us-005578-irn520792-irn520793
type: RecordSet
archival history: United States Holocaust Memorial Museum
biographical history: Jaša Altarac was born on January 1, 1934 in Belgrade, Yugoslavia (Serbia), to Mayer (Meir) and Mimi (Miriam) Finci Altarac. Mimi was born in 1910 in Brcko (now in Bosnia and Hercegovina). Her father was an accountant and she had two brothers, David and Shalom, and a sister, Frida. Shalom immigrated to Palestine before the war. Mayer was born in 1901 in Sarajevo (later in Bosnia and Hercegovina) and had a successful business as a marble craftsman and home contractor. Jaša’s younger sister, Lea Lela, was born in 1937. The family was well off, assimilated, and spoke Serbian. Mayer also supported his mother and other family members in Sarajevo. They traveled by car every year to celebrate Passover with Jaša’s grandmother in Sarajevo. Yugoslavia was held together by a totalitarian monarchy backed by the military. On April 6, 1941, continuing the policy of eastward expansion, Germany and Italy invaded Yugoslavia supported by Hungary and Bulgaria. Jaša and his family were in Sarajevo for Passover on April 14 and there was an aerial attack. The family rushed to the basement, and the house was directly hit by a bomb. Jaša was thrown through the air. His sister, Lela, was found in the arms of her grandmother, both dead. A few days later, German troops occupied Sarajevo. The family left the city ten days after the funeral for Sabac, a village in central Serbia. They stayed with Miloje Markovic, the foreman of Mayer’s business. On July 18, the family returned to Belgrade. Yugoslavia had been dismembered by the Axis Alliance and Serbia, where Belgrade located, was under German military government. Anti-Jewish policies were immediately implemented. Jews had to register with the police. Jewish men, including Mayer, were taken for forced labor. The Germans took hostages to prevent any resistance, and Jewish hostages were killed for any pretext. Mayer asked a former business partner, and Italian named Erminio Dorio, to help them obtain travel documents for the Italian occupation ter…
conditions of use: Copyright Holder: Mr. Jas̆a Altarac
date: circa 1915-1964
has or had holder: us-005578
has or had identifier: 1
has or had some members with language: deu
has or had some members with language: eng
has or had some members with language: srp
has or had some members with language: ita
has or had some members with language: fra
has or had some members with language: sqi
has or had subject: 701
has record set type: Item
identifier: irn520793
is or was included in: us-005578-irn520792
record resource extent: box 1
record resource structure: The Jas̆a Altarac papers are arranged as five series: I. Biographical materials, 1922-1964, II. Correspondence, 1941-1943, III. Mermer-Oniks records, 1933-1946, IV. Photographic materials, approximately 1915-1960, V. Printed materials, 1945
results or resulted from: 1
scope and content: The Jaša Altarac papers consist of biographical materials, correspondence, Mermer-Oniks business records, photographic materials, and a newspaper documenting the Altarac family in Belgrade; their Holocaust itinerary of flight, imprisonment, deportation, and hiding through Skopje, Pristina, Kavaja, Kamza, and Tirana; and Mayer Altarac’s marble business Mermer-Oniks. Biographical materials include identification papers, travel permissions, labor documents, and false identification papers documenting Mayer, Mimi, and Jaša Altarac in Belgrade, Skopje, Pristina, Kavaja, and Tirana. This series also includes the notebook the Altarac family used to record the signatures of Italian police in Kavaja proving that the family reported to the police station daily. Correspondence includes Red Cross inquiries from Mimi Altarac seeking information about Frieda and Andrija Barta and about Esther, Ana, and Leon Finci as well as two letters from Albert Altarac, Mayer Altarac's brother, to Gavro Navon and Mario Altarac in Pristina. This series also includes postwar receipts for money sent to Palomba Finci, Hajima Altarac, and Joska Herman in Vareš-Majdan, Mostar, and Sarajevo. Mermer-Oniks records include prewar building documents, commercial correspondence, letterhead, and tax payments as well as postwar surveys of quarries documenting Mayer Altarac’s marble and granite business. Mayer was one of the most prominent architects in prewar Belgrade. He discovered several sources of marble and other stone in Yugoslavia and used the stone from his quarries in his architectural projects. Photographic materials include loose family photographs and pages from a family photo album documenting the Altarac family in Belgrade, Sarajevo, Pristina, Kavaja, Kamza, and Tirana, as well as vacation photos from Bled, Makarska, Planica, Postojna, and Split. Photographs include the Altarac family while imprisoned in Pristina and while living at the “red house” in Kavaja, Jasa Altarac’s class portrait from …
title: Jas̆a Altarac papers