FUNCTIONING OF THE CHILDREN’S HOME IN BELA TSRKVA

FUNCTIONING OF THE CHILDREN’S HOME IN BELA TSRKVA

A separate chapter is dedicated to the acceptance and placement of the refugee children from Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia to the children’s homes in Bela Tsrkva in the Autonomous Province of Voivodina.

Care of the refugee children from Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia was provided for by the village Strazha located between Bela Tsrkva and Vrsats. But this house too operated for only 6 months, and during its operation it housed only 70 children. Although the building that housed these refugee children was okay,

it did not serve its main purpose. This was due to the poor road accesss causing difficulties to get there. As a result, in September 1948, it was decided to close down this house and send the children to the homes in Bela Tsrkva.

As we said earlier homes were opened in the People’s Republic of Serbia, particularly in the Autonomous Province in Voivodina; in Vrsats, Banat Plandishte, Strazha and Bela Tsrkva.

The children’s homes in Bela Tsrkva began to accept refugee children from Aegean Macedonia in the spring of 1948. These homes had a set of 9 buildings located in the centre of the city. One was located near the river Nera. Unfortunately the one located near the River Nera was closed down and the children were transferred to the children’s homes in Bela Tsrkva centre.

The primary school “Kolishevski” began to operate in 1949 in one of the buildings where lectures were conducted in the Macedonian language. Located in the same buildings were sewing and shoe-making workshops operated by the central administration. There was a clinic located in one of the buildings. Also housed in other buildings were schools for managing economy, pig farming, fruit growing, grape growing, metalworking and other workshops. The People’s Board of Vrsats had also acquired 26 hectares of arable land to be used by the children’s home in Bela Tsrkva. All these buildings were available to house the refugee children from Aegean (Greek occupied) Macedonia.

One of the buildings housed the preschool children 3 to 7 years old, while the other three buildings housed children ages 7 to 14 years old. The facilities in which the children were placed were immediately transformed, or adapted, to create the right conditions for these children. Proper hygiene facilities were maintained for newcomer “mothers” who at the time assisted with various activities. The women worked during all hours, mornings, afternoons and evenings, with one goal in mind; to care for the uprooted children and to give them the parental care they needed so that they wouldn’t feel lonely...

In addition to the four factories, there was also a building in Bela Tsrkva dedicated and equipped for ambulatory functions.

The first wave of refugee children to arrive was 912. They arrived in Bela Tsrkva in April and May 1948, where they were well received and immediately placed in 4 regulated facilities. The Yugoslav Red Cross was responsible for administering the children’s home. The refugee children who arrived in Bela Tsrkva and were placed here were from the following villages:

Armensko, Banitsa, Bapchor, Borovitsa, Baovo, Buf, Gabrish, German, Gorno Kotori, Dolno Kotori, D’mbeni, Zhelevo, Zhelin, Kosinets, Krushoradi, Lagen, Ludovo, Medovo, Mikolini, Mokreni, Neokaz, Nivitse, Ovcharani, Oshchima, Pesochnitsa, Psoderi, Rudari, Robi, Sakulevo, Sveta Nedela, Strnishte, Trnovo, Trsir, Chegan, Chuka, Shtrkovo and Tsakoni.

At the end of September 1948 all the children’s homes for the refugee children in the People’s Republic of Serbia and in the Autonomous Province of Voivodina were closed and all the refugee children were moved to Bela Tsrkva.

The teacher Stanoie Obrenov was appointed top administrator of the Bela Tsrkva children’s home, whose responsibility included adapting buildings and civic works, organizing functions, implementing educational activities in the schools, managing the work and more.

Besides the agricultural economy, which provided many agricultural products that were used in the canteens to feed the refugee children, towards the end of September 1948 the Red Cross management of children’s homes in Bela Tsrkva decided to organize a sewing workshop in which it employed 10 skilled tailors and seamstresses and appointed Traiko Terzievski, a refugee from the village Zhelevo, as its foreman.

In his diary about his work in the children’s homes and about the work done by the sewing workshops in Bela Tsrkva, top administrator Stanoie Obrenov wrote the following: “At that time we had no clothing and no means to purchase them from somewhere

else. Therefore opening the workshop was the most economical and necessary choice. Thanks to Traiko Terzievski and all the tailors and seamstresses in this workshop we managed to fashion many hundred of coats, overcoats and suits in a relatively short time for all residents and wards of the Red Cross in children’s homes in Bela Tsrkva. They were very well dressed and supplied with clothes and other things. The homes too were supplied with linens, beautiful curtains, sheets and other materials. We also sewed Aegean style folk dresses and costumes for the needs of children’s folklore groups, as well as clothing for sports and dances.”

In mid-September 1948 a shoemaker’s shop was opened in the same building as the sewing workshop. This shop created ready made shoes for the refugee children and served as a shoe repair shop. This shop also made belts for pants, shoes for the children’s folk groups and others necessary materials.

Besides the two workshops, a carpentry workshop was also opened as part of the children’s homes which served as a manufacturing and repair shop for desks, chairs, doors, windows and more.

A large farm was also established for the needs of the children’s homes. For this purpose, the People’s Board in Vrshats Region granted the children’s homes in Bela Tsrkva several buildings, 26 hectares of good arable land along the river Nera and two and a half hectares of vineyards. Among other things the farm also raised 100 pigs and employed permanent and seasonal workers.