Porodica Semnic naselila se u Zemun krajem devetnaestog veka.

Herman i Hermina Semnic su došli iz Almaša. Imali su šestoricu sinova. Sinovi Zigmund - “Žiga” i Ignjac - “Naci” bili su poznati proizvođači sapuna u Zemunu. Albert je takođe ostao u Zemunu, dok su dva brata otišla u Zagreb, a jedan u Suboticu.

Albert, jedan od sinova, rođen je 1877. u Almašu. Završio je školu u Zemunu i jedno vreme je radio kao bankarski činovnik, a zatim kao zastupnik jedne velike štamparije.

Albert se oženio  Zemunkom Irmom Bilic, ćerkom Bernarda i Elze.

Imali su šestoro dece: Greta, Judit, Lea, Rikard, Gideon i Danilo.

Greta je rođena 1909. u Zemunu. Bila je aktivna u sportskom društvu “Hakoah” (hazena). Posle prelaska cele porodice u Beograd, 1928. godine, učlanila se u sportski klub “Jugoslavija” i kao vrstan igrač hazene ušla je u reprezentaciju. Okupaciju je preživela jer je bila u mešovitom braku.  Promenila je ime u Mira, a po mužu je Popović. Naravno da je živela u stalnom strahu da je kvislinške vlasti ne uhvate i oteraju u logor. Iz tog vremena joj se urezao u pamćenje sledeći događaj:

Krajem 1941. godine izašla je da nešto kupi. Na sebi je preko kostima imala kišni mantil. Na ulici je srela Antona Junga, koji je bio porodični prijatelj i kolega sa posla. Taj veliki “prijatelj” ju je odmah upitao “da li znaš da treba da se prijaviš?” i čak joj je rekao i u kojoj zgradi se vrši obavezna prijava Jevreja. Na to mu je Greta odgovorila: “Znam, i već imam žutu traku!”

Srećom, bilo je i pravih humanista. Tako se Lea, koja je bila sekretarica u firmi “Pokorny” (likeri), udala i to u jesen 1941. za Milana Stepanovića. Venčanje je obavio pop u Vaznesenskoj crkvi, iako su vlasti to zabranjivale i strogo kažnjavale. Milan je odveo Leu u Donja Crnuća, rodno selo, i ona je tamo preživela rat.

Danila Semnica je primila porodica Radovana Đokovića i on je preživeo okupaciju pod imenom Danilo Simić. Nije zaboravio svoje dobročinitelje i 1985. godine doveo je Radovana u Jerusalim, gde mu je u “Jad vašemu” svečano uručena medalja pravednika. Danilo se još 1948. godine uselio u Izrael sa bratom Rikardom. Rikard je preživeo rat u nemačkom zarobljeništvu. U Izraelu je radio u Ministarstvu trgovine. Umro je 1976. godine. Danilo živi u Jerusalimu kao penzioner.

Gideon Semnic je izučio stolarski zanat u Zagrebu. Kada je izbio rat pobegao je iz Zagreba. Na putu prema italijanskoj zoni predomislio se, jer nije znao ništa o svojima u Beogradu. Hteo je da se vrati preko Zagreba u Beograd. Negde kod Nove Gradiške su ga uhvatili i ubili.

Judita je bila veoma aktivna cionistkinja, koja se sa oduševljenjem spremala za odlazak u Palestinu. Negde krajem 1940. ili početkom 1941. godine otišla je preko Turske u Palestinu u kibuc “Šar Hamakim”.

Dok je živeo u Zemunu, Albert Semnic je bio omiljen među Jevrejima, ali i među ostalim građanima. Bio je vedra duha i rado viđen u svakom društvu. Ostao je upamćen po svojoj pesmi “Malo šetnje kroz Zemun”, koja se nalazi u poglavlju ove hronike “Period između dva svetska rata”.

Bila je to, manje-više, tipična zemunska jevrejska porodica, koja je očuvala tradicionalistički odnos prema jevrejstvu. To znači da su slavili praznike, da se uglavnom na praznike išlo u sinagogu, da su deca išla u Jevrejsku školu, ali istovremeno nisu bili preterano religiozni. O tome govori i sledeći događaj kojeg se seća Greta.

Irma Semnic, njena majka, veoma je retko išla u sinagogu. Kada ju je jedna poznanica upitala zašto tako retko dolazi u hram, Irma je odgovorila:

- Draga moja, svakoj čestitoj porodici je kuća hram, pa se i kod kuće mogu isto tako moliti kao i u Sinagogi.

Godine 1941. Albert Semnic je među prvima bio utrpan u kamion, kojim su Nedićeve vlasti kupile beogradske Jevreje za logor. Albert je uspeo da iskoči iz kamiona i da za kratko vreme ostane na slobodi. Međutim, ubrzo je ponovo uhvaćen i ubijen.

Nije preterano reći da je Zemun grad u kome je ugrađen jedan od kamena temeljaca cionističkom pokretu. U ovom gradu je živeo i delovao pola veka (1825–1874) jedan od značajnih preteča cionističkog pokreta, rabi Jehuda ben Šlomo Haj Alkalaj.

Jehudin otac, Šlomo Haj ben Moše Alkalaj preselio se iz Soluna u Sarajevo, gde se rodio Jehuda 1793. godine. U Zemunu je bio rabin i za sefarde i za aškenaze, jer je tada postojala jedinstvena Jevrejska opština.

Njegov uticaj se širio daleko van granica Austrougarske, jer se njegova delatnost nije ograničavala samo na verski domen. Sarađivao je sa pretečama cionizma Kališerom i Natanekom.

Dela, koja je celog života neumorno pisao, ukazuju na njegovo vizionarstvo i optimistički realizam. Poznavao je dušu svoga naroda i otvoreno je govorio kako o dobrim, tako i o negativnim osobitostima Jevreja.

Jehuda Haj Alkalaj objavio je 53 knjige i publikacije. Prve dve knjige pisao je na ladinu, a ostale na hebrejskom. Nekoliko prvih je štampao u Knjaževskoj štampariji u Beogradu, a ostale u Budimpešti, Beču, Lajpcigu, Londonu, Amsterdamu, pa čak i u Bombaju. Sarađivao je u svim vodećim jevrejskim časopisima svog vremena. Bio je poznat daleko izvan naših zemalja, uglavnom kao ideolog novih strujanja u jevrejstvu. Direktan je preteča cionističke ideje da Jevreji moraju organizovati pokret za obnavljanje svoje domovine u Erec Izraelu. Pisao je o političkom preporodu jevrejstva, koji donosi versku, ekonomsku, moralnu i jezičku obnovu. Zagovarao je povratak hebrejskog kao govornog jezika Jevreja. Glavna dela su prevedena na engleski, i doživela su više izdanja.

Alkalaj je 1864. godine, između ostalog, pisao:

“Naša sveta zemlja biće zemlja slobode; slobodni će biti svi stanovnici, bez obzira na veru i narodnost”.

Znao je da se mir ne postiže lako. Isticao je da su mnogi narodi pokušali da izmene svet i uspostave trajan mir, ali da im to nije uspelo. On je ipak verovao da će baš iz Ciona opet poteći ta ideja.

Predvideo je da će u budućoj državi postojati političke stranke različitih pogleda na svet, i da nije mogućno da svi Jevreji imaju ista shvatanja. Zagovarao je jedinstvo naroda, ali nije živeo u zabludi. Pisao je: “Lakše je pomiriti dve države, nego dva Jevrejina!” Zato se zalagao da prvo zavlada mir i bratstvo među samim Jevrejima i da se više ne određuju kao Aškenazi, Sefardi, Poljaci, Zapadnjaci ili Mađari.

Bio je i osnivač organizacije A.I.U. u Parizu (Alliance Israélite Universelle) koja je doduše bila kratkog veka, ali on nije odustajao od ideja povratka Jevreja u svoju staru postojbinu. Preduzimao je niz propagandnih putovanja po Evropi i izjašnjavao se protiv odlaska Jevreja u Ameriku, zalažući se neprekidno za odlazak u Palestinu. Posle dugogodišnjeg delovanja, koje je dalo veoma male rezultate, hteo je i sopstvenim primerom da pokaže ispravnost svojih ideja, te se preselio u Jerusalim. I odatle je odlazio na propagandna putovanja, pa je jednom prilikom posetio i Zemun.

The Semnitz family settled in Zemun at the end of the nineteenth century.

Herman and Hermina Semnitz came from Almas. They had six sons. Their sons Zigmund – “Ziga” and Ignjac – “Naci” were well known soap manufacturers in Zemun. Albert also lived in Zemun, while two of the brothers went to Zagreb and one to Subotica.

Albert, one of the sons was born in 1877 in Almas. He finished school in Zemun and for a time worked as a bank clerk;  he later became an agent for a big printing house.

Albert married a girl from Zemun, Irma Bilic, daughter to Bernard and Elsa.

They had six children: Greta, Judith, Lea, Richard, Gideon and Danilo.

Greta was born in 1909 in Zemun. She was an active member of the sport’s society “Hakoah” (hazena). When in 1928 the entire family moved to Belgrade, she entered the sport’s club “Jugoslavija” and as an exceptional player of hazena became a member of the national team. She managed to survive the occupation owing to the fact that she lived in a mixed marriage. She changed her name to Mira; her husband’s family name was Popovic. It goes without saying that she lived in constant fear of the quisling authorities. If caught she would have been deported to a concentration camp. From that time she remembers the following event:

Some time near the end of 1941 she went out to buy a few things. She was dressed in a suit and over it she put on a mackintosh. In the street she met Anton Jung, a friend of the family and colleague from work. This “great” friend asked her immediately, “Do you know that you must register?” and even went on to tell her of the building where the mandatory registration of Jews was carried out. Hearing him out Greta replied: “I know, I already have a yellow band!”

Fortunately, there were those who were true humanitarians. Thus, Lea who worked as a secretary in the company “Pokorny” (liqueurs) married Milan Stepanovic in the fall of 1941. The marriage was conducted by a priest in the Vaznesenjska church, although such acts were prohibited and punished by the authorities. Milan took Lea to Donje Crnuce, his native village where she managed to live through the war.

The family of Radovan Djokovic took in Danilo Semnitz and he managed to survive the war under an alias, Danilo Semnitz. He hever forgot his benefactors and in 1985 he brought Radovan to Jerusalem where he was awarded an honorary medal for worthy conduct at a ceremony held in “Yad Vashem”. Danilo immigrated to Israel as early as 1948 with his brother Richard. Richard survived the war in a German POW camp. He died in 1976. Danilo is a pensioner and lives in Jerusalem.

Gideon Semnitz mastered the joinery craft in Zagreb. At the onset of the war he fled from Zagreb. On his way to the Italian occupational zone he changed his mind as he had no knowledge of the fate of his family in Belgrade. He planned to return to Zagreb and head on for Belgrade. He was caught and killed near Nova Gradiska.

Judith was an active Zionist and with enthusiasm prepared herself for the move to the Palestine. Some time round the end of 1940 and at the onset of 1941 she left for the Palestine by way of Turkey and reached the “Sar Hamakim” kibbutz.

While living in Zemun, Albert Semnitz was highly regarded not only by Jews, but by other  citizens as well. He was a genial man and well appreciated in society. He is remembered for his song “A brief stroll through Zemun”, which is cited in the chapter “The Period between the Two World Wars” of this chronicle.

It was more or less a typical Zemun Jewish family in which traditional customs of Judaism were observed. This meant that they celebrated the traditional holidays by going to the synagogue, the children attended Jewish school; at the same time they were not over zealous in their faith. Proof of this is an event recalled by Greta:

Her mother, Irma Semnitz rarely went to the synagogue. Once an acquaintance asked her why she made only occasional visits to the temple, Irma replied:

“My dear, to any honest family its home is its temple. A family can pray inside the sanctuary of its home the same way it would in the Synagogue.”

In 1941 Albert Semnitz was among the first to be hauled into a truck which the Nedic authorities used for rounding up Belgrade Jews destined for concentration camps. Albert was able to jump off the truck and managed to stay free for a short time. However, he was soon caught again and killed.

It would be no exaggeration to say that Zemun was a town where one of the cornerstones of the Zionist movement was laid. One of the leading forerunners of the Zionist movement, rabbi Yehuda Ben Shlomo Hai Alkalai lived and worked in this town for half a century (1825-1874).

Yehuda’s father, Shlomo Hai Ben Moshe Alkalai had moved from Thessalonica to Sarajevo where Yehuda was born in 1793. In Zemun he served as rabbi both for the Sephardim and the Ashkenazi as the Jewish Community was united at the time.

His influence reached beyond the borders of Austria-Hungary since his work was never limited only to religious service. He collaborated with the forerunners of Zionism Kaliser and Natanek.

The works he wrote ceaselessly through his life are a testimony to his insight and positive realism. He was fully aware of the intricate spirit of his people and spoke frankly both of the good and flawed side of the Jewish character.

Yehuda Hai Alkalai published 53 books and notes. He wrote his first two books in Ladin and the others in Hebrew. Some of his first editions were printed at the Prince’s printing house in Belgrade; the rest were printed in Budapest, Vienna, Leipzig, London, Amsterdam, and some even in Bombay. He collaborated with all major contemporary Jewish magazines. He was well known far beyond the countries we lived in, as a visionary of the new tendencies of Judaism. He was the actual originator of the Zionist idea that Jews must organize a movement to reinstate their homeland in Erec Israel. He wrote of the political resurrection of Judaism, which would bring a renewal of the faith, economy, morale and language. He petitioned that Hebrew ought to be the language of Jews. His major works were translated to English and have been revised and reprinted a number of times.

In 1864 Alkalai wrote among other things:

“Our holy country shall be a land of freedom; all citizens shall be free regardless of their religious beliefs or nationality.”

He was well aware that peace could not be attained easily. He pointed out that many nations had striven to change the world and bring everlasting piece to it, and that their efforts had gone unrewarded. However, he believed that it was destined that Zion would once again herald this idea.

He predicted that in the new state political parties propagating diverse secular tendencies would coexist and that it was impossible to assume that all Jews would harbour identical opinions. He opted for the unison of the people but never had implausible illusions. He wrote: “It is easier to appease two states than to reconcile two Jews!” This was the reason why he made it a point to primarily achieve peace and brotherhood among Jews, and to make them refrain from declaring themselves as Ashkenazi, Sephardim, Poles, Westerners or Hungarians.

He was also the founder of the A.I.U. organization in Paris (Alliance Israelite Universelle) which was actually short lived, although he never gave up on his idea that Jews should return to their old fatherland. He undertook a series of propaganda tours round Europe and declared himself against the departure of Jews to America, always giving preference to a move to the Palestine. After many years of working as an advocate of his concept which gave little result, he decided that he would set an example and prove the value of his ideas; he moved to Jerusalem. However, he continued with his campaigner travels and on one such occasion paid a visit to Zemun.