Margareta – Greta Koristka rodjena je 1918. godine u Zemunu.

Pradeda Isak Šrajber doselio se u Zemun u drugoj polovini XIX veka. Gretin deda Adolf  Šrajber rođen je u Zemunu i bio je oženjen Jozefinom Benvenisti  iz Beča,  ćerkom Jakoba Benvenistija.

Adolf je bio žitarski trgovac. Njegova ćerka, Franciska – Fani Šrajber rođena je 1882. godine.

Franciska je redovno odlazila u apoteku Benka Štrajma i tamo je upoznala studenta farmacije Franca  Koristku. Odlučili su da se venčaju, ali ih u katoličkoj crkvi nisu hteli primiti. Proglasili su se evangelicima  i zaključili građanski brak u Pančevu. Pred kraj Prvog svetskog rata Franc je  dobio prekomandu u Austrougarskoj vojsci. Franciska je dobila obaveštenje da se Franc vodi kao nestao nestao na frontu. Otada mu se gubi svaki trag.

Imali su tri ćerke:

Valerija je rođena 1912. godine u Zemunu. Bila je udata  za Popović Miodraga – Mileta. Njihov sin je  Vladica Popović, poznati futbaler, a kasnije trener. Ćeka Vukica je bila udata za režisera Batu Stojanovića, koji je poginuo u saobraćajnoj nesreći. Njihov sin je Radomir Stojanović.    

Feodora je rođena 1915. godine u Zemunu. Bila je udata za inženjera  Raca Kamenka. Imaju dva sina: Branka, koji živi u Beogradu i Nenada, koji živi u Parizu. Feodora je umrla 1998. godine.

Margareta – Greta  rođena je 1918. godine u Zemunu. Išla je u Osnovnu jevrejsku školu i seća se učitelja Isidora Grinfelda i učiteljice Edite Centner. Seća se kako je učiteljica bila stroga i da je često delila packe lenjirom ( udaranje po dlanovima ). Greta je jednom dobila packe iako nije ništa skrivila. Iz tog perioda se seća jedne Poljakinje po imenu Marekova. Kad se Greta vraćala iz škole ova je išla za njom i dovikivala joj «Čifutka» ( pogrdan izraz za Jevreje ). Ne bismo ovu epizodu ni spominjali da se kasnije Marekova nije pojavila u ulozi potkazivača.

Greta je posle osnovne škole završila Državnu trgovačku akademiju u Zemunu.

Pre Drugog svetskog rata Greta je bila zaposlena kao računovođa u ispostavi Svilare iz Osijeka. Dolaskom okupacije Svilara je prestala sa radom. Svi zaposleni su dobili šestomesečnu platu. Gretu su izbacili iz spiska i nije ništa dobila. Ostala je bez sredstava  za život. Pored toga je za nju i njenu majku uveden karton u policiji i tamo su se morali redovno javljati.

Jednom je sa svojom prijateljicom Marijanom Leon ( udata Eberle )  sedela u poslastičarnici ''Glumac''. Za drugim stolom su sedeli  Retl, šef zemunske policije i Marekova, Poljakinja koju smo ranije spomenuli. Bilo je očigledno da Retl pita Marekovu ko je za drugim stolom. Ona se nagnula prema njemu i nešto mu šaputala. Bilo je jasno da govori o Greti, jer je ukazivala na nju. Greta i Marijana su brzo napustile poslastičarnu i na tom se završio taj neugodni susret.

Nekoliko dana kasnije došla je komšinica Perić i donela joj jedan formular. Nagovorila ju je da u odgovarajuću rubriku unese da je čista arijevka. Odmah posle toga dobila  je posao u fabrici aviona ''Ikarus''. Ta fabrika je pripadala pola Nemcima  i  pola Hrvatima. Neposredni šef je bio Spitz, a iznad njega je bio neki Gludovac. Posle devet meseci rada u ''Ikarusu'' tražili su od Grete da donese dokumenta o njenom ocu. To je dobro prošlo, jer je otac bio iz Češke, tj. nije bio Jevrejin. Kratko vreme zatim tražili su i dokumenta za majku. Nadležna službenica, koja je bila ljubavnica Gretinog porodičnog prijatelja rekla je da  ne mora ništa da donese. Tko je Greta nastavila rad u ''Ikarusu'' sve dok u jednoj raciji nije privedena u Ortskommandaturu. Pitali su je gde radi  i kada je ona rekla da je zaposlena u ''Ikarusu'',  Nemci su odmah nazvali fabriku, odakle je potvrđeno da je to tačno, pa su je pustili. Međutim, tako je u ''Ikarusu'' otkriveno njeno jevrejsko poreklo i već sutradan  ju je pozvao šef Gludovac i momentalno je izbacio iz fabrike.

Istoga dana uveče, u Gretin stan je došao Špic i rekao joj da ni slučjno ne prenoći u njenom stanu i da se za stalno negde skloni.

Tada je Špic ispričao da je on radio kod jednog Jevrejina u Banatu. Taj Jevrejin je prema njemu, kao  i  prema drugim nameštenicima bio veoma velikodušan. On im je pomagao ako bi zapali u neke teškoće. Posebno se sećao da ih je gazda za sve jevrejske praznike uvek pozivao za porodičnu trpezu.

Špic je rekao da je znao za Gretino poreklo, ali se pravio da ne zna, a da ovo čini iz zahvalnosti prema nekadašnjem poslodavcu, Jevrejinu.

Greta je iste večeri otišla kod porodice Nedić, koja je imala radionicu za proizvodnju soda vode. Lepo su je primili, ali je tu ostala samo nekoliko dana. Došla joj je sestra Feodora, pa joj je rekla da traži propusnicu za Beograd, da bi tamo otišla kod sestre Valerije. Uspela je da dobije dozvolu za odlazak u Beograd, ali bez prava povratka u Zemun. Kasnije je saznala da je službenik koji joj je izdao dozvolu bio pripadnik Narodno – oslobodilačkog  pokreta. Nije hteo da ugrozi svoju bezbednost ako bi se Greta vratila.

Izvesno vreme je boravila kod sestre, a onda je prešla kod Milene  koja je bila udata za Rudi Štajna. To je bio težak period, jer nisu imali od čega da žive. Onda je Milena našla neke abonirce za hranu, koju je ona spremala. Pa su tako Milena i Greta dočekale kraj rata. Rudi je bio u nemačkom zarobljeništvu kao pripadnik Kraljevske jugoslovenske vojske i tako je preživeo rat. Vratio se u Beograd 1945. godine, a 1948. godine Rudi  i Milena otišli su u Izrael. Rudi je dobio rak, bio je na operaciji  u SAD, ali je ubrzo umro. Milena je do svoje smrti ostala u Izraelu.

Greta je ostala u Štajnovom stanu u Beogradu u koji su doseljeni i sustanari. Posle izvesnog vremena dobila je drugi stan u kojem i sada živi.

Greta se 1946. g. udala za Dobricu – Vida  Misaljevića. Brak je trajao svega 6 meseci, pa su se sporazumno rastali. Posle toga, Greta je odlučila da se iseli u Izrael. Zato se formalno udala za Isaka Levija iz Sarajeva, s kojim je zajedno radila u Elektroprivredi. Pred odlazak u Izrael se predomislila i taj brak je razveden.

Greta je bila dugogodišnji aktivista Crvenog krsta. Do odlaska u penziju radila je u Statistici, Elektroprivredi, Sudskoj arbitraži i u Drugom opštinskom sudu. Bila je preko 2o godina sudija porotnik u Palati pravde.

Sada živi u Beogradu.

Margareta-Greta Koristka was born in Zemun in 1918.

Her great-grandfather Isak Schreiber moved to Zemun in the second half of the XIX century. Her grandfather Adolf Schreiber was born in Zemun and married the daughter of Jacob Benvenisti, Josephine from Vienna.

Adolf was a trader in grain. His daughter  Francisca – Fani Schreiber was born in 1882.

Francisca made regular visits to Benko Streim’s pharmacy. This is where she met Franz, a student of pharmacy, one of the Koristka family. They decided to get married. When they approached the Catholic Church with their wish to get married there they were turned down. They declared themselves as evangelists and entered into a civilian marriage in Pancevo. Right before the end of the First World War Franz was reassigned to the Austo-Hungarian army. Sometime later Francisca received information of his status; missing, presumed killed in battle. From that time on there was no further record of him.

They had three daughters:

Valerie was born in Zemun in 1912. She married Miodrag Popovic – Mile. Their son Vladica Popovic was a well known football player and later on became a coach. Their daughter Vukica married the film director Bata Stojanovic who died in a car crash. Their son is Radomir Stojanovic.

Feodora was married in Zemun in 1915. She married the engineer Raca Kamenko. They had two sons: Branko who lives in Belgrade and Nenad who lives in Paris. Fedora died in 1998.

Margareta – Greta was born in Zemun in 1918. She went to the Jewish elementary school and remembers both her treachers, Isidor Grünfeld and Edita Zentner. She can still recall how strict mistress Zentner could be and how she frequently undertook disciplinary measures (taking the ruler to the palm of the hand). Greta was once dealt a spanking although she had done nothing wrong. From this period of her life she recalls a Polish girl named Marekova. She would follow Greta on her way back from school and shout after her “Cifutka” (a derogatory word for Jews). No mention of this incident would have been made had not Marekova resurfaced later on in the role of an informer.

After leaving elementary school Greta graduated from the State Trade Academy in Zemun. Before the Second World War Greta was employed as an accountant in the branch office of Svilara, (silk factory), in Osijek. Svilara stopped working at the onset of the occupation. The entire staff received  severence payment equal to six months salary. Greta was struck out from the list and received nothing. She was left with no means of living. Apart from this an evidence card had been opened at the police station both for her and her mother and they had to make regular check-ins with the police.

She can still recall the occasion when in the company of her friend Mariana Leon (married Eberle) she sat in the patisserie “Glumac”. At the table right next to them sat Retl, the chief of Zemun police and Marekova, the Polish lady already mentioned. It was evident that Retl was inquiring about the persons sitting next to them. She leaned closer to him and whisper into his ear. There is no doubt that she was informing on Greta since she frequently looked in her way. Minutes later Greta and Mariana left the patisserie and made an end to the unpleasant incident.

A few days later her neighbour came to visit her and brought a form for her to fill in. She persuaded her to enter into the relevant box that she was a full blooded Arian. She immediately obtained a job at the aircraft factory “Ikarus”. Half of the factory belonged to the Germans and the other half to the Croats. Her direct head of department was Spitz and ranking above Spitz was a man named Gludovac. After working at “Ikarus” for nine months Greta was told to bring document about her father. This went fairly well since her father came from the Czeck state, i.e. he was not a Jew. Very soon she was asked to bring her mother’s documents too. The lady in charge of the procedure who was mistress to a family friend told her that she didn’t have to bring anything. Thus Greta continued to work at “Ikarus” up to the moment when she was picked up in a raid and brought to the Ortskommandatur. She was asked where she worked and when she replied at “Ikarus” the Germans immediately called the factory. On receiving information that she was telling the truth, they let her go. However, the incident triggered in “Ikarus” an inspection into her origin and it soon became evident that she was of Jewish descent. The following day she was called to the office of chief Gludovac and fired on the spot.

That same evening Spitz came to Greta’s apartment and told her that on no account should she stay there any longer and that she should find somewhere to hide permanently. It was then that Spitz told her that he had once worked at some Jew’s establishment in Banat. The Jew was a generous employer not only to him but to all his workers. He would bail them out if they came to harm or had any difficulties. What stuck to his memory most was that the master would always invite them at the time of Jewish holidays to sit down and partake of the family meal. Spitz also told her that he had been fully aware of her origins but had pretended not to know.  Thus she was indebted to the generosity of his old employer that he had come to give her warning that night.

That same evening Greta went to the Nedic family who owned a soda water production plant. She was well received there but stayed for a few days only. Her sister Feodora came and told her to ask for a pass for Belgrade so that she could go to her sister Valerija. She managed to obtain a pass for Belgrade but without the right to return to Zemun. She later learned that the clerk who had issued the pass was a member of the National liberation movement. He did not want to jeopardize his position and safety if she was to return to Zemun.

She stayed with her sister for some time and then went to live with Milena who was married to Rudi Stein. It was a rough period since they had nothing to live on. Then Milena managed to find a man willing to pay for the meals she prepared. Milena and Greta lived in this way right up to the end of the war. As a soldier of the Royal Yugoslav Army Rudi was held in a German POW camp and managed to survive the war. He returned to Belgrade in 1945 and in 1948 Rudi and Milena left for Israel. Rudi fell ill to cancer had an operation in the USA but died soon after. Milena lived in Israel up to her death.

Greta remained in the Stein apartment in Belgrade. She soon had to share it with cohabitants who had been allocated to the flat. Some time later she got a flat of her own where she has been living to this day.

In 1946 Greta married Dobrica – Vido Milosavljevic. The marriage lasted for six months only. They mutually consented to a divorce. After the failure of her marriage Greta decided to relocate to Israel. In order to do so she entered into a formal marriage with Isak Levi from Sarajevo. He was a coworker in the Power Supply Company. Just before her departure for Israel she had a change of heart and divorced her second husband too.

Greta was a long standing activist of the Red Cross. Up to the time she retired she had worked in Statistika, Elektroprivreda, the Arbitrage Court and in the Second municipal court. For over twenty years she was jury judge in the Court of Justice.

She lives in Belgrade today.