Uncle Layish
Novi Sad, the ancient capitol of Serbia, is literally as old as history. Human settlement in the territory of the present-day city has been traced as far back as the days of the Biblical Patriarch Abraham. That ancient settlement was located on the right bank of the river Danube. The same river Danube that flows through Vienna, Austria. The Novi Sad region was conquered by Celts about four thousand years after Abraham’s time, and then by the Romans two centuries before they assaulted and destroyed the Holy City of Jerusalem. In the subsequent two millennia it was conquered by a succession of Huns, Byzantines, Ostrogoths, Gepids, Avars, Franks, Bulgarians, and again by Byzantines, then the Ottomans and by the Kingdom of Hungary.
Through those turns of conquerors and conquered the town and its adjacent settlements grew to include the left bank of the Danube as well.
The entire region was rich in primordial forests, lush fields, rivulets and streams, and a wide range of wildlife.
For much of the 18th and 19th centuries (C.E.), Novi Sad was the largest city populated by ethnic Serbs in the world. It was a cultural and political centre of Serbs, who did not have their own national state at the time. Because of its cultural and political influence, Novi Sad became known as the Serbian Athens (Srpska Atina in Serbian). According to 1843 census, Novi Sad had 17,332 inhabitants, of whom 9,675 were Orthodox Christians, 5,724 Catholics, 1,032 Protestants, 727 Jews, and 30 adherents of the Armenian church.
On the 25th of November 1918, the Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci, and other nations of Vojvodina in Novi Sad proclaimed the union of Vojvodina region with the Kingdom of Serbia. Since the 1st of December 1918, Novi Sad was part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes; and in 1929, Novi Sad, whose population now included close to four thousand Jews, became the capital of the Danube Banovina, a province of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
During the World War 1 one of Novi Sad’s Jewish citizens proved himself a warrior par excellence. Layish Nahmijas (Serbian language equivalent of Nahmanides), wearing the traditional garb of Balkan Jews, a turban, a long flowing robe and cloak, won a medal of honor for having beheaded Turkish cavalry and foot soldiers with his sword. Layish was a master on horseback and “a swordsman’s swordsman”. There was also none to equal him in his skill with a rifle either. He was as formidable a warrior on foot as he was on horseback. His skill in hand to hand combat was legendary. For all his accomplishments as a fearsome warrior, when off the battle field he was a farmer, a musician and lively gentle friendly man who warmed the hearts of all.
But known to a very few, he was also a Torah scholar well versed in the entire spectrum from simplest scripture to very deep esoteric levels of its studies.
Layish, was over two meters tall, strong as an ox, yet could hold an infant or small bird with great gentleness. His five sons and three daughters adored him no less than his wife did. Layish Nahmijas was somehow at once humble, along with a certain regal bearing. Several times some of his gentile friends had stated, “Layish if you weren’t a Jew, you could be king of Serbia.” He laughed good heartedly and told them, “Thank you but I would pass up the honors even if offered. I prefer my own little kingdom of my farm and family.”
When there was a town fair after World War 1 the townspeople asked Layish to demonstrate his prowess. His younger brother Bela Barukh and nephew Moshe Paul, and were present on a visit.
Layish came onto the field standing on the back of a galloping horse, firing his rifle while jumping from that horse to the back of a second galloping steed and hit the bull’s-eye of a target, three targets in a row. Six year old Moshe Paul was open mouthed amazed at his uncle, “WOW! Papa did you see that?”
Back at uncle’s farm later that evening while Layish was a playing a two chambered warbling flute that he himself had made, his young nephew asked, “Uncle Layish how come you are here and we in Austria? Where did our family come from?”
“Ah little Moshe that’s a good question. Your dear father is 18 years younger than I. Shortly before he was born our father moved from here to Hungary. I preferred staying in the country. Your father grew in the city and sought trade and the city life.
But I will show you something much more interesting and important than that. Maya bring me the old box, please. I will show Moshe the family tree.”
Moments later Moshe was amazed again. This time at seeing parchment scrolls spread out before him. Some were old and written in the Hebrew alphabet he was learning in Talmud Torah. Some others were very old and although wrapped in what was obviously a very special wrap, were a bit brittle and written in an alphabet he did not recognize. “These are also Hebrew but in the ancient alphabet of the first Temple era. These here to our right are in Ladino, they are from the more recent centuries.”
Moshe saw spread before him on the long nut-wood table the family line from King David through to the parents of his father and uncle Layish. Alongside the lineage lines were notes of what cities and countries the people mentioned dwelled in, as well as important events. Many things that the history books did not even mention.
After dinner they walked in the field at the edge of Uncle Layish's farmstead chatting about whatever came to mind. When they were near the trees of the adjoining forest they stopped, smelling the fresh pine breeze, watching owls swoop by over their heads, simply enjoying a summer evening in nature.
Then Layish bent down and whispered into Moshe's ear, "There is a hater of our people sneaking behind us in the trees & he is up to no-good. He imagines I do not sense his presence or intent & that he can stalk me and win. He is in for a surprise.
Seconds later a shape burst forth from the forest, shouting "Die evil Jew!" With his eyes burning with hate he grabbed Layish's long side locks in one hand, pulling him close to his other hand which wielded a long hunting knife. But within less than a second the attacker screamed in pain, releasing Layish's side locks and dropped his knife. A quick glance before he fled showed third degree burns in two adjacent stripes in the palm of the same hand which had grabbed the side locks.
"You see Moshe, these are not only the sign mark of a Jew. They can also be a secret surprise weapon."
"How?"
"Ah my dear nephew, that is a special matter. We will see."
The next day after a brief closed room discussion with his brother Bela Barukh, Layish called Moshe. “Come to the corral behind the barn I will begin to teach you ways to defend yourself and others. This is a method of fighting unknown to the non-Jews. It is ancient, very ancient, and very powerful. Part of it goes back to the days of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob our forefathers. What I will teach you after you master that, is from the times of Yehuda ben Teima and is hinted to in his famous saying of being “Bold as a panther, light as an eagle, fast as a deer, courageous as a lion”. You will be a panther, but you must learn all the forms. In the future you will need it.
"You will learn and use the physical facet of this ancient secret method of combat. The spiritual facet you are not destined to know. However, I will imprint the knowledge in your subconscious, in your soul, and it will thus be transmitted to your future first born son to discover and use for the benefit of our people."
In further visits in the ensuing years Layish taught his nephew the ancient secret combat arts of the forefathers. At times he would send one or the other of his sons, already masters in these arts, to Vienna to keep the lessons and practice continuous. That lasted until 1937 when Uncle Layish along with some of his sons, cousins and nephews answered a call to help partisans in Hungary.
In Novi Sad the various nationalities and religions lived in peaceful harmony with each other.
Until ….
Until…. The invasion and partitioning of the Kingdom of Yugoslavia in 1941, by the Axis powers. Its northern parts, including Novi Sad, were annexed by Hungary. During World War 2, about 5,000 citizens were murdered and many others were transferred for resettlement elsewhere. In the infamous three day raid of Novi Sad late January 1942 alone, Hungarian police slaughtered 2,500 citizens and threw their corpses into the icy waters of the Danube. A third of the death toll was Jews.
Among the survivors who escaped captur were two of Layish’s sons whom he had ordered to stay behind when he led his command into the earlier fray in the Hungarian forests and fields. Those free survivors joined the partisans in the forests. There citizens of all nationalities - Serbs, Hungarians, Slovaks, and others - fought together against the Axis authorities.
Nahman and Yosef, the two remaining sons of Layish however went to Prague to obey the last command their illustrious father had given them. There in Prague they would take part in an encounter between Allied and Axis forces that though very small by the number of fighters involved, was one of World War 2's most important events.
The valiant guerilla warfare of the multinational partisan force was fought through frozen winters and sweltering summers. Sometimes they went for three or four days without food. These valiant warriors of freedom against the Nazi berserkers held up their struggle for three years until the early spring of 1944, when the final crushing blow of the Nazi war machine decimated and demolished them in debacles best not described here.