navikavanja i prilagođa-
vog, dobrog i lošeg, divljaštvom prekinutog živ- vanja novonastaloj situaciji.
ota; početak novog, nepoznatog, nepredvidivog QUEUE IN FRONT OF THE PHARMACY RED ISPRED APOTEKE
The Civil war broke out in Bosnia and Herzegovina in 1992. This war trig- other airports, but not entirely. Help was at hand and
gered the exodus of members of the Union of Jewish Communities in Bos- the letters of guarantee started flying around so that a
nia and Herzegovina. The main recipient countries were Israel, United King- few more members of our community managed to join
dom, Canada, Spain and the USA. in. 1992 was the foundation rock, the very beginning
of all that was to follow.
The evacuation from Sarajevo was care-
fully planned and organized by The Some of us arrived by conscious decision, others
Presidency of the Jewish Community in following advice, and were lucky enough that this
Sarajevo, The Jewish Agency and country let us in. To our even greater luck was the
AJDC. It was carried out in two fact that the local Jewish Community accumulated
directions: huge experience in dealing with refugees from the
catastrophes that befell Jewish people before and
a. Sarajevo – Makarska –
during WWII. We were lucky because this Jewish
Pirovac – Zagreb – Is-
Community, personified in WJR, undertook with en-
rael and other coun-
thusiasm and most of all with a big heart the task to
tries
ease our pain and fear often going beyond mere call
b. Sarajevo – Beo- of duty. This collective helping hand opened our
grad – (Budapest) – tired eyes to the fact that we were now a small com-
Israel and other BUS LEAVES FOR MAKARSKA AUTOBUS ODLAZI ZA MAKARSKU munity ourselves. In the years to come we would
countries. clarify and define what kind of community we really
By November 1992 a group of some 40 families or 140 are. It seems that we have prepared well, as we are still together 20 years
individuals, members of the Union of Jewish Communi- on.
ties of Bosnia and Herzegovina, had reached the United We will remember 1992 not only as a year of fear, anxiousness and humilia-
Kingdom. tion but also as a year of encouragement, hope and adjustment to the new
WJR assisted in absorption and temporary accommodation environment and situation we found ourselves in.
of the refugees. Hotels Croft and Brookland in Golders Green
as well as The Jewish Temporary Shelter in Willesden were pro-
vided for the purpose.
WJR engaged in detailed screening of the refugees’ needs. They provided
for their clothing and food, assisted in their applications for the legal status
in the UK, organized English courses, advised on their options in health ser-
vices etc.
Who was this year significant for? Probably not for the Japanese and little
for the British but for us it meant the end and at the same time the new be-
ginning - the end of the life we knew, be it good or bad, the life destroyed by
war; and the beginning of a new, unknown unpredictable life intertwined with
hope.
From 9th January till the end of October 1992 the majority of us found our-
selves in the UK. In November the Immigration Authorities introduced a visa
CROFT HOTEL
regime which almost stopped us in our tracks long before Heathrow and
 Ove godine se završio masovni dolazak jevrejskih
izbjeglica iz bivše Jugoslavije. Naravno, u nekoliko
navrata pojedinci su stizali ove i naredne godine,
ali više nije bilo navale kao krajem 1992. Nastavljena su
druženja započeta u
Boravak u našim prvim prihvatilištima, prenoćištima i hotelima u Golders
našim prvim prihva-
Green-u, iako tada toga nismo bili svjesni, trajno nas je vezao za ovaj
tilištima, ne samo
sjeverno-zapadni dio Londona. I ne samo to, nego činjenica da smo bili
nas odraslih, nego i
smješteni zajedno, uputilo nas je jedne na druge. Neko se poznavao od
naše djece.
ranije iz sarajevske Jevrejske opštine, a
mnogi nisu. Neko je bio iz drugog grada, Kako je godina
ali to nije smetalo, naprotiv. Dijelili smo odmicala tako smo
istu sudbinu i to nas je trajno povezalo. shvatali da moramo
Sklopljena su se prijateljstva koja i WE WERE GREETED BY TANJA AND VLADO tražiti načina kako
danas traju. DOČEKALI SU NAS TANJA I VLADO da ostanemo u ovoj
zemlji. Rat u našoj
Tih prvih mjeseci zajedničkog stano-
domovini je i dalje bjesnio.
vanja preko dana smo bojažljivo ispitivali
Nismo imali drugog izbora
naš kraj. Nije bilo govora da se uputimo u
sem da tražimo politički azil.
London podzemnom željeznicom. Strah je
To su bile teške odluke.
bio ogroman, iako su mnogi od nas putovali
Rastanak sa „crvenim
svijetom i ranije bili u Londonu, ratno
pasošem“ je simbolično
iskustvo je ostavilo svoj trag.
označio i
Navečer smo išli u Kay Court na
rastanak sa
večeru koju nam je omogućio
domovinom
CBF. Jedan obilat obrok na dan,
koja se
mnogo je značio.
raspadala.
CBF nas je pomagao u svakom
Umjesto toga
pogledu, naročito da se
dobili smo IND
osamostalimo koliko je to god
imigraciona
bilo moguće. Pomogli su nam da iznajmimo naše prve stanove.
dokumenta.
Napuštanje utočišta i odlazak u svoje stanove bila je glavna
Zvanično smo
aktivnost u 1993. Među prvima su našli stan porodice Albahari i
postali tražioci
Ristić. Čim smo oprali i oribali te prljave i zapuštene stanove,
azila.
vratili smo se našoj gostoljubivosti
i sazivanju prijatelja. Iako Naš neuništivi
skromnih prihoda, kada su gosti duh da se pro-
dolazili svega je bilo na stolu. vodimo i kad nam nije do
slavlja je pobijedio i kraj
Djeca su pošla u školu, a mi odrasli poha-
godine smo obilježili sa nez-
đamo kurseve engleskog jezika, neko u
aboravnom sjedeljkom u Pur-
Hampstead School of English neko kod naše GIRLS GET TOGETHER
ley Avenue kod familije Ris-
vrijedne učiteljice Branke Danon. DJEVOJKE SU SE OKUPILE
tić .
 That year marked the end of the mass migration by
the Jewish refugees from former Yugoslavia to the
UK. It is true that few arrived in the years to follow but
it was nothing like the rush of the late 1992. started inviting and enter-
taining our friends . Al-
Our stay in our first shelters, i.e. the guest houses and the hotels of Golders
though our means were
Green has permanently tied us to this North – West part of London although
modest tables were al-
we were not aware of that at the time. The fact that we shared the same ac-
ways full when guests
commodation also meant that we helped one another when it was needed.
were coming. We still
Some people were
nourish friendships started
friends or acquaint-
in those first shelters and
ances from the Sa-
so do our children.
rajevo Jewish Com-
munity but many Children started attending
met the others for school and the adults
the first time. Some started taking English lan-
were from other guage courses – some in
towns but it was not Hampstead School of
a problem, on the English and some with our
contrary. We own diligent teacher
shared the same Branka Danon.
destiny and this
As the year was passing
linked us perma-
by we realized that we had
nently together. ANA, DAVOR, OGNJEN AND ANA
JOINING NORWOOD SUMMER CAMP to find ways to stay in this
Friendships made
ANA, DAVOR, OGNJEN I ANA SE PRIKLJU- country. The war in our
at that time last to ČUJU NORWOOD-OVOM LJETNOM KAMPU homeland was still raging.
this day.
We had no choice but to
During those first months when we all lived at the same place we used to seek asylum. These decisions were hard to make. Parting from the “red
examine cautiously our area. To take a tube to London was out of the ques- passport” symbolically also meant parting from our fatherland that was fal-
tion. Our fear was ling apart. Instead we were
huge, although many given the IND (Immigration and
of of us had travelled a Nationality Department) docu-
lot worldwide and had ments. We officially became
visited London before, Asylum Seekers.
the experience of war left its mark. At evenings we used to go to Kay Court
However, our indestructible
for dinners provided for us by CBF. An ample meal a day meant a lot.
spirit to enjoy ourselves even
We were supported by CBF in every respect, especially to become inde- when we did not feel like cele-
pendent as much as possible. They helped us to rent our first flats. Leaving brating prevailed and we
the shelter and moving to our own accommodation was the main activity in marked the end of the year with
DEJAN FINALY JOINS HIS FAMILY
1993. The Albahari and the Ristic families were among the first to find flats. an unforgettable party in Purley DEJAN SE KONAČNO PRIDRUŽIO PORODICI
As soon as we scrubbed and cleaned those often run down places we Avenue at the Ristic family.
place.
 Porodice se spajaju, nekome dolazi kćerka, nekome smo“ i borili se za op-
majka, nekome bračni drug. Radosti dočekivanja ali i stanak. Prihodi su bili
priča o izbjegličkim doživljajima i ratnim nevoljama bilo više nego skromni. Od
je napretek. Situacija u našoj zemlji bila je očajna. Svakom je neko ostao u jedne funte pravili smo dvije i dovijali na sve
Sarajevu ili Mostaru ili izbjegao u susjedne zemlje. Nemilosrdan život je bio načine da se nedostatak novca ne osjeti.
kako onima u ratnom paklu tako i onima koji su izbjegli. Nama nije pucalo Pronalazili smo pijace na kojima se pred
nad glavom i imali smo hrane i vode, ali neizvjesnot o našoj sudbini pri- kraj dana sve prodaje u bescijenje.
tiskala je. Da li ćemo moći ostati u Britaniji u kakvoj-takvoj sigurnosti, Nestrpljivo smo čekali u velikim samopos-
dnevno nas je mučilo. lugama da prođe čovjek koji preko starih
cijena lijepi nove koje su minimalne u od-
Iako tek površno gledajući,
nosu na originalne. Smrznuti pileći bataci
činilo se da su prve izbjegličke
bili su otkriće. Em ih je bilo dosta, em su bili
muke bile iza nas. Jezik se
jeftini. Otkrili smo i fish fingerse koje su
već savladao, onoliko koliko je
djeca tamanila u ogromnim količinama.
ko bio u stanju. Kao grupa
nismo se razilazili. Nastavili Uključivanje u britansku jevrejsku zajednicu
smo da se družimo i živimo najvećim dijelom nastalo je kao posljedica
zajedno, a CBF i Jewish Care organizovanog djelovanja JRC, Komiteta
su nam ponudili ideju da to i B’nei B’rith-a i British-Israeli Foruma. Bili
ozvaničimo. Odlučili smo da NWRS’S INVITATION TO A smo pozivani na čajanke ili na večere. Svi
formiramo našu zajednicu i COMMUNAL SEDER naši domaćini su nas okruživali nesebičnom
nazvali smo je „Prijatelji La POZIV NWRS NA ZAJEDNIČKI pažnjom i razumijevanjem što je sigurno
SEDER
Benevolencije”. Naziv je doprinijelo lakšem prilagođavanju na nove
izabran logično jer je većina uslove života.
članova pripadala jevrejskoj
U kolektivnom smislu Alyth Garden ponudila nam je druženje za Pesah.
zajednici iz Sarajeva.
Pozvali su nas na zajednički Seder. Iako nismo znali pjesme, sem časnih
Odlučujemo i da formiramo
izuzetaka, nismo znali ni hebrejski, a ni pretjerano dobro engleski, ali ipak
Klub kao način sastajanja i
duh zajedništva i svečano obilježavanje Pesaha je bio tu.
druženja. Svježi tragovi iz
našeg samoupravnog Jedna Seder veče ostala nam je u trajnom sjećanju. Desilo se da glavni
kuhar koji je trebalo da pravi večeru nije došao. Nastala je panika koju smo
OUR CHILDREN JOIN NORWOOD SUMMER CAMP sistema, uticali su da rješili onako kako mi to znamo. Zasukali smo rukave i napravili večeru sa
NAŠA DJECA SU SE PRIKLJUČILA NORWOOD-OVOM
LJETNOM KAMPU
napravimo stroge pravilnike sve prisutne. O kvalitetu
o radu, Kluba, Odbora, možemo diskutovati, ali niko
kuhinje i sve je bilo uređeno nije ostao gladan.
„pod konac“. U istom Norwood je organizovao i pet-
ustrojstvu sve do danas naestodnevno ljetovanje za
funkcioniše. našu djecu. Prvo druženje sa
Najkraće rečeno ovo je bila djecom iz britanske jevrejske
godina snalaženja. Neko je zajednice prošlo je bez prob-
dobio posao, drugi ga je lema. Naša su se uklopila i
LEON READS HIS PORTION FROM THE HAGADAH
tražio, uglavnom „plivali provela nezaboravno ljeto.
LEON ČITA PASUS IZ HAGADE
 Families were reunited; a daughter came to somebody covery; not only that there were many of them in a
or a mother or a husband. Many happy a moment of pack, but also they were cheap. We too discovered
meeting the dear ones again but also stories about the fish fingers that our children ate up in huge quantities.
refugee life experiences and war misfortunes. The situation in our country
Entering the British Jewish community was predominantly arranged through
was desperate. All of us had somebody who stayed behind in Sarajevo or in
JRC, B’nai B’rith Committee and British-Israeli Forum. We used to be invited
Mostar or somebody who fled to
to parties and dinners. All our hosts were extremely kind and understanding.
one of the neighbouring countries.
There is no doubt that this helped us to adapt to our new circumstances.
The life was merciless both for
those in the hell of the war but also On a communal level Alyth Gardens Synagogue offered us their company
for those who fled. There was no for Pesach. We were invited to their communal Seder dinner. We did not
firing above our heads and we had know the songs, except for the honourable exceptions among us, nor did we
both food and shelter but the un-
certainty of our destiny pressed hard on us. Every day we worried not know-
ing whether we could stay in Britain in whatever capacity that would mean at
least some degree of safety.
Superficially looking at things it
seemed that we overcame the
first troubles encountered by refu-
gees. We had learnt the lan-
guage, each of us to the best of
our abilities. We stuck together as a group. We went on socializing, our lives
still closely linked, and it is no wonder that it spontaneously occurred to us
that we might make this state of affairs official. We decided to form our soci-
ety under the name of “Friends of La Benevolencija”. “La Benevolencija” is a
humanitarian and cultural society within the Sarajevo Jewish Community.
The choice of the name followed the logic that most of us came from Sara-
jevo. We decided to form a Club as a mode of our socializing and meetings.
Thinking along the lines of the self-management system that was still fresh
in our minds we formulated rules relating to the activities of the Club, its OGNJEN AND DAVOR ENJOYING THE SEDER
OGNJEN I DAVOR UŽIVAJU U SEDERU
board and the kitchen and everything was spick-and-span. We operate un-
der these same rules even today.
know Hebrew or very good English, still the spirit of togetherness and the
In short, 1994 was the year of settling down. Some of solemn celebration of Pesach were very present.
us found jobs, other found other solutions – the main
We shall remember one Seder dinner forever. As it happened the main cook
thing was that we were afloat and were fighting to im-
who was supposed to prepare the dinner did not come. The ensuing panic
prove our circumstances. Our income was very mod-
was resolved in a way we were used to. We rolled our sleeves up and
est, indeed. We learnt how to transform one pound
cooked the dinner for all those who were present. The quality could be dis-
into two and how to make most of what we got. We
cussed but nobody was left hungry.
looked for markets in which food was sold at minimum prices at the end of
the day; we impatiently waited in supermarkets for the shop assistant whose Norwood organized a fifteen-day summer camp for our children. There were
job it was to cover the price labels with new ones indicating prices consid- no problems during this first mixing with the children from the British Jewish
erably lower than the original ones. Frozen chicken drumsticks were a dis- Community. Our children joined in and had a memorable summer.
 Rat u Bosni i Hercegovini se završio. Dayton-ski gdje se trudimo da našoj djeci ponudimo nešto druga-
mirovni ugovor je sastavljen u “Wright-Patterson Air čije. Sonja Radan, akademski slikar iz Sarajeva or-
Force Base near Dayton, Ohio in November 1995, and ganizuje slikarsku školu, a Anđelko Ristić dječiji pisac i
formally signed in Paris on 14 December 1995. These accords put an end to nekadašnji urednik „Vesele Sveske“, popularnog glasila za djecu i omladinu
the three and a half year long war in Bosnia, one of the armed conflicts in iz Sarajeva, vodi školu maternjeg jezika.
the former Socialist Federative Republic of Yugoslavia.”
Intenzivno se družimo, proslavljamo jevrejske praznike, organizujemo sijela,
Sa ovih nekoliko suho- roštilijade, zabave i naravno ozbiljno pripremamo predavanja i kulturne
parnih rečenica istoričari događaje. Milan Uzelac drži predavanje o pedest godina pobjede nad fašiz-
su zabilježili da je u Bosni mom. Miro Jančić promoviše svoju knjigu. Mišo Marić razgaljuje duše svojim
i Hrecegovini nastupio “Sjećanjima i razglednicama
mir. Pucanje i ubijanje iz mirnodoblja”, a Anđelko
nedužnih ljudi je zaus- Ristić prezentira život i djelo
tavljeno, ali i dalje je sve našeg čuvenog pisca Branka
ostalo neizvjesno, Ćopića.
naročito za nas koji smo
Život se odvija i mimo Kluba.
izbjegli. Način na koji je
World Jewish Relief nam je
primirje postignuto, nije MILAN’S LECTURE ON THE 50th ANNIVERSARY OF THE
ponudio treninge za posao
obećavalo sretnu buduć- FALL OF FASCISM
preko Employment Resource
nost. U našem Klubu pro- MILANOVO PREDAVANJE UZ 50. GODIŠNJICU PADA
Centra a Jewish Care je
fesor međunarodnog pra- FAŠIZMA
(logo ) ponudio nekoliko vo-
va sa sarajevskog Prav-
lonterskih mjesta, od kojih su
nog fakulteta Zoran Pajić nam je održao predavanje i pomogao da razumi-
neka završila zaposlenjem.
jemo Dejtonski sporazum, koji je popularno nazvan po mjestu gdje je sačin-
jen. Pokrećemo SaLon, tromje-
sečno glasilo naše male za-
Niko ne donosi odluku o povratku, ali naša veza sa zavičajem ne prestaje.
jednice i kako samo ime
Svakome je neko bliži ili dalji ostao u Bosni i Hrecegovini. Od socijalne po-
kaže, povezujemo dva grada
moći ili teško zarađ-
Sarajevo- London. Od tada
ene funte odvajalo se
pa do danas SaLon nije
da bi se slalo
prestao da izlazi.
bolesnim roditeljima, ZORAN EXPLAINS THE DAYTON AGREEMENT
rođacima i prijateljima ZORAN OBJAŠNJAVA DEJTONSKI SPORAZUM Svesrdno smo se priključili
kojima je svaki paket akciji prikupljanja novca za
značio spasenje. slanje 10.000 paketa u BiH. U
finasijski teškim vremenima za nas skupili smo i priložili £510.
Polako se uklapamo
u novo društvo i dru- Kako se odluka o povratku odgodila, naučiti voziti i imati automobiI se
gačiju kulturu i nametnulo kao potreba. Počeli smo da učimo vožnju na „naopakoj“ strani,
tražimo svoje puteve što je naročito teško palo našim muškarcima koji nisu mogli zamisliti da će
za suživot. Klub ponovo morati dokazivati svoje vozačke sposobnosti. Bilo je i propadanja na
ANDJELKO TALKS ABOUT THE WORK OF BRANKO COPIC postaje mjesto gdje ispitima. Kupile su se i prve starudije, naravno, ali koje su bile u voznom
ANĐELKO PRIČA O RADU BRANKA ĆOPIĆA stanju. To je donijelo radost, mada vožnja po desetomilionskom Londonu
se sastajemo, ali i
nije bila nimalo naivna.
 The war in Bosnia and Herzegovina was over. “The Decisions to go back were postponed, thus it became
peace agreement was drawn up at the Wright- necessary to take driving lessons and buy cars. We
Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, Ohio in No- started to learn how to drive on the “wrong” side of the
vember 1995, and formally signed in Paris on 14 December 1995. These road. This was especially difficult for our men to whom it never occurred that
accords put an end to the three and a half year long war in Bosnia, one of they would have to prove their driving abilities. Some even failed their tests.
the armed conflicts in the former Socialist We started buying second hand
Federative Republic of Yugoslavia”. cars which were in quite bad
states but nevertheless still op-
These few dull sentences were used by the
erable. This brought a lot of joy,
historians to record that peace had come to
although driving in London was
Bosnia and Herzegovina. Shootings and kill-
a nightmare.
ings of innocent people stopped but nothing
was certain yet especially for us who had In our Club, the place of our
fled. The way this ceasefire was achieved weekly meetings, we tried to
did not promise a happy future. Zoran Pajic, offer something different to our
Professor of International Law at Sarajevo children. Sonja Radan, painter
University gave us a talk and helped us un- from Sarajevo, organized a
derstand the Dayton Agreement (its popular school of painting and Andjelko
THE OPENNING CEREMONY OF OUR CLUB IN THE SOBEL CENTRE
name derived from the place in which it was SA OTVARANJA KLUBA U SOBEL CENTRU
Ristic, children’s author and ear-
drawn up). lier editor of “Vesela Sveska”, a
Sarajevo popular magazine for
Nobody decided to go back but our links with our homeland did not cease.
children and young people set up a school of our
All of us still had somebody in Bosnia and Herzegovina. People set aside
mother tongue.
money from income support or pounds earned by hard work to send food
parcels that meant salvation for their ill parents, relatives and friends. We socialized a lot, celebrated the Jewish festivals, organized parties and
barbeques and were serious when preparing lectures and cultural events.
Gradually we started fitting into the new society and a culture different from
Thus, Milan Uzelac gave us a lecture that dealt with Fifty Years of Victory
ours. We searched for ways to integrate better with our new environment.
Over Fascism. Miro Jancic had the launch of his new book. Miso Maric
warmed our hearts by his Memories and Postcards from the Time of Peace.
Andjelko Ristic talked about the life and work of Branko Copic, our well-
loved author. Life was going on outside our Club as well. World Jewish Re-
lief provided training for work through Employment Resource Centre and
Jewish Care offered several volunteering jobs, some of which were later
changed to proper jobs.
We started our quarterly publication of Sa-
Lon, and as its name suggests it brings the
two cities together Sa(rajevo) Lon(don).
From then on its publication never stopped.
Wholeheartedly we joined the campaign to
collect money needed to send 10,000 par-
cels to Bosnia and Herzegovina. These were
MILENA AND JADRANKA VISIT THE YOUNGSTERS AT JLGB CAMP financially difficult times, yet we managed to
MILENA I JADRANKA U POSJETI MLADIMA U JLGB KAMPU
collect £510.
 Godinu 1996. obilježili su mnogi zanimljivi i značajni
događaji u svijetu.
Sredstva javnog informisanja javljaju kako je Bill Clin-
ton ponovo izabran za predsjednika Amerike, da su u Bosni i Hercegovini
održani prvi posljeratni izbori, da je Jerusalem proslavio svoj 3000-ti rođen-
dan, u centru Londona eksplodirala bomba koju je postavila IRA, teroristička
organizacija Al Qaeda
na čelu sa Osama Bin
Ladenom objavila
sveti rat protiv SAD.
Piše se i govori o os-
karovcima, nobe-
lovcima, globalnom
zagrijavanju, o
zemljotresima, vul-
kanima, ko se od
slavnih oženio, a ko
rastao, kratko rečeno
o svemu i svačemu.
NEXT GENERATION CHATTING Nas koji smo pobjegli
NOVA GENERACIJA ĆASKA
od ratnih strahota i
rasuli se po svim
kontinentima malo ko spominje. Svijetu više nije intresantno šta se dogodilo
u tamo nekoj Bosni i Hercegovini. A mi, evo već četvrtu godinu da smo u
Londonu. Mnogi članovi Zajednice dobili su izbjeglički status, što znači da
mogu dalje ostati u UK. Međutim, ima i onih koji su dobili Izuzetnu dozvolu
boravaka i od Home Office im stižu ”prijetnje” da će biti vraćeni u BiH kad
Visoki komesarijat za izbjeglice pri Ujedinjenim nacijama ocijeni da je
povratak siguran. Rodbina, koja je ostala u ratom razrušenoj zemlji, šalje
poruke da je bolje ne vraćati se i da nedavno potpisani Dayton-ski
sporazum još uvijek nije garancija mira. Veliku neizvjesnost i dileme šta
činiti, olakašava nam naša mala Zajednica koja, u ovako teškim momentima
za sve nas, začuđujućom snagom i entuzijazmom uspijeva da se, uz pomoć
CBF-a organizuje i aktivira na mnogim poljima.
SaLon podsjeća, kako je te 1996. godine, predsjednica jevrejske zajednice
“Prijatelji La Benevolencije” Darija Stojnić podnijela veoma impresivan
izvještaj o radu. Istakla je kako su klupske prostorije postale glavno mjesto
našeg okupljanja i aktivnosti. Proveli smo tu lijepih večeri, probali
specijalitete naših vrijednih domaćica, uživali u mirisu ćevapa, doživjeli
lijepih trenutaka u bašti ispod prozora, počastili se kada bi neko od naših
članova dobio status i primili dosta dragih i uglednih gostiju kao što su prof.
Zdenko Lešić, pjesnik Mišo Marić, Vojka Đikić, književnik Marko Vešović i
mnogi drugi. Ne treba zaboraviti Anđelkovu školu za najmlađe, ni Sonjinu
slikarsku školu kao ni Jadrankine časove hemije za naše srednjoškolce, niti
šest organizovanih izleta. Radi i naša skromna klupska biblioteka koju je
lijepo i profesionalno
sredila Branka Danon.
Organizovali smo izložbu
dječijih radova, paradu
dječije poezije, redovne
zabave povodom jevrej-
skih praznika. Ugostili smo
Radeta Šerbedžiju, Zora-
na Pajića,Valeriju Škrinjar-
Tvrz, Jakicu Fincija, Miru
Jančića, Cheryl Mariner, DARIJA PRESIDING A MEETING IN THE SOBEL
Marka Marcusa i Saru COMMUNITY CENTRE
Aaronson. Krenulo se i sa DARIJA PREDSJEDAVA SASTANKU U SOBEL CENTRU
aktivnostima na izdavanju
zbirke pripovjedaka našeg poznatog književnika Isaka Samokovlije, zatim
pokretanjem i redovnim štampanjem SaLona, glasila naše zajednice.
Ženska sekcija preuzela je organizaciju sijela u klubu, takmičenje u pripremi
i degustaciji domaćih specijaliteta i obilazak naših članova.
Podnoseći izvještaj, Predsjednica je naglasila da smo mi nesumnjivo
najaktivnija jevrejska zajednica u izbjeglištvu.
O tome svjedoče mnogobrojna pisma i
priznanja koje smo dobili, a to smo postigli
zahvaljujući koncepciji nepolitičke
humanitarne organizacije u ovom burnom
vremenu. Takav stav nam je obezbijedio
podršku jevrejskih organizacija bez koje ne
bismo imali Kluba, izleta, sredstava za
opremanje stanova, za štampanje lista, djeca
nam ne bi dobivala poklone, pomoć za
školovanje...
Međutim, ovo je bio tek početak naših
aktivnosti koje su se, kako se naš život u UK
mijenjao, takođe morale mijenjati i
prilagođavati novim uslovima. Trebalo se
BRANKA SETTING UP THE
otvoriti ka novim idejama i nastaviti dalje sa
LIBRARY
BRANKA SREĐUJE BIBLIOTEKU još više snage i entuzijazma.
This year was marked by many interesting and important events in the Vesovic and many others. We continued with And-
world. The media informed us that Bill Clinton was again elected the presi- jelko’s school for the young, Sonja’s art school, Jad-
dent of America, Bosnia & Herzegovina held its first post war election, Jeru- ranka’s chemistry classes, and organised outings. Our
salem celebrated its 3000th birthday, IRA planted a bomb in central London, thanks go to Branka Danon for our basic library, which was professionally
the terrorist organisation Al Qaeda with their leader Bin Laden declared a and nicely set. We organised an exhibition of children’s paintings and chil-
holy war against the USA. dren’s poetry evenings. We hosted an evening with Rade Serbezdija, Va-
lerija Skrinjar-Tvrz, Jakob Finci, Miroslav Jancic, Cheryl Mariner, Mark Mar-
The media also wrote and spoke about Oscar and Nobel prize winners,
cus and Sara Aaronson. We started activities to publish a collection of sto-
global warming, volcanoes, earthquakes, who in the celebrity world got mar-
ries by our famous Jewish writer Isak Samokovlija in the English language.
ried or divorced - they discussed anything and everything. We, who es-
Our important activities also included regular publication of our bulletin Sa-
caped from the fear of war, and dispersed all over the world, were hardly
Lon. The Women Club had taken care of organising our Wednesday eve-
ever mentioned. The world was no longer interested in what was happening
nings at the Club, cooking competitions in our national dishes, visiting our
in a country called Bosnia & Herzegovina. Speaking of us, we have already
club members when necessary.
been here for four years. Majority of members of our Community were
granted refugee status, which meant that they could remain in the UK. How- The president of the Society announced that we were undoubtedly, by far,
ever, there were those who had received Exceptional Leave to Remain and the most active Jewish
the Home Office was threatening that they would be returned to Bosnia and refugee community.
Herzegovina when the United Nation’s High Commissioner for Refugees Thanks to the concept of
decided that it was safe to do so. Families, which remained in the war torn being a non-political hu-
country were sending messages that it was better not to return and that the manitarian society we
recently signed Dayton agreement, still did not guarantee peace. Our small have received many let-
Community with the aid of CBF helped to alleviate the huge uncertainty and ters of acceptance and
appreciation. This has
dilemma as to what to do, and managed to get organised and become ac-
earned us support from
tive in many fields.
Jewish organisations
SaLon reminds us that the then president of the Jewish Society ‘The without which we would
Friends of La Benevolencija’, Darija Stojnic, presented a very impressive not have our club, out-
report about our activities. It showed that our Club was the main place for us ings, ability to furnish our
to socialise and gather. Here, we spent many happy evenings, trying our flats or publish our bulle-
food specialities, en- tin nor our children would
SALON’S EDITORIAL BOARD IN SESSION be able to receive gifts
REDAKCIJA SALONA NA SJEDNICI
joying the smell of
Cevapi (our national and grants for education.
dish), and sharing However, this was just
many beautiful mo- the beginning of our ac-
ments in the garden. tivities, which due to our
We celebrated every changing lifestyle in the
members’ newly UK, had to evolve and
granted ‘status’ and adjust to new circum-
were hosts to distin- stances. If we would like
to continue, we must be THE FAMOUS ACTOR RADE SERBEDZIJA ENTERTAINS US
guished guests like ZABAVLJA NAS RADE ŠERBEDŽIJA
Prof Dr Zdenko Lesic, open to new ideas and
poet Miso Maric, Vojka carry on with even more
Djikic, author Marko strength and enthusiasm.
 Prošla je još jedna godina od kako nas je život doveo da je postao nerazdvojan pratilac života naše
u ovu stranu zemlju. Okolnosti i namjera da ovdje zajednice. Svojom dvojezičkom koncepcijom,
nastavimo život istakli su osjećaj i potrebu za kvalitetnim sadržajem i atraktivnim izgledom poslužio
zajedništvom u novim uslovima života. Međusobna podrška, izmjena je osnovnoj ideji, da bude hroničar našeg boravka i života u ovoj zemlji i da
iskustava, okupljanje i druženje, bile su potrebe koje su nam, kako je ovdašnjoj jevrejskoj zajednici, ukaže na kulturne vrijednosti i tradicije koje
vrijeme odmicalo, značile sve više. A sve to smo uspijevali ostvariti nosimo sa sobom.
zahvaljujući našoj Zajednici koja je postajala sve aktIvnija. I ove se 1997.
Izleti, za koje se može reći da su najatraktivniji vid našeg okupljanja,
godine konstituisao novi Odbor na čelu sa novom predsjednicom Henikom
pokazali su se višestruko korisnim jer nam je pružena mogućnost, ne samo
Konforti, čiji su ciljevi prvenstveno bili da se obezbijedi što bogatiji sadržaj
da bolje upoznamo našu novu sredinu, nego da se i međusobno bolje
rada putem aktivnosti u Klubu, nastavak vrlo uspješnog programa izleta,
upoznajemo. Na pronalaženju atraktivnih mjesta, pripremi i organizaciji
kulturnih manifestacija, obilježavnja jevrejskih praznika i drugih važnih
izleta, neumorno je radio Draško Suvajdžić, član Odbora. Vjerujemo da ni
događaja.
mnogi Englezi nisu vidjeli toliko lijepih i atraktivnih mjesta kao sto su,
Tako je posjeta Avril Kleeman iz WJR – a i direktorice Centra za Winchester, Blenheim Palace, Henley, Dover, Portsmouth i Bognor Regis.
zapošljavanje Jewish Care-a, Corrine Mills, izazvala veliki interes, posebno
Sa posebnim ponosom treba istaći
onih koji su, što zbog godina, što zbog lošeg znanja engleskog jezika,
da je u decembru poslije velikih
bezuspješno pokušavali da nađu posao. Međutim, za nas nisu bile
napora i uz podršku WJR i JC-a
inetresantne samo teme vezane za našu egzistenciju. Sa velikim
izašla prvi put na engleskom
interesovanjem poslušali smo i predavanje Vesne Domany – Hardy o
jeziku, zbirka pripovijedaka Isaka
trgovanju “neutralnih” zemalja u Drugom svjetskom ratu sa nacističkom
Samokovlije pod naslovom “Priče
Njemačkom. Impresioniralo nas je i muzičko veče koje je na harmonici, na
iz starog Sarajeva”. Nosilac akcije
visokom nivou, priredila Sarah Aaronson, kao i kabaretska predstava
je bila naša Zajednica, a knjigu je
Kabaret Kabaretović Zijaha Sokolovića. Ništa manje
za štampanje priredio i izdao
zanimljivo nije bilo ni predavanje Dušana Puvačića na
Vallentine Mitchell. Sa naše strane, PROF ZDENKO LESIC AND MILAN
temu ”Jevreji u djelima Ive Andrića” , kao i posjeta i
inicijativu za ovu akciju je dao DISCUSSING “TALES OF OLD SARAJEVO”
razgovor sa kustosom Imperijalnog ratnog muzeja
Milan Uzelac, a veliku upornost i PROF ZDENKO LEŠIĆ I MILAN RAZGOVARAJU
Allison Murchy. Veoma smo zahvalni gostima koji su O “PRIČAMA IZ STAROG SARAJEVA”
umijeće u realizaciji su pokazali
mnogo doprinijeli da program Zajednice bude bogatiji i
Darija Stojnić i Branko Danon.
uspješniji. Međutim, treba sa ponosom isticati i ono što
Profesionalni dio posla - izbor, uredništvo i predgovor uradio je prof. dr.
smo ostvarivali našim sopstvenim inicijativama i
Zdenko Lešić, a prevođenje su obavile Celia Hawkesworth i Christina
kreativnošću.
Pribichevich - Zoric. Promocija ovog nesumnjivo značajnog izdanja okupila
Poseban osvrt zaslužuje djelatnost Ženske sekcije na je ne samo članove nase zajednice, nego i brojne naše sugrađane u
VESNA DOMANY-
HARDY čelu sa predsjednicom Paulom Ristić, koja je što Londonu, ali i ugledne goste iz sredine u kojoj živimo.
samostalno, a to u dogovoru sa Odborom, razvila niz
Nije uvijek sve išlo kako smo htjeli i očekivali. Prostor koji dijelimo sa više
aktivnosti. Pratili su i ukazivali pomoć i pažnju u situacijama bolesti i smrti,
korisnika ne možemo učiniti toplijim, urediti ga trajno prema vlastitim
ali i veselim događajima kao što su rođenja novih malih kraljičinih podanika
željama i potrebama i dati mu znakove koji bi ga učinili prepoznatljivo našim.
ili vjenčanja. Također su uspješno organizovale zabave i sijela uz jevrejske
Uočivši da je jedan od nedostataka rada u zajednici nedovoljno učešće
praznike Purim i Hanuku, proslavu Nove godine, kao i takmičenje i
omladine, pokušali smo osvježiti rad u tom pogledu, ali nažalost bez većeg
proglašenje pobjednika u pripremi naših tradicionalnih jela.
uspjeha. Izgleda da su oni više koncentrisani na ostvarivanje drugih, za njih
Bilten naše Zajednice čiji je pokretač Odbor i koji već kontinuirano izlazi, bitnih ciljeva vezanih za prevazilaženje problema i adaptacije u novoj
zaslužuje posebnu pažnju. Dijeli se zvanično u klubu čime se želi naglasiti sredini.
 Another year has passed since the tragic events in our
home land brought us here. The circumstances sur-
rounding us and our intentions to go on living here
have accentuated the necessity for togetherness in this new environment.
Mutual support, exchange of experiences and regular meetings were press-
ing necessities, which were becoming more important as the time went by.
All of this was made possible to achieve thanks to our Society, which was
getting ever more active.
The Committee with the newly elected president Mrs Henika Konforti, was
primarily concerned with the intensification of the Club activities, the con-
tinuation of the very successful programme of our outings, the organisation
of cultural events, celebration of Jewish holidays and other important
events. Among these were visits by Mrs Avril Kleeman from WJR and Mrs
Corrine Mills the director of the Jewish Care Employment Centre. The latter
was of big interest, particularly to the people who were unsuccessful in find-
ing jobs either because of their old age or lack of fluent English.
However, we were not only interested in topics related to problems of our
everyday existence. With due attention we listened to “Neutral countries
Trade with Nazi Germany in World War II“- a lecture given by Vesna
Domany Hardy. We also enjoyed a musical evening in which Sarah Aaron-
son delighted us with her performance on the accordion. Equally amusing
was the performance of “Kabaret Kabaretovic” by Zijah Sokolovic. Very well
attended was a lecture by Dusko Puvacic on “Jews in the Works of Ivo An-
dric”.
Although we are very grateful to the guests who contributed to the activities
of our Society making them richer and more successful, we have to be
proud of our own initiatives and
creativity, too. We have to men-
tion the activities of the Women
Group headed by Paula Ristic.
They alone or together with the
Committee had developed a
number of activities. They ex-
tended care and assistance in
cases of illness or death, but
were also involved in happier
occasions, when new young
subjects to the Queen were
born or new marriages were SENIORS IN “LITTLE VENICE”
SENIORI U “MALOJ VENECIJI”
celebrated. Also, they had suc-
cessfully organised parties for the Jewish holidays of
Purim, Hanukkah and the New Year. SaLon, our regu-
lar quarterly bulletin is worth mentioning. Its bilingual
concept, the high standard of its contents and attractive appearance served
its purpose - to record our lives in this country, and show the local Jewish
community which supports us our cultural values and traditions.
Our outings are regarded as one
of the most attractive, and in
many ways, most useful aspects
of our activities. They offer us
the opportunity, not only to learn
about the history and geography
of our newly adopted country,
but also to get to know each
other better. Drasko Suvajdzic, a
member of the Committee, had
A LECTURE BY DUSKO PUVACIC been tireless in his efforts to se-
DUSKO PUCAČIĆ NA PREDAVANJU lect attractive places, which we
were to visit, and in the prepara-
tion and organization of these outings. We believe that many English people
have not visited so many lovely places such as Winchester, Blenheim Pal-
ace, Henley, Dover, Portsmouth, Bognor Regis beautiful places in one year.
With special pride, the Committee announced that in December after great
efforts and supported by WJR and JC,“Tales Of Old Sarajevo”, a collection
of short stories by Isak Samokovlija, a well-known Bosnian Jewish writer,
was published for the first time in English by Vallentine Mitchell. This project
was the idea of Milan Uzelac, while Darija Stojnic and Branko Danon skil-
fully invested their efforts in its implementation. Prof Dr Zdenko Lesic se-
lected and edited the stories. He also wrote the introduction. The book was
translated by Celia Hawkesworth and Christina Pribicevich – Zoric.
The launch of this significant edition was an occasion witnessed not only by
members of our Society but also by a great number of our fellow country-
men now living in London as well as by distinguished guests from the local
community.
Not everything in our Club ran so smoothly. The premises we used for our
meetings and events were shared with others, thus making it impossible to
arrange it according to our own needs and wishes. Another problem was
awareness that not enough young people participated in the activities and
life of our Society. To overcome this we tried different routes but unfortu-
nately with no great success.
 Ovo je već šesta Napomenuli smo na po-
godina od našeg ONE OF MANY SEDER DINNERS IN THE “OLD PREMISES” četku kako smo više pažnje
JEDNA OD SEDER VEČERI U “STARIM PROSTORIJAMA”
dolaska u posvetili vlastitim moguć-
Englesku. Imamo stalnu finansijsku kao nostima da organiziramo zanimljive aktivnosti. U
i svaku drugu pomoć Jewish Care-a i tom pogledu jedan događaj je privukao pažnju
WJR-a u životu i djelovanju Zajednice. svojim značajem za očuvanje kulture, tradicije i
Ogledalo rada naše Zajednice su jezika, sa jedne, i kontinuiteta rada Zajednice sa
svakako bile aktivnosti u klupskim drue strane. Radi se o predstavi “ Ježeva kućica
prostorijama, kao i uređivanje SaLona, ” po adaptiranom tekstu Branka Ćopića. Ovaj
odlasci na izlete, pojedinačni projekti i lijepi scenski napor iznijeli su mnogi naši članovi i
slično. prijatelji Kluba, a u prvom redu mnoga naša
djeca-glumci.
Klub je organizovao zabavne aktivnosti
– predavanja, koncerte, sijela. Za Na tragu korištenja vlastitih mogućnosti
realizaciju takvog programa angažirali obilježena je 60-ta godišnjica književnog rada
smo institucije, grupe i pojedince, ali doajena Zajednice – Anđelka Ristića. Tim
smo se, više nego ranije, okrenuli sami povodom je Milan Uzelac, uz pomoć nekoliko
sebi i mogućnostima naših članova. naših članova, pripremio književno veče koje je
toplo primljeno od brojnih učesnika tog događaja.
Obratila nam se Trudy Gold, direktorica
SPIRO instituta poslije čije posjete je uslijedio ciklus predavanja iz oblasti
“SaLon” je poslije 10-tog jubilarnog broja izrastao u značajnog promotora
judaistike, jevrejske istorije, književnosti, likovne umjetnosti i filma, na vrlo
naših aktivnosti. Povezuje nas međusobno i sa sredinom u kojoj živimo.
visokom nivou.
Pisma i kritike čitatelja manje više su puna pohvala. Redakcija lista odlično
Posjetila nas je i Alison Murchey, kustos Imperial War Museum-a. Upoznala radi uz puno zalaganje svih članova. Treba istaći strpljenje i umijeće u
nas je sa pripremama ove važne institucije za organiziranje stalne postavke organizaciji rada koje unosi glavni urednik Predrag Finci, samoprijegor i
izložbe o Holokaustu, kao dijela obilježavanja početka novog Milenijuma. veliki napor tehnickog urednika Dejana Stojnića, te veliki udio u prevođenju
tekstova Branke Danon.
Prof. dr. Zoran Pajić ljubazno se odazva-
opozivu i opet nam predočio stanje u
Ove godine dešavale su se mnoge stvari u našoj
Bosni i Hercegovini sa provokativnim
domovini, kao i u svijetu :
naslovom: “ Bosna i Hercegovina – pro-
tektorat ? ”. - U Bosni i Hercegovini uvedena je konvertibilna
Veliko osvježenje i topli ugođaj pružila marka, nova zajednička moneta za oba entiteta.
nam je grupa “Trio Ladino – Kamhi ” iz
Francuske koja njeguje kulturu starih se- - Održan je koncert Đorđa Balaševića u
fardskih romansi i koja je svojim nastupom sarajevskoj Skenderiji.
pobrala nepodijeljenje simpatije u punoj
sali Kluba. - Film “ Titanik ” osvaja rekordnih 11 oskara.
U Klubu je skromno obilježen Purim za - Nobelovu nagradu za mir za 1998. godinu do-
naše najmlađe tradicionalnim sijelom i bivaju John Hume i David Trimble, “za njihov trud
podjelom poklona. Također smo obilježili i da nađu mirno rješenje sukobima u Sjevernoj Ir-
A SHORT BREAK FOR OUR BOYS SLAVEN AND DAVOR IN
Pesah. CAMBRIDGE skoj ”.
 This was the sixth year since we
came to England. We had per-
manent financial and every
other support by Jewish Care and WJR along with
their contribution towards founding of the Society.
The activities of our Society were not limited to the
Club premises only, but also covered our outings, in-
dividual projects, editing of the SaLon, etc.
Among other things, the activities within the Club in-
volved lectures, concerts and parties. Institutes,
groups of people or individuals took part in the imple-
mentation of the set programme, but more than be-
fore, our own abilities were employed.
We were addressed by Trudy Gold, the Director of
SPIRO Institute. Her visit was followed by a series of
inspiring lectures on Judaism, Jewish history, litera-
ture, fine arts and film. We were also visited by Allison Murchey, curator in
the Imperial War Museum, who talked about the preparations for the organi-
zation of a permanent exhibition on the Holocaust, which would form a part
of the activities marking the New Millennium.
Prof Dr Zoran Pajic kindly accepted our invitation and gave us another of his
accounts of the situation in Bosnia and Herzegovina
at that time, provocatively titled: “ Bosnia and Herze-
govina – a Protectorate?”.
It was a real treat and pleasant entertainment to listen
to “Trio Ladino – Kamhi“ group. Their performance of
old Sephardic romances was rewarded by a warm
reception by the audience.
Purim was celebrated in a modest way. A party was
organised and gifts were given to the youngest mem-
bers of our Society. We also celebrated Pesach.
It has already been mentioned that we started relying
more on our own resources when organising interest-
ing activities. An event worth mentioning due to its
significance in keeping our cultural tradition and the
language alive was the performance of “The Small
Hedgehog’s House” based on the adaptation of the
favourite children book by Branko Copic. Most of our
members and
friends of the
Club took part
in this delightful project but primarily
it was the result of the endeavours
by our children actors.
Relying further on our own capabili-
ties, we marked the 60th anniversary
of the literary work of Andjelko Ris-
tic, a doyen of the Society. For that
occasion Milan Uzelac, assisted by
a number of our members, prepared
a literary evening which was warmly
welcomed by the many present at
GENERATION CLASH IN BOGNOR REGIS
the event.
SUKOB GENERACIJA U BOGNOR REGIS
By its festive tenth issue, SaLon had
matured and became a major pro-
moter of our activities. It also served as a link with the society in which we
live. The letters received by readers were more or less full of praise. All of
the Editorial Board of the bulletin worked really hard. We should particularly
commend the patience and skill of Predrag Finci - the editor, the striving for
excellence of Dejan Stojnic - the art director, and the large contribution of
Branka Danon to its translation.
Some world events that caught
our attention this year were:
- In Bosnia and Herzegovina, in-
troduction of the Convertible Mark
- the new currency for both enti-
ties.
- The concert of Djordje Balasevic
in Sarajevo’s ‘Skenderija’
- The Titanic won a record break-
ing 11 Oscars.
- The winners of the Nobel Peace
OUR SENIORS (SOME GRANDCHILDREN TOO) IN GREENWICH Prize for 1998 were John Hume
SENIORI (I PONEKO UNUČE) U GRINIČU and David Trimble, “for their effort
to find a peaceful resolution for
the conflicts in Northern Ireland ”.
 Već je sedam godina kako smo ovdje. Kažu da su to
kritične godine u braku. A naša veza sa novom
domovinom sve je jača, druženje u Zajednici biva sve
opuštenije, a time i ljepše. Grč koji smo donijeli i dugo nosili je oslabio, a
kod nekih i potpuno nestao, da bi bio zamijenjen normalnom borbom za
egzistenciju i prepuštanjem svemu onom što nam život pruža. Tako se ove
godine Maja Albahari zaposlila i radi već nekoliko mjeseci u modnoj
kompaniji. Predrag Finci u ovoj školskoj godini radi istraživački projekat na
UCL-u. Irena Marijanović je na studijskom boravku u Rusiji. Saša Ungar se
zaposlio; Ivana Ružić kupila stan. Sonja Radan u decembru otvorila novu
izložbu u Kensal Rise, London. Maja Đurđevac se zaposlila na LSE;
Tamara Jovandić – naš prijatelj – održala samostalnu izložbu u Workshop
Gallery, Chelsea. Stabilizacija života omogućava našim Seniorima mnoge
aktivnosti, među kojima istaknuto mjesto zauzima popularna Škola
engleskog jezika koju vodi požrtvovana Myra Green.
I pored toga što već stvaramo nova priateljstva i veze na poslu, u susjed-
stvu, preko djece i na razne druge načine, mnogi od nas se još uvijek
BACK FROM AN EXHAUSTING OUTING
POVRATAK SA ISCRPLJUJUĆEG IZLETA
najradije kreću među prijateljima sa kojima su došli
ovamo, a to znači članovima 'Prijatelja La Benevolen-
cije'.
Družimo se mi i van Kluba i u Klubu i kad nema nekog naročitog programa,
ali nam je drago kada naše druženje ima sadržaj. Tokom ove godine posto-
jao je jasan koncept i osiguran zanimljiv program aktivnosti. Uz pomoć
SPIRO instituta osiguran je niz kvalitetnih predavanja a unutar našeg Kluba
imali smo razne goste: Eli Benson je govorio o tome šta je prethodilo i šta je
omogućilo naš dolazak u ovu zemlju, ali i o svom iskustvu i radu sa dobrot-
vornom organizacijom WJR-om. Vesna Domany-Hardy nas je zainteres-
ovala za jevrejske putopisce i putnike savremenike ili prethodnike Marka
Pola a Malcolm Hardy nas je u zanimljivom izlaganju uputio u načine gene-
aloškog istraživanja.
Uspjeli smo osigurati dvije lijepe predstave nama poznatih glumaca iz stare
sredine; Predraga Ejdusa i Hasije Borić – sa humorističkom i literarnom
podlogom koja nam je tako bliska.
Organizirali smo, također, promociju knjige 'Sarajevski uvod u estetiku',
autora Predraga Fincija.
Sem svima nama dragih aktivnosti Ženske sekcije ove godine su
dodata i kulinarska takmičenja ne samo žena, nego i ‘jačeg’ pola.
Izleti. I dalje i neprekidno volimo te dane a deviza je 'upoznaj svoju
novu domovinu da bi je više volio'. Veoma se trudimo u tom po-
gledu.
Ko bi rekao da je ovo već četvrta godina kako izlazi SaLon – i pored
teškoća koje proizlaze iz činjenice da nas je tako malo. To je list koji
treba da bude hronika našeg rada ali i spona sa našim ljudima u
svijetu i zavičaju. Sem toga to je i obraćanje našem okruženju.
Našao se tu po koji vrijedan tekst. Tu su tekstovi vezani za suđenje
Škariću – Komandantu Jasenovačkog Ustaškog logora: Razgovor
sa Šteficom Belak – Pavičić, preživjelom logorašicom iz Jasenovca i
dva svjedočanstva preživjelih logoraša Ustaškog logora Jasenovac
kao i dva izvještaja sa kraja suđenja. Dalje, tu su i druga, prijatnija
sjećanja kao ona na 'Matatju' - Sarajevsko jevrejsko kulturno umjet-
ničko društvo, po sjećanju naše članice Paule Ristić; tu je još
aktuelan tekst Maje Đurđevac o sadašnjem trenutku i integraciji
mladih u Velikoj Britaniji. Čini se pokušaj gledanja u budućnost
uvođenjem rubrike za mlade. Glavni urednik ove godine je Predrag
Finci. Sve u svemu, za nas prosječna godina; bolja od prethodne, a
gora od naredne. Idemo dalje.
 It has been seven years now since we came here.
This is a dangerous year in a marriage, or so they say.
However, our relationship with our new homeland is
getting ever stronger and the friendship in The Friends of La Benevolencija
ever more relaxed
SENIORS VISIT THE HINDU TEMPLE IN NEASDEN
and accordingly more
POSJETA SENIORA INDIJSKOM TEMPLU U NEASDEN-U satisfying. The anxi-
ety all of us suffered
from had become
gradually weaker or
completely disap-
peared to be replaced
by normal struggle for
existence.
Thus, this is the year
when Maja Albahari
started working in a
fashion design
company; this
school year Pre-
drag Finci started a reserch project at UCL; Irena Marijanovic got a place
to study in Russia; Sasa Ungar started working; Ivana Ruzic bought a
flat; Sonja Radan had another exhibition in December in Kensal Rise;
Maja Djurdjevac started working at LSE. Tamara Jovandic, a friend of
our Society, had a one man exhibition in Workshop Gallery Chelsea.
As they settle down our Seniors started to participate in different activi-
ties, the most popular being School of English with Myra Green their
dedicated teacher.
Despite making new friendships and relationships at work, in the
neighbourhood, through our children or some other way, many of us still
like best the company of the people we came over with, i.e. members of
the Friends of La Benevolencija. We would meet outside the Club and in
the Club even when there was nothing special on the programme al-
though we strived for making the programme of activities as interesting
as possible. A clear concept of activities this year ensured a very good
response from our members.
SPIRO Institute was of great help with high quality lectures. We were
hosts to a number of guests. Eli Benson gave us a very thorough insight
into what preceded and what made our coming to this country possible.
He also talked about his experience working with WJR. Vesna Domany-
Hardy drew our attention to Jewish travellers who
wrote about their experiences that took place before or
at the times of Marco Polo. At a later date she talked
to us about 'Religion and Culture of Islam'. Malcolm Hardy gave a very inter-
esting talk on genealogical research.
We enjoyed two beautiful performances, one by Predrag Ejdus, the other by
Hasija Boric, both actors well known to us from 'the old place'. They were
based on literature and humour so close to our hearts.
Also, we organized the launch of 'Sarajevo Introduction to Aesthetics' a
book by Predrag Finci.
Our Women Group added another item to their highly appreciated activities-
cooking competition which also included the male members.
Outings. We always love these days. Our motto is 'Get to know your new
homeland in order to love it even better'. We do our best in that respect.
It is hard to believe that this is the fourth year of our SaLon in spite the fact
that our Community is small and the topics are limited. It is also meant to
address our new environment. There were
some good articles to be found on its
pages. A number of articles were about
the trial to Sakic, the WW II Jasenovac
Death Camp Commander. There was an
interview with our member, Mrs. Stefica
Belak-Pavicic, a survivor of the Jasenovac
Camp and testimonies by former
Jasenovac prisoners. Finally, there were
two reports from the end of the trial. But
there were some other articles covering
more pleasant memories as was the one
of “Matatija – The Jewish Cultural and Arts
Society” from Sarajevo as remembered by
our member Paula Ristic. There was also
an article about the current issue of inte-
gration of young people in England written
by Maja Djurdjevac. Following this a Youth
Column was introduced in SaLon. This
year's editor was Predrag Finci.
All in all it was an average year for us: bet-
SONJA AT HER EXHIBITION IN KENSAL RISE ter than the previous and worse than the
SONJA NA SVOJOJ IZLOŽBI U KENSAL RISE
next one. We soldier on.
 U ovu godinu ulazimo slaveći jubilej koji će ponovo filmovima, pozorišnim komadima i TV serijama. Bilo je
slaviti neka generacija tek za hiljadu godina - Novi ugodno ugostiti je nakratko, razgovarati sa njom,
Milenijum. U drugi milenijum po redu ulazimo sa no- postavljati pitanja, a uljepšala nam je dan malim
vom nadom u bolje, ljudskije, humanije, poštenije, ljubaznije, bogatije, komadom iz njenog bogatog glumačkog repertoara.
zdravije, sitije, mirnije dane.
Sonja Radan, Miro Smiljanić i Tamara Jovandić izložiše nezavisno jedno od
Što se nas okupljenih oko “Prijatelja La Benevolencije” tiče, ova je godina drugog, svoje slikarske radove ovdje u centru Londona, u centru svijeta, na
obilovala događajima i dešavanjima, koja su uticala da se ova naša zajed- vidjelo i divljenje ne samo nama, nego putnicima i namjernicima iz cijelog
nica kako - tako održi kako fizički, tako i svijeta.
intelektualno.
Na Šestoj redovnoj skupštini Jevrejske zajednice “Prijatelji La
Sa sredstvima koje smo dobili, a i koliko Benevolencije”, održanoj septembra, donesena je odluka da se za novog
smo sami bili u stanju da sakupimo, predsjednika izabere Boris Montiljo.
upriličili smo si izlete u Stratford-upon-
Vera i Dragan Ungar objavili su vijest (i proslavili) da je njihov sin
Avon, rodno mjesto Šekspira, Bristol,
Aleksandar krenuo dalje u život sa saputnicom Lejlom.
Portsmouth, Brighton, Poole. Svako
mjesto, svaki muzej, svaki pub, priča su i Svijet je i ovu 2000 godinu preživio, iako je bilo ratova, kriza ekonomskih i
istorija za sebe. društvenih. Za razliku od očevidaca tragičnih i dramatičnih događaja, za nas
se ništa spektakulano nije izdešavalo, osim činjenice da smo uplovili u novo,
SaLon je glavni izvor informacija o
dvadest prvo stoljeće.
dešavanju u našoj zajednici i to je još
jedna potvrda opravdanja posto-
janja tog lista. SaLon istim tempom
nastavlja da izlazi. Razni autori su
pisali o sebi, o drugima, o životu, o
događajima, o umjetnosti, nauci,
kulturi...
Julia Weiner, Predrag Finci i Vesna
MIRZA IN THE CLUB Domany-Hardy održali su
MIRZA U KLUBU predavanje o odnosu umjetnosti i
religije u tri monoteističke religije.
Miriam Wenzel, engleskinja, zaljubljenica svega i svačega iz kulturne
baštine Bosne i Hercegovine, govorila je o zaštiti spomenika kulture u
BiH, naročito onih koji su totalno ili djelimično razrušeni. Zatim je Hilary
Pomeroy, ovadšnji muzikolog, govorila o sefardskim baladama. Bilo je i
priče o misticizmu i Kabali. Dejan Stojnić, inženjer elektrotehnike,
govorio je o najnovijim dostignućima u informatičkoj tehnologiji.
U Klubu je priređena promocija zbirke pripovjedaka “Nijedna gospa
nema posta, samo Gospa od Agosta” autora Mirze Fehimovića.
Ugostili smo Jelisavetu Sabljić - za informaciju mlađoj generaciji - koja
je u naše doba bila proslavljena glumica iz Beograda, i oduševljavala SONJA, TAMARA AND MIROSLAV EXHIBITED HERE
nas i nasmijavala svojom glumačkom nadarenošću u mnogim SONJA, TAMARA I MIROSLAV SU OVDJE IZLAGALI
 We entered this year celebrating a jubilee that would The launch of the book “Nijedna gospa nema posta,
not be celebrated by any generation for another thou- samo gospa od Agosta” by Mirza Fehimovic took
sand years, hoping that it would bring a better, more place in our Club in October.
honest, more benevolent, richer, healthier and more peaceful future.
We were hosts to the Jewish actress Jelisaveta Sabljic, a very dear guest.
As for us gathered round The Friends of La Benevolencija, this year was full Our younger generation might not know that in our day she was a cele-
of events and happenings that contributed both to the material and intellec- brated actress from Belgrade. Her talent used to animate us and make us
tual survival of our Community. laugh in the numerous films, theatre and TV shows in which she appeared.
With the funds allo- It was a real pleasure to have her in our midst even though for a short time,
cated to us and sup- to talk to her, ask questions and enjoy a short piece she performed from her
plemented by the vast repertoire.
moneys that we Sonja Radan, Miro Smiljanic and Tamara Jovandic held their separate exhi-
managed to collect bitions. They exhibited their paintings here in the centre of London, in the
ourselves, we or- centre of the world, not only to us but to everybody else to see and admire.
ganized outings to
Stratford-upon- At the Sixth Annual Assembly of The Friends of La Benevolencija held in
Avon, Shake- September 2000 Boris Montiljo was elected new president.
speare’s birth place,
Portsmouth, Bristol, Vera and Dragan Ungar announced and celebrated the news that their son
Brighton and Poole. Aleksandar started his new life with his beloved Lejla Kljako.
Every place, every It is obvious that the world has survived this 2000th year, in spite of all the
MILENA AND BRANKA CELEBRATE THEIR NATURALISATION
MILENA I BRANKA SLAVE DRŽAVLJANSTVO museum, every pub wars and crises – both economic and social. Contrary to the experiences of
(not to be missed on eyewitnesses to both tragic and happy events, nothing spectacular hap-
any outing even today) has its own stories and histories to tell. pened to us except for the fact that we sailed into the new twenty first cen-
It is worth mentioning that over the years SaLon has become the main tury.
source of information for and about our Community.
People wrote about themselves and others, about
life, events, arts, science, culture etc.; another argu-
ment in favour of the existence of our bulletin.
Julia Weiner, Predrag Finci and Vesna Domany-
Hardy gave us lectures on the relationship between
religion and art in the three monotheistic religions;
Miriam Wenzel, sadly deceased since, who was in
love with so many things relating to the cultural heri-
tage of Bosnia and Herzegovina talked about protec-
tion of its cultural monuments some of which were
partially or completely destroyed. Hilary Pomeroy, a
musicologist, gave us a lecture on Sephardic bal-
lads. There was a talk about Mysticism and Cabbala.
Dejan Stojnic, an expert, talked to us about latest PRESIDENT BORIS DELIVERES HIS ANNUAL REPORT
developments in information technology. PREDSJEDNIK BORIS PODNOSO IZVJEŠTAJ
 Evo jednog jubileja. Izdali smo 20-ti broj Salona, i tu ove 2001 godine vode klub. Za predsjenika Zajednice
činjenicu obilježili u Klubu. Listamo naš glavni izvor je ponovo izabran Boris Montiljo.
informacija o događanjima u našem klubu. Izvještaj sa
Na internacionalnom, političko-ekonomskom i ostalim
Godišnje skupštine kazuje, između ostalog, kako su nas zaključno sa
planovima ova će godina ući u povijest, nažalost više po zlu nego dobru; 11.
krajem ove 2001 zauvjek napustili neki članovi, kao Čučo Albahari, Moni
septembra u “Twin Towers“ u Njujorku zabili su se oteti putnički avioni
kojima su upravljali ljudi sumanutog uma,
ljudi kojima je iracionalnost i bezumlje
nadjačalo svaku racionalnost. Od toga
dana postali smo nijemi posmatrači (na
svu sreću ne i sudionici), ratova u Iraku,
Afganistanu…Kao nus-produkt ovakvog
razvoja sada na aerodromima moramo
prolaziti kroz duge i mukotrpne ponekad i
ponižavajuće kontrole.
U Indiji u zemljotresu poginulo 20.000
ljudi.
US unilateralno ukinula poznatu ratnu doktrinu “Rat zvijezda”. To je dakako
VESNA AND MALCOLM HOSTED A FEW EVENINGS
VESNA I MALCOM SU BILI DOMAĆINI U VIŠE NAVRATA
prošlo dosta neopaženo, ali da su ljudi bili svjesni da im je do tog momenta
nad glavama kružilo hiljade kojekavih naprava koje su bile u stanju uništiti u
jednom trenu sve živo, ipak taj događaj ne bi prošao tako neopaženo.
Konforti, Mudževera Danon, Betika Stojnić, Ađelko Ristić, ali smo zato kako
navodi izvjestitelj sa Skupštine, “dobili prinove Anu Suvajdžić, Dinu
Koprivica, dvije Hane - Bavčić i Volić, Miu Camera, Aleksandru Jolić, Yonela
Stefan-Milića, Tea Ungara, Luku Janjića, Antony-a Camara…”.
Zajednica radi punom parom u nekoliko osnovnih funkcija, kao što su
izdavanje SaLona, izleti koji postaju sve privlačniji (Ely, Ipswich, Worthing,
Eastbourne), Ženska sekcija nas je prijatno iznenađivala svojim kulinarskim
i drugim rukotvorinama, radilo se dosta sa seniorima.
Prof. Bojan Bujić iz Oxforda održao nam je predavanje o instrumentalnoj
jevrejskoj muzici, Draško Suvajdžić davao nam je na jednoj sjedeljki
praktične savjete u stilu uradi sam. Slušali smo interesantan ciklus
predavanja “Zlatno doba Jevrejstva u Španiji” profesora Michaela Alperta sa
Westminster univerziteta, kao i predavanje “Od cionističkog pokreta do
državnosti” koje je održao Stephen Bank.
Prikupili smo novac da sebi priuštimo nekoliko sjedeljki, iliti sijela uz
ćaskanja, “vino i gitare”, obilježili smo Purim, Pesah, Hanuku-ovoga puta
svjeće je palio Slaven Ungar
Ove godine u Odbor su izabrani Olja Ristić, Draško Suvajdžić, Jadranka MILAN’S 70TH BIRTHDAY IN CHICHESTER
Smiljanić, Mile Švarc, Vera Ungar i Boris Montiljo kojima je povjereno da MILANOV SEDAMDESETI ROĐENDAN U CHICHESTER-U
 The twentieth issue of our bulletin was published. That was given by Prof Michael Alpert from the Westmin-
was a jubilee marked in the premises we used at that ster University. We also heard a series of lectures un-
time and by an article that appeared in the SaLon it- der the title: “From the Zionistic Movement to the
self. State”, given by Mr Stephen Bank.
We leaf through the pages of SaLon No. 23 the main source of information With contributions from our members and friends we managed to organize
about the events in our Society. The Annual Assembly Report sadly informs parties –wine and guitars included. We did not fail to remember, mark and
us that by the end of 2001 some members of our community left us for ever. celebrate Purim, Pesach and Hanukkah. Slaven Ungar lit the candles on
They are Cuco Albahari, Moni Konforte, Mudzevera Danon, Betika Stojnic, that occasion.
Andelko Ristic. On the other hand we were joined by the newly born Ana
Suvajdzic, Dino Koprivica, two Hanas – Bavcic and Volic, Mia Camera, At the Annual Assembly a new Board was elected. They were entrusted to
Aleksandra Jolic, Yonel Stefan-Milic, Teo Ungar, Luka Janjic and Anthony run the Club affairs for a year to the best of their abilities. Boris Montiljo was
Camara. re-elected for president.
The Society continued to run an active schedule through several basic func- On the international, political, economic and some other levels this year will
tions like publishing of the SaLon, organizing outings which became in- be sadly remembered in his-
creasingly attractive, helping the needy and infirm and working with the Sen- tory more by evil than by
iors. good: on 11th of September
Ever so keen to learn more we enjoyed a few interesting lectures; Prof Bo- the well-known New York
jan Bujic gave us a lecture on Jewish Music in Twentieth Century with illus- Twin-Towers were hit by hi-
trations. During one of our regular meetings Drasko Suvajdzic gave us prac- jacked passenger planes
tical DIY advices. “The Golden Age of Jewry in Spain”, a cycle of lectures flown by deranged people.
From that day on we became
helpless spectators (luckily
not participants) of wars in
Iraq, Afghanistan etc. The
side effect is that now when
travelling by plane we have to
go through unpleasant and
sometimes even humiliating
checks at the airports.

20,000 perished in an earth-

quake in India.

Unilaterally US abolished
“Star Wars”, the well know
war doctrine. This news
passed almost unnoticed but
were people aware that all
sorts of devices that could THE THREE GRACES ENTERTAIN THE MEMBERS
destroy everything on earth in TRI GRACIJE ZABAVLJAJU DRUŠTVO
THERE WAS EXCITEMENT BEFOR THE COMPETITION FOR THE BEST FANCY DRESS one minute were circling
UZBUĐENJE PRIJE IZBORA NAJBOLJE MASKE
above their heads, much
 2002. godina je godina kada je Euro postao zvanična
valuta za 12 zemalja Evropske unije. U CERN-u Šva-
jcarskoj je uzbudljiva godina sa mnogo otkrića među
kojim i proizvodnja velikog broja čestica antimaterije. U Hagu počelo
suđenje Slobodanu Miloseviću. Brazil je postao svjetski prvak u fudbalu po
peti put na Svjetskom kupu održanom u Koreji i Japanu.
2002. godina je takođe 10. godišnjica organizovanog dolaska u
London većine članova Zajednice Prijatelja La Benevolencije. U
godini ispunjenoj aktivnostima, obilježavanje ove godišnjice bila
je centralni događaj. Našu ‘mjesnu zajednicu’, kako smo mi u
šali zvali prostorije u kojim smo se redovno nalazili svake sri-
jede, svečano smo ukrasili.
Organizovali smo retrospektivnu izložbu fotografija kao i hroniku
događaja iz proteklog perioda. Posebno za one starije koji malo
usporeno osjećaju proticanje vremena bile su interesantne dvije
uporedne fotografije naših dječaka kada su došli, i sada posle CREATIVITY WAS THE MAIN THEME OF THE
deset godina. Tek tako se zapravo vidjelo koliko je vremena pro- EXHIBITION
teklo od našeg dolaska. GLAVNA TEMA IZLOŽBE JE BILA KREATIVNOST
Tom prilikom smo organizovali i izložbu slika akademskog
slikara Sonje Radan, te Miroslava Smiljanića, Zorana Molinara i Henike
Konforti koji su nam predstavili svoje poznate, ali i nove radove. Sonja je
izložila i svoje veoma uspjele radove u dekorativnom staklu. Svoje
keramičarske radove su izložili Jadranka Smiljanić, Branka Danon i Bulka
Kamhi-Danon. Kako je rad u keramici postao jako popularan među ljepšim
BRANKO WELCOMES THE GUESTS
BRANKO POZDRAVLJA GOSTE
dijelom članova našeg kluba, ovo im je bila i dobra
prilika za razmjenu iskustava. Irena Altarac je izložila
svoje goblene u koje je ugradila puno strpljenja i
ljubavi.
Izložili smo sve dotadašnje brojeve SaLona koji svojim imenom simbolizuje i
povezuje dva grada Sa(rajevo) i Lon(don). Među eksponatima posebno je
bila zapažena knjiga "Tales of Old Sarajevo"
- zbirka priča Isaka Samokovlije prevedenih
na engleski i publikovanih u organizaciji
našeg kluba. U programskom dijelu večeri
odlomke iz ove knjige čitala je glumica Etela
Pardo, satirični prikaz “Dobro došli u svijet
bogatih” dala je Darija Stojnić. Etelina
kćerka, Dunja Fehimović se predstavila
prilogom pod nazivom "Mama me pita".
Jasno, jedan ovakav događaj nije mogao
proći bez male zakuske i pokojeg pića.
U ovoj godini bilo je i mnogo drugih aktiv-
nosti i događaja.
Imali smo i više predavanja a posebno je bilo zapaženo predavanje o džezu
tokom sving perioda, gosta Johna Levi-a. Miro Jančić nam je predstavio
svoje eksperimentisanje sa poezijom na engleskom jeziku. Zdenko Lešić,
kritičar i istoričar književnosti, govorio nam je o svom djelu koje je napisao u
formi tabloida, pa ga je tako i nazvao "Sarajevski tabloid". Prijatni osjećaji su
nas prožimali kada nas je u par navrata podsjećala na poeziju i književnost
sa naših prostora naša poetska ekipa Želimir Kučinović, Darija Stojnić, Dra-
gan Ungar, Milena Danon, Jadranka Smiljanić i Olivera Ristić. Proslavili smo
i 80. rođendan našeg doajena Paule Ristić.
Dolaskom u London prihvatili smo i neke ovdašnje običaje. Tako smo obil-
ježili Valentinovo, dan zaljubljenih. Istina na toj večeri, kao i uvijek, osjetio
se nedostatak muških plesača.
Izleti, vjerovatno najpopularnija aktivnost u našem Klubu, zadržali su ovaj
status izborom zanimljivih mjesta koje smo posjetili: Norwich, Worchester,
Whitstable, Petworth i Chichester.
Ova desetogodišnjica nas je takođe inspirisala da prodiskutujemo o protek-
lih deset godina, perspektivi razvoja i opstanka naše Zajednice. Takođe i
koliko ovo naše druženje znači svima nama te kako treba da nastavimo u
periodu koji je pred nama naravno sve uz pomoć jevrejskih organizacija i
pojedinaca koji su nam pružili ruku na pravi način i u pravo vrijeme.
 The year 2002 was the year when Euro became the club. During the evening programme the actress Etela
official currency in 12 countries of the European Un- Pardo read some extracts from that book. Darija Sto-
ion. It was an exciting year in CERN – Switzerland; jnic presented the satirical text “Welcome to the World
among their many discoveries was the production of a large number of parti- of the Rich”. Dunja Fehimovic, Etela’s daughter contributed to the evening
cles of antimatter. The trial to Slobodan Milosevic for war crimes began at reading her story titled “Recently My Mother Asked Me”.
The Hague. At the Football World Cup in Korea and Japan, Brazil became
And as the tradition goes with such events we served some refreshments.
the champion for the fifth time.
In addition to this main event we organized and enjoyed other gratifying
The year 2002 was also the tenth anniversary of the organized arrival in
evenings. We heard a number of lectures; among them of special notice
London of the majority of The Friends of La Benevolencija members. Mark-
was the one on “Jazz During the Swing Period” given by our guest John
ing this anniversary
Levi. Miro Jancic experimented with poetry in English. Zdenko Lesic, a liter-
was the highlight of
ary critic and historian talked about his work written in the form of a tabloid –
that year which was
hence its title: “The Sarajevo Tabloid.” Our sentiments were high at those
full of numerous ac-
evenings during which Caja, Darija, Dragan, Milena and Olja, our poetry
tivities. To give it a
team, reminded us of the poetry and literature from the part of the world that
festive look we
we came from. We also celebrated the 80th birthday of Paula Ristic, our
decorated our hired
doyen.
premises – a place
of our weekly meet- Some traditions that were new to us when we first came to the UK became
ings. The exhibition part of our calendar. One of them is the St. Valentine’s Day, a day that cele-
of photographs re- brates love. When we celebrated it this year we did not have enough men
corded the chronicle dancers, as is often the case.
of the events in the As always, our outings were the most popular activity, not least due to the
ANDJELKO INSPECTS THE PHOTO EXHIBITION WITH previous period. selection of places we visited: Norwich, Worchester, Whitstable, Petworth
INTEREST Quite interesting,
ANĐELKO S PAŽNJOM RAZGLEDA FOTOGRAFIJE and Chichester.
especially for those
in advanced years This tenth anniversary motivated us to talk about the preceding ten years
for whom the passage of time has slowed down a bit, were the photographs and the outlook for
depicting our young ones on their arrival and comparing them to those taken the development
ten years later. This vividly indicated the passage of time. and the survival of
our Community. We
On that occasion we organized an exhibition of paintings by painter Sonja discussed what this
Radan and by Miroslav Smiljanic, Zoran Molinar and Henika Konforte who socializing meant to
put on display their already known works, but also some new ones. We also all of us and how to
admired Sonja’s very successful works in decorative glass. Jadranka Smil- continue in the pe-
janic, Branka Danon and Bulka Kamhi-Danon displayed their pottery works. riod ahead. All of
As pottery had become increasingly popular with the fair sex, this event was this, of course, was
a good opportunity for them to exchange their experiences. Irena Altarac supported by Jewish
showed us her needlepoint works, the result of her great patience and love. organizations and
All SaLon past issues were on display. The title of our quarterly periodical individuals who had
symbolizes and links two cities Sa(rajevo) and Lon(don). Of special interest lent us their hand in JUDITH HASSAN’S ADDRESS
was the book “Tales of Old Sarajevo” – a collection of stories by Isak the right way when it JUDITH HASSAN SE OBRAĆA SKUPU
Samokovlija, the translation and publishing of which was organized by our was most needed.
 Ovo je godina kada je počeo rat u Iraku.
Takođe, te godine je bio zadnji komercijalni
let Konkorda, a 'spejs šatl' Kolumbija, na
svom povratku, eksplodirao je iznad Teksasa. Arnold Švar-
ceneger je postao guverner Kalifornije. Burmanski lider opozicije
Aung San Suu Kyi ponovo je stavljena u kućni pritvor. Na
teniskom turniru u Vimbldonu su pobjedili Roger Federer i Venus
Williams.
U okviru aktivnosti kluba “Prijatelji La Benevolencije” u Londonu
redovno se održavaju skupovi povodom 8. marta, Valentinova,
poetsko – književne večeri, sijela uz čevapčiće i slično.
Jedan od događaja koji iskače iz ove uobičajene šeme, bilo je
gostovanje mlade umjetnice, meco-soprana Lloyce Csackis iz
Argentine, koja nam je uz gitaru pjevala muziku inspirisanu tan-
gom. To je kombinacija klecmer i ladino muzike - koju je donijela
jevrejska dijaspora - sa argentinskim tangom. Lijepo veče uz SOME EXHIBITS CREATED BY
MEMBERS OF THE SOCIETY
muziku.
KREACIJE ČLANOVA ZAJEDNICE
Na Purimskom sijelu smo se lijepo zabavili kao i uvijek. Za djecu
je priređen mali program. Voditeljica priredbe je motivirala dijecu, oslikavala
im lica a djeca su se zabavljala i
družila prerušena u razne maske. Nji-
hove mame, tate, bake i deke su
uložili truda da to veče postanu mali
supermeni, vile, kauboji, “Bob the
builder” i slično. Naravno, najviše su
se radovali oni koji su dobili nagrade
za najbolje maske.
Povod za predavanje Dr. Henike Kon-
forti, infektologa, bila je dramatičnost
na koju su u javnosti nailazile vijesti o
širenju zaraze Sars. Ovo predavanje
je pripremljeno u trenutku kada je to
bilo u špici medija i zaokupilo pažnju
velikog broja ljudi. Dr Konforte je ob-
jasnila porijeklo, simptome, razloge
zašto je ta zaraza opasna i zašto se
teško sprječava i liječi. To je izazvalo
veoma živ interes i mnoga pitanja na
koja je Henika strpljivo odgovarala i
INVITATION TO SONJA’S EXHIBITION
POZIVNICA ZA SONJINU IZLOŽBU SLIKA
dodatno objašnjavala.
Jadranki Smiljanić, profesoru
hemije, za njeno predavanje u
Klubu poslužile su vijesti o ne-
davnom naučnom otkriću od epohalnog značaja – de-
kodiranju DNK. Tema iz vrlo specifičnog naučnog
područja objašnjena je na prihvatljiv način publici kojoj
to inače nije bliska materija.
Prvi put od našeg dolaska u London prvo veče Pesaha
palo je u srijedu kada smo se inače okupljali u našem
Klubu. Odmah se rodila ideja da iskoristimo tu priliku i
da provjerimo da li smo u stanju da prvi put vlastitim
snagama organizujemo Seder veče. Inicijativu su pok-
renule i organizaciju provele uglavnom članice naše
Ženske sekcije koje su to odlično uradile. Povremene
dobronamjerne intervencije učesnika vođi Sedera na-
jviše su se odnosile na to da ne zaboravimo uzeti čašu
vina kada je to trebalo kao i na pjevanje “Dajenu“.
2003. godina je 60. godišnjica od kapitulacije fašističke
Italije koju su neki od naših starijih članova dočekali internirani u logoru na
otoku Rabu. Po svom oslobađanju osnovali su Rabsku brigadu koja je ubrzo
prebačena na kopno i aktivno uključena u borbu protiv fašizma. Svakako da
je ta godišnjica obilježena u našem Klubu.
Ove godine u našoj zajednici su bila dva posebno sretna događaja, dva
vjenčanja. Dvije članice naše zajednice su se udale. Obojica mladoženja su
“naše gore list”.
Za ovih 11 godina u Velikoj Britaniji, mnogi su već riješili pitanje statusa i
dobili britanske dokumente. Međutim, ova godina kao da je bila udarna i
skoro svi su riješili taj problem, sem par nezadovoljnika koji su morali čekati
sljedeću godinu. Tako smo imali u klubu i nekoliko proslava dobijanja britan-
skih dokumenata. To je značilo da se moglo slobodno putovati u bivšu do-
movinu, a i krenuti u turizam. Sa onim privremenim papirima koje smo pre-
thodno imali, putovanje je bilo vrlo ograničeno. U početku Španija,
Francuska i Italija su bile najčešće destinacije, a vremenom se išlo sve
dalje.
Ove godine otpočelo je okupljanje u Café-u Costa, kod stanice Golders
Green, subotom oko podne. Sticajem okolnosti začetnici su Jadranka i Miro
Smiljanić uz predsjednika Boru Montilja. Vremenom se krug posjetilaca
širio. Najbolje je što niko taj dolazak ne prima kao neku obavezu. Dođe ko
hoće i kad hoće na tu sjedeljku i čavrljanje koje nekada može potrajati i sa-
tima.
 The year 2003 was the
year when the war in Iraq
started. This was also the
year of the Concord’s last commercial flight.
Space shuttle Columbia exploded over Texas
on its return to Earth. Arnold Schwarzenegger
became the Governor of California. Aung San
Suu Kyi, the Burmese opposition leader was put
again under house arrest. Roger Federer and
Venus Williams were Wimbledon champions.
The Friends of La Benevolencija regular activi-
ties included parties, among them those mark- PRESIDENT BORIS EMPHASISES THE IMPORTANCE OF SALON
ing The International Women’s Day – the 8th of PREDSJEDNIK BORIS NAGLAŠAVA VAŽNOST SALONA
March and St. Valentine’s Day; in addition there
were a few evenings dedicated to poetry and literature.
There was an event that stood out from the usual programme. We were vis-
ited by Lloica Czackis, a young mezzo soprano from Argentine who accom-
panied herself on the guitar sang for us Tangele music. It is Klezmer and
Ladino music brought by the Jewish Diaspora to Latin America, combined
with Argentine Tango.
The Purim party did not differ much from other Purim parties and that meant
one thing only: a lot of fun. The children were enchanted with the enter-
tainer. Mums, dads, grandmas and grandpas made every effort to turn their
little darlings into supermen, fairies, cowboys, Bob-the-builders etc. Need-
less to say, those who were awarded prizes for their fancy dresses were the
happiest.
News was spreading at that time about the out-
break of SARS. Our reaction to that was to hear
a lecture by our member Dr Henika Konforti, an
infectologist, who explained its origin, symptoms,
why the infection was dangerous and the rea-
sons why it was difficult to prevent and cure it.
This highly interesting theme incited numerous
questions. Patiently, Henika answered all of them
and even gave additional explanations.
Jadranka Smiljanic, a chemistry teacher, moti-
vated by the news regarding the decoding of
DNA, talked to us about this hugely important
scientific discovery. Although it is a very specific HENIKA’S LECTURE ON SARS GENERATED A LOT OF INTEREST feels like it, they come to these meetings for a chat
HENIKINO PREDAVANJE O SARSU IZAZVALO JE VELIKI
scientific area, this subject was
appropriately explained to the
public usually not familiar with
such topics.
For the first time since our arrival the first evening of
Pesach happened to be on a Wednesday, the day of
our weekly meetings. We accepted the initiative of the
Women’s Group to use our own abilities for the or-
ganization of a Seder dinner. The evening was a real
success. The occasional interventions by the well-
meaning participants addressed to the leader of the
Seder referred mainly to remind him of the need to
take a glass of wine as requested by procedure.
60 years had passed since the capitulation of the fascist Italy. At that time
some of our members were interned in a camp on the island of Rab. After
their liberation they formed the Rab Brigade in Croatia that was soon after
relocated to mainland and took active part in the fight against fascism. Obvi-
ously, this anniversary was marked in our Club.
Two very happy occasions – two weddings took place in our community.
Two girls got married and both bridegrooms came from our homeland.
In the eleven years since our arrival in the UK many of our members had
settled down and received British documents. It seems, though, that 2003
was the year when everybody solved this problem except for the few
unlucky ones who had to wait for another year. Getting British citizenship
was another great reason for celebrations in the Club. This also meant free
travel to our former homeland and it opened doors for tourist travels. The
most visited countries at the beginning were Spain,
France and Italy, later we reached for other destina-
tions as well.
2003 marked the beginning of the now traditional
meetings in Costa coffee shop on Saturdays at noon.
It all started with Jadranka and Miro Smiljanic, joined
by Boris Montiljo. Gradually the circle of visitors grew.
Sadly some of the permanent members of the “Costa
Club” are not among us anymore, but others have
joined us and our socializing goes on. The best thing
is that nobody considers it to be an obligation to come
to these meetings. Whoever and whenever he or she
that sometimes may last for hours.
 Jakob Finci, Predsjed- U junu je gostovala Svetlana Bojković koja nije
nik Jevrejske opštine u izgubila ništa od svog intenziteta i šarma kako je pam-
Sarajevu bio je u pos- timo iz Jugoslavenskog dramskog pozorišta. Čitala
jeti Londonu na priredbi WJR kako bi se nam je poeziju i podsjetila na
skupila sredstva za program ‘Briga o imena kao sto su R. Kipling, M.
starima’, pokrenut u jevrejskoj zajednici u Crnjanski, D. Maksimović, D.
Sarajevu. Prilog od £540 skupli su članovi Šimunović...
naše Zajednice.
U oktobru su priređeni dani kul-
Književnik David Albahari, bio nam je u pos- ture B&H dijaspore u Velikoj
jeti i očarao pripovijedanjem prisutne u Shal- Britaniji pod nazivom 'Mostovi'.
vati. Sa ponosom smatramo ovu
manifestaciju svojim djelom kao
Miro Jančić je promovisao u klubu svoju
njeni idejni začetnici i nosioci
knjigu ‘Bosna izvan sebe’. Nažalost je, kas- JAKOB FINCI VISITING LONDON
JAKOB FINCI U POSJETI LONDONU organizacije. Naši slikari,
nije ove godine, novinar, diplomata, pisac,
književnici, glumci, filmski rad-
pjesnik i prijatelj naše Zajednice, preminuo
nici i muzičari su uzeli učesće.
Prošlo je 10 godina od formiranja naše Zajednice – sa toplinom se prisje- Ovaj događaj je značajan za
ćamo sastanaka u Centru za Porodicu u Edgeworth Close-u u Hendon-u cjelokupnu Bosansko-
prije 10 godina. Hercegovačku dijasporu pošto
Uveli smo večeri poezije koje su stekle popularnost i pomalo postale tradi- su u njoj dobrovoljno uzeli
cionalna aktivnost. Pjesme iz naših krajeva predominantno, ali se poste- učešća mnogi umjetnici vezani
peno počinju provlačiti i anglofonski autori za dijasporu u UK. Ovu mani-
festaciju je svečano otvorila
Nj.E. Elvira Begović, Ambasa-
dor Bosne i Hercegovine, sta-
vivši se lično iza ovog napora
promovisanja kulture Bosne i BROCHURE ON A CULTURAL EVENT - “BRIDGES”
Hercegovine. Trajala je nedelju BROŠURA O KULTURNOM DOGAĐAJU “BRIDGES”
dana, a počela je otvaranjem izložbe slika, keramike i nakita, a zatim su or-
ganizovane posebne večeri književnog stvaralaštva, klasične muzike, filma,
a sve je završeno ležerno, tradicionalnom bosanskom i evergreen muzikom.
Najavljen je prestanak rada JRC u okviru World Jewish Relief-a sa 2006.
Ostajemo vječni dužnici JRC-u koji nam je pružao nesebičnu pomoć i po-
dršku od dolaska u Veliku Britaniju.
Ni ove godine nisu izostali zanimljivi izleti. Vrlo zanimljive posjete Windsor-
u, Wisley Gardens-u, Bletchley-u, Whitstable-u, Huntington-u i Stone-
henge-u
U oktobru je u Hvaru održan 'Bejahad', opštekulturna manifestacija namijen-
POPULAR EVENING AT THE HOME OF OLIVERA AND BORISA jena Jevrejima iz svih zemalja bivše Jugoslavije, po peti put. Naš član Bulka
POPULARNO VEČE KOD OLJE I BORIŠE Kamhi-Danon prisustvovala je ovoj manifestaciji i bila vrlo impresionirana.
 Jakob Finci, President of the Sarajevo Jewish Com- nia and Herzegovina to the UK, who personally sup-
munity came to London to be present at a WJR fund ported our efforts to promote the culture of Bosnia and
raising event for a “Care for the Elderly” Programme Herzegovina. This one-week event started with the
started off in Sarajevo Jewish Community. Members of our Society raised opening of an exhibition of paintings, pottery and jewellery. Later in the
£540. week literary evenings, classical music concerts and film screenings were
organized and everything ended in a relaxed atmosphere with traditional
David Albahari, a well-known Jewish author from former Yugoslavia, paid us
Bosnian and Evergreen music.
a visit. All those who came to Shalvata that
evening were delighted by his storytelling. It was announced that Jewish Refugees Committee acting within World
Jewish Relief would terminate its activities in 2006. We owe our everlasting
The Club organized a launch of the book
gratitude to JRC for the selfless help and support offered to us on our arrival
“Bosnia in Britain” by Miro Jancic, a journal-
in the UK.
ist, diplomat, author and a friend of our Soci-
ety, who sadly died later in 2004. Our ever popular outings included the interesting visits to Windsor, Wisely
Gardens, Bletchley, Whitstable, Huntington and Stonehenge.
Ten years ago we founded our Society, a
reason to fondly remember the inaugural In October Beyahad was organized on the island of Hvar in Croatia for the
meeting held at The Family Centre in Edge- fifth time. It is a cultural event intended for the Jews from all the countries
worth Close, Hendon. that once were parts of former Yugoslavia. Bulka Kamhi-Danon, our mem-
ber, who attended the event was delighted with both the programme and the
Our Poetry Evenings gained in popularity
organization.
and became a regular feature in our calen-
dar. We read predomi-
nantly poems from our
AUTHOR DAVID ALBAHARI - OUR
GUEST parts of the world but
KNJIŽEVNIK DAVID ALBAHARI - little by little Anglophone
NAŠ GOST authors also appeared.
In June, our guest was Svetlana Bojkovic who had lost
nothing of her intensity and charm by which we remem-
ber her performances in the Yugoslav Theatre of
Drama. She read poetry and reminded us of names like
R. Kipling, M. Crnjanski, D. Maksimovic and D. Simuno-
vic.
In October “Bridges” took place. These were the Cul-
tural Days of Diaspora from Bosnia and Herzegovina in
the UK. Proudly we look at this event as our creation
because both the idea and the organization were ours.
Painters, authors, actors, film makers and musicians-
members of our Society took part in it. It was an event
significant for all the Diaspora from Bosnia and Herze-
govina because many UK Diaspora artists volunteered
to take part in those Days. The event was formally SINGING TOGETHER WITH CIRO
opened by H.E. Elvira Begovic, the Ambassador of Bos- PJEVAMO S ĆIROM
 Obilježeno je 60 godina od oslobađanja Aušvica. U U SaLonu smo objavili i razgovore obavljene sa Miri-
Westminster Hall-u, a pod pokroviteljstvom Kraljice jam Steiner-Aviezer, Predsjednicom Udruženja Dosel-
održana je svečana komemoracija žrtvama Holo-
jenika iz Jugoslavije u Izraelu te sa Prof. Zoranom Pa-
kausta. Oko 600 preživjelih je prethodno bilo pozvano u Palatu St. James,
gdje su Kraljica i Princ Phillip održali prijem, a među gostima su bili i članovi jićem o 'Iskustvu u radu kancelarije Visokog Predstavništva (OHR) za
naše Zajednice – Cezar Danon, Branka Danon, Branko Danon, Vesna Bosnu i Hercegovinu'.
Domany-Hardy, Bulka Kamhi-Danon, Inge Ovadia, Mirko Ovadia i Paula
Ristić.
Milan Uzelac je promovisao svoju knjigu 'Ono malo istine' u prostorijama
Shalvate.
Autobiograf-
sko djelo u
kome je
autor, sa
mnogo sen-
zitiviteta ob-
jelodanio šta
ga je u po-
jedinim
fazama uz-
budljivog i
an-
gažovanog
života mo-
tivisalo da MILAN AT LAUNCH OF HIS BOOK
reaguje i MILAN NA PROMOCIJI NJEGOVE KNJIGE
postupa.
Kroz knjigu, Održan je ciklus predavanja o istorijskom Jerusalemu, o osnivanju, razvoju,
kao lajtmotiv, procvatu i razaranjima, a naš član Sveto Gaćinović je održao ciklus preda-
provlači se
vanja sa svojh putovanja. Sve ovo je pobudilo veliko interesovanje u našoj
INVITATION TO LUNCH IN SUPPORT OF THE ANNE FRANK TRUST Milanova od-
POZIVNICA NA RUČAK U KORIST ZADUŽBINE ANE FRANK bojnost i ne- Zajednici.
milosrdna
Salon postepeno postaje tribina prilozima iz drugih zemalja 'Sarajevske di-
borba protiv
nacionalizma koji se na kraju pokazao fatalnim. Poznati sarajevski političar, jaspore' naročito čitaocima iz Kanade gdje se obreo priličan broj Sarajlija.
mislilac i član naše zajednice, Milan je nažalost preminuo nedugo poslije.
Mišo Marić, Mostarac, ali i Sarajlija, sada stanovnik Exetera, održao je u
Obilježili smo u Klubu i neku vrstu komemoracije povodom smrti neus- Klubu poetsko veče pjesmama iz vlastite nove zbirke poezije. Melodiozna,
trašivog lovca na nacističke ratne zločince, Simona Vizentala. Mirko Ovadia, neposredna i sočna poezija.
sa svog stanovišta kao arhitekte ali i sa humanog stanovišta, upoznao nas
Posebno se ističe rad sa grupom tzv. Seniora koji se okupljaju u Shalvati
je sa otvaranjem Memorijalnog objekta u Berlinu ubijenim Jevrejima Evrope.
jednom mjesečno, druže se i otvaraju teme, njima zanimljive.
Ovaj objekat je otvoren povodom 60 godina od završetka II svjetskog rata.
 A solemn commemoration ceremony to Holocaust vic-
tims at Westminster Hall under the patronage of Her
Majesty the Queen marked sixty years since the lib-
eration of Auschwitz. Before the ceremony about 600 Holocaust survivors
were invited by the Queen and Prince Phillip to a reception at St. James
Palace. Among the guests were some members of our community: Cezar
Danon, Branka Danon, Branko Danon, Vesna Domany-Hardy, Bulka Kamhi-
Danon, Mirko Ovadia, Inge Ovadia and Paula Ristic.
The promotion of “Ono malo istine” (The Little Bit of Truth), a book by Milan
Uzelac took place in the premises of Shalvata. It is an autobiographical work
in which the author revealed with great sensitivity what were the motivations
for his actions and reactions during the different stages of his exciting and
busy life. All through the book the recurring theme is Milan’s resentment of
nationalism which eventually would prove to be fatal to people of former
Yugoslavia. A well-known Sarajevo politician, intellectual and a member of
our Society, Milan sadly died soon after the event.
A commemorative evening was organized to mark the death of Simon
Wiesenthal, a survivor of the Nazi death camps who dedicated his life to
INVITATIONS TO THE HOLOCAUST MEMORIAL DAY MARKING THE 60TH ANNIVERSARY OF
documenting the crimes of the Holocaust and to hunting down the perpetra- THE LIBERATION OF AUSCHWITZ
tors who were still at large. POZIVNICE UZ DAN HOLOKAUSTA POVODOM 60. GODIŠNJICE OSLOBAĐANJA AUŠVICA

Mirko Ovadia, in his capacity of an architect but also from the human point
of view, talked to us about the Berlin Memorial to the Murdered Jews of
INDEPENDACE DAY CELEBRATIONS AT THE EMBASSY OF BOSNIA HERZEGOVINA
POSJETILI SMO AMBASADZ BOSNE I HERCEGOVINE ZA DAN SAMOSTALNOSTI
Europe. It was officially opened to mark 60 years since the end of World
War II.
In SaLon we published interviews with Miriam Steiner-Aviezer, the President
of the Immigrants from former Yugoslavia to Israel and with Prof Zoran Pajic
about his experience working in the Office of the High Representative for
Bosnia and Herzegovina.
Two cycles of lectures drew huge interest among our members. One of
them was on history of Jerusalem – its foundation, development and its
flourishing. The other was by our member Dr Sveto Gacinovic who talked
about his interesting travels.
Gradually, SaLon had become a platform for contributions from other coun-
tries of the “Sarajevo Diaspora”, especially for our readers from Canada,
because many of our compatriots went to live there.
Miso Maric, a poet from Mostar but also from Sarajevo, now a citizen of
Exeter read some rich, melodious poems from his new poetry collection.
The work with the so called Seniors Group was quite notable. They were
meeting in Shalvata once a month where they socialized and discussed top-
ics they were interested in.
 Obavljen je razgovor sa Janet Cohen, personifikacijom pedagog, na
svega onoga šta nam je WJR značio i znači dan- klaviru, su
danas. nam pri-
redile divno veče i kod nekih izaz-
U januaru prestao sa radom Jewish Refugees Committee, koji nam je ipak
vale sjetne asocijacije.
obezbijedio nastavak finansijske podrške koju nam i dalje pruža WJR. Čin-
jenica gašenja JRC zvanično je obilježena večerom u Domu Lordova, kojom U Shalvati održana promocija
prilikom je Lord Leopold Rothschild govorio o značaju JRC i razlozima knjige našeg člana Cezara Da-
prestanka rada. Iako na izgled tužan događaj, pravi razlog je ohrabrujući jer nona 'Preživjeli smo drugi svjetski
ne postoje više u svijetu žarišta koja bi provocirala masovni egzodus Jevreja rat'.
i njihovo eventualno prihvatanje u Velikoj Britaniji. Sa naše strane događaju
Boris je i dalje predsjednik, a u
su prisustvovali Mirijam Volić-Ovadia, Henika Konforti i Branko Danon.
toku ove godine uživali smo čita-
SaLon je objavio izvještaj sa Jevrejskog filmskog festivala u Velikoj Britaniji. jući u SaLonu članke Vesne
Domany- Hardy, Branka Danona,
Od avgusta počinje okupljanje zajednice u prostorijama HSC - Shalvate.
Želimira Kučinovića, Dragana Un-
Promjena je umnogome bila ugodna jer smo dobili tople prostorije sa poseb-
gara i poučnoj seriji priča Branke
nim karakterom i tragovima života i rada preživjelih Holokausta iz drugih ze-
Danon pod nazivom 'Zona
malja – domaćina ovog objekta, za razliku od pustog bezličnog objekta na
učenja'. Nastavilo se sa izletima
Childs Hill-u koji smo zbog toga u šali nazvali Mjesnom zajednicom.
na zanimljiva mjesta u krugu od
U prostrijama HSC održan je koncert sefardske muzike. Umjetnice Gemma cca 100 milja od Londona, što
Rosefield, čelista u stalnom usponu i Yvonne Behar, muzikolog i muzički predstavlja neku vrstu limita udal-
jenosti za jednodnevne izlete.
OUR GUESTS MUSICIANS IVANA GAVRIC, PIANO AMD GEMMA ROSEFIELD, CELLO
NAŠE GOŠĆE IVANA GAVRIĆ, KLAVIR I GEMMA RESEFIELD, ČELO Jelena Kaličin, arhitekta-urbanista
po obrazovanju, prikazala je u
Klubu svoje novo opredjeljenje i hobi – radove u
keramici. Kao arhitekta unijela je u tradicionalnu
keramičarsku djelatnost svoje prostorne, koloritne i
ornamentalne koncepte. Jedan od njenih radova
uvršten je u izložbu organizovanu u čuvenom V&A
muzeju.
Ivana Gavrić, mlada uspješna pijanistica i Helena
Paskins vrlo kompetentna klarinetistkinja priredili su
koncert popularne klasične muzike koji će dugo odz-
vanjati u ušima zahvalne publike.
Okupljali smo se da obilježimo značajne jevrejske
praznike - Pesah, Novu godinu, Hanuku i Purim; pri-
kazivali naše filmove, pjevali i veselili se; uživali u si-
jelima, gdje je Ženska sekcija neumorno priređivala
gurmanluke i poslastice. Radovali smo se zajedno i
proslavljali sretne događaje i tugovali kad bi nas naši
članovi zauvijek napustili.
 An interview took place with Janet Cohen who per- miles from London, this being a limit for one-day out-
sonifies everything that WJR means to us. ings.
Jewish Refugees Committee ceased to exist in Janu- Jelena Kalicin, an architect and town planner in her
ary; nevertheless, they saw to it that financial support to us would continue. earlier life, exhibited in our club ceramic works, her new pursuit and hobby.
It is still provided by WJR. The winding down of the JRC was officially To the tradition of ceramics she applied concepts of space, colour and orna-
marked by a dinner in the House of Lords. On that occasion Lord Leopold ment familiar to her through architecture. One of her works was a part of an
Rothschild talked about the significance of JRC and the reasons for the ter- exhibition organized by the famous V&A museum.
mination of its operations. Although it seemed to be a sad occasion, it is ac-
Ivana Gavric, a young successful pianist and Helena Paskins a very compe-
tually reassuring for the Jewry to know that there is no need for this Commit-
tent clarinettist performed for us popular music that resounded for a long
tee to exist because this means that there are no new trouble spots that
time in the ears of the appreciative public.
might provoke large migrations of Jews seeking shelter in the UK. Present
at that dinner on our behalf were Miriam Volic-Ovadia, Henika Konforte and SaLon reported on all of this dutifully, as real chroniclers do, noting down
Branko Danon. interviews and publishing literary contributions, recipes and news from our
community. We gathered to mark Jewish holidays – Pesach, New Year, Ha-
SaLon published a report from the UK Jewish Film Festival.
nukah and Purim; we had several screenings of films from former Yugosla-
A concert of via; we sang at our gatherings and enjoyed our parties for which the Women
Sephardic music Group tirelessly prepared delicious food. Together we celebrated many
was organized in happy events but also mourned the members who had left us forever.
HSC premises. The
musicians Gemma
Rosefield, a cellist
continually on the
rise, and Yvonne
Behar, a musicolo-
gist and music pi-
ON YOUR BIRTHDAY IT IS GOOD TO BE SURROUNDED BY
BEAUTIFUL WOMEN ano teacher gave
NA ROĐENDAN DOBRO JE BITI OKRUŽEN LIJEPIM ŽENAMA us a delightful eve-
ning of music close
to our heart evoking some melancholy memories in the process.
A launch of the book by our member Cezar Danon: “Prezivjeli smo drugi
svjetski rat” (We Survived World War II) was organized in Shalvata.
From August on, our weekly meetings moved to HSC – Shalvata. This
meant a very pleasant change to all of us. Now we could enjoy warm prem-
ises with special character and signs of life and work of Holocaust survivors
from other countries – our hosts here. This differed so much from the imper-
sonal hall at Childs Hill.
Boris Montiljo was still our president. We enjoyed reading in SaLon the arti-
cles written by Vesna Domany-Hardy, Branko Danon, Zelimir Kucinovic,
Dragan Ungar and the informative cycle “The Learning Zone” by Branka Da- JELENA EXHIBITED HERE
non. We continued with our outings to interesting places within some 100 OVDE JE JELENA IZLAGALA
 Po čemu ce se pamtiti ova godina u svijetu? Muzički Mnogi članovi Kluba su posjetili ovu fascinantnu
svijet je oplakivao odlazak velikana - Luciana Pavarot- izlozbu i uživali u remek djelima pisane riječi.
tia i Mstislava Rostropoviča, filmski svijet Michelangela
Godina je duga, aktivnosti su brojne, spomenućemo
Antonionia i Ingmar Bergmana, svijet knjige Normana
samo neke: uživali smo u poeziji kojom naše članice i pokoji
Mailera i Art Buchwalda. S druge strane, to je godina u
muški predstavnik obil-
kojoj je posljednja knjiga iz serije Harry Potter-a postala
ježavaju svake godine Dan
najbrze prodavana knjiga u istoriji - 11 miliona primjeraka
zaljubljenih, u gostovanju
u prvih 24 sata.
Zaka Ozme stručnjaka za
Za naš Klub, međutim, jedna druga knjiga, za nas mnogo staru muziku i instrumente, u
značajnija, je bila centralni događaj u ovoj godini. To je predavanju Dejana Stojnića o
bila prezentacija lusksuznog re-printa čuvene ‘Sarajevske visočkim piramidama, a da
Haggade’ koja je prezentirana prvo u Ambasadi BiH ne pominjemo putopise
20.3.2007. u prisustvu Ambasadorke, Nj.E. Dr Tanje Mi- našeg globtrotera Dr. Svete
lašnovic, Svena Alkalaja Ministra inostranih poslova BiH, Gaćinovića s kojim smo ove
Jakova Fincija, Predsjednika Saveza jevrejskih opština godine putovali po Urugvaju I
BiH, Gorana Mikulića vlasnika izdavačke kuće ‘Rabic' kao Argentini sve do Ognjene
i mnogoborojnih gostiju predstavnika britanskih jevrejskih zemlje. Tu je i naša talen-
organizacija. Nekoliko dana kasnije, nešto neformalnija tovana Vesna Marić sa svo-
prezentacija je ponovljena i u našem Klubu. Bez lažne jim izuzetnim dokumentarnim
skromnosti treba istaći da je naš Klub bio inicijator i or- filmom ‘Living in London.’ ZAK OZMO PLAYS THE THEORBO
ZAK OZMO SVIRA NATHEORBU
ganizator ovog izuzetnog događaja koji je završen koncer- A PAGE FROM THE SARAJEVO HAGADAH
STRNICA IZ SARAJEVSKE HAGADE Ženska sekcija je dala sve od
tom ladino muzike u izvođenju dvije mlade sarajke Ornele
sebe da na sijelima uvijek
Dukić I Fatime Hodzić.
bude dovoljno ‘ića i pića’, a bivši članovi ‘Seljinog’ hora da ne fali muzike.
Kada smo kod jevrejskih manuskripta, naš Klub je posjetila i Illana Tahan, Pored jevrejskih praznika koji se redovno obilježavaju, nikada ne zabora-
šef judaistike u Britanskoj nacionalnoj biblioteci. Govorila je o aktivnostima vimo nama dragi praznik iz bivše domovine – 8.mart Dan žena. Da se tra-
odjela, rukopisima dicija ne iznevjeri
koji se tamo čuvaju, ženski dio Kluba
a najviše o izlozbi sve pripremi, a
‘The Sacred’ koja se muški uživa. Mora
održavala u biblio- se reći da preds-
teci u kojoj su prvi jednik uvijek
put izložene ženama pokloni
najdragocjenije ružu umjesto neka-
svete knjige i ru- dašnjeg crvenog
kopisi tri velike karanfila.
monoteističke re-
Volimo naše izlete
ligije - judaizma,
– ove godine smo
hrišćanstva i islama
obišli Cantenbury,
koje se čuvaju u Bib-
Lewes, Worthing,
A PAGE FROM A QUR’AN
lioteci i nisu dos- A PAGE FROM THE NEW TESTAMENT
Hever Castle i Ton-
STRNICA IZ KUR’ANA tupne javnosti. STRNICA IZ NOVOG ZAVJETA
bridge.
 What will this year be remem- Our Women Group
bered by? The music world always made sure
mourned departing of such that there was plenty
greats as Luciano Pavarotti and Mstislav Ros- of food and drink at every celebratory occa-
tropovich, the film world of Michelangelo Antonioni sion and the former members of the ‘Seljo’
and Ingmar Bergman, the literary world lost Norman
Sarajevo university choir saw to it that mu-
Mailer and Art Buchwald. On the other hand, the last
sic was not in short supply. Besides the
in the Harry Potter series of books became the fast-
est selling book of all time – it sold 11 million copies Jewish holidays we regularly observed, we
in the first 24 hours after publishing. did not forget to mark 8th March ‘The Inter-
national Women’s Day’ which we used to
For our Club, however, one other book much more
celebrate back home. To keep tradition
important for us was the subject of the central event
alive ladies prepared all the food and deco-
of the year. The book was ‘Sarajevo Haggada’ and
the event a presentation of its luxury re-print held at rations while gentlemen were happy to be
the embassy of Bosnia-Herzegovina on 20 March th
ORNELA DUKIC AND FATIMA HODZIC SING “ADIO QUERIDA” waited on. To be fair we have to say that
ORNELA DUKIĆ I FATIMA HODŽIĆ PJEVAJU “ADIO KERIDA” our president presented a red rose (instead
in the presence of H.E. Ambassador Dr Tanja Milasi-
novic, Mr Sven Alkalaj of traditional red carnations that were diffi-
cult to find) to each of the ladies present.
B-H Secretary for Foreign Affairs, Mr Jakov Finci President of the Jewish
Communities of B-H, Mr Goran Mikulic, the owner of the ‘Rabic’ publishing We love our outings, this year we visited historic Canterbury, Lewes, Wor-
house and many other distinguished guests from various Jewish organisa- thing, Hever Castle and Tonbridge.
tions and diplomatic corp. We are proud to say that the initiative as well as
the very successful organization of the whole event came from our mem-
bers with Branko Danon playing the key role. A couple of days later the
same, though less formal, presentation was held in our Club. Ornela Dukic
and Fatima Hodzic, two young musicians from Sarajevo, gave a concert of
Ladino music which was very well received.
Speaking of Hebrew manuscripts, Mrs Ilana Tahan the Head of Judaica and
lead curator of Hebrew Manuscripts at the British Library enlightened us on
acitivities of her department. The main subject of her talk was ‘The Sacred’,
the exhibition held at the British Library at that time. On display were the
most valuable manuscripts and sacred books from three main monotheistic
religions, i.e. Judaism, Christianity and Islam. This talk prompted a lot of our
members to visit this fascinating exhibition.
A year is long, the activities in the Club were diverse: we enjoyed listening
to some love poetry read by our poetry enthusiasts, a visit by Zak Ozmo, an
expert in ancient music and instruments, a lecture on theories of the Visoko
Pyramids by Dejan Stojnic not to mention ever so popular travelogues by
our resident globetrotter Dr Sveto Gacinovic, this time about his latest trips
to Uruguay and Argentina all the way to Tierra del Fuego. Our talented IN FRONT OF WEALDEN HALL HOUSE MUSEUM IN LEWES
Vesna Maric showed us her latest documentary film ‘Living in London.’ ISPRED MUZEJA WEALDEN HALL HOUSE U LEWES-U
 Evo nas u prestupnoj godini koja će biti zapamćena po jepa. U znak poštovanja prema bolu njenih roditelja
tome da je Amerika izabrala prvog crnog predsjednika Seke i Milenka, sve aktivnosti u Klubu u januaru su
Baraka Obamu, Rusija glasala za Dmitrij Medvedova otkazane.
koji je zamijenio Putina, a mi, ne želeći da mijenjamo predsjednika koji nam
Mi smo pomalo intelektualni snobovi i stalna žeđ za novim znanjima u
je dobar, ponovo glasali za našeg Borisa Montilja. Kod nas su se nekad
našem Klubu ne jenjava, što nije čudo s obzirom na profil članova (90%
predsjednici birali doživotno pa ne odustajemo od prakse.
naših članova je univerziteski obrazovano). Ove godine smo uživali u preda-
Ako je svijet 2008. slavio inauguraciju Velikog hadronskog sudarača, mi vanju Robina Spire su-osnivača Instituta za pitanja jevrejske kulture Spiro-
smo slavili činjenicu da ćemo zahvaljujući susretljivosti Jewish Care-a i dalje Ark koji je govorio o manuskriptima čuvenih Haggada, sa posebnim osvrtom
nastaviti s radom. Otkud bojazan? Ogromna finansijska kriza u svijetu je na našu, sarajevsku Haggadu.
pogodila svakog, pa ni naša mala zajednica nije ostala imuna. U Klubu je
Naš redovni gost, Malcom Hardy, publicista istoričar, je održao vrlo za-
bilo malo ner-
nimljivo predavanje o ‘Migracijama u Engleskoj oko Prvog svjetskog rata’.
voze oko toga
da li će jevre- Teško je odlučiti da li smo više uživali u putopisu našeg prekaljenog putnika
jske institucije, dr Svete Gaćinovića o Tahitiju i ostalim pacifičkim ostrvima, ili u divno ilus-
zbog promjena trovanom predavanju iskusnog planinara Veska Veskovića o planinama
u njihovoj bivše nam domovine. Srcu nam je bliže ovo drugo, i mnogima su se, na
strukturi i kraju predavanja, oči zrcalile od suza. Putuju i drugi naši članovi, tako da su
smanjenja nam poslije Mie Kordić i Brace Danona, ovaj put Jadranka i Miro Smiljanić
vlastitog iznijeli svoje utiske puta po Izraelu. Svaki put neko nešto novo i drugačije
budžeta i dalje vidi.
finansirati Vesna Marić, scenarista i režiser, prikazala je vrlo dobro napravljen do-
naše osnovne kumentarni film ‘Odrastati u Engleskoj’ gdje je pratila nekoliko djece sa
A VIEW OF MAGLIC aktivnosti – naših prostora (među njima i sina naše članice), njihova iskustva i iskustva
POGLED NA MAGLIĆ iznajmljivanje roditelja. Film je kas-
prostorija, nije dva puta prikazan
štamapanje ‘SaLona’ koji se distribuira i van granica Velike Britanije, na BiH Televiziji.
izlete. Međutim, sve se može kad se hoće, i kad ima dobre volje. Jewish
Care koji vodi Centar preživjelih Holokausta nam je dao na besplatno Naša turneja jugosi-
korištenje prostorije centra, štampanje ‘SaLona’ će se besplatno raditi u točne Engleske se
kućnoj štampariji, fond za izlete je ostao nepromijenjen. Važno je istaći nastavila posjetom
da se sve društvene aktivnosti kao što su sjedeljke, posluženje, de- malim draguljima
koracija sale itd, finansiraju iz priloga koji članovi i prijatelji Kluba re- poput Rye-a u Sus-
dovno daju. Šef našeg ‘državnog trezora’ Olja Ristić, za razliku od svjet- sexu, Favershama u
skih bankara, vodi računa da je, pored svih troškova, na kraju godine Kentu, posjetili smo
saldo naše blagajne uvijek pozitivan. Audley End House u
Essexu, a uspjeli smo
Godina, međutim, nije počela nimalo lijepo. 9. januara, u cvijetu čak stići na Isle of
mladosti, nakon kratke bolesti nas je napustila Maja Albahari. Svi smo Wight gdje smo bro-
bili u šoku. Sala je bila premala da primi sve one koji su je poznavali i dom obišli čuvene
voljeli i koji su došli da odaju posljednju poštu. Kao što je ovdje običaj, ‘Needles’ stijene koje
slavio se njen život, njena mladost. njen optimizam. Ona je otišla, ali u THE GROUP PATIENTLY WAITS FOR THE LEADER TO FINISH
FORMALITIES oblikom podsjećaju na
sjećanju svih koji su je poznavali ostaće zauvijek mlada, nasmijana i li- GRUPA STRPLJIVO ČEKA VOĐU PUTA DA OBAVI FORMALNOSTI igle.
 Here comes a leap year which will be remembered by
the news that America elected its first black President
Barack Obama, Russia voted Dmitry Medveded to
succeed Putin and we, not finding any reason to change our very good
president, elected Boris Montiljo to continue with the office of the president
for another year. Where we come from presidents used to be elected for life
so we continued with the practice.
In 2008 world celebrated inauguration of the Large Hadron Collider and we
celebrated the fact that courtesy and generosity of Jewish Care we contin-
ued with our activi-
ties. Why fear?
The huge financial
crisis in the world
affected everybody
not least our little
community. We
were eager to find
out whether the
Jewish institutions
badly affected by
the crisis and the
cuts in budget
themselves would
continue to finance
FORMER SCOUTS SALUTE AFTER A CONVENTION IN FAVERSHAM our major expendi-
SKAUTSKI POZDRAV NAKON ZBORA SKAUTA U FAVERSHAMU
ture – hiring of the
premises where
we regularly meet, printing of the SaLon bulletin circulated not only in the
UK but also abroad and our outings. But as saying goes ‘when there is a will
there is a way’. Jewish Care kindly offered us to use the premises of Shal-
vata (The Holocaust Survivors’ Centre), the printing of the SaLon would be
done by the in-house services, budget for the outings remained the same. A
lot of reasons to celebrate! It is important to stress that all activities, parties,
decorations of the premises, catering, small fees for some of the guest lec-
turers, etc. are paid for from the regular donations given by members and
friends of the Club. Olja Ristic, our Chief Treasurer, unlike greedy bankers,
makes sure that we spend wisely and that our accounts are never in red.
The year, however, started on a bad note. On 9th January in the prime of her
youth and after a very short illness our young member Maja Albahari died.
Our community was in a state of shock. The Shalvata premises were too
small to receive all family members and friends who came to pay their last
respects. As it is a custom here we celebrated her life,
her youth, her love of life. As a mark of respect to the
grief of her parents Seka and Milenko all the activities
in the Club were suspended for a month.
We are a bit ‘high brow’ and thirst for new knowledge is ever present in our
Club which is hardly surprising considering the professional background of
our members (90% of us are university educated). This year we enjoyed a
lecture given by Mr Robin Spiro on different Haggadas with the special em-
phasis on the Sarajevo Haggada. Mr Spiro is a co-founder of the Spiro-Ark
Institute, famous for promoting Jewish culture, history and heritage. Our
regular guest Mr Malcolm Hardy, a historian and publicist, gave a very inter-
esting talk on “Migrations in the UK around the WWI”.
It is difficult to say what we enjoyed better – accounts of his journey to Tahiti
and other exotic Pacific islands by our resident globe-trotter Dr Sveto Gaci-
novic or wonderfully illustrated talk on the mountains of our former home-
land by the seasoned mountaineer Vesko Veskovic. Tough call but the lat-
ter, being closer to our hearts, brought a few tears to our eyes. Other mem-
bers of our Club travelled as well, so this time after Mia Kordic and Braco
Danon, Jadranka and Miro Smiljanic told us about their trip to Israel and
places they visited. Different people see different things so every time we
learn something new.
Vesna Maric a scriptwriter and director made a very good documentary film
‘Growing up in England’ in which she followed a couple of children from for-
mer Yugoslavia (among whom was a son of one of our members) showing
their and their parents experiences and views on the subject. The film was
later shown twice on the main channel of the Bosnian Television.
We continued with
our tour of the South-
East visiting such
gems as are Rye in
Sussex, Faversham
in Kent, Audley End
House in Essex and
even got to Isle of
Wight where we took
a boat trip to see the
famous Needles.
CLOSE TO THE “NEEDLES” ON THE ISLE OF WIGHT
U BLIZINI “NEEDLES” NA OTOKU WIGHT
 Početak ove godine nas je podsjetio na zavičaj. Ima kod nas i muzike. Nastavljamo ciklus u kojem
Pao je veliki snijeg, koji je blokirao puteve i aero- nam članovi puštaju muziku koju najviše vole. Do sad
drome i izazvao pravi haos u zemlji. Ovdje se ne smo uživali u džezu, klasici, roku , irskim baladama.
pamti takva zima. Mi je pamtimo, jer takve su bile zime u zemlji u kojoj
Pred svaki jevrejski praznik koji se redovno obilježava u Klubu, Svjetlana
smo rođeni-veliki snjegovi,-20°C.
Marjanović pripremi uvodno predavanje, što je veoma korisno, jer mnogi
Mia i Braco su bili u privremenom šatoru na Heathrow-u čekajući let za nisu prošli kroz vjerske škole i ne znaju sve detalje istorijske pozadine i
Sarajevo, jer je aerodromska zgrada bila premala da primi putnike. Po- simbolike praznika.
čelo je uzbudljivo, sve garnirano svinjskom gripom.
Uvijek željno čekamo april kada počinje sezona naših izleta. Na pre-
Svugdje hladno, poruku naše članice Vesne Domany-Hardy posjetili smo All Saint Church
u našem Klubu u seocetu Tudeley u Kentu u kojoje nalaze vitraži Marc Chagalla. Malo
toplo. Naša po- ko zna za ovaj dragulj na domak Londona. U junu smo obišli još jednu
etska ekipa Mia aristorktasku kuću, Wilton House sa prekrasnim vrtovima . Na putu do
Kordić, Olja Ris- nje smo se zaustavili da još jednom vidimo Stonehenge – taj spomenik
tić, Jadranka svjetske baštine, a na povratku smo posjetili katedralu u Salisbury gdje
Smiljanić, Dra- se čuva najbolje očuvani primjerak čuvene Velike povelje slobode
gan Ungar i Želi- (Magna Carta Libertatum) iz 1215.g, čiji su principi - da niko, pa ni kralj,
mir Kučinović nije iznad zakona i da svako ima pravo na fer suđenje - ugrađeni, između
poznatiji kao ostalog, i u američki ustav i Deklaraciju ljudskih prava UN-a.
Čaja se pobri-
U novembru smo održali izuzetno uspješno veče posvećeno našem ne-
nula da nam
bude toplo u kad najčuvenijem dirigentu Oskaru Danonu, u povodu njegovog 95. ro-
srcu i duši. đendana. Braco Danon (isto prezime, ali nisu rod) je stupio u vezu sa
njegovom kćerkom koja nam je ljubazno poslala obilje foto i video materi-
Uvijek je veselo jala o njegovom životu i muzičkoj karijeri. Ređale su se fotografije nje-
za Purim. Tradi-
gove mladosti u Sara-
cionalno, i ove IN FRONT OF THE ALL SAINTS CHURCH IN TUDELEY
godine djeca, a i PRED CRKVICOM “ALL SAINTS” U TUDELEY jevu, studija u Pragu,
majstori parade aktivnog učešća u borbi
u Drugom svjetskom ratu,
Braco Danon i Dragan Ungar su se maskirali, nagrade podijeljene, Žen-
snimci intervjua i koncerata
ska sekcija ispekla tonu palačinki.
sa čuvenim svjetskim ork-
Klupska umjetnica Jelena Kaličin, poslije keramike nas je upoznala sa estrima. I mi smo napravili
tehnikama rada u staklu i prezentirala kako svoje, tako i slike radova ve- video zapis cijele večeri i
likih majstora u ovom mediumu. poslali Oskaru kao rođen-
Na koje je ‘daleke pute’ otišao ove godine naš prekaljeni putopisac Sveto danski poklon. Na žalost,
Gaćinović? U Indiju. Al' smo se nagledali i nauživali slika iz Indije! Velika već teško bolestan, nije us-
zemlja, pa je i predavanje bilo u nekoliko nastavaka. pio to da vidi. Umro je
Na koje nas je planine vodio Vesko Vesković? Ovog puta smo osvojili 18.decembra 2009, zabo-
Šar planinu, Kopaonik i Durmitor. Spontano smo zapjevali “Durmitore, ravljen od mnogih, ali ne i
OUR FAMOUS CONDUCTOR OSCAR DANON ON THE
Durmitore …” od nas. ADRIATIC
NAŠ ČUVENI DIRIGENT OSKAR DANON NA JADRANU
 The start of the year reminded us of our homeland. symbolic meaning of the holiday. It was very useful
Snow fell, not just a few flakes as usual but heavy, since none of us had any formal religious education.
thick snow. It created havoc on roads, it shut down all
Every year we eagerly await April when our outing
the airports . People in Britain could not remember when it was last that
season starts. On recommendation of our member Vesna Domany-Hardy
bad. We could. Those were the usual winter scenes in the land of our birth –
we visited All Saints Church in a tiny village of Tudeley in Kent to see
blankets of snow, temperatures plummeting to -20 centigrades and below.
stained glass windows created by Marc Chagall. Beautiful! Few people
Everywhere was cold except in our Club where members of our Poetry Club know about this gem at the London doorstep. In June we visited Wilton
- Mia Kordic, Olja Ristic, Jadranka Smiljanic, Dragan Ungar and Zelimir House, a stately house with beautiful gardens. On the way there we stopped
Kucinovic – Caja made sure that our hearts and souls were kept warm. to see again pre-historic Stonehenge, one of world’s heritage sites and on
the way back we visited Salisbury Cathedral, home of the best preserved
The festival of Purim is always a happy occasion. Traditionally, all children
copy of the famous ’Magna Carta Libertatum’ from 1215AD whose princi-
come in fancy dress This year Branko Danon and Dragan Ungar, masters of
ples that nobody, even
ceremony, wore fancy dress themselves, prizes were given for best cos-
king, is above law and that
tumes, members of the Women Group made piles of pancakes.
everybody is entitled to fair
Our ‘resident artist’ Jelena Kalicin gave a very interesting lecture on working trial are, among others,
with glass. She showed us examples of her own work as well as pictures of embedded in the American
glass objects created by famous artists. Bill of Rights and UN Dec-
To which far off lands did laration of Human Rights.
our seasoned traveller In November we organised
Sveto Gacinovic venture a very successful evening
this year? To India. Feast dedicated to Oskar Danon,
for eyes! India is a big once our most famous con-
country so Sveto gave us ductor, on the occasion of
a series of fascinating lec- his 95th birthday. Branko
tures. Danon (same surname but
Which mountains did we no relation) got in touch
climb with our mountain- with his daughter who
eer Vesko Veskovic? This kindly sent us a wealth of
time we conquered Sar photo and video material
Planina, Kopaonik, Durmi- about her father’s life and a
THE BEGINNING OF THE MAGNA CARTA LIBERTATUM tor. Spontaneously, we professional career. We
POČETAK TEKSTA IZ MAGNE KARTE LIBERTATUM
broke into a well-known saw photographs from his
song: ‘Durmitor, Durmi- childhood and school years THE CENTRAL STAINED GLASS WINDOW BY
in Sarajevo, his student MARC CHAGALL IN TUDELEY
tore.… Memories, memories… ŠAGALOVA SREDIŠNJA VITRAŽA U TUDELEY
years in Prague, from the
We were not short of music. In the series ‘Hear My Music’ our members years spent as an active
play music they like best. So far we heard some wonderful jazz, classical, resistance fighter in WWII. We also listened to the recordings of his inter-
pop and rock music as well as Irish ballads. views and the concerts by the famous world’s orchestras with him as a con-
The celebration of every Jewish holiday started with the introductory word ductor. We made a video of this evening’s proceedings and sent it to him as
by our member Svjetlana Marjanovic about the historical background and our birthday present. Unfortunately, already seriously ill, he did not live to
see it. He died on 18th December, forgotten by many but certainly not by us.
 Naša mala zajednica i poslije toliko godina i dalje vri- donio nam je malo topline i sunca pa je i nas sve malo
jedno radi i drži svoja vrata širom otvorena za sve ugrijao i nije nam ni malo smetala kiša koja je uporno
svoje prijatelje i sve one koji vole da se druže sa padala i udarala u prozore.
nama.
Čaja je obradovao sve svoje slušaoce jer je govorio o Izraelu i svojim starim
Još uvijek se nismo umorili jedni od drugih. prijateljima koje je tamo posjetio i sa njima kavu popio, ljude poznate i os-
talim još iz sarajevskih mladih dana.
Naši zajednički izleti i poslije toliko godina ne gube na popularnosti. Radu-
jemo se ljetnoj sezoni, a posebno kad dobijemo prijedlog za neko novo Naravno tu je i Zoka, koji redovno kasni, ali na svoje predavanje je začudo
mjesto u kojem nismo bili (ili smo zaboravili kada smo bili). Malo šetnje, pos- došao na vrijeme, sa svojom pričom o Šarm-El-Šeiku, velikim hotelima,
jetimo znamenitosti mjesta, a poslije toga na upoznavanje engleskih moru bez ajkula, školjkama i ribicama.
pabova, na piće i klopu da rezimiramo utiske i naravno uživamo u svakom
Ženska sekcija kao i svake godine i ove je vrijedno radila, a mi članovi smo
trenutku provedenom zajedno.
uživali u palačinkama, sirnicama, zeljanicama, i ostalim delicijama. Ni djecu
Da li svi mi volimo poeziju uz miris svijeća, tesko je reći, ali naše poetske nisu zaboravile. Kao i svake godine i ove su pripremile Purimsko slavlje sa
večeri sa uigranom ekipom, Jadrankom, Miom, Darijom, Oljom i Draganom poklonima za najljepše maske i sa mnogo šarenih paketića punih bombona i
koji je uvijek raspoložen da pripomogne, i ove su godine dočekane sa ve- čokolada. Pa ne smijemo zaboraviti i Hanuka sijelo i paljenje sedme svijeće.
likom radošću. Pristanak ostalih članova i prijatelja kluba da pročitaju nešto
Valentinovo, crveni baloni, veliki i mali, u obliku srca, okrugli, čokolade, ko-
što su sami izabrali unio je osvježenje u te naše večeri tako da i dan danas
lači, muzika, vino i smijeh u klupskim prostorijama. Šta nam više treba. Svi
uživamo zajedno čitajući A. Šantića, S. Jesenjina, I. Andrića, J. Dučića, F.G.
su veseli, malo se pleše, foto-aparati škljocaju za uspomenu.
Lorku.
A šta reći o talentovanom dječaku Marku Adžiću koji nam je priredio divno
Velika popularnost i posjećenost predavanja dr Svete Gaćinovića o njego-
veče i otpjevao nam pjesme sa svog prvog CD-a uz pratnju oca Bojana i
vim putovanjima po cijelome svijetu inspirisala su i ostale članove da
Milene. Mi smo sa uživanjem
pripreme i donesu u klub samo djeliće sa svojih
slušali mladog pjevača sa
nezaboravnih putovanja. Sjedimo u stolicama
željom da postane poznat i
kao poslušni đaci željni znanja i jedva čekamo
postigne veliki uspijeh u svi-
da se pojavi prva slika, uživamo da vidimo
jetu a mi bi se puhali i govorili
zamkove, katedrale, stare i nove arhitekture, da
da smo ga slušali u samim
vidimo je li ostali svijet uživa u pitama i musa-
počecima njegove karijere.
kama ili jedu guštere; kako se vesele, plešu,
kako su obučeni, da čujemo malo istorije, malo Naša Svjetlana Marjanović je
muzike, malo mirisa mora i Mediterana i nakon i ove godine pripremila pre-
toga mi smo svi zadovoljni zato što smo nešto davanje na temu Visokih
novo naučili, a i malo se podsjetili na stvari koje Praznika koji padaju u sep-
smo znali, ali zaboravili. tembru ili oktobru, a počinju
sa Rosh Hashanah. Uživali
Vrijedno su zasukali rukave Miro i Jadranka i
smo u njenom predavanju jer
donijeli nam pogled na Milano i ljubav iz Verone
je ona to kao i uvijek tako
i svi smo se ponovo zaljubili i osjećali mladima.
detaljno pripremila da su je
Draško Suvajdžić, koji svake godine u zimskim svi prisutni pomno slušali ne
mjesecima odleti sa svojom Teom na Kanarske bi li čuli nešto novo o pori-
otoke da tamo napune baterije kako bi mogli SENIORS VISITING THE JEWISH MUSEUM IN CAMDEN jeklu i običajima vezanim za
zdravo i sretno da dočekaju londonsko ljeto, SENIORI U POSJETI JEVREJSKOM MUZEJU U KAMDENU praznike.
 Even after so many years our small Community was with us. Surprisingly he, who is always late, came on
still in full swing. We kept our doors open to our time this time to talk to us about Sharm El Sheikh, its
friends and all those who like to socialize with us. We huge hotels, sea without sharks, seashells and all
never got tired of being together. sorts of fish.
Our outings were still very popular. We could not wait for the summer sea- Working hard as always the Women Group prepared delicious food for us to
son to begin and bring us the delights of visits to different places, especially savour. They did not forget the children either. This year again they organ-
those new to us. After the visits to local places of interest we would stroll ized the Purim party with prizes for the best fancy dresses with many multi-
around and inevitably settle in one of the local pubs for drinks and exchange coloured gifts full of sweets and chocolates. Although aware that these gifts
of impressions. We enjoyed every minute spent together. are not good for the health of their grandchildren they did not mind because
it is for the children to be happy and look forward to the holiday. A Hanukah
Although fragrance of candles combined with poetry might not be to every-
Party was also organized. We lit the seventh candle on that occasion.
body’s liking the evenings presented by Jadranka Smiljanic, Mia Kordic,
Daria Stojnic, Olja Ristic and Dragan Ungar who was always ready to lend a St. Valentine’s Day Party was organized again; round, heart-shaped big and
hand were as always welcomed with joy. Refreshing was the idea to invite small red balloons, chocolate, pastries, music, vine and laughter filled the
other members to join in with pieces of their own choice. We all enjoyed space of our Club. We needed
reading A. Santic, S. Yesenin, I. Andric, J. Ducic, F.G.Lorca and many oth- nothing more.
ers.
Another pleasant evening was
The enormous popularity of Dr Sveto Gacinovic’s travelogues motivated
the one when 10-year old
other members to set up and bring to the Club accounts from the travels
Marko Adzic, a talented young
that fascinated them. Glued to our chairs, obedient as little boys anxious to
singer performed for us songs
learn new things we waited on such occasions for the first picture to appear.
from his first CD, accompanied
We enjoyed the castles and cathedrals, the old and new architecture; we
by his father Bojan and a Mon-
were curious to learn whether the rest of the world enjoys pies and moussa-
tenegrian singer Milena. Enjoy-
kas or if they eat lizards or something else unknown to us. We appreciated
ing his singing we wished inter-
history and music. Listening to the sounds of the Mediterranean would bring
national success for him and for
its scents back to our memory. These events always brought us something
us to be able to say that we
new or reminded us of the things we once liked. That is why they were al-
were among the first to appreci-
ways well attended.
ate his music.
Jadranka and Miro worked hard to transfer to us their fascination by Milan
and the mood of love from Verona. These vibrations made us all fall in love It is good to party and enjoy
and feel young again. ourselves, but as always we
were eager to learn things.
Drasko Suvajdzic with his wife Tea flies every year during winter months to Svjetlana Marjanovic refreshes
the Canary Islands to charge his batteries and warm up while waiting for the every year our knowledge
London summer to appear. One evening this year he brought some of the about Jewish holidays. This SVJETLANA RELAXES BEFORE THE LECTURE
SVJETLANA SE ODMARA PRIJE PREDAVANJA
warmness and sunshine to share with us and indeed we did not mind very year it was about the High Holi-
much the persistent rain pattering on the windows outside. days that took place in Septem-
ber and October and started with Rosh Hashanah. As always everybody
Zelimir Kucinovic-Caja made happy all his listeners with his talk about his
listened attentively to her well prepared and eloquently delivered lecture.
visit to Israel where he met and had coffee with his old friends from Sara-
jevo who also happened to be friends with some of our other members. The door to our Club remained open. Something is always happening there
And last, but not least, Zoran Molinar had also some experiences to share to keep the smiles on the faces of our members and friends.
 Godina obilježena kraljevskim vjenčanjem i velikom klasičnoj muzici pokušao nam je jednu večer objasniti
ceremonijom u Londonu, popraćena milijunima gle- zašto je on voli ne bi li je i mi zavoljeli i uživali u njoj.
dalaca naravno nije mogla proći bez naših članova Raznježio se Dragan, pa i mi sa njim. Pa onda tu je i
“Prijatelja La Benovalencije”. Malo društvo se skupilo na doručku kod Vere i Branko Danon koji nam rekao citiram ”malo ću vas daviti o muzici, o uzo-
Dragana Ungara i uz iće i piće odgledalo cijelu ceremoniju i paradu do kraja. rima i inspiraciji, o muzičkoj mašti i plagijatima”.
Naš stari znanac dr Sveto Gaćinović poslije zaslužene pauze i malog od- Naravno Ženska sekcija ni ove godine nije spavala. Upriličile su nagrade za
mora se ponovo vratio sa svojim predavanjima. U svojim jednomjesečnim maske i proslavu Purima, pekle su
izlaganjima nam je dočarao i privukao Afriku taj veliki kontinent, sa svim palačinke i organizovale sijela.
svojim čarima i zanimljivostima. Sa Svetinih predavanja smo odlazili puni
Vrlo uspješno i dobro posjećeno, bilo je
novog znanja i imali smo osjećaj da smo i sami hodali po tim velikim pros-
veče posvećeno čuvenom jevrejskom
transtvima i susretali se sa slonovima, lavovima, majmunima .
piscu Isaku Baševisu Singeru. Čitali
Darija Stojnić je iz snijegom zavijanog Londona sa zakašnjenjem od dva smo odlomke iz njegovih najomiljenijih
dana uspjela otići u Maleziju. Veliki snjegovi su zatekli i iznenadili većinu kratkih priča. Pošto je njegov literarni
aerodroma. Ovu dogodovštinu je zorno opisala u SaLonu. Po povrtaku nam opus veliki sigurno cemo mu se ponovo
je dočarala kroz riječi i slike svoje putovanje. Upoznala nas je sa tom dale- vratiti.
kom zemljom i njenim prirodnim ljepotama, običajima i načinom života.
I još da kažemo da smo ove godine,
između ostalog, posjetili Knole u Kentu,
dom književnice Vite Sackville West, PORTRAIT OF ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER
Folkestone, Chatham, te u jesen, ču- PORTRET ISAKA BAŠEVIS SINGERA
veni arboretum Westonbrit.

WESTONBRIT IN AUTUMN
WESTONBRIT U JESEN

A zatim, bili smo počašćeni sa prvom ekranizacijom filma koji je napravila

Vesna Marić. Dramatična priča o nasem mladom izbjeglici iz Kanade.
Nisu posustajali ni naši vrijedni članovi i njihove organizacije večeri pod PURIM IS NOT EXCLUSIVELY FOR CHILDREN
naslovom 'Poslušajte moju muziku'. Dragan Ungar koji ima slabost prema PURIM NIJE ISKLJUČIVO ZA DJECU
 In this organized by the members is
year of the one running under the
the Royal name “Hear My Music”. The
Wedding with its magnificent purpose is to share fascination with different genres
ceremony in London witnessed of music with other people. Dragan Ungar who is
by millions of viewers all over drawn to classical music tried one evening to de-
the world, members of The scribe why he likes it and to open our minds and
Friends La Benevolencija were hearts to that kind of music. Branko Danon started
eager to join in the celebra- his presentation by saying “I am going to bore you to
tions. A small group assembled death talking about music, its models and inspira-
at the Ungars’ for breakfast and tion, about imagination in music and plagiarism.”
with food and drinks at hand
The Women Group was quite active this year again.
they sat by the TV to enjoy the
As before, they were in charge of organizing the
ceremony all the way through.
celebration of Purim. In addition they saw to it that a
After a well-deserved rest and pancake evening and other social events were pre-
break, our old friend Dr Sveto CAMRIDGE IS ALWAYS EXCITING pared with love and care for all of us to enjoy.
Gacinovic came back with his CAMBRIDGE JE UVIJEK UZBUDLJIV
A very successful and well attended evening was the
well-prepared lectures. In his
monthly talks he managed to attract us to the fascinating and charming con-
one dedicated to the liter-
tinent of Africa. His usual eloquence was so convincing that at times we felt
ary work of the famous
that we walked these vast spaces with him and met the elephants, lions,
Jewish writer and the No-
antelopes and monkeys that he was talking about.
bel prize winner Isaac
On her way to Malaysia Darija Stojnic managed to leave the snow covered Bashevis Singer. We
London only after a two-day delay. Back home she described her adventure read extracts from some
and illustrated it with a lot of photographs. We learnt things we did not know of his best loved short
about that far off land, about its splendours, customs and the way of life of stories. Since the body of
Malaysia’s people. his literary work is huge it
is certain that we will
Later in the year
come back to him again
we were hon-
in near future.
oured with the
first screening of The weather in late
a film by Vesna spring / summer when
Maric. It told a our outings were taking
dramatic story place was kind this year.
about a young We enjoyed visits to
Bosnian refugee Knole in Kent a birth
in Canada. home of writer Vita Sack-
ville-West; Chatham, ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER AS DEPICTED ON A MURAL IN
Another cycle
Folkestone and Weston- FLAGSTAFF, ARIZONA
popular with our
BRANKA, CIRO AND BRANKO TASTING LOCAL BEER IN TETBURY brit Arboretum in Au- ISAAC BASHEVIS SINGER KAKO JE PREDSTAVLJEN NA
BRANKA, ĆIRO I BRANKO KUŠAJU LOKALNO PIVO U TETBURY members and MURALU U FLAGSTAFU, ARIZONA
tumn.
 Ovo je godina proslava i slavlja u kojoj i mi rođen-
imamo događaj za obilježavanje. Prva u ovom dan
periodu veselja bila je proslava Dijamantskog ju- našeg
bileja Kraljice Elizabete Druge, nakon čega su slijedile Olimpijske i doajena Paule Ristić. Imali
Paralimpijske Igre. Za smo i drugih razloga za slav-
nas se to nastavlja lje. Dva para su postala
Dvadesetgodisnjicom bake i deke po prvi put. Jad-
dolaska u ovu zemlju. ranka i Miro Smiljanić su do-
Mi smo počeli novi bili unuka, a Željka i Sveto
život i integrisali se i u Gačinović unuku. Bulka
britansko društvo i u Kamhi-Danon i Sara Lev-
lokalnu jevrejsku za- inger su također imali
jednicu, ne zaboravlja- razloga za veselje. Obje su
jući ni svoje korijene. dobile stanove u Selig Court
Naša mala zajednica -u, stambenoj zgradi za pen-
“Prijatelja La Benevo- zionere. Kao i uvijek svi smo
lencije” nam je pomo- uživali u našim izletima. Ove
gla da održavamo vezu sa našom prošlošću, ali i da prevaziđemo godine smo bili u Tilburi
razne prepreke na koje smo do sada nailazili i da uvijek gledamo Fortu i „Blue Water“ šoping centru, Gudvud kući i Čičesteru, Vitstablu
naprijed. Zato su nam prijateljstva koja smo stekli u našem klubu to- i Lakok opatiji.
liko draga i zato se nadamo da će naše zajedništvo još dugo potra- Ipak je centralni događaj ove godine naša dvadesetogodišnjica.
jati. Obilježavanje ove godišnjice proističe iz tog nadanja. Četiri sastanka Odbora bila su posvećena pripremi i organizaciji obil-
Sada nam je jasno da je na početku postojanja Kluba program naših ježavanja tog događaja. Dogovoreno je da se izda ova hronika našeg
aktivnosti bio mnogo interesantniji. Naime, tada su ljudi koji su ovdje života ovdje.
živjeli smatrali da treba da nam pomažu u svakom pogledu, pa tako i Datum odabran za proslavu je 15. novembar 2012, a održaće se u
da nas upoznaju sa stvarima do tada nama nepoznatim. Kako je vri- Michael Sobell centru.
jeme odmicalo ova vrsta pomoći se postepeno smanjivala. To je Želimo da nam se pridruže
značilo da smo morali da počnemo da se oslanjamo na vlastite svi oni koji su nam pružali
snage, ako želimo da bezuslovnu podršku tokom
imamo zadovoljavajući godina kao i svi naši pri-
program aktivnosti. Ova jatelji. Nadamo se da će
godina se nije mnogo nam svima veče prijatno
razlikovala od predhod- proći.
nih. Tako smo nastavili sa
uobičajenim ciklusima Još mjesec i po ostaje do
putopisa; muzičkih i poet- kraja godine. Biće lijepo ako
skih večeri; slavili smo se završi na isti veseo način
praznike, ali i devedeseti na koji je i počela.
 In this year of celebrations and jubilations we
have a major event of our own to mark. This sea-
son of festivities started with the Diamond Jubilee
of Queen Elizabeth II, and was followed by the Olympic and Paralym-
pic Games. For us it continues with the Twentieth Anniversary since
our arrival in this country.
We have settled down and
integrated into both the Brit-
ish Society and Jewish com-
munity, although not forget-
ting our roots. Friends of La
Benevolencija, our small
community, helped us not
only to keep in touch with
DRAGAN JOINS THE CELEBRATIONS IN THE our past but also to over-
HOLOCAUST SURVIVORS CENTRE
DRAGAN SE PRIDRUŽIO PROSLAVI U HSC
come the numerous obsta-
cles encountered on the way
to this point of time, and al-
ways to look forward. That is why we cherish so much the friendships
made through it and why we hope they will last for many years to
come. The marking of this anniversary is the testament to it.
When looking back at the activities that took place in our Club when it
first started to exist we realize that the programme was far more inter-
esting then than it is now. At that time many local people felt that they
should support us in every respect, including making their expertise in
things new to us
available to our
members. With the
passage of time
this form of sup-
port was gradually
shrinking. It meant
that in order to
have an adequate
programme of ac-
tivities we had to
find resources
among our mem-
bers; which we did. This year did not differ much
from the previous ones. Thus, we carried on with
our usual cycles of travelogues; music and poetry
evenings; we celebrated the holidays but also the ninetieth birthday of
Paula Ristic, our doyen. We
had other reasons for cele-
bration. Two couples be-
came grandparents for the
first time. Jadranka and Miro
Smiljanic were blessed with
a grandson and Zeljka and
Sveto Gacinovic with a
granddaughter. Bulka Kamhi
-Danon and Sara Levinger
had also reason to be
happy. Both of them moved
to flats in the Selig Court retirement house. As always our outings
were enjoyed by everybody. This year we visited Tilbury Fort and
Blue Water Shopping Centre; Goodwood House and Chichester;
Whitstable and Lacock Abbey.
Nevertheless, the central event of this year has been our 20 th Anni-
versary. We devoted four meetings of our Board to the preparation
and organization of its marking. It has been decided to publish this
chronicle of our lives here. Also, the date set for our celebration is the
15th of November 2012 and the selected venue is Michael Sobell
Community Centre. We are looking forward to welcoming there all
those who gave us unconditional support over the years and all our
friends, hoping that
it will be a pleasant
evening for all of us.
There is another
month and a half to
the end of the year.
We do hope it will
end on the same
merry note it started
with.
AKADEMSKA DOSTIGNUĆA ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS

Maja Albahari - b.1977 - d. 2008 Mak Bavcic - b. 1990

University of London Hertford College—Oxford
Queen Mary and Westfield Masters degree in Physics and
College Philosophy
History Graduated in 2012
Graduated 1998

Hannah Bavcic - b. 1995 Leon Danon - b. 1979

Currently studying for A levels Barcelona University
at Henrietta Barnett Grammar PhD in Statistical Physics
School
Graduated 2006
AKADEMSKA DOSTIGNUĆA ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS

Maja Djurdjevac - b. 1977 Dubravka Jolic - b. 1989

City University University of Hertfordshire
Mathematical Science with Fi- BA in English Literature with
nance and Economics Film
Graduated 1999. Graduated in 2011

Tamara Janjic - b. 1968 Goran Kucinovic - b. 1982

Imperial College London Christ's College
PhD in Epidemiology in Mental A levels Maths, Physics,
Health Economics
Graduated 2010 Currently at University of
Greenwich
BA Business and Economics
AKADEMSKA DOSTIGNUĆA ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS

Ivan Kucinovic - b. 1984 Ana Levi - b. 1983

Christ's College University of London
A levels English, Germany, BSc in Biochemical Sciences
Economics, History Graduated 2007
Currently at Middlesex Guy’s King’s College finishing
University PhD in Medicine of Leukaemia
BA Business Managment

Lea Levi - b. 1978 Zoran Levi - b. 1964

Westminster University
MSc in Clinical Chemistry
Graduated 2004
University of Edinburgh
BEng in Civil and
Environmental Engineering
Graduated 1995
Chartered Engineer 2004
AKADEMSKA DOSTIGNUĆA ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS

Irena Marijanovic - b. 1977 Dunja Pardo - Fehimovic - b.

University of Oslo 1987
MPhil Russian Studies University of Cambridge -
Darwin College
Graduated 2007
MPh in Latin - American
Studies
Graduated 2011
Started PhD course in
Cambridge

Tatjana Marijanovic - b. 1981 Tara Radan - Aleksic - b. 1990

1. Camberwell College London School of Oriental and African
University of the Arts Studies - UCL
BA (Hons) Illustration Finishing Study of Religion
Graduated 2004
2. The Open University London
BA(Hons) Modern Language
Studies with English and
Spanish
Graduated 2011
AKADEMSKA DOSTIGNUĆA ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS

Ognjen Ristic - b. 1986 Ana Smiljanic - b. 1983

University of Westminster University of Reading
MArch in Architecture BA in English Literature,
Graduated 2012 Drama and Film
Graduated 2004

Ivana Ruzic - b. 1974 Ela Smiljanic - b. 1980

1. The Tavistock and Portman University of Central London
NHS Trust - London PhD in Medicinal Chemistry
ME Psychoanalytic Studies
Graduated 2006
Graduated 2000
2. The Tavistock and Portman
NHS Trust - London
MPsychPsych Clinical Training
in Child and Adolescent
Psychotherapy
AKADEMSKA DOSTIGNUĆA ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENTS

Davor Stojnic - b. 1982 Slaven Ungar - b. 1982

Oxford Brooks University GCSE 1999.
BEng (Hons) in Mechanical A-Levels 2001.
Engineering
Graduated 2005

Aleksandar Ungar - b. 1976

Middlesex University
BA (Hons) in Accountancy and
Finance
Graduated 1999
Member of Chartered Institute
of Management Accountants
 CHILDREN BORN IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

NAME YEAR NAME OF PARENTS .

Hana Bavcic 1995 Aida and Almas Bavcic
Anthony - Adrian Camera 2001 Lejla and Claudio Camera
Mia - Claudia Camera 1998 Lejla and Claudio Camera
Isaac Hurley 2012 Ela and Chris Hurley
Luka Janjic 2001 Tamara and Predrag Janjic
Lora Janjic TWINS 2005 Tamara and Predrag Janjic
Marko Janjic TWINS 2005 Tamara and Predrag Janjic
Aleksandra Jolic 1998 Gordana and Goran Jolic
Dino - Haris Koprivica 1995 Belma and Zlatan Koprivica
Emina - Emily Koprivica 2006 Belma and Zlatan Koprivica
Alexandar - Isaac Levi 2002 Vera and Zoran Levi
Leon Mitermajer 2001 Aleksandra and Darko Mitermajer
Mark Mitermajer 2004 Aleksandra and Darko Mitermajer
Yonel Stefan 1999 Danina and Sorin Stefan
Ana Suvajdzic 1994 Mladenka Bisaha And Dusan Suvadzic
Teo Ungar 2001 Lejla and Aleksandar Ungar
Zak Ungar 2006 Lejla and Aleksandar Ungar
Hana Volic 1995 Miriam and Ademir Volic
Milla Volic 2002 Miriam and Ademir Volic
Andrei Vukicevic 2005 Maja and Vladimir Vukicevic
Lola Vukicevic 2010 Maja and Vladimir Vukicevic
 MEMBERS WHO DIED IN THE UNITED KINGDOM

Cuco Albahari 1913-1993 Public Attorney

Maja Albahari 1977-2008 Recruitment Consultant

Milena Danon 1914-2004 Pensioner

Mudzevera Danon 1934-1999 Judge - Appeals Court

Ela Konforti 1912-2002 Pensioner

Dr Salamon Konforti 1910-1997 Judge - Supreme Court

Stefica Pavicic 1920-2001 Magistrate

Andjelko Ristic 1915-2001 Writer

Betika Stojnic – Romano 1920-2000 Company Director

Milan Uzelac 1932-2005 Prominent politician

 PRODUCTION TEAM

Branka Danon, Branko Danon, Leon Danon, Mia Kordic, Gordana Jolic, Boris Montiljo, Borisa Ristic, Olivera Ristic, Ana
Smiljanic, Jadranka Smiljanic, Miroslav Smiljanic, Darija Stojnic, Dragan Ungar
Technical editor: Dejan Stojnic
Printing and publishing - Jewish Care Marketing and Communications Department; Design Studio
LONDON AERIAL VIEW PHOTO BY DEJAN STOJNIC