Savino Selo

Savino Selo (Савино Село; Torzsa), formerly Torschau / Torszà / Torša, is a village in Serbia. It is situated in the municipality of Vrbas, in the South Bačka District, Vojvodina province.

History
A settlement named Torsza was first mentioned in 1486. After the Turkish wars had ended by the late 17th century, the Bačka was widely deserted. During the reign of Emperor Josef II it was being repopulated by mostly Rhinehessian families, called Švabo (Danube Swabians) by their Serbian and Slovak neighbours. The village of Torschau (Hungarian Torszà, Serbian Torža) was built in 1784 by these German Protestant settlers, the first of seven newly founded German villages in the Batschka. 20 other German villages were restored and resettled. Over the years the village became ethnically mixed; until 1944 with a mainly German plus Serbian, Slovak and Hungarian population. In 1934 a monument was erected in remembrance of the village's 150 year long history. The Reformed Protestant church has recently been reconstructed and rededicated as Serbian Orthodox.

Savino Selo literally means "Sava's Village", and is today named after the legendary Montenegrin Partisan commander and war hero Sava Kovačević. During the last days of WWII, Torschau's German population fled in front of approaching Red Army units, mainly to Hungary, Austria and Germany. In 1945, colonisation of people from Bosnia and Montenegro (especially Vasojević clan) formed the current ethnic structure of the village.

Ethnic groups today
According to the 2002 census, ethnic groups in the village include:
 * 1,280 (38.20%) Montenegrins
 * 1,211 (36.14%) Serbs
 * 166 (4.95%) Slovaks
 * 161 (4.81%) Hungarians
 * 106 (3.16%) Croats
 * others.

Population after WWII

 * 1961: 5,144
 * 1971: 4,044
 * 1981: 3,749
 * 1991: 3,767