The German refugees who found shelter in Yugoslavia
When it became clear to renowned German actress Tilla Durieux and her husband Ludwig Katzenellenbogen, a businessman of Jewish origin, in midā€‘1934 that their residence permit in Switzerland would not be renewed, the two decided to leave forĀ Zagreb ā€” the capital of Croatia, in what was then the Kingdom of Yugoslavia.
Few Europeans really had a sense of where Zagreb was located, Durieux later noted in her diary. "People thought Zagreb was a suburb of Vienna or of Prague. Yugoslavia was somewhere 'down there,'Ā in a part of the world no one could quite make sense of."Ā Friends of the couple admired their courageous decision, though feared the two might be attacked by robbers on their way.
Fleeing Germany
By that point, the couple had already been on the run from Germany's Nazi regime for ove...