"U predstojećim stranicama ne treba tražiti istorijsku nauku o Drugom svetskom ratu. Politička i vojna istorija u Evropi, a posebno na Balkanu, suviše su složene i teško razumljive, a da bi mogle da se prikažu u maloj knjižici. Međutim, doživljaji i preživljavanja pojedinca, od kasnih tridesetih godina do kraja osme decenije u Jugoslaviji, pružaju zanimljiv primer ponašanja prosečne porodice... Vrativši se 1921. godine iz izbeglištva, moja mlada majka Elza iskreno je prihvatila svoju tazbinu i novu domovinu. Potrudila se i za tri godine savladala srpski jezik. Školovana u Beču znala je vrednost dvojezičnog vaspitanja. Uronjenost u srpsku sredinu mamu Elzu nije sačuvala od Holokausta. U jesen 1941. i proleće 1942. godine prijatelji su na sve moguće načine, a ipak bezuspešno, pokušavali da joj spasu život. Iz Loznice, preko Šapca, vraćena je u Beograd, u koncentracioni logor na Banjici. Odmah je uvrštena u spisak za streljanje. Pomilovanja nije bilo, niti mu se nadala. U rano jutro, 9. maja 1942., u praskozorje, kad ju je gestapovac prozvao, bilo joj je jasno o čemu se radi. Oprostila se od sapatnice u zatvorskoj ćeliji rečima: „Mirna sam, ne bojim se, moj sin će živeti.“ Spomenuti sin, jedina joj uteha pred streljačkim strojem hitlerovaca, saznao je za sve strahote o kraju svoje majke tek tri godine docnije. U toku te tri godine nosio je zle slutnje i strah, a onda saznao da mu je majka, nekadašnja bezazlena bečka devojčica i dobra učenica, zatim okretna pomoćnica u radnji muške konfekcije svoga oca u najužem centru Beča, ratna izbeglica, i najzad ugledna Beograđanka i jevrejska žrtva Holokausta, upamćena kao izuzetna žena, supruga i majka. Njenoj uspomeni se posvećuje ova knjižica. Da se nikada njena žrtva ne zaboravi! Da se Holokaust na Balkanu i u Evropi nikada više ne ponovi!" (A. Mošić)."The following pages, are not a historical study of World War II. The political and military history of Europe, especially in the Balkans, is too complex and difficult to understand to be presented in a small booklet. However, the experiences and survival of an individual, from the late 1930s to the end of the 1980s in Yugoslavia, provide an interesting example of the behaviour of an average family... Returning from exile in 1921, my young mother Elsa sincerely embraced her in-laws and her new homeland. She made an effort and within three years mastered the Serbian language. Educated in Vienna, she knew the value of a bilingual upbringing. Immersion in the Serbian environment did not protect my mother Elsa from the Holocaust. In the fall of 1941 and the spring of 1942, friends tried in every possible way, though unsuccessfully, to save her life. From Loznica, through Šabac, she was returned to Belgrade, to the Banjica concentration camp. She was immediately placed on the list for execution. There was no pardon, nor did she expect one. In the early morning of May 9, 1942, at sunrise, when the Gestapo officer called her name, she knew what was happening. She bid farewell to her fellow inmate in the prison cell with the words: "I am calm, I am not afraid, my son will live." The mentioned son, her only solace before the firing squad of Hitler's soldiers, learned about the horrors of his mother's fate only three years later. During those three years, he carried with him terrifying feelings and fear and then found that his mother, once an innocent Viennese girl and good student, later a skilled assistant in her father's men's clothing shop in the heart of Vienna, a war refugee, and finally a respected Belgrade and Jewish victim of the Holocaust, was remembered as an exceptional woman, wife, and mother. This booklet is dedicated to her memory. May her sacrifice never be forgotten! May the Holocaust in the Balkans and Europe never happen again!" (A. Mošić)
