48WINTER 2008/2009

www.benevolencija.eu.org/salon

BULLETIN OF JEWISH SOCIETY“THE FRIENDS OF LA BENEVOLENCIJA”

BILTEN JEVREJSKE ZAJEDNICE“PRIJATELJI LA BENEVOLENCIJE”

IZME\UDVA BROJA

BETWEEN TWOISSUES

THE BULLETIN IS SPONSORED BY JEWISH CARE

Zaplovismo u 2009. godinu.Izme|u ova na{a dva brojaispratili smo staru 2008.godinu i do~ekali ovu novu,svako na razli~it na~in. Uz{ampanjac ili bez njega. Uzvatromet ili bez njega. Uzmuziku ili bez nje, uz prijateljei rodbinu ili ... kako rekoh svakna razl~it na~in, ali prvogjanuara kada smo se probudilii bacili stare kalendare i nazidove postavili nove,neminovno smo po~eli raz-mi{ljati o tome kakva je bilaona koja je eto postala biv{a,te {ta o~ekujemo od ove noveu koju smo zakora~ili. Postojivjerovanje da prestupnegodine ne donose mnogodobra (ne znam {ta o tome ka`ustatistike), pa je onaj dio menekoji je podlo`an praznovjerjuuvijek sretan kada se takvagodina zavr{i. Me|utim, kadamalo razmislim za mene i nijeba{ tako lo{a ni bila. Preselilasam u novi stan koji volim ikoji mi daleko vi{e odgovaraod onog u kome sam do tada`ivjela (a ni tamo nisam bilaba{ previ{e nezadovoljna).Putovala sam u mjesta u kojimanisam ranije bila, a i u ona kojavolim da posje}ujem. Dru`ilasam se sa prijateljima irodbinom, a svjesna toga da mi`ivot u Londonu pru`a neis-crpne mogu}nosti da mnogotoga vidim, poslu{am i nau~imnastojala sam da to iskoristimonoliko koliko su mi to prilikedozvoljavale. Priznajem ja,penzionerka, nemam problema

sa zaposlenjem, sticanjem i~uvanjem dobara, {kolova-njem djece, niti bilo ~im {toobezbje|uje budu}nost – jasada `ivim u toj svojojbudu}nosti. Vjerovatno zbogtoga me tako mnogo i nepoga|a recesija koja jepogodila ~itav svijet, a sviznamo kako hara ovdje poUjedinjenom Kraljevstvu (dase politi~ki korektno izrazim).Naravno da sam svjesna i svihdrugih nesre}a i zala koje je taprestupna godina donijela.Svih katastrofa (Acts of God,kako se to na engleskom ka`e,t.j bo`ijih djela) i svih ljudskihdjela - ratova, gladi, nepravdi i... na `alost nabrajanju nemakraja.

Dobar dio mog londonskog`ivota (~itaj onog {to jeuslijedio nakon Sarajevskog)je vezan za sve ono {to sede{ava u na{oj maloj labene-volencijskoj zajednici, tako dani nju nisam „proma{ila“ usvojim novogodi{njim raz-mi{ljanjima. U tim razmi{lja-njima sam oti{la mnogo daljeod prethodne godine. Sjetilasam se onih koji su do{li sanama i koje smo u me|u-vremenu izgubili i o`alili, ali ionih koji su obogatili na{uzajednicu. Sjetila sam se kakosmo u prvim danima na{etada{nje izgubljenosti biligr~evito vezani jedni za drugei kako sada, na svu sre}u, takva

potreba vi{e ne postoji; kakosmo tada svi `ivjeli u sjenciprivremenosti, a kako je sadasvak izgradio svoj na~in ̀ ivota,koji smatra stalnim; kako su seteme i razlozi na{ih sastanaka idru`enja sasvim izmjenili.Nema vi{e pri~a o tome kakostvoriti egzistenciju posebnoza svakog od nas ili za na{uzajednicu kao cjelinu. Sadasmo do{li dotle da slijedimorutinu. Rutina su sastancisrijedama za koje nijepredvi|en naro~it program (nakojima se ~aska, igraju karte ikoristi Wii za razgibavanje) isastanci srijedom za koje jepredvi|en program. Jer smove} uveli „tradicionalne“ve~eri, koje su odraz na{egsada{njeg na~ina ̀ ivota. Jednaod najpopularnijih tema su„putopisi“. Sem nedavnihuzbudljivih me|unarodnihiskustava, pod tu temu spadajui nama svima draga sje}anja nazemlju iz koje smo do{li. Drugapopularna tema nosi naslov„Muzika koju volim“. Zatim tusu i ve~eri poezije i starog inovog filma iz na{ih krajeva.Naravno da postoje i drugidoga|aji i druge teme, alipostepeno se sve vi{e osje}ana{a usporena asimilacija u ovodru{tvo. Rutina su na{a sjela,kojima obilje`avamo razneva`nije datume i na kojima udobroj mjeri jo{ uvijekodr`avamo tradiciju na{ekuhinje. Rutina su i na{i ljetniizleti (jer i ne mogu biti ni{tadrugo). Rutina je i na{e stalnotra`enje dobrih priloga zaSaLon. Ali rutinu ne vole mladi,

pa je to jedan od mnogobrojnihrazloga za{to se na na{imskupovima vide uglavnom}elave glave i sjede ili obojenekose. Bilo kako bilo mi volimoda se vi|amo i u zajedni~kimprostorijama i na drugimmjestima; volimo da do`ivimozajedno po koji dan ili kojeve~e, volimo da zajednopripremimo neki doga|aj. Takoje bilo u na{oj LaBene-volenciji svih ovih {esnaestgodina i tako }e se i nastavitisada kada se dru`imo zato {toto ̀ elimo, a ne zato {to nemamodrugog izbora.

A {to se ti~e doga|aja u svijetu,nadam da }e se tokom ove2009. godine pobolj{ati eko-nomska situacija; da }e seponovo krenuti u novepobjede u privredama mnogihzemalja; da }e nezaposlenostponovo po~eti da opada.Nadam se da }e biti manji brojratnih ̀ ari{ta u kojima }e ljudi,`ene i djeca nepotrebno ginuti.Nadam se da }e ljudi bar negdjei bar o ne~emu po~eti darazmi{ljaju kako da rije{eprobleme na benevolentanna~in, a ne samo da zadovoljesvoje razne sebi~nosti. Svemutome se nadam, jer je bez nadete{ko i prete{ko `ivjeti, ali neo~ekujem da }e se svi problemirije{iti, jer su takva nadanjanerealna, a nerealna nadanjavode ka razo~arenju. Razo~a-renje vodi nezadovoljstvu. A ja`elim da uz sve te{ko}e, kojih}e svakako biti, budemozadovoljni u 2009. godini.

Branka Danon

Rijetko se sre}e osoba sli~neenergije. Mnogi se ne bi moglipohvaliti da su podigli divnudjecu dok su istovremeno biliprotagonisti u aktivnostimaneobi~ne raznolikosti. Ovimkratkim intervjuom nadamo sedoznati ne{to vi{e o nekim odtih aktivnoctiP. Zahvaljuju}i va{emobrazovanju, va{i interesi su~esto fokusirani na pisanurije~ posebno, a i na umjetnostuop{te. Mo`ete li nam ne{tovi{e re}i o toj strani va{eli~nostiO. Po~etkom pedesetih, kaodijete, morala sam `ivjeti udje~jem domu. Tada mi je~itanje postalo strast premdasada uvidam da je to bio oblikeskapizma, ipak vjerujem,pozitivnog. S vremenom samdiplomirala Komparativnuknji`evnost i jezike pa sezaposlila u obrazovanju, prvona školskom radiju i televizijia istovremeno sam predavalaknji`evnost i engleski usrednjoj školi u mom rodnomZagrebu. Dublje zanimanje zapovijest i likovne umjetnostidošlo je kasnije, djelomi~noprihva}aju}i interese mogsupruga kad smo `ivjeli uraznim zemljama. Naime obojedr`imo da je u bilo kojoj zemlji`ivot zanimljiviji i lakši ako sezbli`imo s njenom kulturom,povijesti, umjetnostima ijezikom. To je posebno postalova`no dok smo `ivjeli i radiliu Francuskoj i u Italiji gdje jevizualni jezik naprosto postaojoš jedan jezik koji trebarazumjeti i prihvatiti. Kasnijekad smo se nakon mnogogodina kona~no skrasili uLondonu, dobila samstipendiju Britanskog savjetaza postdiplomski studij te samse odlu~ila za magisterij izPovijesti umjetnosti da bi nataj na~in sistematiziralaiskustvo i znanje nakupljenogodinama. Da se kojimslu~ajem rat koji je razorioJugoslaviju nije dogodio,vjerojatno bih zadovoljnopratila me|unarodnaumjetni~ka zbivanja i njima sebavila na ovaj ili onaj na~in.Me|utim u to vrijeme kad samzavršila postdiplomski studijtaj me rat odveo na drugetra~nice, osjetila sam da me

naprosto više ne motivirasuvremena umjetnost koja jesuštinski prigrlila vrijednostitr`išta udaljivši se odhumanisti~kog interesa koji biumjetnosti morao biti središnji.Mo`da je do toga i došlo jer mise tada u~inilo da bolujem odraka ideje jugoslavenstva kojusam još u djetinjstvu prihvatila

kao vlastiti identitet. Zbogtoga mi je izgledalo neumjesnobaviti se ~esto preuveli~animegocentrizmom nekihsuvremenih umjetnika i bilo jeva`nije pomagati izbjeglicamakoji su nadolazili izJugoslavije budu}i da samnjihove probleme razumjela, snjima mogla suosje}ati a zbogsigurnosti mog polo`ajaeventualno i pomo}i.P. Vi ste kriti~ar umjetnosti,esejista, predstavljate knjige~itaocima, da napomenemosamo neke od va{ihanga`mana. Na ~emu sadaradite?O. Moglo bi se re}i da vašepitanje dobro opisuje postmodernisti~ku egzistenciju. Jerkad više nemamo zaposlenjeza cijeli `ivot, va`no je mo}ivlastite sposobnostiprilago|avati promjenama

`ivotnih okolnosti. Trenutnopokušavam sastaviti knjiguosnovanu na istra`ivanju kojimse bavim posljednjih desetgodina. Po~etno sam dobilamalu stipendiju od Jewish Me-morial fondacije u New Yorku.Ta mi je nagrada omogu}ilaputovanja do raznih mjesta,traganje po arhivima u raznim

zemljama i potragu za još ̀ ivimljudima koji su u svojojmladosti na neki na~in bilipovezani s kratkim `ivotimamog oca i njegova brata. Zamene je to vrlo bolna tema,mo`da i razlog da s time takoodugovla~im. Obojica supoginuli u ranim tridesetimgodinama, mog su oca ubiliustaše, a njegovog brata~etnici. Obojica su bili aktivniantifašisti, ljevi~ari i svaki seodupirao fašizmu na svojna~in.P. Doznasmo da ste imenovani~lanom Izborne komisijeovogodi{njeg Jevrejskogfilmskog festivala. Va{ bratRajko Grli} je poznati re`iser.Radi li se tu o porodi~nimafinitetima?O. Mnogo sezona pratimLondonski `idovski filmskifestival da bi o njemu pisala za

’Ha-kol’ (glasilo @idovskeop}ine u Zagrebu). Kad mi jedirektorica tog festivala, JudyIronside spomenula danamjeravaju festival proširiti uzemlje isto~ne Europe,predlo`ila sam mjerodavnimau zagreba~koj `idovskojop}ini da ju jedan weekendpozovu da im odvrti nekolikofilmova. Moj prijedlog tamonije za`ivio, ali kad sam idejuspomenula mladoj NatašiPopovi}, tada grafi~kojurednici ’Ha-kol’-a, ona ju jeodmah oduševljeno prihvatila,povezala se s Judy, našlasponzore, oformila ekipuvolontera i, hej presto, odr`alafestival. Druge godine je Judyprokomentirala da je Festivalu Zagrebu iz prve sko~io u petugodinu. Nataša je lani festivalodvela u Beograd i u Sarajevo.Kako sam bila tamo od samogpo~etka, prirodno je da jeNataša dr`ala da bih mogladoprinijeti kod izbora filmovauz nekoliko zainteresiranihljudi kao Branko Ivanda,Zlatko Bourek, Mira Wolf izadnje Branko Lustig. Zaistane mogu re}i da to ima bilokakve veze s mojim bratom, paniti s mojim sinom koji jetakoder filmski scenarist. Ipakbih podvukla da je moj brat,organiziranjem i vo|enjemMotovunskog festivala, prvimalternativnim u Hrvatskoj,uspostavio model u toj zemlji.Kao posljedica sada takvidoga|aji ni~u posvuda, a to jesamo dobro.P. Istorija va{eg pre`ivljavanjau Drugom svjetskom ratu jefascinantna. Biste li nam ne{torekli o tome?O. 1941. neposredno poslijefašisti~ke okupacije iuspostave ustaške dr`avepogubljeni su moj djed i ubrzozatim moj otac. Po~etkom1942. ostali dio familije izZagreba i Sarajeva deportiranisu i nitko od njih se nije vratio.U Zagrebu je jedino mojamajka sa mnom i sa svojommajkom uspjela izbje}ideportaciju. Ne znaju}i kamose okrenuti, susrela je slu~ajnona ulici znanicu iz sindikalneudruge, Ru`u Fuchs koja nijebila `idovka, štoviše bila jenjema~kog porijekla. Odmahjoj je hrabro ponudila da me

VESNA DOMANY-HARDYpreuzme i time je omogu}ilamojoj majci da sa svojommajkom ode u partizane.Tu`no je da kad su stigle ukakvu takvu sigurnostpartizanskog odreda, neki ih jekomandir razdvojio i mojamajka nikad više nije vidjelasvoju majku jer se toj mojojbaki izgubio svaki trag usljede}oj ofenzivi. U vrijemenašeg razdvajanja meni je bilodeset mjeseci. Othranila meRu`a Fuchs zajedno sa svojimk}erkama. Starija od njih rodilase nešto prije rata, a mlada1943. samo nekoliko sedmicaprije nego što su im oca Ota,Ru`inog supruga, uhapsiliustaše i smaknuli. Usprkossvim poteškocama koje jeimala, ja sam ostala kod Ru`esve dok se majka nije vratilanakon oslobo|enja 1945. Ru`aje bila izvanredna li~nost i dokje bila ̀ iva bile smo vrlo bliske.Kad sam `ivjela u Rimu, naprijedlog @eni Lebl, pisala samo njoj u Yad Vashem te su juubrzo proglasili Pravednicom,nekoliko godina prije njenesmrti. U po~etku je govorila danije ništa u~inila radi ~ega biju se trebalo posebno hvaliti,ali znam da joj je svejedno bilodrago zbog tog priznanja.P. Da li vas je ta pri~amotivisala da se uklju~ite uhumanitarne projekte, od kojihsu se neki odvijali u Bosni uvremenima najdublje krize?O. Rekla bih da su korijeni temotivacije emotivno izrasli iziskustva mog kasnijegdjetinjstva. Kad su 1949.godine prvo moj o~uh, tadanovinar a kasnije filozof DankoGrli}, a potom i moja majkauhapšeni i poslani na Goli otok,nisam imala nikakve krvnerodbine koja bi preuzela o menibrigu, zbog ~ega sam završilau dje~jem domu s mnogodruge ratne siro~adi. Mislim daje to iskustvo razlog s kojegamogu suosje}ati s djecom kojase nadu u sli~noj situaciji. Tome valjda i potaklo daprihvatim koordiniranjeprojekta s bazom u Zagrebu'Unaccompanied children inexile'. Osim jednog razdobljaod nekoliko mjeseci, rad na tomprojektu nije bio finansirantako da sam morala na neki

na~in nama}i sredstva da bihmogla nastaviti taj rad. Tadasam po~ela interpretirati uprvim istragama za ICTY, štoje uklju~ivalo putovanja uNorvešku, Dansku i u Bosnunakon Daytona. Rade}i taj, zadušu razorni posao, mogla samtako|er tragati za roditeljimaneke djece kojima sam ušla utrag u Britaniji i pomo}injihovom ujedinjenju, jer suljudi bili raštrkani po raznimeuropskim zemljama.P. Jedan od projekataobuhvatao je djecu izbjeglicaovdje. Da li je on koristio inekoj djeci iz na{e Zajednice?O. Nakon traganja i nala`enjadjece bez pratnje unutraizbjegli~kih skupina raštrkanihpo cijeloj Britaniji, trebalo jena}i još pre`ivjele roditelje iraditi na njihovomujedinjenju, ~esto usprkosmnogih pravila i granica kojesu bile protiv nas. Sve zajednomislim da sam našla oko~etrdestak takve djece. Bio jesamo jedan `idovski dje~ak izMostara, ali budu}i da se onjemu brinula jedna `idovskaudruga, nije mu bila potrebnamoja pomo}. Za mnoge od tihljudi problemi su iskrsnuliposlije ujedinjena. U nekolikoratnih godina manja djecapostala su dosta samostalnitinejd`eri udaljeni od svojihobitelji. Postalo mi je jasno daje potreban program za rad snjima poslije ujedinjenja, ali ida im se pomogne pri procesuintegracije u novoj sredini a dapri tom ne izgube svoj identitet.Zbog toga sam po~elaorganizirati kreativneradionice da bi se zajedni~kimogli nositi s takvimproblemima. Rado su mi utome pomagali razni stru~njacina tim podru~jima kaoobiteljski pravnici, psiholozi idrugi. Da bi mogla organiziratite skupove, podr`ali su medobri ljudi iz raznih ovdašnjihudruga, kao Save the ChildrenFond, UNICEF, Refugee Coun-cil, a povrh svega kazališteYoung Vic koje nam jeomogu}ilo mjesto radionica.Tako smo za vrijeme duljihweekenda i svih školskihpraznika mogli tamo raditi sdjecom. Naše su radionice

kulminirale s postavomdvojezi~ne predstaveShakespeareove Oluje u kojojje u~estvovalo 19 tinejd`era izraznih krajeva Bosne i jednamala talentirana djevoj~ica izSarajeva. Predstavu je re`iralaizvanredna Ka}a Dori} uzpomo} jedne vrlo sposobne italentirane Engleskinje, Beckykoja je kasnije otišla raditi uRoyal Shakespeare Company.P. Jedno privatno pitanje:kako i za{to ste odlu~ili da senastanite u Engleskoj?O. Kad sam 1974. otišla izJugoslavije, nisam smatrala daodlazim definitivno, premda jetih sedamdesetih godina bilodosta razloga za to, posebno jerje toliko ljudi oko mene tadaoboljelo od nacionalisti~kogvirusa. ̂ ak je i Federalni ustavprigrlio radije nacionalisti~keuske interese na uštrbprogresivnih ideja. U to vrijemeMalcolm je ve} bio premještenu Pakistan i kad je naš sin imaogodinu i pol, odlu~ili smo dabi bilo va`no da `ivi barponekad s oba roditelja. S timna umu, uzela sam godinu dananepla}enog dopusta, ali ~imsam sletjela u Islamabad, još senisam stigla ni oporaviti odduga~kog leta, Malcolm jeorganizirao vjen~anje, jer se,navodno, u muslimanskojzemlji nije moglo `ivjetinevjen~ano pod istim krovom.Budu}i da u to vrijeme nisambaš brak uzimala jakoozbiljno, a kako nisam nikadbila religiozna, zabavljalo metakvo ku}no i hippy vjen~anje.Bio je tamo jedan anglikanskipastor koji se doslovno zvaoPukovnik Knjiga (ColonelKitab), a svjedoci doga|aja bilisu britanski ambasador injegova supruga Lady Pomfreyi mala grupa me|unarodnihprijatelja. Me|utim ~injenicaje da se nikad nisam osje}alakao emigrant, niti izJugoslavije, a niti kasnije izHrvatske, više kao putnik,mo`da i zato što je mogu}eimati dvojno dr`avljanstvo.Uvijek sam se mogla vra}ati,tamo ljetovati i odr`avatikontakte s mnogim prijateljimakroz sve te godine.Poslije Pakistana preselili smou Pariz, gdje nam se rodila

VESNA DOMANY-HARDY

k}erka, a onda poslijedvogodišnjeg postinga uLondonu, proveli smo mnogosretnih godina u Italiji. UMilanu sam bila dopisnicaJugoslavenske sekcija BBC-ja,a kasnije u Rimu radila samkao umjetni~ka savjetnica priBritanskoj Akademiji.Malcolm je imao krasan posaokao umjetni~ki direktorBritanskog savjeta za cijeluItaliju. Poslije osam godina ito se lijepo poglavlje našeg`ivota završilo, djeca su otišlaod ku}e radi daljnjegškolovanja i mi smo se vratiliu naš pied a terre u Londonugdje ̀ ivimo zadnjih 17 godina.P. Iako niste pro{li kroz pakaokroz koji je na{a malaZajednica pro{la po~etkomdevedesetih, ispostavilo se dame|ju nama imate rodbinu!Kako ste to doznali?O. Za vrijeme Bosanskog ratamoja je majka u Zagrebuoglasila na `idovskoj Op}inida mo`e udomiti ako jepotrebno nekoga, iz Bosne.Njeni su prvi gosti biliFincijevi, koji su kod nje ostalisve dok nisu dobili britanskuvizu. Kad su došli u London,bili su smješteni u hosteluzajedno s ostalima iz vašegrupe. Kad bi se s njima vi|alagovorili bi mi da me|u vamaimam rodbinu. Dok je bio uZagrebu, Predrag je ~itaodijelove autobiografije mojemajke i naprosto povezao niti.Što se mene ti~e nisam pojmaimala da imamo pre`ivjelerodbine u Sarajevu. Kad mePredrag upoznao s Oljom iBorišom, ni oni nisu imalipojma. Me|utim uskoro jemoja majka došla u London, pasu ona i Paula ustanovile da suPaula i moj djed Oskar Izraeldjeca dvojice bra}e, Davida iAbrahama Izrael. Sada samzaista sretna da imam takokrasnu obitelj u Londonu kojui moj suprug isto tako jako voli.P. Imate li neku poruku?O. Upravo sam uokvirilarepliku plakata britanske vladeiz 2. svjetskog rata s tekstom“Keep calm and carry on!“ (Nepani~arite i ponašajte se kaonormalno!). Premda je porukalakonska, ~ini mi se zgodnom.Intervju vodio: Branko Danon

Rijetko se sre}e osoba sli~neenergije. Mnogi se ne bi moglipohvaliti da su podigli divnudjecu dok su istovremeno biliprotagonisti u aktivnostimaneobi~ne raznolikosti. Ovimkratkim intervjuom nadamo sedoznati ne{to vi{e o nekim odtih aktivnoctiP. Zahvaljuju}i va{emobrazovanju, va{i interesi su~esto fokusirani na pisanurije~ posebno, a i na umjetnostuop{te. Mo`ete li nam ne{tovi{e re}i o toj strani va{eli~nostiO. Po~etkom pedesetih, kaodijete, morala sam `ivjeti udje~jem domu. Tada mi je~itanje postalo strast premdasada uvidam da je to bio oblikeskapizma, ipak vjerujem,pozitivnog. S vremenom samdiplomirala Komparativnuknji`evnost i jezike pa sezaposlila u obrazovanju, prvona školskom radiju i televizijia istovremeno sam predavalaknji`evnost i engleski usrednjoj školi u mom rodnomZagrebu. Dublje zanimanje zapovijest i likovne umjetnostidošlo je kasnije, djelomi~noprihva}aju}i interese mogsupruga kad smo `ivjeli uraznim zemljama. Naime obojedr`imo da je u bilo kojoj zemlji`ivot zanimljiviji i lakši ako sezbli`imo s njenom kulturom,povijesti, umjetnostima ijezikom. To je posebno postalova`no dok smo `ivjeli i radiliu Francuskoj i u Italiji gdje jevizualni jezik naprosto postaojoš jedan jezik koji trebarazumjeti i prihvatiti. Kasnijekad smo se nakon mnogogodina kona~no skrasili uLondonu, dobila samstipendiju Britanskog savjetaza postdiplomski studij te samse odlu~ila za magisterij izPovijesti umjetnosti da bi nataj na~in sistematiziralaiskustvo i znanje nakupljenogodinama. Da se kojimslu~ajem rat koji je razorioJugoslaviju nije dogodio,vjerojatno bih zadovoljnopratila me|unarodnaumjetni~ka zbivanja i njima sebavila na ovaj ili onaj na~in.Me|utim u to vrijeme kad samzavršila postdiplomski studijtaj me rat odveo na drugetra~nice, osjetila sam da me

naprosto više ne motivirasuvremena umjetnost koja jesuštinski prigrlila vrijednostitr`išta udaljivši se odhumanisti~kog interesa koji biumjetnosti morao biti središnji.Mo`da je do toga i došlo jer mise tada u~inilo da bolujem odraka ideje jugoslavenstva kojusam još u djetinjstvu prihvatila

kao vlastiti identitet. Zbogtoga mi je izgledalo neumjesnobaviti se ~esto preuveli~animegocentrizmom nekihsuvremenih umjetnika i bilo jeva`nije pomagati izbjeglicamakoji su nadolazili izJugoslavije budu}i da samnjihove probleme razumjela, snjima mogla suosje}ati a zbogsigurnosti mog polo`ajaeventualno i pomo}i.P. Vi ste kriti~ar umjetnosti,esejista, predstavljate knjige~itaocima, da napomenemosamo neke od va{ihanga`mana. Na ~emu sadaradite?O. Moglo bi se re}i da vašepitanje dobro opisuje postmodernisti~ku egzistenciju. Jerkad više nemamo zaposlenjeza cijeli `ivot, va`no je mo}ivlastite sposobnostiprilago|avati promjenama

`ivotnih okolnosti. Trenutnopokušavam sastaviti knjiguosnovanu na istra`ivanju kojimse bavim posljednjih desetgodina. Po~etno sam dobilamalu stipendiju od Jewish Me-morial fondacije u New Yorku.Ta mi je nagrada omogu}ilaputovanja do raznih mjesta,traganje po arhivima u raznim

zemljama i potragu za još ̀ ivimljudima koji su u svojojmladosti na neki na~in bilipovezani s kratkim `ivotimamog oca i njegova brata. Zamene je to vrlo bolna tema,mo`da i razlog da s time takoodugovla~im. Obojica supoginuli u ranim tridesetimgodinama, mog su oca ubiliustaše, a njegovog brata~etnici. Obojica su bili aktivniantifašisti, ljevi~ari i svaki seodupirao fašizmu na svojna~in.P. Doznasmo da ste imenovani~lanom Izborne komisijeovogodi{njeg Jevrejskogfilmskog festivala. Va{ bratRajko Grli} je poznati re`iser.Radi li se tu o porodi~nimafinitetima?O. Mnogo sezona pratimLondonski `idovski filmskifestival da bi o njemu pisala za

’Ha-kol’ (glasilo @idovskeop}ine u Zagrebu). Kad mi jedirektorica tog festivala, JudyIronside spomenula danamjeravaju festival proširiti uzemlje isto~ne Europe,predlo`ila sam mjerodavnimau zagreba~koj `idovskojop}ini da ju jedan weekendpozovu da im odvrti nekolikofilmova. Moj prijedlog tamonije za`ivio, ali kad sam idejuspomenula mladoj NatašiPopovi}, tada grafi~kojurednici ’Ha-kol’-a, ona ju jeodmah oduševljeno prihvatila,povezala se s Judy, našlasponzore, oformila ekipuvolontera i, hej presto, odr`alafestival. Druge godine je Judyprokomentirala da je Festivalu Zagrebu iz prve sko~io u petugodinu. Nataša je lani festivalodvela u Beograd i u Sarajevo.Kako sam bila tamo od samogpo~etka, prirodno je da jeNataša dr`ala da bih mogladoprinijeti kod izbora filmovauz nekoliko zainteresiranihljudi kao Branko Ivanda,Zlatko Bourek, Mira Wolf izadnje Branko Lustig. Zaistane mogu re}i da to ima bilokakve veze s mojim bratom, paniti s mojim sinom koji jetakoder filmski scenarist. Ipakbih podvukla da je moj brat,organiziranjem i vo|enjemMotovunskog festivala, prvimalternativnim u Hrvatskoj,uspostavio model u toj zemlji.Kao posljedica sada takvidoga|aji ni~u posvuda, a to jesamo dobro.P. Istorija va{eg pre`ivljavanjau Drugom svjetskom ratu jefascinantna. Biste li nam ne{torekli o tome?O. 1941. neposredno poslijefašisti~ke okupacije iuspostave ustaške dr`avepogubljeni su moj djed i ubrzozatim moj otac. Po~etkom1942. ostali dio familije izZagreba i Sarajeva deportiranisu i nitko od njih se nije vratio.U Zagrebu je jedino mojamajka sa mnom i sa svojommajkom uspjela izbje}ideportaciju. Ne znaju}i kamose okrenuti, susrela je slu~ajnona ulici znanicu iz sindikalneudruge, Ru`u Fuchs koja nijebila `idovka, štoviše bila jenjema~kog porijekla. Odmahjoj je hrabro ponudila da me

VESNA DOMANY-HARDYpreuzme i time je omogu}ilamojoj majci da sa svojommajkom ode u partizane.Tu`no je da kad su stigle ukakvu takvu sigurnostpartizanskog odreda, neki ih jekomandir razdvojio i mojamajka nikad više nije vidjelasvoju majku jer se toj mojojbaki izgubio svaki trag usljede}oj ofenzivi. U vrijemenašeg razdvajanja meni je bilodeset mjeseci. Othranila meRu`a Fuchs zajedno sa svojimk}erkama. Starija od njih rodilase nešto prije rata, a mlada1943. samo nekoliko sedmicaprije nego što su im oca Ota,Ru`inog supruga, uhapsiliustaše i smaknuli. Usprkossvim poteškocama koje jeimala, ja sam ostala kod Ru`esve dok se majka nije vratilanakon oslobo|enja 1945. Ru`aje bila izvanredna li~nost i dokje bila ̀ iva bile smo vrlo bliske.Kad sam `ivjela u Rimu, naprijedlog @eni Lebl, pisala samo njoj u Yad Vashem te su juubrzo proglasili Pravednicom,nekoliko godina prije njenesmrti. U po~etku je govorila danije ništa u~inila radi ~ega biju se trebalo posebno hvaliti,ali znam da joj je svejedno bilodrago zbog tog priznanja.P. Da li vas je ta pri~amotivisala da se uklju~ite uhumanitarne projekte, od kojihsu se neki odvijali u Bosni uvremenima najdublje krize?O. Rekla bih da su korijeni temotivacije emotivno izrasli iziskustva mog kasnijegdjetinjstva. Kad su 1949.godine prvo moj o~uh, tadanovinar a kasnije filozof DankoGrli}, a potom i moja majkauhapšeni i poslani na Goli otok,nisam imala nikakve krvnerodbine koja bi preuzela o menibrigu, zbog ~ega sam završilau dje~jem domu s mnogodruge ratne siro~adi. Mislim daje to iskustvo razlog s kojegamogu suosje}ati s djecom kojase nadu u sli~noj situaciji. Tome valjda i potaklo daprihvatim koordiniranjeprojekta s bazom u Zagrebu'Unaccompanied children inexile'. Osim jednog razdobljaod nekoliko mjeseci, rad na tomprojektu nije bio finansirantako da sam morala na neki

na~in nama}i sredstva da bihmogla nastaviti taj rad. Tadasam po~ela interpretirati uprvim istragama za ICTY, štoje uklju~ivalo putovanja uNorvešku, Dansku i u Bosnunakon Daytona. Rade}i taj, zadušu razorni posao, mogla samtako|er tragati za roditeljimaneke djece kojima sam ušla utrag u Britaniji i pomo}injihovom ujedinjenju, jer suljudi bili raštrkani po raznimeuropskim zemljama.P. Jedan od projekataobuhvatao je djecu izbjeglicaovdje. Da li je on koristio inekoj djeci iz na{e Zajednice?O. Nakon traganja i nala`enjadjece bez pratnje unutraizbjegli~kih skupina raštrkanihpo cijeloj Britaniji, trebalo jena}i još pre`ivjele roditelje iraditi na njihovomujedinjenju, ~esto usprkosmnogih pravila i granica kojesu bile protiv nas. Sve zajednomislim da sam našla oko~etrdestak takve djece. Bio jesamo jedan `idovski dje~ak izMostara, ali budu}i da se onjemu brinula jedna `idovskaudruga, nije mu bila potrebnamoja pomo}. Za mnoge od tihljudi problemi su iskrsnuliposlije ujedinjena. U nekolikoratnih godina manja djecapostala su dosta samostalnitinejd`eri udaljeni od svojihobitelji. Postalo mi je jasno daje potreban program za rad snjima poslije ujedinjenja, ali ida im se pomogne pri procesuintegracije u novoj sredini a dapri tom ne izgube svoj identitet.Zbog toga sam po~elaorganizirati kreativneradionice da bi se zajedni~kimogli nositi s takvimproblemima. Rado su mi utome pomagali razni stru~njacina tim podru~jima kaoobiteljski pravnici, psiholozi idrugi. Da bi mogla organiziratite skupove, podr`ali su medobri ljudi iz raznih ovdašnjihudruga, kao Save the ChildrenFond, UNICEF, Refugee Coun-cil, a povrh svega kazališteYoung Vic koje nam jeomogu}ilo mjesto radionica.Tako smo za vrijeme duljihweekenda i svih školskihpraznika mogli tamo raditi sdjecom. Naše su radionice

kulminirale s postavomdvojezi~ne predstaveShakespeareove Oluje u kojojje u~estvovalo 19 tinejd`era izraznih krajeva Bosne i jednamala talentirana djevoj~ica izSarajeva. Predstavu je re`iralaizvanredna Ka}a Dori} uzpomo} jedne vrlo sposobne italentirane Engleskinje, Beckykoja je kasnije otišla raditi uRoyal Shakespeare Company.P. Jedno privatno pitanje:kako i za{to ste odlu~ili da senastanite u Engleskoj?O. Kad sam 1974. otišla izJugoslavije, nisam smatrala daodlazim definitivno, premda jetih sedamdesetih godina bilodosta razloga za to, posebno jerje toliko ljudi oko mene tadaoboljelo od nacionalisti~kogvirusa. ̂ ak je i Federalni ustavprigrlio radije nacionalisti~keuske interese na uštrbprogresivnih ideja. U to vrijemeMalcolm je ve} bio premještenu Pakistan i kad je naš sin imaogodinu i pol, odlu~ili smo dabi bilo va`no da `ivi barponekad s oba roditelja. S timna umu, uzela sam godinu dananepla}enog dopusta, ali ~imsam sletjela u Islamabad, još senisam stigla ni oporaviti odduga~kog leta, Malcolm jeorganizirao vjen~anje, jer se,navodno, u muslimanskojzemlji nije moglo `ivjetinevjen~ano pod istim krovom.Budu}i da u to vrijeme nisambaš brak uzimala jakoozbiljno, a kako nisam nikadbila religiozna, zabavljalo metakvo ku}no i hippy vjen~anje.Bio je tamo jedan anglikanskipastor koji se doslovno zvaoPukovnik Knjiga (ColonelKitab), a svjedoci doga|aja bilisu britanski ambasador injegova supruga Lady Pomfreyi mala grupa me|unarodnihprijatelja. Me|utim ~injenicaje da se nikad nisam osje}alakao emigrant, niti izJugoslavije, a niti kasnije izHrvatske, više kao putnik,mo`da i zato što je mogu}eimati dvojno dr`avljanstvo.Uvijek sam se mogla vra}ati,tamo ljetovati i odr`avatikontakte s mnogim prijateljimakroz sve te godine.Poslije Pakistana preselili smou Pariz, gdje nam se rodila

VESNA DOMANY-HARDY

k}erka, a onda poslijedvogodišnjeg postinga uLondonu, proveli smo mnogosretnih godina u Italiji. UMilanu sam bila dopisnicaJugoslavenske sekcija BBC-ja,a kasnije u Rimu radila samkao umjetni~ka savjetnica priBritanskoj Akademiji.Malcolm je imao krasan posaokao umjetni~ki direktorBritanskog savjeta za cijeluItaliju. Poslije osam godina ito se lijepo poglavlje našeg`ivota završilo, djeca su otišlaod ku}e radi daljnjegškolovanja i mi smo se vratiliu naš pied a terre u Londonugdje ̀ ivimo zadnjih 17 godina.P. Iako niste pro{li kroz pakaokroz koji je na{a malaZajednica pro{la po~etkomdevedesetih, ispostavilo se dame|ju nama imate rodbinu!Kako ste to doznali?O. Za vrijeme Bosanskog ratamoja je majka u Zagrebuoglasila na `idovskoj Op}inida mo`e udomiti ako jepotrebno nekoga, iz Bosne.Njeni su prvi gosti biliFincijevi, koji su kod nje ostalisve dok nisu dobili britanskuvizu. Kad su došli u London,bili su smješteni u hosteluzajedno s ostalima iz vašegrupe. Kad bi se s njima vi|alagovorili bi mi da me|u vamaimam rodbinu. Dok je bio uZagrebu, Predrag je ~itaodijelove autobiografije mojemajke i naprosto povezao niti.Što se mene ti~e nisam pojmaimala da imamo pre`ivjelerodbine u Sarajevu. Kad mePredrag upoznao s Oljom iBorišom, ni oni nisu imalipojma. Me|utim uskoro jemoja majka došla u London, pasu ona i Paula ustanovile da suPaula i moj djed Oskar Izraeldjeca dvojice bra}e, Davida iAbrahama Izrael. Sada samzaista sretna da imam takokrasnu obitelj u Londonu kojui moj suprug isto tako jako voli.P. Imate li neku poruku?O. Upravo sam uokvirilarepliku plakata britanske vladeiz 2. svjetskog rata s tekstom“Keep calm and carry on!“ (Nepani~arite i ponašajte se kaonormalno!). Premda je porukalakonska, ~ini mi se zgodnom.Intervju vodio: Branko Danon

IIt is rare to meet a person ofsuch energy. Not many couldclaim to have successfullybrought up wonderful childrenwhile being fully immersed in anextraordinary diversity of ac-tivities at the same time. In thisshort interview, we’re hoping tolearn a bit more about some ofthem.

Q. Due to your education, yourinterests are often centred onthe written word in particularand the arts in general. Couldyou tell us a little more aboutthat side of your personality?A: As a child in the early fiftiesI had to live in a children’shome. It was there that readingbecame my passion althoughnow I see it as a kind of escap-ism, though positive, I believe.In due course I graduated inComparative Literature and lan-guages and subsequentlyworked in education, first in ra-dio and TV while also teachingYugoslav literature and Englishlanguage in a secondaryschool, in my native Zagreb. Iextended the interests for visualarts and history later, partiallyin order to adopt my husband'sinterests when we lived in dif-ferent countries. We both con-sidered that in order to come toterms with living in any coun-try it is important to become fa-

miliar with its culture, history,art and language. It was espe-cially important during ourpostings in France and Italywhen visual language for mesimply became yet another lan-guage to understand andadopt. When as a family we set-tled back in London, I had aBritish Council grant for post

graduate studies and decidedto do my MA in Art History inorder to systematize all the ex-perience and knowledge I hadgathered over many years. Hadthe war that destroyed Yugo-slavia not happened I wouldhave probably happily gone onlooking at the international artscene, dealing with it in this orthat way, but at the time I felttotally derailed from it, espe-cially as many conceptual art-ists adopted market values -abandoning more humane inter-ests as such. I probably felt es-tranged from that scene be-cause subjectively I felt as if Isuffered the cancer of my Yu-goslav background, which hadfor so long been my identity. Itmade it impossible to nourishthe frequently oversized egosof many contemporary artists,while it also seemed more im-portant to help refugees pour-ing in from Yugoslavia, whoseplight I understood and sym-pathised with and to whom,

because of my safer situation, Icould have helped.Q. You are an art critic, essay-ist, book presenter, to mentionjust a few of your engagements.What are you immersed in atpresent?A: One could say that yourquestion is a good descriptionof a post modern existence.When one does not have a jobfor life it is important to be ableto adapt one's possibilities tovarying circumstances. At themoment I am trying to put to-gether a book from researchwhich I have been doing forover 10 years, initially with thehelp of a small grant from theJewish Memorial Fund. Thatgrant enabled me to travel, tosee places, dig through many

archives and seek out peoplewho in their youth were con-nected in some way with theshort lives of my father and hisbrother. For me it is a very pain-ful subject, probably the reasonit has taken so long to do. Bothof them died in their early thir-ties. My father was murderedby ustashas, his brother bychetniks. Both were activelyantifascist, leftists, each of themresisting fascism in his way.Q. We have learned that youhave been appointed Memberof the Selection Committee forthis year's Jewish Film Festi-val. Your brother, Rajko Grlicis a famous film director. Is thissomething running in the fam-ily?A: For many seasons I havebeen covering for 'Ha kol' (thebulettin of the Jewish Commu-nity in Zagreb) the London Jew-

ish Film Festival. When JudyIronside, its director, mentionedthat she intended to expand theFestival into Eastern Europe, Isuggested to the Jewish Com-munity in Zagreb they inviteher for a weekend to screensome films. My suggestion fellon deaf ears, but when I men-tioned such a possibility to theyoung Nata{a Popovi} (at thetime a graphic designer for 'Hakol') she took the idea up,promptly got in touch withJudy, got a team of volunteerstogether, found sponsors and‘presto’ organized a very suc-cessful replica of London Jew-ish film festival in Zagreb. In itssecond year she even took it toBelgrade and Sarajevo. In theoccasion of the second year’s

festival, Judy commented thatthe Jewish Festival in Zagrebstepped from year one into yearfive. As I was there at the verybeginning, Natasa had thoughtI could contribute by selectingthe films with a couple of otherequally interested people. Icould really not say that it hadto do with my brother, or evenmy son who is a film script writertoo. Although I must underlinethat my brother, by starting theMotovun Film Festival whichwas first such alternative festi-val in Croatia, pioneered themodel in that country. In itswake there are many other suchevents springing up now eve-rywhere, which is only a goodthing.Q. Your survival story in WWIIis fascinating. Do you want totell us about that?

VESNA DOMANY-HARDYA: In 1941, immediately after thefascist occupation and imposi-tions of the Ustashas' NDHstate, my grandfather and myfather were executed in Zagreb.In the beginning of 1942 the restof my family was deported fromthere as well as from Sarajevoand none of them ever re-turned. Of all of them it was onlymy mother who survived, es-caping deportation with me andher own mother. Not knowingwhere to turn, she ran into hernon Jewish friend of Germanorigin, Ru`a Fuchs, literally inthe street. They knew eachother from their syndic unionmeetings and activities andRu`a courageously offered totake me in so that my mothercould join the partisans, whichshe did. Sadly, after arriving torelative safety of a partisan unita commander decided to sepa-rate them and as a consequencemy mother never saw hermother again. She only heardthat my grandmother perishedwithout a trace during the nextoffensive. At the time of ourseparation I was a ten monthold baby and so it was Ru`aFuchs who brought me upalongside her daughters, oneborn immediately before the warand the younger one at the endof 1943, only a few weeks be-fore Ru`a's own husband Ottowas arrested and then executedby the ustashas. In spite all ofthe difficulties she must havehad, I stayed with them until mymother's return to Zagreb in1945. Ru`a was an extraordinaryperson in many aspects andwhile she lived we had a veryspecial relationship. While inRome and at the suggestion ofŽeni Lebl, I wrote to Yad Vashemabout her and they immediatelyproclaimed her the RighteousOne, some years before shedied. At first she said that shehad done nothing to be spe-cially praised for, but I knowthat all the same she was gladfor that recognition.Q. Would that story be the driv-ing force behind your involve-ment in humanitarian projects,some of these running in Bosniaduring the times of deepest cri-sis?A: I would say that motivationfor such engagement must havebeen emotionally rooted in my

later childhood experiences.When in 1949 my mother andher second husband ( at thetime journalist and later a phi-losopher Danko Grli}) were im-prisoned on Goli otok (a prisonisland), I had no blood relativesto look after me, and ended upin an institution with other warorphans. I think that that expe-rience made me empathise withunaccompanied children andprompted me to undertake co-ordination of a project “Unac-companied children in Exile”based in Zagreb. Apart from anine month period, the projectwas not funded, so I had tomake some money to keep itgoing. It was then that I beganinterpreting for the first inves-tigations of ICTY - which in-cluded travelling to Norway,Denmark and Bosnia afterDayton. Doing that work I wasalso able to trace some of theparents, dispersed throughoutEurope, of some of the unac-companied children, and helptowards their re-unification.Q. One of these projects in-volved refugee children in thiscountry. Were some childrenfrom our community also ben-eficiaries?A: After tracing and findingsuch unaccompanied childrenamidst refugee communities allover Britain, one had to look forsurviving parents, often acrossseveral borders and strict rulesworking against us. I think thatall told I found about 40 chil-dren. There was only one Jew-ish boy among them. He camefrom Mostar but he was lookedafter by Jewish charities with-out needing my help. For manyof these people many post-reunification problems arose, asthe children grew into very in-dependent teenagers and oftenbecame estranged from theirfamilies. It was evident that apost-reunification programmewas needed to help them, as wellas speeding up their integrationprocess into this country. Forthis reason I organised creativeworkshops in which we dealtwith such problems. I was ableto recruit help from quite anumber of specialists, like fam-ily lawyers, psychologists etc.In order to be able to organisethese gatherings I had supportfrom good people in various

organisations like Save the Chil-dren, Unicef, Refugee Counciland above all the Young VicTheatre. It was there that dur-ing long weekends, or midtermbreaks, we accomplished mostof that work. Our gatheringsculminated with the bilingualproduction of Shakespeare’splay “The Tempest”, involvingnineteen teenage Bosnian chil-dren and one younger girl. Itwas directed by Katja Dori}while she was assisted by avery able English girl calledBecky, a young and gifted thea-tre director who went on towork for the Royal ShakespeareCompany.Q. On a more private note inyour life circumstances, howand why did you choose to livein England?A: When in 1974 I left Yugosla-via I did not consider my leav-ing as a definitive affair, al-though in the early seventiesthere was much to be disgrun-tled about, especially as manypeople around me in Zagrebhad caught the deadly virus ofnationalism while Federal Con-stitution got changed to accom-modate it, rather than progres-sive ideas. At the time Malcolmhad moved on to Pakistan, andwhen our son was a year and ahalf old we thought it would bebetter if he lived with both par-ents, at least for a while. I tooka one year sabbatical leave withthis in mind, but as soon as Ilanded in Islamabad, before Ieven slept off the long flight,Malcolm organised a weddingceremony at home claiming thatin a Muslim country we couldnot live unmarried under thesame roof. As I did not take amarriage too seriously and havenever been religious I wasamazed by such a hippy wed-ding at home, though it wasperformed by an Anglican rev-erend called Colonel Kitab(‘book’). This brief and infor-mal ceremony was witnessedby the British Ambassador andhis wife Lady Pomfrey and avery nice group of internationalfriends. However I never felttruly exiled from Yugoslavia, orlater, Croatia, have always haddual citizenship, always beenable to go back and keep intouch with most of my friendsthroughout all these years.

VESNA DOMANY-HARDY After Pakistan we moved toParis - where our daughter wasborn - and after that we had aspell in London followed bymany happy years in Italy. InMilan I was a stringer for theYugoslav section and when wemoved to Rome I worked as anArts' Advisor to the BritishAcademy in Rome. Malcolmhad wonderful work as the Brit-ish Council arts director for thewhole of Italy. After eight yearsthat beautiful chapter came toits end, our children left homefor the sake of further educa-tion, and we returned to ourpied a terre in Greenwich wherewe have lived for the last 17years.Q. Although you did not sharethe turmoil that our small com-munity went through in the be-ginning of the nineties, itturned out that you have rela-tives among us. How did youfind out?A: During the Bosnian war mymother in Zagreb offered theJewish community to put peo-ple up with her, if that wasneeded. The Fincis were herfirst guests, and stayed with heruntil they got their British vi-sas. In London they stayed in ahostel with other members ofyour community and when Isaw them they would mentionthat I had relatives amongstthem. While in Zagreb, Predragread parts of my mother’sMemories, then still in manu-script, and he put 2+2 together.I had no idea that we had anyliving relations left in Sarajevoafter WW2. When Predrag firstintroduced me to Borisa andOlja, they also had no idea ofour connection. But soon mymother visited me and she andPaula worked it out. It becameclear that Paula and my grand-father Oskar Israel were firstcousins. Now I feel very fortu-nate to have such a wonderfulfamily in London, and my hus-band is equally fond of them.Q. Any message?A. I have just framed a replicaof a Second World War BritishGoverment poster with a text„Keep calm and carry on“. Al-though laconic it seems a won-derful message to send on.Interview conducted by:Branko Danon

IIt is rare to meet a person ofsuch energy. Not many couldclaim to have successfullybrought up wonderful childrenwhile being fully immersed in anextraordinary diversity of ac-tivities at the same time. In thisshort interview, we’re hoping tolearn a bit more about some ofthem.

Q. Due to your education, yourinterests are often centred onthe written word in particularand the arts in general. Couldyou tell us a little more aboutthat side of your personality?A: As a child in the early fiftiesI had to live in a children’shome. It was there that readingbecame my passion althoughnow I see it as a kind of escap-ism, though positive, I believe.In due course I graduated inComparative Literature and lan-guages and subsequentlyworked in education, first in ra-dio and TV while also teachingYugoslav literature and Englishlanguage in a secondaryschool, in my native Zagreb. Iextended the interests for visualarts and history later, partiallyin order to adopt my husband'sinterests when we lived in dif-ferent countries. We both con-sidered that in order to come toterms with living in any coun-try it is important to become fa-

miliar with its culture, history,art and language. It was espe-cially important during ourpostings in France and Italywhen visual language for mesimply became yet another lan-guage to understand andadopt. When as a family we set-tled back in London, I had aBritish Council grant for post

graduate studies and decidedto do my MA in Art History inorder to systematize all the ex-perience and knowledge I hadgathered over many years. Hadthe war that destroyed Yugo-slavia not happened I wouldhave probably happily gone onlooking at the international artscene, dealing with it in this orthat way, but at the time I felttotally derailed from it, espe-cially as many conceptual art-ists adopted market values -abandoning more humane inter-ests as such. I probably felt es-tranged from that scene be-cause subjectively I felt as if Isuffered the cancer of my Yu-goslav background, which hadfor so long been my identity. Itmade it impossible to nourishthe frequently oversized egosof many contemporary artists,while it also seemed more im-portant to help refugees pour-ing in from Yugoslavia, whoseplight I understood and sym-pathised with and to whom,

because of my safer situation, Icould have helped.Q. You are an art critic, essay-ist, book presenter, to mentionjust a few of your engagements.What are you immersed in atpresent?A: One could say that yourquestion is a good descriptionof a post modern existence.When one does not have a jobfor life it is important to be ableto adapt one's possibilities tovarying circumstances. At themoment I am trying to put to-gether a book from researchwhich I have been doing forover 10 years, initially with thehelp of a small grant from theJewish Memorial Fund. Thatgrant enabled me to travel, tosee places, dig through many

archives and seek out peoplewho in their youth were con-nected in some way with theshort lives of my father and hisbrother. For me it is a very pain-ful subject, probably the reasonit has taken so long to do. Bothof them died in their early thir-ties. My father was murderedby ustashas, his brother bychetniks. Both were activelyantifascist, leftists, each of themresisting fascism in his way.Q. We have learned that youhave been appointed Memberof the Selection Committee forthis year's Jewish Film Festi-val. Your brother, Rajko Grlicis a famous film director. Is thissomething running in the fam-ily?A: For many seasons I havebeen covering for 'Ha kol' (thebulettin of the Jewish Commu-nity in Zagreb) the London Jew-

ish Film Festival. When JudyIronside, its director, mentionedthat she intended to expand theFestival into Eastern Europe, Isuggested to the Jewish Com-munity in Zagreb they inviteher for a weekend to screensome films. My suggestion fellon deaf ears, but when I men-tioned such a possibility to theyoung Nata{a Popovi} (at thetime a graphic designer for 'Hakol') she took the idea up,promptly got in touch withJudy, got a team of volunteerstogether, found sponsors and‘presto’ organized a very suc-cessful replica of London Jew-ish film festival in Zagreb. In itssecond year she even took it toBelgrade and Sarajevo. In theoccasion of the second year’s

festival, Judy commented thatthe Jewish Festival in Zagrebstepped from year one into yearfive. As I was there at the verybeginning, Natasa had thoughtI could contribute by selectingthe films with a couple of otherequally interested people. Icould really not say that it hadto do with my brother, or evenmy son who is a film script writertoo. Although I must underlinethat my brother, by starting theMotovun Film Festival whichwas first such alternative festi-val in Croatia, pioneered themodel in that country. In itswake there are many other suchevents springing up now eve-rywhere, which is only a goodthing.Q. Your survival story in WWIIis fascinating. Do you want totell us about that?

VESNA DOMANY-HARDYA: In 1941, immediately after thefascist occupation and imposi-tions of the Ustashas' NDHstate, my grandfather and myfather were executed in Zagreb.In the beginning of 1942 the restof my family was deported fromthere as well as from Sarajevoand none of them ever re-turned. Of all of them it was onlymy mother who survived, es-caping deportation with me andher own mother. Not knowingwhere to turn, she ran into hernon Jewish friend of Germanorigin, Ru`a Fuchs, literally inthe street. They knew eachother from their syndic unionmeetings and activities andRu`a courageously offered totake me in so that my mothercould join the partisans, whichshe did. Sadly, after arriving torelative safety of a partisan unita commander decided to sepa-rate them and as a consequencemy mother never saw hermother again. She only heardthat my grandmother perishedwithout a trace during the nextoffensive. At the time of ourseparation I was a ten monthold baby and so it was Ru`aFuchs who brought me upalongside her daughters, oneborn immediately before the warand the younger one at the endof 1943, only a few weeks be-fore Ru`a's own husband Ottowas arrested and then executedby the ustashas. In spite all ofthe difficulties she must havehad, I stayed with them until mymother's return to Zagreb in1945. Ru`a was an extraordinaryperson in many aspects andwhile she lived we had a veryspecial relationship. While inRome and at the suggestion ofŽeni Lebl, I wrote to Yad Vashemabout her and they immediatelyproclaimed her the RighteousOne, some years before shedied. At first she said that shehad done nothing to be spe-cially praised for, but I knowthat all the same she was gladfor that recognition.Q. Would that story be the driv-ing force behind your involve-ment in humanitarian projects,some of these running in Bosniaduring the times of deepest cri-sis?A: I would say that motivationfor such engagement must havebeen emotionally rooted in my

later childhood experiences.When in 1949 my mother andher second husband ( at thetime journalist and later a phi-losopher Danko Grli}) were im-prisoned on Goli otok (a prisonisland), I had no blood relativesto look after me, and ended upin an institution with other warorphans. I think that that expe-rience made me empathise withunaccompanied children andprompted me to undertake co-ordination of a project “Unac-companied children in Exile”based in Zagreb. Apart from anine month period, the projectwas not funded, so I had tomake some money to keep itgoing. It was then that I beganinterpreting for the first inves-tigations of ICTY - which in-cluded travelling to Norway,Denmark and Bosnia afterDayton. Doing that work I wasalso able to trace some of theparents, dispersed throughoutEurope, of some of the unac-companied children, and helptowards their re-unification.Q. One of these projects in-volved refugee children in thiscountry. Were some childrenfrom our community also ben-eficiaries?A: After tracing and findingsuch unaccompanied childrenamidst refugee communities allover Britain, one had to look forsurviving parents, often acrossseveral borders and strict rulesworking against us. I think thatall told I found about 40 chil-dren. There was only one Jew-ish boy among them. He camefrom Mostar but he was lookedafter by Jewish charities with-out needing my help. For manyof these people many post-reunification problems arose, asthe children grew into very in-dependent teenagers and oftenbecame estranged from theirfamilies. It was evident that apost-reunification programmewas needed to help them, as wellas speeding up their integrationprocess into this country. Forthis reason I organised creativeworkshops in which we dealtwith such problems. I was ableto recruit help from quite anumber of specialists, like fam-ily lawyers, psychologists etc.In order to be able to organisethese gatherings I had supportfrom good people in various

organisations like Save the Chil-dren, Unicef, Refugee Counciland above all the Young VicTheatre. It was there that dur-ing long weekends, or midtermbreaks, we accomplished mostof that work. Our gatheringsculminated with the bilingualproduction of Shakespeare’splay “The Tempest”, involvingnineteen teenage Bosnian chil-dren and one younger girl. Itwas directed by Katja Dori}while she was assisted by avery able English girl calledBecky, a young and gifted thea-tre director who went on towork for the Royal ShakespeareCompany.Q. On a more private note inyour life circumstances, howand why did you choose to livein England?A: When in 1974 I left Yugosla-via I did not consider my leav-ing as a definitive affair, al-though in the early seventiesthere was much to be disgrun-tled about, especially as manypeople around me in Zagrebhad caught the deadly virus ofnationalism while Federal Con-stitution got changed to accom-modate it, rather than progres-sive ideas. At the time Malcolmhad moved on to Pakistan, andwhen our son was a year and ahalf old we thought it would bebetter if he lived with both par-ents, at least for a while. I tooka one year sabbatical leave withthis in mind, but as soon as Ilanded in Islamabad, before Ieven slept off the long flight,Malcolm organised a weddingceremony at home claiming thatin a Muslim country we couldnot live unmarried under thesame roof. As I did not take amarriage too seriously and havenever been religious I wasamazed by such a hippy wed-ding at home, though it wasperformed by an Anglican rev-erend called Colonel Kitab(‘book’). This brief and infor-mal ceremony was witnessedby the British Ambassador andhis wife Lady Pomfrey and avery nice group of internationalfriends. However I never felttruly exiled from Yugoslavia, orlater, Croatia, have always haddual citizenship, always beenable to go back and keep intouch with most of my friendsthroughout all these years.

VESNA DOMANY-HARDY After Pakistan we moved toParis - where our daughter wasborn - and after that we had aspell in London followed bymany happy years in Italy. InMilan I was a stringer for theYugoslav section and when wemoved to Rome I worked as anArts' Advisor to the BritishAcademy in Rome. Malcolmhad wonderful work as the Brit-ish Council arts director for thewhole of Italy. After eight yearsthat beautiful chapter came toits end, our children left homefor the sake of further educa-tion, and we returned to ourpied a terre in Greenwich wherewe have lived for the last 17years.Q. Although you did not sharethe turmoil that our small com-munity went through in the be-ginning of the nineties, itturned out that you have rela-tives among us. How did youfind out?A: During the Bosnian war mymother in Zagreb offered theJewish community to put peo-ple up with her, if that wasneeded. The Fincis were herfirst guests, and stayed with heruntil they got their British vi-sas. In London they stayed in ahostel with other members ofyour community and when Isaw them they would mentionthat I had relatives amongstthem. While in Zagreb, Predragread parts of my mother’sMemories, then still in manu-script, and he put 2+2 together.I had no idea that we had anyliving relations left in Sarajevoafter WW2. When Predrag firstintroduced me to Borisa andOlja, they also had no idea ofour connection. But soon mymother visited me and she andPaula worked it out. It becameclear that Paula and my grand-father Oskar Israel were firstcousins. Now I feel very fortu-nate to have such a wonderfulfamily in London, and my hus-band is equally fond of them.Q. Any message?A. I have just framed a replicaof a Second World War BritishGoverment poster with a text„Keep calm and carry on“. Al-though laconic it seems a won-derful message to send on.Interview conducted by:Branko Danon

Nedavno, po~etkom novembra2008. godine, obavljena jepromocija knjige 'People of theBook' ili slobodno prevedeno'Ljudi od knjige', ~ime seobi~no etiketiraju Jevreji. (Koka`e da je etiketiranje uvijeknegativno. Koristim izrazetiketiranja zato {to i medjuJevrejima ima nena~itanih, dane ka`em nepismenih ljudi).Knjiga je pisana kao roman u~ijem centru je SarajevskaHagada. Autorica D`eraldinaBruks je lijepo iskoristila~injenicu da je dobar dioistorije ove ~uvene knjige –manuskripta bezmalo zavijenu misteriju. Naime, od njenognastanka u 14 vijeku pa do~injenice da sada bezbjedno icijenjeno le`i pod 'zvonom' usarajevskom 'Landes Museum'-u, ni{ta se ne zna o njenomkretanju u toku nekolikovijekova. Kada se tome dodada je knjiga, kao nekim ~udom,spa{avana u vi{e navrata, prvood Inkvizicije, pa onda odnacista, te od izlu|enihnacionalista u na{oj nedavnoji nadajmo se posljednjojtragediji, onda je njena sudbinai te kako dobar knji`evnimaterijal Sve ove okolnosti,koje su ovaj rukopis skoroodvele u sferu mistike, samo su~ekale da neki kreativni autor,zaljubljenik u knjige, iskoristisvoju {ansu. Geraldine je bezsvake sumnje kreativan autor.Mo`da je ~ak i dobro {to sestranac dohvatio ove ideje izadatka, jer da se tog zadatkadohvatio neki doma}i autor,koji bi imao dublje i bli`e,intimnije veze sa ovomknjigom, postoji bojazan da sene bi mogao odma}i dovoljnodaleko od nedavne tragi~neistorije i time opteretiti izasjeniti ~injenicu da sutrajanje i istorija ove knjigemnogo du`i. A De`raldina je,po prirodi stvari, imala tu {ansu.Ali isto tako, po prirodi stvari,D`eraldina nije uspjela da seoslobodi u svojim ocjenama iprocjenama nekih stereotipa,tipi~no zapadnja~kih. To senaro~ito odnosi na dijeloveteksta koji idu u ocjene - kojesu u su{tini politi~ke naravi -na{eg nedavnogsocijalistickog dru{tvenogure|enja. Ti stereotipi su takosna`ni da }e neke ocjene,neprovjerene, na}i mjesta utekstu. Nije ~udo, ali je ̀ alosno

kada se ima u vidu da jeD`eraldina uva`ena novinarkai svojevremeno dopisnik VolStrit D`ornal-a. Pri tome netreba zaboraviti, da je jedan diostru~nog identiteta autorke –istra`no novinarstvo. U tolikoje morala biti mnogo vi{e ibolje informisana. Ovako,podlegla je stereotipima, kojenije ona ve} neko druginametnuo.No, ako se vratimo knjizi ucjelosti, romanti~ne okolnostiove obredne knjige, dobile suovim radom romanti~nuinterpretaciju nepoznatog. Neuvijek i romanti~nog. Na

osnovu op{tepoznatih~injenica i ponekih indicijaspisateljska ma{ta je do{la dopunog izra`aja. Zna se, recimo,da je knjiga restaurirana iukori~ena posljednji put uBe~u krajem 19 stolje}a. Ni{tau knjizi ne manjka i svi listovii iluminacije, autenti~ne idivno o~uvane. Ali korice.....?!Obi~ni, skromni povez,nedostojan tako va`ne iluksuzne knjige. Nedostaju i,po svemu sude}i, izuzetnoluksuzne srebrene kop~e. Za{to,otkud? Zbog toga {to jeknjigovezac – restauraterneizlje~ivo bolovao od sifilisai bio anti-semita!!! ^ak je injegova veneri~na bolestpotpirivala njegov anti-semitizam. ^ista konstrukcijama{te. Ali, ko zna, mo`da je ba{'u sridu'? Najljep{e od svegajeste da niko ne mo`e sasigurno{}u dokazati suprotno.Ba{ kao Deniken i vanzemaljci.U te`nji da se djelo uslo`i damu se da vi{e 'mesa' ima iovakvih epizoda. Odre|eniugledni imaginarni doktorHir{feld sumnji~i svoju ̀ enu da

se upustila u avanturu saTeodorom Herclom. Ba{ tako,i ni s kim drugim, osim {to jemogu}e da je u pitanjuslu~ajna i nenamjernakoincidencija. Mora da je uBe~u, krajem 19-og stolje}abilo na stotine ljudi koji su sezvali Teodor Hercl! Meni malomiri{e na isforsiraniegzibicionizam. Ili mo`daautorica na takav na~iniskazuje svoje neslaganje sacionisti~kim pokretom?Na vrlo umje{an na~inD`eraldina se dotakla mnogihmisterija vezanih za ovuizuzetnu knjigu. Mnogeli~nosti ~ija je sudbinaisprepletena sa knjigom utkanesu u ovu neobi~nu pri~u. Onekima, kao o dvojici sarajlija,Muslimana, koji su u dvasudbonosna navrata spasiliknjigu, na razmisljaju}i oposljedicama po sebe, ne{to iznamo. Ali {ta znamo o nekomekoji se prezivao Vistorini a kojije na kraju knjige napisao 'vistoda me'. Inkvizitor, a da je pritome konvert? Da? Ne? Stvarnaistorijska li~nost? Autorica jesve ovo ustvrdila sa toliko'drskosti' da joj trebapovjerovati. Kad ka`em'drskost' mislim da je tom likuudahnut `ivot, skoro da nas jeprenijela u vrijeme inkvizicije.Knjigu je te{ko svrstati u neki`anr. Mo`da je najbli`e re}iistorijski roman, iako je knjiga,ka`em sa rado{}u, ̀ iva i zdrava.Sa velikim umije}em, vode}inas kroz Scile i Haribde (svakajoj ~ast, nije se, unato~opasnostima, razbila o hridi)autorica upli~e u pri~u vi{e niti,isprepli~e i na kraju uspje{noraspetljava zaplet. Savremenopisana, uz velike napore da sematerija savlada, knjiga skoroima Hejlijevske tendencije.Ko je u rukama imaoSarajevsku Hagadu i ko ne{tozna o religijskim zabranama itabuima, sigurno se upitaokako je mogu}e da ujevrejskom manuskriptu,minijature vrve od ljudskihlikova. Ko je to ilustrovao?Mogu}e je samo {pekulisati unedostatku dokaza. Kad jetako, D`eraldina {pekuli{e namaestralan na~in: umjetnik jeMusliman, iz Sjeverne Afrike,zna~i crn je, ali je uz to i`ensko! Ne mo`e, vala, ni AgataKristi bolje zaplesti. Ili mo`da,zaplet, pri kraju, gdje je ve} u

Muzej pohranjeni rukopisukraden u D`ejmsBondovskom stilu, zamijenjennevjerovatno uspje{nimplagijatom, da bi kona~nooriginal, u vratolomnimokolnostima bio vra}en nasvoje zaslu`eno mjesto.Neka mi bude dozvoljeno imalo zajedljivosti. U jednommomentu, u [paniji 15-0gstolje}a, majka porodice palisezonsku – yahrziet – svije}u,ne jahrzeit (njema~ku) ve}Yahrzeit (jidi{) svije}u. [taznam, mo`da su tada{njiJevreji u [paniji govorili Jidi{.Knjigu sam ~itao na tenane ibilje`io svoje utiske usput. Dasam je ~itao halapljivo, kakoona i zaslu`uje sigurno da nekamoja cjepidla~enja i~angrizavost ne bi na{li mjestau ovim redovima.Da ne zaboravim. Knjiga je zasada prevedena u Beogradupod malo neobi~nimprevodom naslova '^uvariknjige'. Nekako mi je taj naslovsputao zamah knjige. Ali ono{to me je uzdrmalo je ~injenicada sam u sarajevskom 'Avazu'pro~itao osvrt na knjigu kojije napisao neko ~ijeg imenauop{te ne namjeravam da sesjetim. Potresao me je pozivrecenzenta BiH izdava~ima dasvakako treba da na|u na~inada se knjiga prevede i nabosanski. Ergo, to vjerovatnonije potrebno za RepublikuSrpsku, nek oni ~itajubeogradsko izdanje, oni }e tajprevod mo}i ~itati, ostali ne! A{ta je onda, zaboga, saHrvatima u BiH? Ho}e li onirazumjeti bosanski prevod, jersrpski vjerovatno ne}e?! Danije `alosno, od srca bih senasmijao.Knjiga je zabavna i lako se ~ita.Toplo je preporu~ujem.Beogradsko izdanje je uradioje ALNARI Publishing d.o.o.,preveo Miroslav Ba{i}Palkovi}. Za one koji se mogusna}i u engleskom knjiga semo`e na}i u prodaji uknji`arama, od izdava~aHarper Perennial, 77-85Fulham Palace Road, Hammer-smith, London W6 8JB. Naslovoriginala 'People of the Book'autor Geraldine Brooks. Cijenau maloprodaji £ 7,99 , mekipovez. Prvo izdanje je uAmerici uradio Viking.Branko Danon

Recently, in early November of2008 the launch of the Peopleof the Book took place. Thebook was written as a novel thefocus of which is the SarajevoHaggadah. Geraldine Brooks,the author, skilfully used thefact that a great part of this wellknown book–manuscript is al-most a mystery. From the verytime when it was created in the14th century until its presentsafe and respected place underthe “bell” in Sarajevo LandsMuseum, several centuries ofits travel through time are notaccounted for. Also knowingthat, if by a miracle, the bookhad been rescued several times- first from the Inquisition, thenfrom the Nazis and finally fromthe insane nationalist in our lat-est and hopefully the last trag-edy, it becomes clear that itsdestiny can be used very wellin literature. All these circum-stances that take this book al-most to the sphere of mysticismwere a good chance to be usedby a creative author with a pas-sion for books. There is nodoubt that Geraldine is a crea-tive author. The fact that a for-eigner came with this idea andundertook to realize it may evenbe an advantage. Should, on theother hand, a home author haveundertaken to do so I am afraidthat his deeper and more inti-mate associations with thisbook would not have allowedhim to distance himself from therecent tragic history and bydoing so burden and cast ashadow over the fact that thelife and history of this book aremuch longer. By the nature ofthings Geraldine had thatchance. At the same time, by thenature of things, in her apprais-als and estimates Geraldine didnot succeed in dropping sometypically western stereotypes.This refers mainly to those sec-tions in the text which judge ourrecent socialist way of life, abasically political feature.These stereotypes are so per-suasive that some judgments,unverified, found their place inher text. It is no wonder, but it isa sad truth when one knowsthat she is an appreciated jour-nalist and a Wall Street Journalcorrespondent at one time. One

also should not forget that apart of the author’s professionalidentity is – research journal-ism. That is a reason more whyshe had to be much better in-formed. As it is, she gave in tothe stereotypes that somebodyelse imposed on her.When, nevertheless, speakingof the book as a whole, it seemsthat this work added to the cir-cumstances of this ritual booka romantic interpretation of theunknown. Not necessarily ro-mantic always. The author’simagination came into play onthe basis of the generallyknown facts and some indica-tions. It is known, for instance,that the book was restored andbound last time in Vienna in late19th century. Nothing is miss-ing in the book and all the pagesand illuminations are authenticand wonderfully preserved. Butwhat about the cover … ? It isa simple and modest binding,unworthy of such a significantand splendid book. Also miss-ing are the seemingly excep-tionally opulent silver buckles.Because the bookbinding re-storer suffered from incurablesyphilis and he was an anti-Semite!!! Even his venereal dis-ease aroused his anti-Semitism.A pure construction of imagi-nation. But who knows, it mighteven be true? As it is, nobodycan prove to the contrary. Justthe same as Däniken and hisextraterrestrials. In an effort toput flesh onto the work in orderto make it a more complex one itincludes episodes like the fol-lowing one. A certain imaginarydoctor Hirschfield suspects hiswife of having an affair withTheodore Herzl. Just like that,nobody else, except for thepossibility that it is an acciden-tal unintentional coincidence. Itmust be that in the late nine-teenth century Vienna therelived hundreds of people withthe name of Theodore Herzl. Tomy mind it smells of forced ex-hibitionism. Could it be that theauthor expresses her disagree-ment with the Zionist move-ment in this way?Geraldine very skilfully touchedthe numerous mysteries asso-ciated with this exceptionalbook. Many characters, the

destiny of which is intertwinedwith the book, are incorporatedinto this unusual story. Somedetails are known about somepersons as are the two Sarajevomen, Muslims, who had savedthe book at two crucial pointsof time not thinking what con-sequences this might have forthem. But what do we knowabout somebody whose sur-name was Vistorini and whowrote “visto da me” at the endof the book. An inquisitor anda convert on top? Yes? No? Ishe a real character from history?The author stated all this withso much “arrogance” that oneshould believe her. When I say“arrogance” I mean by that bydepicting this character full oflife she almost took us to theperiod of inquisition.It is difficult to classify the bookinto a genre. It is nearest to ahistorical novel, although thebook is alive and well, I am gladto say. Very skilfully, taking usbetween Scylla and Charybdis(good for her, in spite of thedangers she did not crashagainst the rocks) the authorweaves into the story severalthreads, intertwines them andeventually unravels it all. Con-temporarily written, with greatefforts to control the material,the book has Haley’s tenden-cies, almost.Those who held The SarajevoHaggadah and who in additionto that are familiar with the reli-gion prohibitions and tabooswere certain to ask themselveshow was it possible that a Jew-ish manuscript holds miniaturespacked with human figures.Who were the illustrators? Nothaving any proofs, it is possi-ble only to speculate. Being itso, Geraldine speculates in amarvellous way: the artist is aMuslim from North Africa,which means that he is blackbut what’s more he is a woman!Agatha Christie would not com-plicate things more, really. Orthe plot near the end, where themanuscript which was alreadyput in safekeeping of the Mu-seum, was stolen in a JamesBond style and replaced by un-believably successful plagia-rism, and under reckless circum-stances the original could fi-

nally be returned to its deserv-ing place.I would like to be a bit sarcas-tic, if I may. In a scene in fif-teenth century Spain the motherof the family lights a seasonal –yahrzeit candle, not the jahrzeit(German), but Yahrzeit (Yiddish)candle. Who knows, perhapsthe Spanish Jews of that timespoke Yiddish.I took my time reading the bookand noting down my impres-sions. Had I read it insatiably,as it deserves, it is certain thatsome of my grumbles would notbe found in these lines.And also. For the time being thebook has been translated in Bel-grade under a somewhat unu-sual title which could be trans-lated back into English as’Keepers of the Book’ which, tomy mind, largely limits the im-petus of the book. I have toadmit that I was upset readingin Sarajevo “Avaz” a review ofthe book by somebody whosename I have no intention to rec-ollect. I was shaken to read thatthe reviewer was inviting B&Hpublishers to find by all meansa way to translate the book toBosnian as well. Ergo, this prob-ably is not necessary for theRepubliks Srpska, let them readthe Belgrade publication, theywill be able to read that transla-tion; the others will not! Whatthen about the Croats in B&H,for God’s sake? Would they beable to understand the Bosniantranslation, because it is likelythat they would not understandthe Serbian one? I would havea good laugh over it were it notsad.The book is amusing and eas-ily read. I do recommend it. InBelgrade it was published byALNARI Publishing d.o.o,translation by Miroslav Ba{i}Palkovi}. For those who canread in English the book is pub-lished by Harper Perennial, 77-85 Fulham Place Road, Hammer-smith, London W6 8JB and ison sale in bookshops. The titleof the original is People of theBook by Geraldine Brooks. Thepaperback retail price is£ 7.99. It was first published inthe States by Viking.Branko Danon

D@ERALDINA BROOKS: “^UVARI KNJIGE” GERALDINE BROOKS: “PEOPLE OF THE BOOK”

Nedavno, po~etkom novembra2008. godine, obavljena jepromocija knjige 'People of theBook' ili slobodno prevedeno'Ljudi od knjige', ~ime seobi~no etiketiraju Jevreji. (Koka`e da je etiketiranje uvijeknegativno. Koristim izrazetiketiranja zato {to i medjuJevrejima ima nena~itanih, dane ka`em nepismenih ljudi).Knjiga je pisana kao roman u~ijem centru je SarajevskaHagada. Autorica D`eraldinaBruks je lijepo iskoristila~injenicu da je dobar dioistorije ove ~uvene knjige –manuskripta bezmalo zavijenu misteriju. Naime, od njenognastanka u 14 vijeku pa do~injenice da sada bezbjedno icijenjeno le`i pod 'zvonom' usarajevskom 'Landes Museum'-u, ni{ta se ne zna o njenomkretanju u toku nekolikovijekova. Kada se tome dodada je knjiga, kao nekim ~udom,spa{avana u vi{e navrata, prvood Inkvizicije, pa onda odnacista, te od izlu|enihnacionalista u na{oj nedavnoji nadajmo se posljednjojtragediji, onda je njena sudbinai te kako dobar knji`evnimaterijal Sve ove okolnosti,koje su ovaj rukopis skoroodvele u sferu mistike, samo su~ekale da neki kreativni autor,zaljubljenik u knjige, iskoristisvoju {ansu. Geraldine je bezsvake sumnje kreativan autor.Mo`da je ~ak i dobro {to sestranac dohvatio ove ideje izadatka, jer da se tog zadatkadohvatio neki doma}i autor,koji bi imao dublje i bli`e,intimnije veze sa ovomknjigom, postoji bojazan da sene bi mogao odma}i dovoljnodaleko od nedavne tragi~neistorije i time opteretiti izasjeniti ~injenicu da sutrajanje i istorija ove knjigemnogo du`i. A De`raldina je,po prirodi stvari, imala tu {ansu.Ali isto tako, po prirodi stvari,D`eraldina nije uspjela da seoslobodi u svojim ocjenama iprocjenama nekih stereotipa,tipi~no zapadnja~kih. To senaro~ito odnosi na dijeloveteksta koji idu u ocjene - kojesu u su{tini politi~ke naravi -na{eg nedavnogsocijalistickog dru{tvenogure|enja. Ti stereotipi su takosna`ni da }e neke ocjene,neprovjerene, na}i mjesta utekstu. Nije ~udo, ali je ̀ alosno

kada se ima u vidu da jeD`eraldina uva`ena novinarkai svojevremeno dopisnik VolStrit D`ornal-a. Pri tome netreba zaboraviti, da je jedan diostru~nog identiteta autorke –istra`no novinarstvo. U tolikoje morala biti mnogo vi{e ibolje informisana. Ovako,podlegla je stereotipima, kojenije ona ve} neko druginametnuo.No, ako se vratimo knjizi ucjelosti, romanti~ne okolnostiove obredne knjige, dobile suovim radom romanti~nuinterpretaciju nepoznatog. Neuvijek i romanti~nog. Na

osnovu op{tepoznatih~injenica i ponekih indicijaspisateljska ma{ta je do{la dopunog izra`aja. Zna se, recimo,da je knjiga restaurirana iukori~ena posljednji put uBe~u krajem 19 stolje}a. Ni{tau knjizi ne manjka i svi listovii iluminacije, autenti~ne idivno o~uvane. Ali korice.....?!Obi~ni, skromni povez,nedostojan tako va`ne iluksuzne knjige. Nedostaju i,po svemu sude}i, izuzetnoluksuzne srebrene kop~e. Za{to,otkud? Zbog toga {to jeknjigovezac – restauraterneizlje~ivo bolovao od sifilisai bio anti-semita!!! ^ak je injegova veneri~na bolestpotpirivala njegov anti-semitizam. ^ista konstrukcijama{te. Ali, ko zna, mo`da je ba{'u sridu'? Najljep{e od svegajeste da niko ne mo`e sasigurno{}u dokazati suprotno.Ba{ kao Deniken i vanzemaljci.U te`nji da se djelo uslo`i damu se da vi{e 'mesa' ima iovakvih epizoda. Odre|eniugledni imaginarni doktorHir{feld sumnji~i svoju ̀ enu da

se upustila u avanturu saTeodorom Herclom. Ba{ tako,i ni s kim drugim, osim {to jemogu}e da je u pitanjuslu~ajna i nenamjernakoincidencija. Mora da je uBe~u, krajem 19-og stolje}abilo na stotine ljudi koji su sezvali Teodor Hercl! Meni malomiri{e na isforsiraniegzibicionizam. Ili mo`daautorica na takav na~iniskazuje svoje neslaganje sacionisti~kim pokretom?Na vrlo umje{an na~inD`eraldina se dotakla mnogihmisterija vezanih za ovuizuzetnu knjigu. Mnogeli~nosti ~ija je sudbinaisprepletena sa knjigom utkanesu u ovu neobi~nu pri~u. Onekima, kao o dvojici sarajlija,Muslimana, koji su u dvasudbonosna navrata spasiliknjigu, na razmisljaju}i oposljedicama po sebe, ne{to iznamo. Ali {ta znamo o nekomekoji se prezivao Vistorini a kojije na kraju knjige napisao 'vistoda me'. Inkvizitor, a da je pritome konvert? Da? Ne? Stvarnaistorijska li~nost? Autorica jesve ovo ustvrdila sa toliko'drskosti' da joj trebapovjerovati. Kad ka`em'drskost' mislim da je tom likuudahnut `ivot, skoro da nas jeprenijela u vrijeme inkvizicije.Knjigu je te{ko svrstati u neki`anr. Mo`da je najbli`e re}iistorijski roman, iako je knjiga,ka`em sa rado{}u, ̀ iva i zdrava.Sa velikim umije}em, vode}inas kroz Scile i Haribde (svakajoj ~ast, nije se, unato~opasnostima, razbila o hridi)autorica upli~e u pri~u vi{e niti,isprepli~e i na kraju uspje{noraspetljava zaplet. Savremenopisana, uz velike napore da sematerija savlada, knjiga skoroima Hejlijevske tendencije.Ko je u rukama imaoSarajevsku Hagadu i ko ne{tozna o religijskim zabranama itabuima, sigurno se upitaokako je mogu}e da ujevrejskom manuskriptu,minijature vrve od ljudskihlikova. Ko je to ilustrovao?Mogu}e je samo {pekulisati unedostatku dokaza. Kad jetako, D`eraldina {pekuli{e namaestralan na~in: umjetnik jeMusliman, iz Sjeverne Afrike,zna~i crn je, ali je uz to i`ensko! Ne mo`e, vala, ni AgataKristi bolje zaplesti. Ili mo`da,zaplet, pri kraju, gdje je ve} u

Muzej pohranjeni rukopisukraden u D`ejmsBondovskom stilu, zamijenjennevjerovatno uspje{nimplagijatom, da bi kona~nooriginal, u vratolomnimokolnostima bio vra}en nasvoje zaslu`eno mjesto.Neka mi bude dozvoljeno imalo zajedljivosti. U jednommomentu, u [paniji 15-0gstolje}a, majka porodice palisezonsku – yahrziet – svije}u,ne jahrzeit (njema~ku) ve}Yahrzeit (jidi{) svije}u. [taznam, mo`da su tada{njiJevreji u [paniji govorili Jidi{.Knjigu sam ~itao na tenane ibilje`io svoje utiske usput. Dasam je ~itao halapljivo, kakoona i zaslu`uje sigurno da nekamoja cjepidla~enja i~angrizavost ne bi na{li mjestau ovim redovima.Da ne zaboravim. Knjiga je zasada prevedena u Beogradupod malo neobi~nimprevodom naslova '^uvariknjige'. Nekako mi je taj naslovsputao zamah knjige. Ali ono{to me je uzdrmalo je ~injenicada sam u sarajevskom 'Avazu'pro~itao osvrt na knjigu kojije napisao neko ~ijeg imenauop{te ne namjeravam da sesjetim. Potresao me je pozivrecenzenta BiH izdava~ima dasvakako treba da na|u na~inada se knjiga prevede i nabosanski. Ergo, to vjerovatnonije potrebno za RepublikuSrpsku, nek oni ~itajubeogradsko izdanje, oni }e tajprevod mo}i ~itati, ostali ne! A{ta je onda, zaboga, saHrvatima u BiH? Ho}e li onirazumjeti bosanski prevod, jersrpski vjerovatno ne}e?! Danije `alosno, od srca bih senasmijao.Knjiga je zabavna i lako se ~ita.Toplo je preporu~ujem.Beogradsko izdanje je uradioje ALNARI Publishing d.o.o.,preveo Miroslav Ba{i}Palkovi}. Za one koji se mogusna}i u engleskom knjiga semo`e na}i u prodaji uknji`arama, od izdava~aHarper Perennial, 77-85Fulham Palace Road, Hammer-smith, London W6 8JB. Naslovoriginala 'People of the Book'autor Geraldine Brooks. Cijenau maloprodaji £ 7,99 , mekipovez. Prvo izdanje je uAmerici uradio Viking.Branko Danon

Recently, in early November of2008 the launch of the Peopleof the Book took place. Thebook was written as a novel thefocus of which is the SarajevoHaggadah. Geraldine Brooks,the author, skilfully used thefact that a great part of this wellknown book–manuscript is al-most a mystery. From the verytime when it was created in the14th century until its presentsafe and respected place underthe “bell” in Sarajevo LandsMuseum, several centuries ofits travel through time are notaccounted for. Also knowingthat, if by a miracle, the bookhad been rescued several times- first from the Inquisition, thenfrom the Nazis and finally fromthe insane nationalist in our lat-est and hopefully the last trag-edy, it becomes clear that itsdestiny can be used very wellin literature. All these circum-stances that take this book al-most to the sphere of mysticismwere a good chance to be usedby a creative author with a pas-sion for books. There is nodoubt that Geraldine is a crea-tive author. The fact that a for-eigner came with this idea andundertook to realize it may evenbe an advantage. Should, on theother hand, a home author haveundertaken to do so I am afraidthat his deeper and more inti-mate associations with thisbook would not have allowedhim to distance himself from therecent tragic history and bydoing so burden and cast ashadow over the fact that thelife and history of this book aremuch longer. By the nature ofthings Geraldine had thatchance. At the same time, by thenature of things, in her apprais-als and estimates Geraldine didnot succeed in dropping sometypically western stereotypes.This refers mainly to those sec-tions in the text which judge ourrecent socialist way of life, abasically political feature.These stereotypes are so per-suasive that some judgments,unverified, found their place inher text. It is no wonder, but it isa sad truth when one knowsthat she is an appreciated jour-nalist and a Wall Street Journalcorrespondent at one time. One

also should not forget that apart of the author’s professionalidentity is – research journal-ism. That is a reason more whyshe had to be much better in-formed. As it is, she gave in tothe stereotypes that somebodyelse imposed on her.When, nevertheless, speakingof the book as a whole, it seemsthat this work added to the cir-cumstances of this ritual booka romantic interpretation of theunknown. Not necessarily ro-mantic always. The author’simagination came into play onthe basis of the generallyknown facts and some indica-tions. It is known, for instance,that the book was restored andbound last time in Vienna in late19th century. Nothing is miss-ing in the book and all the pagesand illuminations are authenticand wonderfully preserved. Butwhat about the cover … ? It isa simple and modest binding,unworthy of such a significantand splendid book. Also miss-ing are the seemingly excep-tionally opulent silver buckles.Because the bookbinding re-storer suffered from incurablesyphilis and he was an anti-Semite!!! Even his venereal dis-ease aroused his anti-Semitism.A pure construction of imagi-nation. But who knows, it mighteven be true? As it is, nobodycan prove to the contrary. Justthe same as Däniken and hisextraterrestrials. In an effort toput flesh onto the work in orderto make it a more complex one itincludes episodes like the fol-lowing one. A certain imaginarydoctor Hirschfield suspects hiswife of having an affair withTheodore Herzl. Just like that,nobody else, except for thepossibility that it is an acciden-tal unintentional coincidence. Itmust be that in the late nine-teenth century Vienna therelived hundreds of people withthe name of Theodore Herzl. Tomy mind it smells of forced ex-hibitionism. Could it be that theauthor expresses her disagree-ment with the Zionist move-ment in this way?Geraldine very skilfully touchedthe numerous mysteries asso-ciated with this exceptionalbook. Many characters, the

destiny of which is intertwinedwith the book, are incorporatedinto this unusual story. Somedetails are known about somepersons as are the two Sarajevomen, Muslims, who had savedthe book at two crucial pointsof time not thinking what con-sequences this might have forthem. But what do we knowabout somebody whose sur-name was Vistorini and whowrote “visto da me” at the endof the book. An inquisitor anda convert on top? Yes? No? Ishe a real character from history?The author stated all this withso much “arrogance” that oneshould believe her. When I say“arrogance” I mean by that bydepicting this character full oflife she almost took us to theperiod of inquisition.It is difficult to classify the bookinto a genre. It is nearest to ahistorical novel, although thebook is alive and well, I am gladto say. Very skilfully, taking usbetween Scylla and Charybdis(good for her, in spite of thedangers she did not crashagainst the rocks) the authorweaves into the story severalthreads, intertwines them andeventually unravels it all. Con-temporarily written, with greatefforts to control the material,the book has Haley’s tenden-cies, almost.Those who held The SarajevoHaggadah and who in additionto that are familiar with the reli-gion prohibitions and tabooswere certain to ask themselveshow was it possible that a Jew-ish manuscript holds miniaturespacked with human figures.Who were the illustrators? Nothaving any proofs, it is possi-ble only to speculate. Being itso, Geraldine speculates in amarvellous way: the artist is aMuslim from North Africa,which means that he is blackbut what’s more he is a woman!Agatha Christie would not com-plicate things more, really. Orthe plot near the end, where themanuscript which was alreadyput in safekeeping of the Mu-seum, was stolen in a JamesBond style and replaced by un-believably successful plagia-rism, and under reckless circum-stances the original could fi-

nally be returned to its deserv-ing place.I would like to be a bit sarcas-tic, if I may. In a scene in fif-teenth century Spain the motherof the family lights a seasonal –yahrzeit candle, not the jahrzeit(German), but Yahrzeit (Yiddish)candle. Who knows, perhapsthe Spanish Jews of that timespoke Yiddish.I took my time reading the bookand noting down my impres-sions. Had I read it insatiably,as it deserves, it is certain thatsome of my grumbles would notbe found in these lines.And also. For the time being thebook has been translated in Bel-grade under a somewhat unu-sual title which could be trans-lated back into English as’Keepers of the Book’ which, tomy mind, largely limits the im-petus of the book. I have toadmit that I was upset readingin Sarajevo “Avaz” a review ofthe book by somebody whosename I have no intention to rec-ollect. I was shaken to read thatthe reviewer was inviting B&Hpublishers to find by all meansa way to translate the book toBosnian as well. Ergo, this prob-ably is not necessary for theRepubliks Srpska, let them readthe Belgrade publication, theywill be able to read that transla-tion; the others will not! Whatthen about the Croats in B&H,for God’s sake? Would they beable to understand the Bosniantranslation, because it is likelythat they would not understandthe Serbian one? I would havea good laugh over it were it notsad.The book is amusing and eas-ily read. I do recommend it. InBelgrade it was published byALNARI Publishing d.o.o,translation by Miroslav Ba{i}Palkovi}. For those who canread in English the book is pub-lished by Harper Perennial, 77-85 Fulham Place Road, Hammer-smith, London W6 8JB and ison sale in bookshops. The titleof the original is People of theBook by Geraldine Brooks. Thepaperback retail price is£ 7.99. It was first published inthe States by Viking.Branko Danon

D@ERALDINA BROOKS: “^UVARI KNJIGE” GERALDINE BROOKS: “PEOPLE OF THE BOOK”

Po~e}u sa jednom pri~om.

Ljeto je 1993, a ja sam se vratila uSarajevo (prije toga sam tamo bilaprije tri mjeseca), ovaj put na pozivproducenta lokalnog pozori{ta dapostavim neku dramu u jednom odbombardovanih pozori{ta gradapod opsadom. Susreli smo se predkraj mog boravka u aprilu kada meje upitao da li sam zainteresovanada se vratim i radim kao re`iser, reklasam da, da, rado, a on i drugipozori{ni ljudi sa kojima sam seupoznla su odu{evljeno prihvatilimoj izbor drame – Beketovu^ekaju}i Godoa. Samo se po sebipodrazumjevalo da }e se dramaizvoditi na srpsko-hrvatskom: nijemi palo na pamet da bi glumci kojeodaberem mogli ili trebali da tou~ine nekako druga~ije. Ta~no je daje ve}ina znala ne{to engleskog, aznao je i dio obrazovanih Sarajlijakoji bi do{li da vide na{u postavku.Ali talenat glumca je nerazmrsivovezan za ritmove i zvuke jezika nakome je razvijao taj talenat; asrpsko-hrvatski je i jedini jezik zakoji se mo`e sa sigurno{}u smatratida ga svi u publici znaju. Onimakoji smatraju da je dosta drsko dase neko usudi da re`ira na jezikukoji ne poznaje, mogu da ka`emsamo to da je sada me|unarodnarazmjena u repertoarskimpozori{tima skoro na istom onomnivou kakva je uvijek bila kodoperskih repertoara. Kada je prijenekoliko godina Artur Milerprihvatio poziv da re`ira postavkuSmrt trgovca u [angaju, nije znaoni malo vi{e kineskog jezika nego{to sam ja znala srpsko-hrvatskog.U svakom slu~aju (vjerujte mi), nijeto toliko te{ko koliko izgleda. Sempozori{nog umije}a, potrebno je daimate dobar sluh i dobrogprevodioca.U opsjednutom Sarajevu potrebnoje bilo da imate i dosta izdr`ljivosti.

U julu sam letila za Sarajevoavionom trupa UN, ruksak mi jenabrekao od d`epnih lampi i vre}eAA baterija, a u d`epu za{titne jaknenalazile su se kopije Beketove dramena engleskom i francuskom. Dannakon mog dolaska po~ela sam saaudicijom velikog brojatalentovanih, neuhranjenih glumaca(ve}inu kojih sam upoznala tokomsvog prvog boravka), prave}i crte`escene onako kako sam je jazamislila i nastoje}i da shvatim kakosu uop{te stvari funkcionisale upozori{tu u Sarajevu – izlo`enomneda}ama koje donosi opsada istrahote neprekidnogbombardovanja. Kada sam ihizabrala, glumci i ja smo se {}u}uriliu podrumu pozori{ta – nije bilorazloga da tokom prve sedmicepo~nemo da radimo gore, naizlo`enijem prostoru pozornice –improvizuju}i i uskla|uju}iraspored proba (svi su imali slo`ene

porodi~ne obaveze, u {ta je spadaloi po nekoliko sati dobavljanja vode)i navikavaju}i se da imamopovjerenja jedni u druge. Bukaizvana nije prestajala. Rat je buka.Beket je bio ~ak i prikladniji nego{to sam zami{ljala.Nije bilo potrebe da obja{njavamBeketa Sarajlijama. Neki od mojihglumaca su ve} dobro poznavalidramu. Ali jo{ uvijek nismo imalizajedni~ki tekst. Prije nego {to samiza{la iz Sarajeva u aprilu provjerilasam kod producenta da li mogu dase oslonim na to da }e kada se vratimu julu imati na raspolaganjudovoljno primjeraka prevodaBeketove drame za glumce i sve onekoji budu uklju~eni u podukciju. Netreba brinuti, rekao je. Ali kada samna dan svog povratka tra`ila kopijedrame da ih podjelim na audiciji, onje objavio da se u ~ast zna~aja mogdolaska da radim u Sarajevu,Beketova drama prevodi. U stvarina prevodu se upravo sada radi.

Uh-oh.„Prevod nije ... zavr{en?“

„Pa, mo`da je i zavr{en,“ rekao je.HmmmTako sam imala jo{ jedan problemsem srpskih granata i stalneartiljerijske paljbe snajpera sakrovova u centru grada, semnedostatka elektri~ne energije i vode,razru{enog pozori{ta, nervozeneuhranjenih glumaca, mojezabrinutosti i straha, ...

Problem je bio, kako je mojproducent objasnio, u pisa}ojma{ini: staroj pisa}oj ma{ini, alijedinoj na raspolaganju prevodiocu,ma{ini ~ija je traka bila veomablijeda (po{to se neprekidnokoristila godinu dana; ovo je bio{esnaesti mjesec od po~etkaopsade). Ali, uvjeravao me, ovajprevod }e stvarno obogatitipostavku - kad bi samo mogla bitistrpljiva. Rekla sam da }u poku{atida budem strpljiva.Znala sam da je u biv{oj Jugoslavijibilo mnogo postavki Beketovihdrama – a naj~e{}e izvo|ena nijebila ni jedna druga nego ba{ ̂ ekaju}iGodoa. (Zapravo odabrala samGodoa a ne Kralja Ibi-a, drugudramu o kojoj sam rami{ljala da jepostavim, djelimi~no i zato {to jeBeketova drama bila poznata.)Mora da je postojao prevod ~ak iz1950-tih. Mo`da ~ak i vi{e odjednog. Mo`da nam stvarno nije biopotreban ovaj novi prevod.

„Je li postoje}i prevod nije jakodobar?“ Pitala sam producenta, koji,po{to je i sam re`iser, postaviodramu na beogradsku scenu prijenekoliko godina.„Ne, nije uop{te lo{,“ rekao je.“Radi se o tome da je ovo sada Bosna.@elimo da dramu prevedemo nabosanski.“

„Ali zar vi ne govorite srpsko-hrvatski?„Zapravo ne,“ rekao je .

„Za{to ste mi onda posudili svojsrpsko-hrvatsko – engleski rije~nikonog dana kada sam stigla?„Pa za vas bi bilo dovoljno danau~ite srpsko-hrvatski“„Da li to zna~i“ - nisam popu{tala –„da ako bih nau~ila srpsko-hrvatskiovdje bilo rije~i i fraze koje ne bihrazumjela?“„Ne, razumjeli biste sve. Na~in kakoobrazovani ljudi govore u Sarajevuje isti kako govore i obrazovani uBeogradu i Zagrebu.“„Pa u ~emu je onda razlika?“

„Ne mogu da objasnim,“ rekao je.„Bilo bi te{ko da to shvatite. Alipostoji razlika.“

„Razlika za Beketa?“„Da, to je novi prevod.“

„Kad bi neko napravio novi prevodu Beogradu, da li bi i on biodruga~iji?“

„Mo`da“„I taj novi prevod bi bio druga~ijina druga~iji na~in od ovog novogprevoda?“

„Mo`da ne.“Budi mirna, rekoh sebi. „Pa {ta }ebiti specifi~no bosanski u ovomprevodu.“„To {to je napravljen ovdje uSarajevu, dok je grad podopsadom.““Ali da li }e neke od rije~i bitidruga~ije?“

„To zavisi od prevodioca.“„Niste ni{ta od toga jo{ pro}itali?“

„Ne, zato {to ne mogu da ~itam njenrukopis.“

„Jo{ nije po~ela da kuca?“„Po~ela je, ali se sa tom trakom nemo`e ~itati.“

„Kako }e onda glumci raditi nadrami i u~iti svoj tekst?“

„Mo`da }emo morati na}i nekogasa dobrim rukopisom da prepi{escenario.“Au, stvarno Mra~no doba,pomislih.RAZMJENILI SMO JO[ NEKEHALUINATORNE MISLI ovevrste i ja sam bila sve vi{e zabrinutaoko toga kada }emo glumci i jastvarno mo}i da po~nemo sa radom,a tada je na|ena druga pisa}ama{ina i prevod je prekucan,koriste}i neki prastari i zasta{uju}iindigo papir da bi se dobilo petnaestprimjeraka teksta u duplom proredu(za glumce, scenografa,kostimografa, moja dva pomo}nika,prevodioca i mene). Izme|u redovamog primjerka prepisala sam tintomteks na engleskom i francuskom,kako bih mogla da nau~im na pamet

bosanski i njegov zvuk i tako uvijekznala {ta glumci ka`u.(Jo{ jedna paralela ove pri~e je utome da je Beket napisao dramu nadva jezika – engleski tekst ̂ ekaju}iGodoa nije samo prevod safrancuskog – ova drama ima dvaoriginalna jezika, a na oba jezika jasam kod ku}e; a sada ta drama imadva prevoda, na jeziku koji je zamene potpuno mutan.)

[ta se zatim dogodilo? Nakon {tosmo stigli do pozornice i tu radilioko sedmicu dana i nakon {to samblokirala dobar dio prvog ~ina, mojpomo~nik i dva glumca – onadvojica koji su najbolje govoriliengleski – me odvedo{e na stranu.

Problem? Da. Ono {to su smatralida treba da mi ka`u bilo je to danovi prevod nije stvarno bio jakodobar, i mole me da koristim prevodobjavljen u Beogradu 1950-tihgodinas.

„Postoji li razlika?“ upitah.

“Da, stari prevod je bolji.“

„Po ~emu je bolji?“

„Bolje zvu~i. Prirodniji je. Lak{e seizgovara.“

„Ne postoji lingvisti~ka razlika?Ne{to srpski u prevodu? Ili ne{to{to nije bosanski?“

„Ni{ta {to bi bilo ko mogao daprimjeti.“

„Prema tome ne postoje neke rije~ikoje bi trebalo promjeniti da biprevod bio vi{e bosanski?“

„U stvari nema, ali mogli bismo dapromjenimo, ako ̀ elite.“

„Ne radi se o tome {ta ja ho}u,“rekoh {grgu}u}i zubima. „Ja samovdje samo da slu`im. Beketu.Vama. Sarajevu. Bilo ~emu.“

„Pa“, re~e moj Vladimir zami{ljeno,„evo {ta mo`emo da uradimo.Vratimo se na stari prevod i dokprobamo, ako vidimo rije~ za kojubudemo smastrali da treba da sepromjeni na ne{to {to je vi{ebosanski, promjeni}emo.“

„Ne zaboravite da mi ka`ete,“rekoh.

„Nema problema“ re~e mojEstragon na svom jeziku, a to jefraza koju ne treba prevoditi jer jeizgleda svima poznata i prevodi sena sve jezike svijeta.

KRAJ PRI^E je taj - {to vasvjerovatno ne}e iznenaditi – daglumci nisu promjenili ni{ta. Semtoga, kada je ^ekaju}i Godoaotvoren sredinom avgusta, niko upublici nije prigovorio da prevodnije zvu~ao bosanski, ili dovoljnobosanski. (Mo`da im je na umu bilone{to drugo, {to je bilo va`nije –kao {to je ~ekanje na Klintona.)

Priredila: Branka Danon

O PREVO\ENJU Odlomak eseja iz knjige Suzan Zontag“Tamo gdje pada naglasak”

I’ll start with a story.It’s the summer of 1993, and I wasback in Sarajevo (I’d first gone therethree months earlier), this time atthe invitation of a local theatre pro-ducer to stage a play in one of thebesieged city’s battered theatres.We’d met at the end of my Aprilstay, he’d asked me if I was inter-ested in coming back to work as adirector, I’d said yes, yes, gladly,and my choice of a play to do –Beckett’s Waiting for Godot – wasagreed to with enthusiasm by himand by other theatre people I met.It ought to go without saying thatthe play would be performed inSerbo-Croatian: it never occurredto me that the actors I chose mightor should do otherwise. True, mostof them knew some English, as dida proportion of the educatedSarajevans who would come to seeour production. But an actor’s tal-ent is inextricably bound up withthe rhythms and sounds of the lan-guage in which he or she has devel-oped that talent; and Serbo-Croatian is the only language onecould count on everybody in theaudience knowing. To those whomay think it smacks of presump-tion to dare to direct in a languageone doesn’t know, I can only saythat repertory theatre now oper-ates with almost as much interna-tional circuitry as the opera reper-tory has always had. Arthur Miller,when he accepted an invitation todirect a production of Death of aSalesman in Shanghai a few yearsago, knew no more Chinese than ISerbo-Croatian. Anyway (trustme), it’s not as hard to do as itsounds. You need, besides yourtheatre skills, a musical ear and agood interpreter.In besieged Sarajevo, you alsoneeded a lot of stamina.In July, I flew into Sarajevo on aUN troop plane, my backpackbulging with pocket flashlights anda sack of double-A batteries, and,in a pocket of my flak jacket, cop-ies of the Beckett play in Englishand French. The day after my ar-rival I began auditioning a passel oftalented, undernourished actors(most of whom I’d met during myfirst stay), making drawings of howI envisaged the set, and trying tounderstand how things worked gen-erally in the theatre in Sarajevo –such as that was possible under theprivations of siege and the terrorof non-stop bombardment. Oncechosen, the actors and I huddled inthe theatre’s basement – no reasonto start working upstairs, on themore vulnerable area of stage, untilafter the first week – doing im-

provisations and figuring out re-hearsal schedules (everyone hadcomplex fetching water), and learn-ing to trust each other. The noisefrom outside the building was in-cessant. War is noise. Beckettseemed even more appropriatethan I’d imagined.I didn’t have to explain Beckett toSarajevans. And some of my ac-tors were already familiar with theplay. But we did not yet have atext in common. Before leavingSarajevo in April, I’d checked withthe producer that I could count onhis having enough copies of a trans-lation of the Beckett play on handfor the actors and everyone elseinvolved in working on productionwhen I returned in July. Not toworry, he said. But when, the dayof my return, I asked for copies ofthe play to distribute at the audi-tions, he announced that, in honorof the importance of my coming towork in Sarajevo, Beckett’s playwas being retranslated. In fact, thetranslation was being worked onright now.Uh-oh.“The translation isn’t … finished?”“Well it may be finished,” he said.Hmmm.So I had another problem besidesthe Serb’s shells, grenades, and con-stant gunfire from snipers onrooftops in the centre of the city,the absence of electricity and run-ning water, the shattered theatre,the nervousness of the malnour-ished actors, my own anxiety andfear, the …The problem, as my producer ex-plained, was the typewriter, an oldtypewriter, but the only one avail-able to the translator, one whoseribbon was very faint (having beenused steadily for a year; this wassixteen months since the beginningof the siege). But, he assured me,this translation would be a real as-set to the production – if only Iwould be patient. I said I wouldtry to be patient.I knew that in the former Yugosla-via there had been many produc-tions of Beckett’s plays – the mostfrequently performed being noneother than Waiting for Godot. (In-deed, I’d chosen Godot over theother play I’d thought of doing,Ubu Roi, partly because theBeckett play was known.) Therehad to be a translation dating backto 1950s. Maybe more than one.Perhaps we didn’t really need thisnew translation.“Is the existing translation not verygood?” I asked the producer, who,a director himself, had staged a pro-duction of the play in Belgrade a

few years earlier.“No, it’s not bad at all,” he said.“It’s just that this is Bosnia now.We want to translate the play intoBosnian.””But isn’t what you speak Serbo-Croatian?”“Not really,” he said“Then why,” I said, “did you lendme your Serbo-Croatian - Englishdictionary the day I arrived?”“Well, for you it would be goodenough to learn Serbo-Croatian.”“But does that mean” – I persisted– “that if I learned Serbo-Croatianthere are words or phrases in usehere that I wouldn’t understand?”“No, you’d understand everything.The way educated people speak inSarajevo is the same as educatedspeech in Belgrade or Zagreb.”“Then what’s the difference?”“I can’t explain,” he said. “It wouldbe hard for you to understand. Butthere’s a difference.“A difference for Beckett?”“Yes, it’s a new translation.”“If someone did a new translationin Belgrade, would that be differ-ent, too?”“Maybe,” he said.“And that new translation wouldbe different in a different way fromthis new translation?”“Maybe not.”Keep calm, I told myself. “Thenwhat’s going to be specificallyBosnian about this translation?”“Because it’s done here in Sarajevo,while the city is under siege.”“But will some of the words bedifferent?”“That depends on the translator.”“You haven’t read any of it?”“No, because I can’t read her hand-writing.”“She hasn’t started to type it yet?”“She has, but with the typewriterribbon it’s impossible to read.”“Then how are the actors going tostudy the play and learn theirlines?”“Maybe we’ll have to find some-one with good handwriting to makethe scripts.”Wow, it really is Dark Ages, Ithought.AFTER MORE HALLUCINA-TORY EXCHANGES of this sort,and rising anxiety on my part aboutwhen the actors and I would be ablereally to begin, another typewriterwas found and the translation re-typed, using some ancient, scarredcarbon paper to provide fifteendouble-spaced scripts (for the ac-tors, the set designer, the costumedesigner, my two assistants and in-terpreter, and me). Between thelines of my script I copied out inink both the English and the Frenchtext, so that I could learn the

Bosnian, the sound of it, by heart,and always know what the actorswere saying.(An extra symmetry in this storyis that, as Beckett wrote his playin two languages – the English Wait-ing for Godot is not merely a trans-lation of French – the play has twooriginal languages, in both of whichI am at home; and now it had twotranslations, in a language that wascompletely opaque to me.)What happened then? After we hadgone up on the stage and been work-ing for about a week, and I hadblocked a good part of the first act,my assistant and two of the actors– the two who spoke the mostEnglish – took me aside.Problem? Yes. What they felt theyhad to tell me was that new trans-lation really wasn’t very good, andcould we, please use the transla-tion published in Belgrade in the1950s.“Is there a difference?” I asked“Yes, the old translation is better.”“Better in what sense?”“It sounds better. It’s more natu-ral. Easier to say.”“There isn’t a linguistic difference?Something Serbian about thattranslation? Or something notBosnian?”“Not that anyone would notice.”“So there aren’t any words youwould have to change to make thetranslation more Bosnian?”“Not really. But we could, if youwant us to.”“It’s not what I want,” I said, grit-ting my teeth. “I’m just here toserve. Beckett. You. Sarajevo.Whatever.”“Well,” my Vladimir said thought-fully, “here’s what we could do.Let’s go back to the old transla-tion, and while we’re rehearsing, ifwe see a word we think should bechanged to something moreBosnian, we’ll change it.”“Don’t forget to tell me,” I said.“Nema problema,” said myEstragon.Which of course means … but youknow perfectly well what it means.It’s a phrase that seems to trans-late into every language in theworld.THE END OF THE STORY isthat –as you may not be surprisedto learn – the actors never changedanything. Further, when Waitingfor Godot opened in mid-August,no member of the theatre publiccomplained that the translationdidn’t sound Bosnian, or Bosnianenough. (Perhaps they had other,more pressing things on their minds– such as waiting for Clinton.)Pripremila Branka Danon

ON BEING TRANSLATED Fragments of an essay from the book of“Where the Stress Falls” by Susan Sontag

Po~e}u sa jednom pri~om.

Ljeto je 1993, a ja sam se vratila uSarajevo (prije toga sam tamo bilaprije tri mjeseca), ovaj put na pozivproducenta lokalnog pozori{ta dapostavim neku dramu u jednom odbombardovanih pozori{ta gradapod opsadom. Susreli smo se predkraj mog boravka u aprilu kada meje upitao da li sam zainteresovanada se vratim i radim kao re`iser, reklasam da, da, rado, a on i drugipozori{ni ljudi sa kojima sam seupoznla su odu{evljeno prihvatilimoj izbor drame – Beketovu^ekaju}i Godoa. Samo se po sebipodrazumjevalo da }e se dramaizvoditi na srpsko-hrvatskom: nijemi palo na pamet da bi glumci kojeodaberem mogli ili trebali da tou~ine nekako druga~ije. Ta~no je daje ve}ina znala ne{to engleskog, aznao je i dio obrazovanih Sarajlijakoji bi do{li da vide na{u postavku.Ali talenat glumca je nerazmrsivovezan za ritmove i zvuke jezika nakome je razvijao taj talenat; asrpsko-hrvatski je i jedini jezik zakoji se mo`e sa sigurno{}u smatratida ga svi u publici znaju. Onimakoji smatraju da je dosta drsko dase neko usudi da re`ira na jezikukoji ne poznaje, mogu da ka`emsamo to da je sada me|unarodnarazmjena u repertoarskimpozori{tima skoro na istom onomnivou kakva je uvijek bila kodoperskih repertoara. Kada je prijenekoliko godina Artur Milerprihvatio poziv da re`ira postavkuSmrt trgovca u [angaju, nije znaoni malo vi{e kineskog jezika nego{to sam ja znala srpsko-hrvatskog.U svakom slu~aju (vjerujte mi), nijeto toliko te{ko koliko izgleda. Sempozori{nog umije}a, potrebno je daimate dobar sluh i dobrogprevodioca.U opsjednutom Sarajevu potrebnoje bilo da imate i dosta izdr`ljivosti.

U julu sam letila za Sarajevoavionom trupa UN, ruksak mi jenabrekao od d`epnih lampi i vre}eAA baterija, a u d`epu za{titne jaknenalazile su se kopije Beketove dramena engleskom i francuskom. Dannakon mog dolaska po~ela sam saaudicijom velikog brojatalentovanih, neuhranjenih glumaca(ve}inu kojih sam upoznala tokomsvog prvog boravka), prave}i crte`escene onako kako sam je jazamislila i nastoje}i da shvatim kakosu uop{te stvari funkcionisale upozori{tu u Sarajevu – izlo`enomneda}ama koje donosi opsada istrahote neprekidnogbombardovanja. Kada sam ihizabrala, glumci i ja smo se {}u}uriliu podrumu pozori{ta – nije bilorazloga da tokom prve sedmicepo~nemo da radimo gore, naizlo`enijem prostoru pozornice –improvizuju}i i uskla|uju}iraspored proba (svi su imali slo`ene

porodi~ne obaveze, u {ta je spadaloi po nekoliko sati dobavljanja vode)i navikavaju}i se da imamopovjerenja jedni u druge. Bukaizvana nije prestajala. Rat je buka.Beket je bio ~ak i prikladniji nego{to sam zami{ljala.Nije bilo potrebe da obja{njavamBeketa Sarajlijama. Neki od mojihglumaca su ve} dobro poznavalidramu. Ali jo{ uvijek nismo imalizajedni~ki tekst. Prije nego {to samiza{la iz Sarajeva u aprilu provjerilasam kod producenta da li mogu dase oslonim na to da }e kada se vratimu julu imati na raspolaganjudovoljno primjeraka prevodaBeketove drame za glumce i sve onekoji budu uklju~eni u podukciju. Netreba brinuti, rekao je. Ali kada samna dan svog povratka tra`ila kopijedrame da ih podjelim na audiciji, onje objavio da se u ~ast zna~aja mogdolaska da radim u Sarajevu,Beketova drama prevodi. U stvarina prevodu se upravo sada radi.

Uh-oh.„Prevod nije ... zavr{en?“

„Pa, mo`da je i zavr{en,“ rekao je.HmmmTako sam imala jo{ jedan problemsem srpskih granata i stalneartiljerijske paljbe snajpera sakrovova u centru grada, semnedostatka elektri~ne energije i vode,razru{enog pozori{ta, nervozeneuhranjenih glumaca, mojezabrinutosti i straha, ...

Problem je bio, kako je mojproducent objasnio, u pisa}ojma{ini: staroj pisa}oj ma{ini, alijedinoj na raspolaganju prevodiocu,ma{ini ~ija je traka bila veomablijeda (po{to se neprekidnokoristila godinu dana; ovo je bio{esnaesti mjesec od po~etkaopsade). Ali, uvjeravao me, ovajprevod }e stvarno obogatitipostavku - kad bi samo mogla bitistrpljiva. Rekla sam da }u poku{atida budem strpljiva.Znala sam da je u biv{oj Jugoslavijibilo mnogo postavki Beketovihdrama – a naj~e{}e izvo|ena nijebila ni jedna druga nego ba{ ̂ ekaju}iGodoa. (Zapravo odabrala samGodoa a ne Kralja Ibi-a, drugudramu o kojoj sam rami{ljala da jepostavim, djelimi~no i zato {to jeBeketova drama bila poznata.)Mora da je postojao prevod ~ak iz1950-tih. Mo`da ~ak i vi{e odjednog. Mo`da nam stvarno nije biopotreban ovaj novi prevod.

„Je li postoje}i prevod nije jakodobar?“ Pitala sam producenta, koji,po{to je i sam re`iser, postaviodramu na beogradsku scenu prijenekoliko godina.„Ne, nije uop{te lo{,“ rekao je.“Radi se o tome da je ovo sada Bosna.@elimo da dramu prevedemo nabosanski.“

„Ali zar vi ne govorite srpsko-hrvatski?„Zapravo ne,“ rekao je .

„Za{to ste mi onda posudili svojsrpsko-hrvatsko – engleski rije~nikonog dana kada sam stigla?„Pa za vas bi bilo dovoljno danau~ite srpsko-hrvatski“„Da li to zna~i“ - nisam popu{tala –„da ako bih nau~ila srpsko-hrvatskiovdje bilo rije~i i fraze koje ne bihrazumjela?“„Ne, razumjeli biste sve. Na~in kakoobrazovani ljudi govore u Sarajevuje isti kako govore i obrazovani uBeogradu i Zagrebu.“„Pa u ~emu je onda razlika?“

„Ne mogu da objasnim,“ rekao je.„Bilo bi te{ko da to shvatite. Alipostoji razlika.“

„Razlika za Beketa?“„Da, to je novi prevod.“

„Kad bi neko napravio novi prevodu Beogradu, da li bi i on biodruga~iji?“

„Mo`da“„I taj novi prevod bi bio druga~ijina druga~iji na~in od ovog novogprevoda?“

„Mo`da ne.“Budi mirna, rekoh sebi. „Pa {ta }ebiti specifi~no bosanski u ovomprevodu.“„To {to je napravljen ovdje uSarajevu, dok je grad podopsadom.““Ali da li }e neke od rije~i bitidruga~ije?“

„To zavisi od prevodioca.“„Niste ni{ta od toga jo{ pro}itali?“

„Ne, zato {to ne mogu da ~itam njenrukopis.“

„Jo{ nije po~ela da kuca?“„Po~ela je, ali se sa tom trakom nemo`e ~itati.“

„Kako }e onda glumci raditi nadrami i u~iti svoj tekst?“

„Mo`da }emo morati na}i nekogasa dobrim rukopisom da prepi{escenario.“Au, stvarno Mra~no doba,pomislih.RAZMJENILI SMO JO[ NEKEHALUINATORNE MISLI ovevrste i ja sam bila sve vi{e zabrinutaoko toga kada }emo glumci i jastvarno mo}i da po~nemo sa radom,a tada je na|ena druga pisa}ama{ina i prevod je prekucan,koriste}i neki prastari i zasta{uju}iindigo papir da bi se dobilo petnaestprimjeraka teksta u duplom proredu(za glumce, scenografa,kostimografa, moja dva pomo}nika,prevodioca i mene). Izme|u redovamog primjerka prepisala sam tintomteks na engleskom i francuskom,kako bih mogla da nau~im na pamet

bosanski i njegov zvuk i tako uvijekznala {ta glumci ka`u.(Jo{ jedna paralela ove pri~e je utome da je Beket napisao dramu nadva jezika – engleski tekst ̂ ekaju}iGodoa nije samo prevod safrancuskog – ova drama ima dvaoriginalna jezika, a na oba jezika jasam kod ku}e; a sada ta drama imadva prevoda, na jeziku koji je zamene potpuno mutan.)

[ta se zatim dogodilo? Nakon {tosmo stigli do pozornice i tu radilioko sedmicu dana i nakon {to samblokirala dobar dio prvog ~ina, mojpomo~nik i dva glumca – onadvojica koji su najbolje govoriliengleski – me odvedo{e na stranu.

Problem? Da. Ono {to su smatralida treba da mi ka`u bilo je to danovi prevod nije stvarno bio jakodobar, i mole me da koristim prevodobjavljen u Beogradu 1950-tihgodinas.

„Postoji li razlika?“ upitah.

“Da, stari prevod je bolji.“

„Po ~emu je bolji?“

„Bolje zvu~i. Prirodniji je. Lak{e seizgovara.“

„Ne postoji lingvisti~ka razlika?Ne{to srpski u prevodu? Ili ne{to{to nije bosanski?“

„Ni{ta {to bi bilo ko mogao daprimjeti.“

„Prema tome ne postoje neke rije~ikoje bi trebalo promjeniti da biprevod bio vi{e bosanski?“

„U stvari nema, ali mogli bismo dapromjenimo, ako ̀ elite.“

„Ne radi se o tome {ta ja ho}u,“rekoh {grgu}u}i zubima. „Ja samovdje samo da slu`im. Beketu.Vama. Sarajevu. Bilo ~emu.“

„Pa“, re~e moj Vladimir zami{ljeno,„evo {ta mo`emo da uradimo.Vratimo se na stari prevod i dokprobamo, ako vidimo rije~ za kojubudemo smastrali da treba da sepromjeni na ne{to {to je vi{ebosanski, promjeni}emo.“

„Ne zaboravite da mi ka`ete,“rekoh.

„Nema problema“ re~e mojEstragon na svom jeziku, a to jefraza koju ne treba prevoditi jer jeizgleda svima poznata i prevodi sena sve jezike svijeta.

KRAJ PRI^E je taj - {to vasvjerovatno ne}e iznenaditi – daglumci nisu promjenili ni{ta. Semtoga, kada je ^ekaju}i Godoaotvoren sredinom avgusta, niko upublici nije prigovorio da prevodnije zvu~ao bosanski, ili dovoljnobosanski. (Mo`da im je na umu bilone{to drugo, {to je bilo va`nije –kao {to je ~ekanje na Klintona.)

Priredila: Branka Danon

O PREVO\ENJU Odlomak eseja iz knjige Suzan Zontag“Tamo gdje pada naglasak”

I’ll start with a story.It’s the summer of 1993, and I wasback in Sarajevo (I’d first gone therethree months earlier), this time atthe invitation of a local theatre pro-ducer to stage a play in one of thebesieged city’s battered theatres.We’d met at the end of my Aprilstay, he’d asked me if I was inter-ested in coming back to work as adirector, I’d said yes, yes, gladly,and my choice of a play to do –Beckett’s Waiting for Godot – wasagreed to with enthusiasm by himand by other theatre people I met.It ought to go without saying thatthe play would be performed inSerbo-Croatian: it never occurredto me that the actors I chose mightor should do otherwise. True, mostof them knew some English, as dida proportion of the educatedSarajevans who would come to seeour production. But an actor’s tal-ent is inextricably bound up withthe rhythms and sounds of the lan-guage in which he or she has devel-oped that talent; and Serbo-Croatian is the only language onecould count on everybody in theaudience knowing. To those whomay think it smacks of presump-tion to dare to direct in a languageone doesn’t know, I can only saythat repertory theatre now oper-ates with almost as much interna-tional circuitry as the opera reper-tory has always had. Arthur Miller,when he accepted an invitation todirect a production of Death of aSalesman in Shanghai a few yearsago, knew no more Chinese than ISerbo-Croatian. Anyway (trustme), it’s not as hard to do as itsounds. You need, besides yourtheatre skills, a musical ear and agood interpreter.In besieged Sarajevo, you alsoneeded a lot of stamina.In July, I flew into Sarajevo on aUN troop plane, my backpackbulging with pocket flashlights anda sack of double-A batteries, and,in a pocket of my flak jacket, cop-ies of the Beckett play in Englishand French. The day after my ar-rival I began auditioning a passel oftalented, undernourished actors(most of whom I’d met during myfirst stay), making drawings of howI envisaged the set, and trying tounderstand how things worked gen-erally in the theatre in Sarajevo –such as that was possible under theprivations of siege and the terrorof non-stop bombardment. Oncechosen, the actors and I huddled inthe theatre’s basement – no reasonto start working upstairs, on themore vulnerable area of stage, untilafter the first week – doing im-

provisations and figuring out re-hearsal schedules (everyone hadcomplex fetching water), and learn-ing to trust each other. The noisefrom outside the building was in-cessant. War is noise. Beckettseemed even more appropriatethan I’d imagined.I didn’t have to explain Beckett toSarajevans. And some of my ac-tors were already familiar with theplay. But we did not yet have atext in common. Before leavingSarajevo in April, I’d checked withthe producer that I could count onhis having enough copies of a trans-lation of the Beckett play on handfor the actors and everyone elseinvolved in working on productionwhen I returned in July. Not toworry, he said. But when, the dayof my return, I asked for copies ofthe play to distribute at the audi-tions, he announced that, in honorof the importance of my coming towork in Sarajevo, Beckett’s playwas being retranslated. In fact, thetranslation was being worked onright now.Uh-oh.“The translation isn’t … finished?”“Well it may be finished,” he said.Hmmm.So I had another problem besidesthe Serb’s shells, grenades, and con-stant gunfire from snipers onrooftops in the centre of the city,the absence of electricity and run-ning water, the shattered theatre,the nervousness of the malnour-ished actors, my own anxiety andfear, the …The problem, as my producer ex-plained, was the typewriter, an oldtypewriter, but the only one avail-able to the translator, one whoseribbon was very faint (having beenused steadily for a year; this wassixteen months since the beginningof the siege). But, he assured me,this translation would be a real as-set to the production – if only Iwould be patient. I said I wouldtry to be patient.I knew that in the former Yugosla-via there had been many produc-tions of Beckett’s plays – the mostfrequently performed being noneother than Waiting for Godot. (In-deed, I’d chosen Godot over theother play I’d thought of doing,Ubu Roi, partly because theBeckett play was known.) Therehad to be a translation dating backto 1950s. Maybe more than one.Perhaps we didn’t really need thisnew translation.“Is the existing translation not verygood?” I asked the producer, who,a director himself, had staged a pro-duction of the play in Belgrade a

few years earlier.“No, it’s not bad at all,” he said.“It’s just that this is Bosnia now.We want to translate the play intoBosnian.””But isn’t what you speak Serbo-Croatian?”“Not really,” he said“Then why,” I said, “did you lendme your Serbo-Croatian - Englishdictionary the day I arrived?”“Well, for you it would be goodenough to learn Serbo-Croatian.”“But does that mean” – I persisted– “that if I learned Serbo-Croatianthere are words or phrases in usehere that I wouldn’t understand?”“No, you’d understand everything.The way educated people speak inSarajevo is the same as educatedspeech in Belgrade or Zagreb.”“Then what’s the difference?”“I can’t explain,” he said. “It wouldbe hard for you to understand. Butthere’s a difference.“A difference for Beckett?”“Yes, it’s a new translation.”“If someone did a new translationin Belgrade, would that be differ-ent, too?”“Maybe,” he said.“And that new translation wouldbe different in a different way fromthis new translation?”“Maybe not.”Keep calm, I told myself. “Thenwhat’s going to be specificallyBosnian about this translation?”“Because it’s done here in Sarajevo,while the city is under siege.”“But will some of the words bedifferent?”“That depends on the translator.”“You haven’t read any of it?”“No, because I can’t read her hand-writing.”“She hasn’t started to type it yet?”“She has, but with the typewriterribbon it’s impossible to read.”“Then how are the actors going tostudy the play and learn theirlines?”“Maybe we’ll have to find some-one with good handwriting to makethe scripts.”Wow, it really is Dark Ages, Ithought.AFTER MORE HALLUCINA-TORY EXCHANGES of this sort,and rising anxiety on my part aboutwhen the actors and I would be ablereally to begin, another typewriterwas found and the translation re-typed, using some ancient, scarredcarbon paper to provide fifteendouble-spaced scripts (for the ac-tors, the set designer, the costumedesigner, my two assistants and in-terpreter, and me). Between thelines of my script I copied out inink both the English and the Frenchtext, so that I could learn the

Bosnian, the sound of it, by heart,and always know what the actorswere saying.(An extra symmetry in this storyis that, as Beckett wrote his playin two languages – the English Wait-ing for Godot is not merely a trans-lation of French – the play has twooriginal languages, in both of whichI am at home; and now it had twotranslations, in a language that wascompletely opaque to me.)What happened then? After we hadgone up on the stage and been work-ing for about a week, and I hadblocked a good part of the first act,my assistant and two of the actors– the two who spoke the mostEnglish – took me aside.Problem? Yes. What they felt theyhad to tell me was that new trans-lation really wasn’t very good, andcould we, please use the transla-tion published in Belgrade in the1950s.“Is there a difference?” I asked“Yes, the old translation is better.”“Better in what sense?”“It sounds better. It’s more natu-ral. Easier to say.”“There isn’t a linguistic difference?Something Serbian about thattranslation? Or something notBosnian?”“Not that anyone would notice.”“So there aren’t any words youwould have to change to make thetranslation more Bosnian?”“Not really. But we could, if youwant us to.”“It’s not what I want,” I said, grit-ting my teeth. “I’m just here toserve. Beckett. You. Sarajevo.Whatever.”“Well,” my Vladimir said thought-fully, “here’s what we could do.Let’s go back to the old transla-tion, and while we’re rehearsing, ifwe see a word we think should bechanged to something moreBosnian, we’ll change it.”“Don’t forget to tell me,” I said.“Nema problema,” said myEstragon.Which of course means … but youknow perfectly well what it means.It’s a phrase that seems to trans-late into every language in theworld.THE END OF THE STORY isthat –as you may not be surprisedto learn – the actors never changedanything. Further, when Waitingfor Godot opened in mid-August,no member of the theatre publiccomplained that the translationdidn’t sound Bosnian, or Bosnianenough. (Perhaps they had other,more pressing things on their minds– such as waiting for Clinton.)Pripremila Branka Danon

ON BEING TRANSLATED Fragments of an essay from the book of“Where the Stress Falls” by Susan Sontag

Dok smo `ivjeli u Sarajevu,rodnom nam gradu, doneklesmo poznavali istoriju Jevrejakoji su `ivjeli u biv{ojJugoslaviji. Dolaskom ovamopo~eli smo da u~imo istorijuonih koji su postali na{i novisunarodnici.Vjeruje se da su Jevreji `ivjeliu Velikoj Britaniji od Rimskihvremena, ali prvi Jevreji kojise spominju u pisanimdokumentima su oni koji sustigli sa Viljamom Osvaja~em1066-te godine. Istorija Jevrejaiz tog doba spominje periodedobrih odnosa sa nejevrejskimstanovni{tvom koji sesmjenjuju sa periodima napadai na njihovu imovinu i nanjihove `ivote. Upravo tada jezabilje`en prva krvna klevetaprotiv Jevreja. Kona~no su biliistjerani iz Engleske 1290.godine, dekretom KraljaEdvarda I. Stolje}ima nakontoga nije bilo zvani~nogprisustva jevreja u Engleskoj,sem nekoliko pojedinaca kojisu tajno praktikovali judaizam.I pored toga neraspolo`enjeprotiv Jevreja je bilo tako jakoda je D`efri ^oser u svojeKantarberijske Pri~eobjavljene 1385 uvrstio i pri~uo Jevrejima koji su ubili veomapobo`nog i nevinoghri{~anskog dje~aka. Ovakrvna kleveta postaje dioengleske literarne tradicije. Aonda je za vrijeme OliveraKromvela do{lo do promjene.Sredinom sedamnaestog vijekaznatan broj trgovaca –jevrejskih obra}enika uhri{~anstvo sa Iberijskogpolustrva – se naselilo uLondonu i tu osnovalo tajnuzajednicu. Jevrejima jeformalno dozvoljeno da seponovo nasele u Engleskoj1655. godine, a nakon toga jemali ali stalni dotok sefardskihJevreja pristizao u London. Tosu bili Jevreji iz Holandije iholandskih i engleskihkolonija sa Kariba, Kanarskihostrva i Francuske. Premajednom popisu 1684 godinebilo je 414 Sefarda; 1695.godine bilo ih je 499. Ukupanbroj Jevreja koji su `ivjeli uLondonu bio je ne{to ve}i,po{to su u to vrijeme A{kenazive} po}eli da dolaze uEnglesku, mada ne u velikombroju. Me|u Sefardima koji suse nastanili u Londonu tokomtog perioda nalazili su setrgovci sa inostranstvom,posrednici u prodaji, trgovcidragim kamenjem i nakitom,komercijalni slu`benici i

nekoliko ljekara, kao i osobesa malo kapitala ili bez kapitalai kvalifikacija – torbari, sluge,skitnice i sli~no tome. Godine1701 sagra|ena je i osve}enasinagoga u ulici Bevis Marks.Ta sinagoga, uglavnomnepromjenjena, jos uvijek sekoristi kao mjestobogoslu`enja. Tokomnarednog vijeka Sefardi sunastavili da se naseljavaju uLondonui, mada ne u velikimbroju. Njima su se pridru`ilehiljade E{kenaza iz Holandije,Poljske i Njema~kih dr`ava, odkojih su prvi stigli krajemsedamnaestog vijeka iprvobitno su se pridru`ilikongregaciji u Bevis Marksulici. Ali su se se njihovekulture i istorije u mnogo ~emurazlikovale, tako da su ubrzoosnovali svoje vlastite

institucije i brzo broj~anonadma{ili Sefarde, ali tada sujo{ uvijek Sefardi bili ibogatstiji i uticajniji.Tokom 1700-tih i 1800-tih nijebilo zakonodavstva kojim bi seregilusao boravak Jevreja zbog~ega nisu precizno definisananjihova prava i obaveze. Uovom zakonskom vakumusudske odluke su pomogale utome da se odredi {ta su novistanovnici mogli, a {ta nisumogli da rade. Veoma ~esto sute odluke bile u korist Jevreja.Glavni nedostatak sa kojim suse Jevreji suo~avali bila jezabrana pristupu javnom`ivotu. Ipak, stvari su sepostepeno mijenjale i Jevrejisu se sve vi{e emancipovali.Tako je 1837. godine KraljicaViktorija u~inila vitezomMosija Haima Montefiore;~etiri godine nakon toga IsakLion Goldsmid je postao bar-onet, prvi Jevrejin koji je dobio

naslijednu titulu. 1855. godineizabran je prvi jevrejskigradona~elnik, Sir DavidSalomons. Na dan 26 jula 1858kona~no je bilo dozvoljenoLajonelu Rot~ildu da sjedi uBritanskom donjem domunakon {to je promjenjen zakonkoji je ranije dozvoljavao samohri{~anima da budu ~lanovivlade; Bend`amin Dizraeli,pokr{tenjak jevrejskogporijekla, ve} je bio ~lan vlade.Godine 1874. Dizraeli je postaopremijer, a prije toga je ve~ bioMinistar finansija. Godine1884 Natan Majer Rot~ild , PrviBaron Rot~ild je postao prvijevrejski ~lan Britanskoggornjeg doma; Dizraeli je i uovom slu~aju ve} bio ~lan.Do 1992. godine u Engleskojje `ivjelo 46.000 Jevreja, a do1890 jevrejska emancipacija je

bila kompletna usvakom pogledu.Od 1858. godinepa na ovamo uParlamentu jeuvijek biloj e v r e j s k i h~lanova.Pogromi sa krajadevetnaestog ip o ~ e t k o mdvadesetog vijekasu doveli do togada su mnogiJevreji pobjegli uEnglesku. Do1990. g. Jevrejskostanovni{tvo jenaraslo od 60.000u 1880.g. na250.000. Jevrejisu uglavnom

`ivjeli u velikim gradovima,prvenstveno Londonu (upo~etku Isto~ni dio) iMan~esteru. Jevrejskazajednica u Engleskoj jegeneralno prihvatilaasimilaciju u {iru Engleskukulturu, ali su ipak osnovaliJidi{ i Hebrejske novine i razneomladinske pokrete. Imigracijaje kona~no ograni~enaZakonom za stranu imigracijuiz 1905. g. Pod pritiskom grupakao {to je bila „British Broth-ers League“.Oko 50.000 jevreja je slu`ilo uBritanskim oru`anim snagamatokom Prvog svjetskog rata, aoko 10.000 je poginulo naboji{tu, dok se JevrejskaLegija, prvi potpuno jevrejskipuk, borila u Palestini. Va`naposljedica rata bilo je britanskoosvajanje Palestinskog man-data i Balfurska deklaracijakojom je obe~ano podru~je zanovu jevrejsku dr`avu.

Mada je bilo pove}anogantisemitizma tokom 1930-tih,britanski Jevreji su imali jakupodr{ku u njihovim lokalnimzajednicama {to je vodilodoga|ajima kao {to je „Battleof Cable Street“ gdje je pru`enveliki otpor anti-semitizmu.(Ovo se desilo u nedelju, 4oktobra 1938. godine. To je biosukob izme|u policije koja jenadgledala legalni mar{Britanske fa{isti~ke unije podvodstvom Osvalda Moslija, asa druge strane antifa{ista,me|u kojima su bili Jevreji,socijalisti, irske i komunisti~kegrupe. Kasnije je to dovelo dousvajanja Zakona o javnomredu iz 1936. g. i uglavnom sesmatra zna~ajnim faktorom upoliti~kom padu Britanskefa{isti~ke unije prije Drugogsvjetskog rata.) Mada uBritaniji nije bilo proganjanjaJevreja prije Drugog svjetskograta, Britanija nije bila naro~itospremna da primi jevrejskeizbjeglice koje su bje`ale odnacisti~kih re`ima ufa{isti~kim dr`avama Evrope.Kona~no je dozvoljeno da seoko 40.000 Jevreja iz Austrijei Njema~ke naseli u Britanijiprije rata i jo{ 50.000 Jevrejaiz Italije, Poljske i drugihzemalja Isto~ne Evrope.Uprkos sve stra{nijimupozorenjima koji su dolaziliiz Njema~ke, Britanija jeodbijala da dozvoli dodatnimjevrejskim izbjeglicama da u|uu zemlju. Poznati izuzetak kojije Parlament dozvolio bio je„Kindertransport“, napor uo~isamog rata da se jevrejska djeca(njihovim roditeljima nisu datevize) transportuju iz Njema~keu Britaniju. Spa{eno je oko10.000 djece, a plan je bio dase spase pet puta toliko.Mnogi Jevreji su pri{liBritanskim oru`anim snagama,a neki od njih su se borili uokviru Jevrejske brigade.Danas oko dvije tre}ine od300.000 Jevreja UjedinjenogKraljevstva `ivi u Londonu,mnogi od njih u Golders Green-u. Zna~ajne zajednice vanlondonskog podru~ja su uMan~esteru i Salfordu, Lidsu,Hertsmiru i Brajtonu, a manjesu u Liverpulu, Birmingamu,Bornmusu, Gejtshedu,Sausendu i Vestklifu. Jevrejskapopulacija se uglavnomharmoni~no integrisala.Mi nastojimo da postanemovrijedni ~lanovi i ovogdru{tva.Pripremila: Branka Danon

ISTORIJA JEVREJA U ENGLESKOJBack in Sarajevo, our hometown, we had some knowledgeof the History of the Jews liv-ing in former Yugoslavia. Com-ing to live here we have startedlearning the history of thosewho have become our newcompatriots.It is believed that Jews werepresent in Great Britain sinceRoman times but the first writ-ten records mention the Jewswho arrived with William theConqueror in 1066. The storyof the Jews at that stage wasone of periods of good relationswith the non-Jews alternatingwith periods of attacks both ontheir property and lives. It wasduring these times that the firstblood libel was recorded againstthe Jews. Finally, they were ex-pelled from England in 1290 bya decree of King Edward I. Eng-land had no official Jewish pres-ence, save for isolated individu-als who practiced Judaism se-cretly. Still, the sentimentagainst the Jews was so strongthat Geoffrey Chaucer in hisCanterbury Tales published in1385, included an account ofJews murdering a deeply piousand innocent Christian boy.This blood libel became a partof English literary tradition.Then, during the reign of OliverCromwell things have changed.Toward the middle of the sev-enteenth century a consider-able number of merchants -Jew-ish converts to Christianityfrom the Iberian Peninsula - set-tled in London and formed therea secret congregation. Jewswere formally readmitted to Eng-land in 1655 and after that asmall but steady trickle ofSephardim made their way toLondon. These were Jews fromHolland and Dutch and Englishcolonies in the Caribbean, Ca-nary Islands, the Iberian Penin-sula, and France. In 1684 ac-cording to a list there were 414Sephardim; in 1695, the numberwas 499. The total number ofJews living in London wassomewhat greater sinceAshkenazim were already mi-grating to England at that time,although not in great numbers.The Sephardim who settled inLondon during this period in-cluded overseas merchants,commodity brokers, dealers in

precious stones and jewellery,commercial clerks, and severalphysicians, as well as personswith little or no capital or train-ing – peddlers, servants, vaga-bonds, and the like. A syna-gogue was built and dedicatedin Bevis Marks Street In 1701.This synagogue, for the mostpart unaltered, is still in use asa place of worship. During thenext century, Sephardim contin-ued to settle in London, al-though not in large numbers.They were joined by thousandsof Ashkenazim from Holland,Poland, and the German states,the earliest of whom arrived atthe end of the seventeenth cen-tury and initially affiliated with

the congregation in BevisMarks. But the culture and his-tory differed in major ways fromtheir predecessors and soonthey founded their own institu-tions and quickly outstrippedthe Sephardim in numbers, ifnot yet in wealth and influenceDuring the 1700s and 1800s nolegislation existed which regu-lated Jewish residence, thusleaving undefined the preciselimits of their rights and duties.In this statutory vacuum courtdecisions helped to define whatthe new residents could andcould not do. Very often it wasto the benefit of the Jews. Themajor disabilities facing Jewswere those barring their accessto public life. Things weregradually changing, neverthe-less, and the Jews were eman-cipated ever more. Thus in 1837,Queen Victoria knighted MosesHaim Montefiore; four yearslater, Isaac Lyon Goldsmid wasmade baronet, the first Jew toreceive a hereditary title. Thefirst Jewish Lord Mayor, Sir

David Slomons, was elected in1855. On July 26, 1858, LionelRothschild was finally allowedto sit in the British House ofCommons when the law re-stricting the oath of office toChristians was changed;Benjamin Disraeli, a baptisedChristian of Jewish parentage,was already an MP.In 1874, Disraeli became PrimeMinister having earlier beenChancellor of the Exchequer. In1884 Nathan Mayer Rothschild,1st Baron Rothschild becamethe first Jewish member of theBritish House of Lords; andagain Disraeli was already amember.By 1882, 46,000 Jews lived in

England and by 1890;Jewish emancipationwas complete in everywalk of life. Since 1858,Parliament has neverbeen without Jewishmembers.The pogroms of late19th and early 20th cen-tury caused many Jewsto flee to England. By1919, the Jewish popu-lation had increasedfrom 60,000 in 1880 toabout 250,000 Jews,who lived primarily in

the large cities, especially Lon-don (originally in East End) andManchester. The Jewish com-munity in England generallyembraced assimilation intowider English culture, but stillthey started Yiddish and He-brew newspapers and variousyouth movements. Immigrationwas eventually restricted by theAlien Immigration Act of 1905,following pressure from groupssuch as British Brothers League.About 50,000 Jews served in theBritish Armed Forces duringWorld War I, and around 10,000died on the battlefield, whileBritain’s first all-Jewish regi-ment, the Jewish Legion foughtin Palestine. An important con-sequence of the war was theBritish conquest of PalestinianMandate, and the Balfour Dec-laration promising the area to anew Jewish nation.Though there was some grow-ing anti-semitism during the1930s, this counterbalanced bystrong support for British Jewsin their local communities lead-

ing to events such as the Battleof Cable Street where anti-semitism was strongly resisted.(This took place on Sunday, 4October 1938. It was a clashbetween the Metropolitan Po-lice Service, overseeing a legalmarch by the British Union ofFascists, led by OswaldMosley, and anti-fascists, in-cluding local Jewish, socialist,Irish and communist groups.Later this led to the passage ofthe Public Order Act of 1936,and is widely considered to bea significant factor in the Brit-ish Union of Fascist politicaldecline prior to World War II.)Although there was never per-secution of Jews before or dur-ing World War II in Britain, itwas not particularly receptiveto Jewish refugees fleeing theNazi regimes in the fascist statesof Europe. Approximately 40,000Jews from Austria and Germanywere eventually allowed to set-tle in Britain before the War, inaddition to 50,000 Jews fromItaly, Poland and elsewhere inEastern Europe. Despite the in-creasingly dire warnings com-ing from Germany, Britain re-fused to allow further Jewishrefugees into the country. Thenotable exception allowed byParliament was theKindertransport, an effort onthe eve of war to transport Jew-ish children (their parents werenot given visas) from Germanyto Britain. Around 10,000 chil-dren were saved, out of a planto rescue five times thatnumber.Many Jews joined the BritishArmed Forces, some of whomfought in the Jewish Brigade.Currently, approximately two-thirds of the UK’s 300,000 Jewslive in London, many in GoldersGreen. Substantial communitiesoutside the London area in-clude Manchester and Salford,Leeds, Hertsmere, andBrighton, with smaller commu-nities in Liverpool, Birmingham,Bournemouth, Gateshead,Southend and Westcliff. For themost part, the Jewish popula-tion has integrated harmoni-ously.We are doing our best to be-come worthy member of thissociety as well.Prepared by: Branka Danon

HISTORY OF THE JEWS IN ENGLAND

Dok smo `ivjeli u Sarajevu,rodnom nam gradu, doneklesmo poznavali istoriju Jevrejakoji su `ivjeli u biv{ojJugoslaviji. Dolaskom ovamopo~eli smo da u~imo istorijuonih koji su postali na{i novisunarodnici.Vjeruje se da su Jevreji `ivjeliu Velikoj Britaniji od Rimskihvremena, ali prvi Jevreji kojise spominju u pisanimdokumentima su oni koji sustigli sa Viljamom Osvaja~em1066-te godine. Istorija Jevrejaiz tog doba spominje periodedobrih odnosa sa nejevrejskimstanovni{tvom koji sesmjenjuju sa periodima napadai na njihovu imovinu i nanjihove `ivote. Upravo tada jezabilje`en prva krvna klevetaprotiv Jevreja. Kona~no su biliistjerani iz Engleske 1290.godine, dekretom KraljaEdvarda I. Stolje}ima nakontoga nije bilo zvani~nogprisustva jevreja u Engleskoj,sem nekoliko pojedinaca kojisu tajno praktikovali judaizam.I pored toga neraspolo`enjeprotiv Jevreja je bilo tako jakoda je D`efri ^oser u svojeKantarberijske Pri~eobjavljene 1385 uvrstio i pri~uo Jevrejima koji su ubili veomapobo`nog i nevinoghri{~anskog dje~aka. Ovakrvna kleveta postaje dioengleske literarne tradicije. Aonda je za vrijeme OliveraKromvela do{lo do promjene.Sredinom sedamnaestog vijekaznatan broj trgovaca –jevrejskih obra}enika uhri{~anstvo sa Iberijskogpolustrva – se naselilo uLondonu i tu osnovalo tajnuzajednicu. Jevrejima jeformalno dozvoljeno da seponovo nasele u Engleskoj1655. godine, a nakon toga jemali ali stalni dotok sefardskihJevreja pristizao u London. Tosu bili Jevreji iz Holandije iholandskih i engleskihkolonija sa Kariba, Kanarskihostrva i Francuske. Premajednom popisu 1684 godinebilo je 414 Sefarda; 1695.godine bilo ih je 499. Ukupanbroj Jevreja koji su `ivjeli uLondonu bio je ne{to ve}i,po{to su u to vrijeme A{kenazive} po}eli da dolaze uEnglesku, mada ne u velikombroju. Me|u Sefardima koji suse nastanili u Londonu tokomtog perioda nalazili su setrgovci sa inostranstvom,posrednici u prodaji, trgovcidragim kamenjem i nakitom,komercijalni slu`benici i

nekoliko ljekara, kao i osobesa malo kapitala ili bez kapitalai kvalifikacija – torbari, sluge,skitnice i sli~no tome. Godine1701 sagra|ena je i osve}enasinagoga u ulici Bevis Marks.Ta sinagoga, uglavnomnepromjenjena, jos uvijek sekoristi kao mjestobogoslu`enja. Tokomnarednog vijeka Sefardi sunastavili da se naseljavaju uLondonui, mada ne u velikimbroju. Njima su se pridru`ilehiljade E{kenaza iz Holandije,Poljske i Njema~kih dr`ava, odkojih su prvi stigli krajemsedamnaestog vijeka iprvobitno su se pridru`ilikongregaciji u Bevis Marksulici. Ali su se se njihovekulture i istorije u mnogo ~emurazlikovale, tako da su ubrzoosnovali svoje vlastite

institucije i brzo broj~anonadma{ili Sefarde, ali tada sujo{ uvijek Sefardi bili ibogatstiji i uticajniji.Tokom 1700-tih i 1800-tih nijebilo zakonodavstva kojim bi seregilusao boravak Jevreja zbog~ega nisu precizno definisananjihova prava i obaveze. Uovom zakonskom vakumusudske odluke su pomogale utome da se odredi {ta su novistanovnici mogli, a {ta nisumogli da rade. Veoma ~esto sute odluke bile u korist Jevreja.Glavni nedostatak sa kojim suse Jevreji suo~avali bila jezabrana pristupu javnom`ivotu. Ipak, stvari su sepostepeno mijenjale i Jevrejisu se sve vi{e emancipovali.Tako je 1837. godine KraljicaViktorija u~inila vitezomMosija Haima Montefiore;~etiri godine nakon toga IsakLion Goldsmid je postao bar-onet, prvi Jevrejin koji je dobio

naslijednu titulu. 1855. godineizabran je prvi jevrejskigradona~elnik, Sir DavidSalomons. Na dan 26 jula 1858kona~no je bilo dozvoljenoLajonelu Rot~ildu da sjedi uBritanskom donjem domunakon {to je promjenjen zakonkoji je ranije dozvoljavao samohri{~anima da budu ~lanovivlade; Bend`amin Dizraeli,pokr{tenjak jevrejskogporijekla, ve} je bio ~lan vlade.Godine 1874. Dizraeli je postaopremijer, a prije toga je ve~ bioMinistar finansija. Godine1884 Natan Majer Rot~ild , PrviBaron Rot~ild je postao prvijevrejski ~lan Britanskoggornjeg doma; Dizraeli je i uovom slu~aju ve} bio ~lan.Do 1992. godine u Engleskojje `ivjelo 46.000 Jevreja, a do1890 jevrejska emancipacija je

bila kompletna usvakom pogledu.Od 1858. godinepa na ovamo uParlamentu jeuvijek biloj e v r e j s k i h~lanova.Pogromi sa krajadevetnaestog ip o ~ e t k o mdvadesetog vijekasu doveli do togada su mnogiJevreji pobjegli uEnglesku. Do1990. g. Jevrejskostanovni{tvo jenaraslo od 60.000u 1880.g. na250.000. Jevrejisu uglavnom

`ivjeli u velikim gradovima,prvenstveno Londonu (upo~etku Isto~ni dio) iMan~esteru. Jevrejskazajednica u Engleskoj jegeneralno prihvatilaasimilaciju u {iru Engleskukulturu, ali su ipak osnovaliJidi{ i Hebrejske novine i razneomladinske pokrete. Imigracijaje kona~no ograni~enaZakonom za stranu imigracijuiz 1905. g. Pod pritiskom grupakao {to je bila „British Broth-ers League“.Oko 50.000 jevreja je slu`ilo uBritanskim oru`anim snagamatokom Prvog svjetskog rata, aoko 10.000 je poginulo naboji{tu, dok se JevrejskaLegija, prvi potpuno jevrejskipuk, borila u Palestini. Va`naposljedica rata bilo je britanskoosvajanje Palestinskog man-data i Balfurska deklaracijakojom je obe~ano podru~je zanovu jevrejsku dr`avu.

Mada je bilo pove}anogantisemitizma tokom 1930-tih,britanski Jevreji su imali jakupodr{ku u njihovim lokalnimzajednicama {to je vodilodoga|ajima kao {to je „Battleof Cable Street“ gdje je pru`enveliki otpor anti-semitizmu.(Ovo se desilo u nedelju, 4oktobra 1938. godine. To je biosukob izme|u policije koja jenadgledala legalni mar{Britanske fa{isti~ke unije podvodstvom Osvalda Moslija, asa druge strane antifa{ista,me|u kojima su bili Jevreji,socijalisti, irske i komunisti~kegrupe. Kasnije je to dovelo dousvajanja Zakona o javnomredu iz 1936. g. i uglavnom sesmatra zna~ajnim faktorom upoliti~kom padu Britanskefa{isti~ke unije prije Drugogsvjetskog rata.) Mada uBritaniji nije bilo proganjanjaJevreja prije Drugog svjetskograta, Britanija nije bila naro~itospremna da primi jevrejskeizbjeglice koje su bje`ale odnacisti~kih re`ima ufa{isti~kim dr`avama Evrope.Kona~no je dozvoljeno da seoko 40.000 Jevreja iz Austrijei Njema~ke naseli u Britanijiprije rata i jo{ 50.000 Jevrejaiz Italije, Poljske i drugihzemalja Isto~ne Evrope.Uprkos sve stra{nijimupozorenjima koji su dolaziliiz Njema~ke, Britanija jeodbijala da dozvoli dodatnimjevrejskim izbjeglicama da u|uu zemlju. Poznati izuzetak kojije Parlament dozvolio bio je„Kindertransport“, napor uo~isamog rata da se jevrejska djeca(njihovim roditeljima nisu datevize) transportuju iz Njema~keu Britaniju. Spa{eno je oko10.000 djece, a plan je bio dase spase pet puta toliko.Mnogi Jevreji su pri{liBritanskim oru`anim snagama,a neki od njih su se borili uokviru Jevrejske brigade.Danas oko dvije tre}ine od300.000 Jevreja UjedinjenogKraljevstva `ivi u Londonu,mnogi od njih u Golders Green-u. Zna~ajne zajednice vanlondonskog podru~ja su uMan~esteru i Salfordu, Lidsu,Hertsmiru i Brajtonu, a manjesu u Liverpulu, Birmingamu,Bornmusu, Gejtshedu,Sausendu i Vestklifu. Jevrejskapopulacija se uglavnomharmoni~no integrisala.Mi nastojimo da postanemovrijedni ~lanovi i ovogdru{tva.Pripremila: Branka Danon

ISTORIJA JEVREJA U ENGLESKOJBack in Sarajevo, our hometown, we had some knowledgeof the History of the Jews liv-ing in former Yugoslavia. Com-ing to live here we have startedlearning the history of thosewho have become our newcompatriots.It is believed that Jews werepresent in Great Britain sinceRoman times but the first writ-ten records mention the Jewswho arrived with William theConqueror in 1066. The storyof the Jews at that stage wasone of periods of good relationswith the non-Jews alternatingwith periods of attacks both ontheir property and lives. It wasduring these times that the firstblood libel was recorded againstthe Jews. Finally, they were ex-pelled from England in 1290 bya decree of King Edward I. Eng-land had no official Jewish pres-ence, save for isolated individu-als who practiced Judaism se-cretly. Still, the sentimentagainst the Jews was so strongthat Geoffrey Chaucer in hisCanterbury Tales published in1385, included an account ofJews murdering a deeply piousand innocent Christian boy.This blood libel became a partof English literary tradition.Then, during the reign of OliverCromwell things have changed.Toward the middle of the sev-enteenth century a consider-able number of merchants -Jew-ish converts to Christianityfrom the Iberian Peninsula - set-tled in London and formed therea secret congregation. Jewswere formally readmitted to Eng-land in 1655 and after that asmall but steady trickle ofSephardim made their way toLondon. These were Jews fromHolland and Dutch and Englishcolonies in the Caribbean, Ca-nary Islands, the Iberian Penin-sula, and France. In 1684 ac-cording to a list there were 414Sephardim; in 1695, the numberwas 499. The total number ofJews living in London wassomewhat greater sinceAshkenazim were already mi-grating to England at that time,although not in great numbers.The Sephardim who settled inLondon during this period in-cluded overseas merchants,commodity brokers, dealers in

precious stones and jewellery,commercial clerks, and severalphysicians, as well as personswith little or no capital or train-ing – peddlers, servants, vaga-bonds, and the like. A syna-gogue was built and dedicatedin Bevis Marks Street In 1701.This synagogue, for the mostpart unaltered, is still in use asa place of worship. During thenext century, Sephardim contin-ued to settle in London, al-though not in large numbers.They were joined by thousandsof Ashkenazim from Holland,Poland, and the German states,the earliest of whom arrived atthe end of the seventeenth cen-tury and initially affiliated with

the congregation in BevisMarks. But the culture and his-tory differed in major ways fromtheir predecessors and soonthey founded their own institu-tions and quickly outstrippedthe Sephardim in numbers, ifnot yet in wealth and influenceDuring the 1700s and 1800s nolegislation existed which regu-lated Jewish residence, thusleaving undefined the preciselimits of their rights and duties.In this statutory vacuum courtdecisions helped to define whatthe new residents could andcould not do. Very often it wasto the benefit of the Jews. Themajor disabilities facing Jewswere those barring their accessto public life. Things weregradually changing, neverthe-less, and the Jews were eman-cipated ever more. Thus in 1837,Queen Victoria knighted MosesHaim Montefiore; four yearslater, Isaac Lyon Goldsmid wasmade baronet, the first Jew toreceive a hereditary title. Thefirst Jewish Lord Mayor, Sir

David Slomons, was elected in1855. On July 26, 1858, LionelRothschild was finally allowedto sit in the British House ofCommons when the law re-stricting the oath of office toChristians was changed;Benjamin Disraeli, a baptisedChristian of Jewish parentage,was already an MP.In 1874, Disraeli became PrimeMinister having earlier beenChancellor of the Exchequer. In1884 Nathan Mayer Rothschild,1st Baron Rothschild becamethe first Jewish member of theBritish House of Lords; andagain Disraeli was already amember.By 1882, 46,000 Jews lived in

England and by 1890;Jewish emancipationwas complete in everywalk of life. Since 1858,Parliament has neverbeen without Jewishmembers.The pogroms of late19th and early 20th cen-tury caused many Jewsto flee to England. By1919, the Jewish popu-lation had increasedfrom 60,000 in 1880 toabout 250,000 Jews,who lived primarily in

the large cities, especially Lon-don (originally in East End) andManchester. The Jewish com-munity in England generallyembraced assimilation intowider English culture, but stillthey started Yiddish and He-brew newspapers and variousyouth movements. Immigrationwas eventually restricted by theAlien Immigration Act of 1905,following pressure from groupssuch as British Brothers League.About 50,000 Jews served in theBritish Armed Forces duringWorld War I, and around 10,000died on the battlefield, whileBritain’s first all-Jewish regi-ment, the Jewish Legion foughtin Palestine. An important con-sequence of the war was theBritish conquest of PalestinianMandate, and the Balfour Dec-laration promising the area to anew Jewish nation.Though there was some grow-ing anti-semitism during the1930s, this counterbalanced bystrong support for British Jewsin their local communities lead-

ing to events such as the Battleof Cable Street where anti-semitism was strongly resisted.(This took place on Sunday, 4October 1938. It was a clashbetween the Metropolitan Po-lice Service, overseeing a legalmarch by the British Union ofFascists, led by OswaldMosley, and anti-fascists, in-cluding local Jewish, socialist,Irish and communist groups.Later this led to the passage ofthe Public Order Act of 1936,and is widely considered to bea significant factor in the Brit-ish Union of Fascist politicaldecline prior to World War II.)Although there was never per-secution of Jews before or dur-ing World War II in Britain, itwas not particularly receptiveto Jewish refugees fleeing theNazi regimes in the fascist statesof Europe. Approximately 40,000Jews from Austria and Germanywere eventually allowed to set-tle in Britain before the War, inaddition to 50,000 Jews fromItaly, Poland and elsewhere inEastern Europe. Despite the in-creasingly dire warnings com-ing from Germany, Britain re-fused to allow further Jewishrefugees into the country. Thenotable exception allowed byParliament was theKindertransport, an effort onthe eve of war to transport Jew-ish children (their parents werenot given visas) from Germanyto Britain. Around 10,000 chil-dren were saved, out of a planto rescue five times thatnumber.Many Jews joined the BritishArmed Forces, some of whomfought in the Jewish Brigade.Currently, approximately two-thirds of the UK’s 300,000 Jewslive in London, many in GoldersGreen. Substantial communitiesoutside the London area in-clude Manchester and Salford,Leeds, Hertsmere, andBrighton, with smaller commu-nities in Liverpool, Birmingham,Bournemouth, Gateshead,Southend and Westcliff. For themost part, the Jewish popula-tion has integrated harmoni-ously.We are doing our best to be-come worthy member of thissociety as well.Prepared by: Branka Danon

HISTORY OF THE JEWS IN ENGLAND

IZDAVA^ <> PUBLISHER Jevrejska Zajednica “Prijatelji La Benevolencije” London <> Jewish Society “The Friends of La

Benevolencija” London ADRESA <> ADDRESS

Shalvata - Jewish Care, Att Mr Branko DanonParson Street - Corner of Church Road

London NW4 1QAEmail: salon@benevolencija.eu.org

REDAKCIJA <> EDITORIAL BOARDBranka Danon, Branko Danon, @elimir Ku~inovi}, Sveto Ga}inovi}, Vesna Domany-Hardy, Dragan Ungar

TEHNI^KI UREDNIK I KOMPJUTERSKA OBRADA <> DESIGN AND COMPUTER PROCESSING .

Dejan Stojni}Logo: Daniel Ovadia

SaLon je besplatan i izlazi tromjese~noMi{ljenja u SaLonu nisu nu`noi stajali{ta urednika ili izdava~a.

SaLon is free of charge and published quarterlyThe opinions expressed in SaLon are not

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Rukopisi i slike se u pravilu ne vra}aju.® SaLon

IZME\U DVA BROJA/BETWEEN TWO ISSUESIzme|u dva broja / Branka Danon ........................ 2

INTERVJU / INTERVIEWSa Vesnom Domany-Hardy ............................... 2,3With Vesna Domany-Hardy ............................... 4,5

OSVRT / REFLECTION

D`eraldina Bruks / . ^uvari knjige ......................................... 6Geraldine Brooks / .

People of the Book ................................ 7

^ITALI SMO ZA VAS

O prevo|enju / Suzana Zontag ............................. 8

WE READ FOR YOU

On Being Translated /Susan Sontag ..................... 9

WE READ FOR YOU

On Being Translated /Susan Sontag ..................... 9

ZONA U^ENJA / LEARNING ZONE

Istorija Jevreja u Engleskoj ................................. 10History of the Jews in England ............................11

MALO POEZIJE .................................................... 12

SADR@AJ / CONTENTS DRUGI PUT BIHZNAO

Premalo sam u`ivao uproljetnim pljuskovimai zalascima sunca.

Premalo sam se nasla|ivaoljepotom starih pjesamai šetnjama na mjese~ini.

Premalo sam se opijaovinom prijateljstvamada na zemlji jedva da jebilo zemlje u kojojnisam imao barem dvojicuprijatelja.

Premalo sam vremenaodvajao za ljubavkojoj je na raspolaganjustajalo svo moje vrijeme.

Drugi put bih znaoneuporedivo vi{eda u`ivam u `ivotu.

Drugi put bih znao...

Izet Sarajli}

DO NOT STANDON MY GRAVEAND WEEP

Do not stand at my grave andweep,I am not there, I do not sleep.

I am a thousand winds thatblow.I am the diamond glint onsnow.I am the sunlight on ripenedgrain.I am the gentle autumn rain.

When you wake in themorning hush,I am the swift, uplifting rushOf quiet birds in circling flight.I am the soft starlight at night.

Do not stand at my grave andweep.I am not there, I do not sleep.(Do not stand at my grave andcry.I am not there, I did not die!)

Mary Elizabeth Fraye