Jakic Ana

Jakić, Ana Dr. Josef and Paula (née Waisselberger) Teitelbaum and their son Raul, b.1931, were among the few Jews living in the city of Prizren in the Kosovo and Metohija district of Serbia, near the Albanian border. Among their close friends were Dragutin Jakić, a well-known lawyer in the town and a scion of a Serbian family, and his Croatian wife Ana from the island of Rab on the Adriatic Coast. The Jakić family had two daughters, Biserka, who was a little younger than Raul, and Ivanka, who was one year old when the Germans invaded Yugoslavia on April 6, 1941. On the eve of that invasion, Dragutin Jakić was inducted into the Army and was taken prisoner by the Germans, while his wife remained alone with the two girls. The district in which the two families lived fell under Italian control during the division of the areas of Yugoslavia between Germany and Italy. Dr. Teitelbaum, who was accused by the Italians of subversive political activity, was sent together with Serbian intellectuals to a camp close to the village of Peza near Albania, while his wife Paula and his son Raul were thrown out into the street. In light of the situation, Ana Jakić opened her home to her friends and they stayed with her for two years, under difficult conditions, living on the savings left by Dr. Teitelbaum. In August 1943, Paula Teitelbaum decided to move with her son to Albania in order to be near her husband. A month after their arrival, the Italian army surrendered to the Allies and the Germans entered Albania. On the same day, the camp in which Teitelbaum was incarcerated was liberated by the partisans and the Teitelbaum family joined them while the German army fought against the partisans. When Dr. Teitelbaum fell ill in January 1944, the family decided to return to Prizren which was under German occupation,. Their home had been confiscated and it was again Ana Jakić who took them into her home despite the danger to herself and to her daughters. During that time, the Germanswere still carrying out searches for Jews and partisans. When they came to Ana's home, they captured the Teitelbaums. They were sent together with other Jews to the Bergen Belsen camp. Dr. Teitelbaum died on the day of the Liberation. Mrs. Teitelbaum and her son Raul survived and returned to Prizren. They found all their property and money with the brave Mrs. Jakić and this helped them to begin a new life in Israel. On December 24, 2001, Yad Vashem recognized Ana Jakić as Righteous Among the Nations.