Senta is a multi-ethic and multireligious town in now Serbia (former Yugoslavia). The majority is Hungarian (catholic), and there is a large Serbian Orthodox community. The vivid Jewish community was almost completely destroyed during the Holocaust. The turbulent history and present day situation are also reflected in the town’s cemeteries. I first visited the cemeteries in 2009 when visiting friends in town. See post here

This time I only visited the two Hungarian burial sites (the Saint Anna Cemetery and the Town Cemetery). As it was Easter a lot of relatives were there to clean and visit the graves with plenty of daffodils!

Still there were the  striking ‘stand-by’ graves . Because of the most recent war in the area a lot of (young) people fled the country – also because of their Hungarian background didn’t want to get involved in a Serbian war that they felt was not theirs to fight. The older generation that is still there or returned to Senta often feel that they are responsible for taking care of their own funeral. So they prepare their graves – to have them on stand-by for when they die. They get a plot, place stones with their names and birth dates already engraved and meticulously clean it.