Children in Villages

and in Towns

Children from prosperous families in holiday attire, Serbia, 1911

n the past, the societies of Southeast

Europe had a significant similarity:
those societies were, to a greater or lesser extent, mainly rural. The largest percentage of the population lived in the villages
and off the land, while the number of people
that lived in towns was considerably lower.
To illustrate that, we can compare the state
of affairs in the far north and the far south
of that part of Europe: at the end of the 19th
century 65.8% of the population in Hungary
lived off the land, while the figure for Greece
at that time was 70%. We shall come to the
same conclusion if we look at the figures for
countries in the far west, where, in the last

decade of the 19th century, 75.5% of the

population in Slovenia and 84.6% of the
population in Croatia lived off the land. We
shall obtain similar figures, albeit with a
slightly greater percentage of rural population, from the far east of the Balkan
Peninsula: Romania 82.4% and Bulgaria
80.9%. There was also a similar percentage of
rural population in the countries forming
the central part of the peninsula. Slightly
less than 90% of the population of Bosnia
and Herzegovina lived off the land at the
end of the 19th century, 90% in Albania, 87%
in Serbia, 85% in Montenegro and 89% in
Macedonia. If we compare those figures, we
9

Shephards, Banat, Yugoslavia, 1950

see that, regardless of the differences in the

percentages of the rural population, at the
end of the 19th century the majority of the
populations of all those countries lived off
the land.
There is another similarity amongst the
majority of countries of Southeast Europe.
Smallholdings of around five hectares predominated in most of them, which meant
that villagers owned the land but were mainly poor, as the yields could not but be meagre. The situation differed somewhat in
Slovenia, Croatia and Hungary, where there
remained a stratum of large landholders,
while in Romania that stratum possessing
over 500 hectares of land accounted for as
high as 38% of the total rural population.
Those large estates were tilled by hired
labourers villagers without land of their
own, which meant those labourers were even
poorer than villagers with smallholdings.
Besides, extensive land tilling predominated
in almost all countries, and mechanization
often comprised only wooden ploughs, as a
result of which yields were even lower and
families even poorer.
The lives of village children were particu-

larly arduous. Even the very beginning of

their lives was difficult because they were
often born in the fields, their mothers having had to work up until the very birth. We
learn that mothers often carried tiny babies
with them into the fields, having no one to
leave them with. Those babies then spent
the entire day out of doors. Children would
already be doing their first chores at the age
of as little as five or six (usually looking after
livestock), while they would already be
undertaking some of the more physically
demanding jobs at the age of around ten. As
many families were left without fathers on
account of the many wars, the male children
would have to be performing the most difficult tasks in their early teens. Besides household chores, cooking and looking after
younger brothers and sisters, little girls
would also start helping in the fields at the
age of around ten. Hard physical labour
exhausted their already weak organisms,
which increased the rate of early mortality
and disease.
Other similarities link the countries of
Southeast Europe. Industrialization started
in most of them in the last decade of the
10

19th century. That led to

a gradual change in the
ratio between the rural
and urban population,
because part of the rural
population sought employment in factories,
which were usually located in towns. Those shifts
were slow, and it was not
until the period after the
First World War that
greater increases could be
noted in the numbers of
people living in towns
(59.2% of the population
were still living in villages An official photograph; Serbia between the two world wars
in Slovenia in the 1930s,
79.9% in Romania, 61.7% in Hungary, 84% in
societies changed slowly and that their
Bosnia and Herzegovina, 85% in Serbia, 83%
shifts were gradual, despite the 20th centuin Dalmatia, 81,96% in Montenegro, 78% in
rys turbulent political history (wars, revoluMacedonia, 57.51% in Greece, 78.6% in
tions, dictatorships, political coups).
Bulgaria). Major changes were not to occur
Smaller towns predominated in the
until after the Second World War. That hapwhole of Southeast Europe in the 19th cenpened in some countries due to the rapid
tury and most of the 20th century, while
development of industry and towns (Greece,
only capital cities entered into the category
Turkey), while in other countries, where
of large towns. (...) As industrialization was
socialist orders were set up, the change
only in the development phase in all counoccurred suddenly and violently on account
tries right up to the second half of the 20th
of the accelerated construction of large-scale
century, most town dwellers dealt in arts
industrial complexes. As a result of those
and crafts and trade. It is interesting to note
developments, in the course of the second
that figures show a similarity amongst the
half of the 20th century the percentage of
different countries in this case too. For
rural population fell to below 50% of the
example, at the end of the 19th century,
total population. These figures show that
almost 10% of the population of Croatia was
11

Lunchtime in a village. Large families were characteristic of the entire Balkan region

involved in the arts and crafts and early

industry, slightly less than 12% in Greece,
13% in Hungary and 5% in Serbia.
Merchants accounted for a significant percentage of the urban population in most
countries, with the stipulation that trade
was far more highly developed in Greece
than in the interior of the Balkan Peninsula
(as many as 11% of the population were dealing in trade and transport activities at the
beginning of the 20th century in that country). In addition to those professions, town
dwellers were members of the free professions (intellectuals, doctors, lawyers...); they
formed the workforce for the state administration, service activities and professions
requiring particularly high skills (engineers,
architects...).
Town life was somewhat easier for children than life in the villages. Living in houses and apartments built of solid materials,
they had better and healthier living conditions (see the chapter entitled Children and

Health), while the far greater number of

schools made education accessible to more
children. Despite that, there were children
that started to work at a very early age in the
towns too (see the chapter entitled Children
and Work), most often in family companies,
and usually as craft apprentices or merchants assistants. The conditions in which
they often worked over 10 hours a day were
bad, and it was not until the beginning of
the 20th century that most countries started to regulate child labour by law and make
it less arduous.
Therefore, children in the past, regardless

Questions
What do the people where you live think
about village life and town life?
Are there any texts in your countrys literature that are similar to those in this book?
Compare them. Look for similarities and
differences.

12

of the great differences that existed between

life in villages and towns (which were greater
in the past than they are today), led far harder lives than children do today and were
compelled, as their parents were poor, to
enter the world of adults at a far earlier age.

to time; they would sing songs connected

with the events being discussed. When, for
example, one of the old men finished speaking about Karadjordje and his feats against
the Turks, the women would sing songs in
praise of Karadjordjes valiant military
leader Hajduk Veljko, who defended
Negotin with a handful of Serbs against a
great Turkish army under the command of
Mula-pasha. As the song went, those brave
men were like the greatly outnumbered
Greeks in the battle at Thermopylae.
At the end of that year, my mother managed to persuade my father to send me to
the higher school in Panevo. I there met
teachers who made a strong impression on
me, especially on account of their knowl-

D.S.

From Immigrant
to Inventor
True to the old Serbian customs, the people from Idvor held their evening gatherings. As a child, I had been at many of them
in my fathers house. The old folk would sit
around a warm stove on a
bench made of the same
material as the stove
itself, usually of brick,
plastered with mortar
and whitewashed. The
men would smoke and
talk; they looked like senators, the self-appointed
guardians of all the wisdom in Idvor. Young men
would sit at the feet of the
older men; each with a
basket in front of him
into which they shelled
yellow grains of corn
from big cobs. This
would carry on all
evening.
The
older
women would sit on
benches along the wall;
they would be spinning
wool, f lax or hemp,
sewing or embroidering.
My mothers favourite, I
was allowed to sit by her
and listen to the words of
wisdom and imagination
from the mouths of the
old men, and sometimes
from the mouths of middle aged and young men,
if their elders allowed.
The young women would
take to singing from time Two sisters, Serbia
13

edge of the natural sciences, which had been

quite unknown in Idvor.
I there heard for the first
time of an American
called Franklin, who had
discovered, by flying a
kite in a thunderstorm,
that lightning is the
result of an electrical
discharge that occurs
between clouds, and that
thunder is the result of
the explosive expansion
of air that has suddenly
been heated by the passage of electrical discharge.
When I visited my
home, I took advantage
of the first opportunity
to speak of everything
new I had learnt to my First shoes after the war, Athens, 1945.
father and his friends
that had gathered in
front of our house on a Sunday afternoon.
looked at me severely and asked if I had forAll of a sudden I noticed that my father and
gotten what he had often told me, that
his friends were looking at one another in
thunder was the rattling of St Ilijas carriage
amazement. It was as if their looks were askas it drove through heaven, and did I think
ing What heresy is this impudent young
that the American, Franklin, who flew kites
fellow speaking? And then my father
like some idling boy, knew more about such
matters than the wisest of the men from
Idvor. I had always greatly esteemed my
Recommendation
fathers opinion, but that time I couldnt
help smiling ironically, which annoyed him.
Take your pupils to the local library or
When I noticed the anger in his big brown
photocopy newspaper or magazine articles
eyes I jumped up and fled.
on the subject of everyday urban life in the
past. Ask your pupils to write a short essay
This text is an excerpt from the autobiography of
on the basis of what they have discovered.
Mihailo Pupin, famous Serbian physicist
14

Excerpts from
an Oral History
Interview

came and just took it. One day I went in and

said, 'I want my salary'. They said 'but your
mother has already taken it'. Then the factory started giving it to me and trouble
began at home. The woman started nagging
my father: "Well you're not supporting me".
I am the one working at the factory. I was
buying bread, this and that; lunch was not
served at the factory. I was trying to survive.
And the cocoon factory was so cold..."
(Finally, because her step-mother constantly bothered her Fatma ran away to
Istanbul when she was 12-13 years old,
together with one of her girl friends. There
she started to work for a factory, lent a
house, and lived as a young girl all by herself
in Istanbul until she got married when she
was eighteen.)
"At last some acquaintances gave advice.
Then a friend of mine said, " I'm going to
Istanbul. What are you to do here, will you
struggle with this woman and weary out?
Come on let's go to Istanbul together. There
are many factories in Istanbul, we'll work for
a factory, we'll lend a room, and try to manage until things get better. We ran away. We
just ran away to Istanbul. There was a
policeman's wife. Her husband had died
and she had a son. She was living in a fairly
large house in Hasanpasa Deresi, Besiktas.
May God be pleased with her, she accepted
us. We lent a room in her
house. We started to work
for tobacco factory. My
friend was familiar with
the place. Our days went
by between the factory and
the house... I bought everything that was necessary, a
brazier, tongs, oil, anything that was needed, I
bought them one by one.
And I moved to my own
house. We were sattled,
there was no need for a
step-mother or a father any
more. We needed no
one..We just went on living..."

Fatma Altinsoy was born in St, Adapazari in

1915, before the Turkish Republic was founded.
She was the youngest of a family with four children. Fatma was five years old when her mother
died
"My mother died. Her knees had swollen;
we didn't know why. I was very little.
Women in the neighbourhood said, 'what a
pity, this girl is so unlucky'. Please excuse
me, I always cry when I think of those days."
"I was beside mother up to her last
moment. She said 'you'll suffer a lot but
eventually you'll overcome all the misery'. A
chattering sound came from the front of the
door, she looked up three times, and she was
gone forever. But I really suffered a lot."
(When mother died, the father married
another woman. The stepmother treated the
children maliciously. When she was 12 years
old, Fatma started to work for a cocoon factory in Adapazari to earn her living)
"So, we got used to working. A cocoon
factory was established in Adapazari; I started working there on a weekly salary. But I
didn't even see the money. My stepmother

Interior of the counry house after the First World War, drawn by A. Deroko
15

Pieces from the oral interview

conducted by Busak Tug on 12th
May,1999. Turkey

The First Furrow

ness and drudgery. It came so that she

couldnt imagine life any other way! The
children had grown up. Ognjan was already
fifteen. He was attending school, a big boy.
Duanka was thirteen and already helping
her mother with the household chores.
Although Miona rose early to collect one
more sheaf of wheat or to gather what
Jelenko had cut the day before, there would
be lunch awaiting her when she arrived
home. Duanka would take care of that; she
was already an old hand in the kitchen; she
could even bake bread The youngest,
Senadin, was nine. He would still sometimes
make popguns from elder branches, but he
was able to look after the lambs and drive
the sheep to pasture. He was young, but he
did his share. Around St Peters Day, Ognjan
finished fourth grade, and just after
Transfiguration, Senadin started first grade.
Miona was just returning through the
orchard when Duanka came rushing out of
the house carrying something in a bright,

Above the village of Velike Vrbnice, even

further up, just under Mount Vratarna, you
could see, from Latkovike heights, a modest village dwelling, and alongside it two or
three outhouses.
Thats widow Mionas house.
The late Sibin Dami had died in the
second war against the Turks; he had fallen
just beyond Jankova gorge.
His widow, Miona, had been left to bring
up by herself three fatherless children, two
boys and a girl. The eldest, Ognjan, was himself only seven years old.
No greater tragedy can befall a village
household than to lose the head of the family, the father. And such a misfortune had
hit many other households in that region.
The years passed.
Miona became accustomed to the loneli-

Children helping in the fields, Serbia 1910

16

colourful bag.
- Where are you going, Duanka?
- Oh, what are you doing here? - replied
Duanka in confusion. - Well, thats good.
Therell be somebody at home I was just
going to see my brother
- And where is he?
- In the field, behind the cleared land he
told me to take his lunch for him.
- Isnt he coming home for lunch?
- No.
- Why not?
- Why do you ask?
- He went off with the oxen and
ploughshare.
- Oh, my dear, why didnt you say that at
once? Give me that bag. Ill take it to him.

his third furrow!

A strange kind of joy overcame her. She
didnt know whether to laugh or to cry. She
couldnt make her feelings out herself. After
a while, she said to herself: - Well, its time
God brought some joy to me too. And am I
not happy? Who can say that? Im very
happy! After all, I have a son! There is a man
in my house!

Miona stood looking at her son. He was

jumping around like a small rooster, the
ploughshare weaving precariously from side
to side. It was hard work and his hands were
still those of a child. Miona had to stop herself from running to help him, but she did
not dare approach him. She did not know
why herself.
She picked up the bag and set off slowly
for home, turning back to look at Ognjan
many times. She saw him ploughing even

The citizens of Belgrade had entertainment in the town itself. The first cinemas,
for example, were to be found there.
The cinema at Pariz (or Takovo) on
Terazije Street was an interesting arrangement. As a hall had been improvised there
out of the previous long, narrow courtyard,
canvas was placed in such a way that it hung
in the middle of the hall, so that people
could see from both sides, and, in order to
make the picture clearer, the canvas was

Milovan Dj. Glii, Serbian writer

And Then an
Aeroplane Flew
Over Belgrade

Imagining the city, Turkish cartoon

17

Belgrade, 1905. Bathing in the river Sava.

sprayed with water. The viewers would sit at

caf tables, eat and drink (only a caf was on
the front side, while dinner was served at the
back). Music was provided by a piano and,
later, by a small orchestra comprising two or
three instruments. Serious music accompanied tragic scenes, and quick and merry
music would be played during the comic
episodes. The films were, of course, silent.
It was a great sensation for the children
when the Belgrade streets were dug up for
sewerage pipes to be laid, which began in
1905. There were deep trenches supported
by wooden scaffolding on several levels, the
labyrinths of which were perfect for playing
cops and robbers, which was one of the

most popular games. There was no football

then. There were gymnastic exercises, especially for Swedish gymnastics. Two societies
competed against one another Soko and
Duan Silni. Cycling was also popular
then. Pera Selakovi was host to a cycling
club on the square below the National
Theatre. That is where the Army Building
(Dom Armije) is located today. A circuit surrounded a piece of flat land, over which
water was poured in cold weather for it to
serve as a skating rink.
Excerpt from the autobiography of Aleksandar Deroko,
Serbian architect

18