It's been exactly two years since David Albahari (1948-2023), one of the most important modern writers in Serbia, writer, translator, member of the editorial boards of professional magazines, and member of the Serbian Academy of Sciences and Arts, passed away.
Albahari’s debut on the literary stage was in 1973 with the collection of stories Family Time. From his earliest works, critics and readers recognized one of the most talented writing voices in Yugoslav literature of the time. There wasn't a book of his that didn't win an award, such as: Description of Death (1982), Pelerina (1993), but most of all, the novel Bait, in which he deals with some of the central themes of his work - family history and the Holocaust, and which was crowned with the prestigious NIN Award for Best Novel of the Year in 1996. Albahari dealt with the family chronicle through the story of his father in the novel Zinc, which was published in 1988.
The theme of the Holocaust appears in many of his works, especially in the novel Goetz and Meyer (1998), which tells the story of two SS non-commissioned officers who operate the "dusegupka" gas van that transports Jewish children, women, and elderly from the Sajmiste concentration camp (Judenlager Semlin) to their deaths. This extraordinary work by David Albahari is a must-read for understanding the Holocaust in Belgrade and Serbia.
Albahari published twenty collections of stories, fifteen novels, and four books of essays. His works have been translated into 21 languages, including Hebrew, thanks to the important contribution of Dina Katan Ben-Zion (Bait, Zinc, Description of Death, Goetz and Meyer, and the Short Book).
Albahari's rich opus, characterized by distinct stylistic innovation, has earned him the status of a cult author in Yugoslav literature.
His literary translations include the works of: Saul Bellow, Vladimir Nabokov, Margaret Atwood, Isaac Bashevis-Singer, and Thomas Pynchon. Albahari has also translated the texts for the plays of: Sam Shepard, Sarah Kane, and Jason Sherman.
"Through the superiority of technique, Albahari brought together the captivating mechanisms of a short story and offered a rather complex topography of a simple human letter," wrote writer and literary critic Zelidrag Nikcevic.
Connecting to Judaism through Albahari's books
Reading Albahari's books required a real effort from the readers, and hence his unique contribution to the acquaintance with the Jewish minority penetrated. Through his books, the general public was first introduced to the reality of the first generation after the Sh'erit ha-Pletah, who grew up without first or second-degree relatives, with literature relating to the Holocaust. Only a literary wizard like Albahari could have succeeded in this.
His broad education, open-mindedness, and keen interest in various philosophies and arts around the world, from Zen Buddhism to rock culture, did not affect his deepening study of Judaism and its mystical and linguistic expression. A beautiful and introspective connection between the roots of the obscure worlds of the Jews expelled from Spain, with intellectual breadth and his enormous literary talent, captivated the readership throughout the former Yugoslavia.
When you add to this Albahari’s personal qualities and virtues - which I was privileged to get to know during our joint service in the Executive Board of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Yugoslavia in the 1980s - patience, calmness, intelligence, and striving for possible agreements, with punctuality, you get a prescription for true worship.
Alongside Danilo Kis, Albahari is registered as a Serbian writer of Jewish origin in the Yugoslav literary pantheon. Despite their small numbers, local Jews contributed a number of prominent names to the world of academia, the arts, and public life of Serbia, even in the last decades of the 20th century.
Just as Albahari preferred to return from Calgary, Canada, where he lived for 18 years, to his hometown of Zemun in 2012, so too, even though he was destined to be buried in the Alley of Distinguished Citizens, with his noble and characteristic modesty, he requested to be buried in Belgrade’s Sephardic Cemetery.
With a time distance of two years, we can conclude that interest in the works and legacy of David Albahari in Serbia has only increased, especially among young people.
Aleksandar Nikolic is Honorary Consul of the Republic of Serbia to the State of Israel.