Otto Miskolczy ( hr, Oto Miškolci: 23 January 19091978) was a

Croatia , image_flag = Flag of Croatia.svg , image_coat = Coat of arms of Croatia.svg , anthem = "Lijepa naša domovino"("Our Beautiful Homeland") , image_map = , map_caption = , capit ...

n entrepreneur and

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

Partisan Partisan may refer to: Military * Partisan (weapon), a pole weapon * Partisan (military), paramilitary forces engaged behind the front line Films * ''Partisan'' (film), a 2015 Australian film * ''Hell River'', a 1974 Yugoslavian film also know ...

. Miskolczy was born in

Vinkovci Vinkovci () is a city in Slavonia, in the Vukovar-Syrmia County in eastern Croatia. The city's registered population was 28,247 in the 2021 census, the total population of the city was 31,057, making it the largest town of the county. Surrounde ...

on January 23, 1909 to a notable Croatian

Jewish Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

family Miskolczy. His brother was

Eugen Miskolczy Eugen Miskolczy ( hr, Miškolci: 16 January 190718 January 1947) was a Croats, Croatian physician, Yugoslav Partisans, partisan, and major in the Yugoslav People's Army. Miskolczy was born in Vinkovci on 16 January 1907 to a notable Croatian Jew ...

. In Vinkovci he finished public elementary school and Gymnasium in 1927. In 1931 he graduated from the

Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb Faculty of Economics and Business, University of Zagreb ( hr, Ekonomski fakultet Sveučilišta u Zagrebu; Ekonomski fakultet - Zagreb) is a public-owned faculty ( business school) among 31 faculties and 3 art academies that together form one of t ...

. After graduation his father sent him on a one-year specialization in

Trieste Trieste ( , ; sl, Trst ; german: Triest ) is a city and seaport in northeastern Italy. It is the capital city, and largest city, of the autonomous region of Friuli Venezia Giulia, one of two autonomous regions which are not subdivided into provi ...

, hoping that he will lead the family trading company after return. At first Miskolczy worked with his father at the family company, but in 1937 he founded his own company "Oto Miškolci" za trgovinu i proizvodnju zemaljskih proizvoda (''for trade and manufacture of land products''). His mother inherited the family company from his father. During World War II, in order to avoid arrest and deportation, all members of Miskolczy family have escaped to

Croatian Littoral Croatian Littoral ( hr, Hrvatsko primorje) is a historical name for the region of Croatia comprising mostly the coastal areas between traditional Dalmatia to the south, Mountainous Croatia to the north, Istria and the Kvarner Gulf of the Adriat ...

which was then under Fascist Italy. Miskolczy settled in

Crikvenica Crikvenica () is a city in Croatia, located on the Adriatic in the Primorje-Gorski Kotar County. Names The names of the town in various languages include: * la, Ad Turres * it, Cirquenizza * hu, Cirkvenica, Cirkvenicza, Czirkvenicza, Czirkweni ...

. But soon

Fascists Fascism is a far-right, authoritarian, ultra-nationalist political ideology and movement,: "extreme militaristic nationalism, contempt for electoral democracy and political and cultural liberalism, a belief in natural social hierarchy and th ...

yielded under

Nazis Nazism ( ; german: Nazismus), the common name in English for National Socialism (german: Nationalsozialismus, ), is the far-right totalitarian political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Na ...

pressure, and all Jews were interned in camps on the coast and islands. Miskolczy was imprisoned at the concentration camp Kraljevica. In 1943 Italian fascist closed the camp in Kraljevica and moved all prisoners to the

Rab concentration camp The Rab concentration camp ( it, Campo di concentramento per internati civili di Guerra – Arbe; hr, Koncentracijski logor Rab; sl, Koncentracijsko taborišče Rab) was one of several Italian concentration camps. It was established during World ...

. After the

capitulation of Italy The Armistice of Cassibile was an armistice signed on 3 September 1943 and made public on 8 September between the Kingdom of Italy and the Allies during World War II. It was signed by Major General Walter Bedell Smith for the Allies and Brigad ...

and the liberation of the camp, Miskolczy joined the Partisans. There he worked as a stenographer and

stenotypist Shorthand is an abbreviated symbolic writing method that increases speed and brevity of writing as compared to longhand, a more common method of writing a language. The process of writing in shorthand is called stenography, from the Greek ''ste ...

. After the war he worked for the

SR Croatia The Socialist Republic of Croatia ( sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Socijalistička Republika Hrvatska, Социјалистичка Република Хрватска), or SR Croatia, was a constituent republic and federated state of the Social ...

Government in

Split Split(s) or The Split may refer to: Places * Split, Croatia, the largest coastal city in Croatia * Split Island, Canada, an island in the Hudson Bay * Split Island, Falkland Islands * Split Island, Fiji, better known as Hạfliua Arts, enterta ...

, and later at the Ministry of supply in

Zagreb Zagreb ( , , , ) is the capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Croatia#List of cities and towns, largest city of Croatia. It is in the Northern Croatia, northwest of the country, along the Sava river, at the southern slop ...

. He soon retired due to the deteriorated health and returned to Vinkovci, where he married and helped his wife Ela in the newly formed company. As a most Croatian Jews, Miskolczy was deeply disappointed with the

Yugoslavia Yugoslavia (; sh-Latn-Cyrl, separator=" / ", Jugoslavija, Југославија ; sl, Jugoslavija ; mk, Југославија ;; rup, Iugoslavia; hu, Jugoszlávia; rue, label=Pannonian Rusyn, Югославия, translit=Juhoslavija ...

n government and made

Aliyah Aliyah (, ; he, עֲלִיָּה ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel, which is in the modern era chiefly represented by the Israel, State of Israel ...

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

with his wife and mother Berta. He died in Israel in 1978. Josip Šarčević:
Poznati učenici i profesori Vinkovačke gimnazije
': pp. 34, 35: year 2004/2005.

References

Bibliography

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Miskolczy, Otto 1909 births 1978 deaths People from Vinkovci Jews in the Yugoslav Partisans Croatian Jews Jews from Austria-Hungary Croatian Austro-Hungarians Croatian businesspeople Yugoslav Partisans members Croatian people of World War II Stenographers Yugoslav businesspeople