Djordje (Djura) Rajs papers

Djordje Rajs (Djura or Djurica, 1930-1942) was born August 17, 1930 in Petrovgrad, Yugoslavia (currently Zrenjanin, Serbia) to Hugo Rajs (1901-1941) and Elisabeth Rajs (née Hercog, 1908-1942) and had one brother, Jovan Rajs (b. 1933). In 1941 Hugo and Djordje were conscripted into forced labor. Djordje was forced into and old Army barracks in May 1941 and later deported from Petrovgrad to the Semlin Judenlager. During a transport in April 1942, Djordje was killed. In late 1944 Jovan Rajs was deported to Bergen-Belsen. Towards the end of the war he was taken to Theresienstadt and was liberated on May 8, 1945. The Djordje (Djura) Rajs papers include a diary written by Djordje (Djura) Rajs in a former military barracks in Petrovgrad, Yugoslavia (currently Zrenjanin, Serbia). In the diary, Djura details the Nazi occupation of Petrovgrad and forced conscription of Jewish men as well as being forced to move to a dilapidated former Army barracks in May 1941. He further describes that he writes "not something imaginary but rather a complete truth which I lived through..."