A journey to Irig with Eleonora Molnar&Vlasta

In October, Eleonora from Roberts Creek, Canada, and her mother, Vlasta, embarked on a special heritage tour in Europe to explore their family history. As part of their journey, they visited Novi Sad, Serbia, where some of their living relatives still reside. We had the honor of helping them organize and guide a one-day trip to Irig, a place deeply connected to their ancestors.

Our first stop was the All Saints Roman Catholic Church, which has strong ties to Eleonora’s family history – many of her ancestors were baptized or married there. With the help of Priest Blaž, a long-awaited family reunion became possible. After many years, two distant relatives from the Molnar family finally had the chance to meet.

Stephan Molnar, Eleonora’s relative, warmly welcomed us into his home. As we entered his beautiful and well-kept garden, it was clear how much care and effort he put into maintaining it. During our conversation, we discovered that Eleonora also loves gardening and nature – a wonderful reminder that family traits can live on across generations.

Stephan is a retired tailor who still practices his craft. He proudly showed us his workshop, where many old family photos decorated the walls. Among them, he pointed out the official Molnar family crest, which had been passed down for generations.

He then offered to take us to the houses where their ancestors once lived. Many of these homes still belong to the Molnar family, even after many generations. We were especially lucky when we arrived at the house where Eleonora’s grandfather had lived – the gate was open! Thanks to Stephan’s kindness, we were able to step inside the courtyard and take a look around. Eleonora was deeply moved to see the place where her ancestors had once grown up.

Our journey ended with a visit to the local cemetery, searching for traces of the past. Among the old gravestones, Eleonora finally found what she was looking for – her grandfather’s resting place. This marked the perfect conclusion to a meaningful journey, where not only history came to life, but a family connection was renewed as well.