Jelena Kon je bila novosadska dobrotvorka i humanitarna radnica.
Poreklon austrijanka, Jelena se u Novi Sad seli posle udaje za novosadskog veletrgovca. Dvadesetih godina, tokom ekonomske krize, Jelena počinje da pomaže ljudima pogođenim siromaštvom, pre svega pružajući pomoć ženama i deci.
Jelena 1925. godine osniva humanitarnu organizaciju – „Kora hleba i Dečije Obdanište“, i u realizaciji ove ideje je podržava celokupna novosadska javnost. Iako je u tom periodu bilo uobičajeno da svaka humanitarna organizacija služi svojoj, određenoj, etničkoj zajednici, Jelenina je bila verski i etnički neutralna, te su u njenom radu učestvovali pripadnici/e svih veroispovesti.
“Kora hleba” je brinula o deci bez roditelja, o siromašnoj deci, da bi vremenom (po uzoru na slične evorpske organizacije) u njegovom sklopu bilo organizovano obdanište, dom za odojčad i medicinsko savetovalište. Zahvaljujući donacijama, „Kora hleba“ dobija svoju zgradu 1933. godine, na čijem ulazu je po Jeleninoj zamisli napravljena figura/spomenik „Majka i dete“. Jelena je neprekidno radila za Dom, organizujući koncerte vrhunskih muzičara, čiji su celokupni prilozi išli štićenicima Doma.
Tokom novosadske racije 1942. koju su sprovele mađarske okupacione snage, Jelena je bila među uhapšenima i bačena u Dunav.
Jelena Kon was a humanitarian from Novi Sad.
She was born in Austria, but moved to Novi Sad when she married a wholesaler. In 1920s, during economic crisis Jelena started helping those who were hit by poverty, in particular women and children.
In 1925 she founded her own humanitarian center called “Crust of Bread and Kindergarten” and this idea was supported by the whole community of Novi Sad. In that period it was common that each ethnic community had its own humanitarian organisation which was helping impoverished members of that certain ethnic group, but Jelena’s organization was different. It was neutral in religious and ethnic sense and members of various religions were involved in its work.
“Crust of Bread” took care of orphans, poor children, and after a while it grew into a kindergarten with a sector for infants and a clinic. Thanks to donations, “Crust of Bread” got its own building in 1933, with a massive figure of a mother holding a child above the entrance, made after Jelena’s idea. Jelena worked for the center non stop, even organising concerts featuring top musicians, and the whole profit from her events was intended for the center itself.
During the WWII and raid in Novi Sad conducted by Hungarian nazi forces in 1942, Jelena was amongst those arrested and thrown into the Danube river.