Josip Familić, better known as Todor Familić, was a well-known Roma musician from Molovin (present-day Serbia), whose entire family was deported and murdered during World War II.
Early Life and Musical Career
Todor Familić was born in 1908 in the village of Molovin, the son of Stevan (1860–1924) and Persa Familić (1865–1922); the sources do not agree on the exact date of his birth.1Most likely he was born on 28 April 1908. Molovin is a rural settlement in the Srem region, near the town of Šid, which lies between the Danube and Sava rivers. At the time of Familić’s birth, the village was part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy; after World War I, it was incorporated into the newly established ‘Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes’ (since 1929 Kingdom of Yugoslavia).
In the early twentieth century, Molovin was a small, ethnically mixed Serbian and Roma village with a population of about 700 inhabitants, according to interwar estimates. The largest Roma family in Molovin was the Familić family. The village was particularly known for its numerous skilled Roma musicians and orchestras. In addition to their professional engagement in music, members of the Roma community were also involved in horse dealing and various forms of manual labour.
As his father was also a musician, Todor Familić began playing the basprim at an early age and joined his father’s orchestra. He also attended a music school in Zagreb. After performing in orchestras across the region, he moved to Belgrade in 1936 to pursue a professional career in music. There, together with his relative Boško Familić (1908–1981), he became a member of the Tamburitza Orchestra of Radio Belgrade, one of the most prominent ensembles dedicated to folk and tamburitza music in the country. Founded in the same year under the direction of Aleksandar Aranicki (1892–1977), the orchestra quickly developed into a highly professionalised ensemble that played a central role in shaping and standardising tamburitza performance practice. Its members were trained musicians, many of whom came from the broader Central European and Vojvodinian tamburitza tradition. Although the ensemble included musicians of diverse backgrounds, the majority were non-Roma (predominantly Serbian), despite the broader importance of Romani musicians in tamburitza practice.
During the late 1930s, Radio Belgrade was one of the most influential mass media institutions in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, playing a crucial role in disseminating music and shaping public taste. Following the German bombing of Belgrade in 1941, the radio’s facilities were severely damaged, after which broadcasting operations were relocated and placed under German control.
Survival in Belgrade
Following the Axis invasion in April 1941, the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was dismantled and its territory partitioned among Germany, Italy, Hungary, and Bulgaria. Serbia, including Belgrade, was placed under direct German military occupation. The region of Srem, including the village of Molovin, extending up to the outskirts of Belgrade along the Sava River, was incorporated into the newly established fascist Independent State of Croatia (ISC) [Nezavisna Država Hrvatska], a puppet state under the Ustaša regime.
In Belgrade, German authorities introduced racist legislation that established racial definitions for Jews and Roma, systematically stripping them of their civil rights. Despite the occupation, Todor Familić continued performing both with the Radio Belgrade Tamburitza Orchestra and in local ensembles in Belgrade. He was not affected by the mass removals of Jewish and Romani men to the concentration camp at Topovske Šupe, which German forces carried out in cooperation with collaborationist Serbian authorities and police. This saved him from being executed at the killing sites in Jabuka and Jajinci near Belgrade. Todor Familić and his wife Ankica ‘Ana’ Familić (1909–1978) survived in Belgrade primarily because his permanent employment ensured that he possessed valid identification documents, which shielded him from arrest.
Ustaša Crimes against Roma in Srem
In the summer of 1942, while Todor Familić was in Belgrade, Croatian Ustaša authorities launched a wave of mass terror in the Srem region. Ustaša Officer Viktor Tomić (1907–1947) was sent to the region as a special commissioner, formally tasked with suppressing Partisan resistance, but in reality conducting a campaign of mass violence against the civilian population.
In 1942, large-scale arrests were carried out by Ustaša militia in Šid and surrounding villages, including Molovin as well as Adaševci, Jamena and Višnjićevo. Roma were arrested in the first wave of terror in the middle of June, followed by Jews in July and Serbs in August 1942.
Molovin, known for its significant Roma inhabitants, was among the first targeted. Ustaša units rounded up all the Roma in Molovin, including women and children, burned their houses, and forced them to march on foot to Šid.
Local oral accounts recount that the Ustaša forced Roma from Molovin to carry their instruments and play music as they were marched through Šid in formation, with violinists at the front, followed by tamburitza players, and women and children at the rear. Musicians reportedly played until reaching the railway station, where they were forced into wagons. While these details cannot be corroborated by historical documentation, their persistence reflects the continued local awareness of the crimes committed against the Roma in their neighbourhood.
The town of Šid, as an important railway hub, served as a central transit point for deportations. From there, the Molovin Roma were transported primarily to Jasenovac concentration camp. Among them was also the Familić family. The youngest member of the family, Dragica Familić (1940–1942), was only two years old. None of those deported returned. The consequences for the Familić family were catastrophic: 97 of its members were recorded among those deported, leaving Todor Familić as one of only three surviving family members. The other survivors were Branko Familić (1893–1978), who managed to escape deportation, and Boško Familić.2Lazić-Gojko, Sremsko krvavo leto 1942, 51.
After World War II
After the liberation, Todor Familić continued his musical career. He became a member of the Janika Balaž Orchestra, one of the most renowned tamburitza ensembles of the post-war period, which gained widespread popularity across Yugoslavia. Performing on the basprim, he contributed to the ensemble’s distinctive sound and remained active as a musician throughout his life. Todor Familić died on 25 July 1978 in Novi Sad, where he is buried.
Memory
On the front wall of the community building in Molovin, two memorial plaques preserve different layers of local wartime memory. The first, installed in 1951, commemorates 21 villagers who were killed as resistance fighters and partisans during World War II. The second plaque, installed in 2008 on the initiative of local residents, bears the names of the Roma inhabitants of Molovin who were murdered by the Ustaša.
Graphic Novel
Todor Familić is portrayed as the central figure in the graphic novel ‚Breaking into a Gallop‘. It was developed as part of the educational ‘Ester’3https://ester.rs. [accessed: 30/04/2026]. graphic novel series by Terraforming, a Serbia-based NGO specialising in Holocaust education and countering antisemitism, antigypsyism, and the distortion of history. The novel combines historical research with interactive storytelling. It is designed as a digital learning resource and includes archival documents, photographs, maps, and investigative tasks for students, alongside elements of Romani culture such as poetry, music, and traditional narratives. The title itself is derived from a poem by the Serbian Roma poet Trifun Dimić (1956–2001). The story opens shortly before Todor Familić’s death, and unfolds in a retrospective structure that traces his life back to the 1930s. Through Todor Familić’s perspective, the novel presents the vibrant Roma communities of Molovin and pre-war Belgrade, while also depicting the persecution and mass violence during World War II.4Stanišić, “Breaking Into a Gallop,“ 53.
