Glavaski Jelena

Glavaški, Jelena In the early 1930s, Jelena Glavaški (b. 1907) was a kindergarten teacher in Aleksinac, near Niš, in southeast Serbia, where she became friendly with Ana Lebel, whose daughter, Jennie, attended her kindergarten. The relationship between the two women continued even after Glavaški moved to Niš and the Lebel family moved to Belgrade. Following the invasion of Yugoslavia by Germany and its Axis allies in 1941, Jennie’s father, Leon, who was an officer in the reserves of the King’s army, was conscripted. He was soon captured and sent to Germany. Her brother Aleksandar managed to reach Italy, while Jennie and her mother remained in Belgrade. In December 1941, 14-year-old Jennie and her mother were ordered to register at the police office, from where women and children were sent to the Sajmište camp. Jennie decided not to obey the order, gathered a few things and went to the train station. There she mingled with a group of Serbian refugees, and traveled with them to Niś. She recalled that her former kindergarten teacher lived in Niś and headed straight to her. Glavaški received Jennie with open arms and offered her shelter in her room in the attic. Glavaški was an activist in the anti-fascist underground, and after obtaining false identity papers for Jennie as a Serbian refugee from Hungarian-occupied territory, she became involved with the activities of the underground. In February 1943, someone betrayed them, and Glavaški and Jennie were arrested. After interrogations and torture, Jennie was sent to a camp in Germany; Glavaški was executed in January 1944. When Jennie returned from Germany to Belgrade in 1945, she was reunited with her father and brother. Her mother, Ana, had been murdered in a gas van in Sajmište. The city of Niś later honored Jelena Glavaški as a freedom fighter by naming a street after her and devoting a corner to her memory in the local history museum. On September 3, 1987, Yad Vashem recognized Jelena Glavaški as RighteousAmong the Nations.