Figure 1.--

Yugoslavia was a country born out of firestorm of World War I. In fact the assasination of the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand by Serbian nationalists in Sarajevo was the spark that ignited the conflagration. Serbia's reward for fighting on the allied side was a nation forv the southern Slavs--Yugoslavia. It cobeled together many natiinal groups uncertain about Serbian domination of the new state. Croatians in particular were wary of Serb control of the state. Other contstiuent parts were Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Slovenia. , and other areas with Bulgarian, German, Italian, and Hungarian minorities. Within this complex states there were a small number of Jews. Their history and traditions varied from region to region. As elsewhere in Europe they played a role in the development of trade, commerce, and culture. Their experience was somewhat different than the Jews of Western Europe because of the Ottoman occupation of the Balkans. Both Sphardic and Ashkenazic Jews were present in Yugoslavia. The Jewish history in Yugoslavia was only a fraction of their long history in the Balkans. Tragically the one experience shared by the Yugoslav Jews was the Holocaust. There wre about some 78,000 Jews living in Yugoslavia at the time of World War II. This included about 4,000 foreign Jews who fled to Yugoslavia from the Germany and German occupied countries. The NAZIs invaded Yugoslavia (April 1941) and occupied the country within days. Germany divided the country among its Axis partners. The Jews in each area except the Italian occupation zone were immediateky targeted by the NAZIs and local authorities. Few Yugoslavs Jews survived.

Yugoslavia

Yugoslavia was a country born out of firestorm of World War I. In fact the assasination of the Austrian Archduke Ferdinand by Serbian nationalists in Sarajevo was the spark that ignited the conflagration. Serbia's reward for fighting on the allied side was a nation forv the southern Slavs--Yugoslavia. It cobeled together many natiinal groups uncertain about Serbian domination of the new state. Croatians in particular were wary of Serb control of the state. Other contstiuent parts were Bosnia, Kosovo, Macedonia, Montenegro, and Slovenia. , and other areas with Bulgarian, German, Italian, and Hungarian minorities. Within this complex states there were a small number of Jews. Their history and traditions varied from region to region. As elsewhere in Europe they played a role in the development of trade, commerce, and culture. Their experience was somewhat different than the Jews of Western Europe because of the Ottoman occupation of the Balkans. Both Sphardic and Ashkenazic Jews were present in Yugoslavia.

Bosnia

Presumably Jews lived in wat is now modern Bsnia during Roman tijes, but we have do details. Sephardic Jews reached Bosnia after their expulsion from Spain (1492) and Portgal (1496). Bosnia at the time was cntrolled by the Ottomans. Under the relatively tolerant Ottoman era, Jews participated in commerce and the trades. They were not full citizens. Like the Christians they had to py a poll tax. There were a range of restrictins placed upon non-Muslims, including restrictions on clothing, riding horses in towns, and carrying weapons. Some sources report rising abti-Semitism (16th century). I do not fully understand this and who was responsible. Jews in small towns moved to Sarajevo. The Jewish population of Bosnia was almost destroyed (1833). Jewish leaders managed to bribe officials. The Ottomans introduced a liberal system of civil rights (1839). Conditions for Jews improved markedly. Austria-Hungary acquired Bosnia from the declining Ottoman Empire (1878). During the Austrian era many Ashkenazi Jews arrived in Bosnia. The Sephardim were largely involved in craft and trade. The Ashkenazim tended to persue the orofessins, medicine, law, and higher education. The evlving Jewish community stroingly encouraged educatin and many Jewish families sent their children to both secondary schools and universities, to a greater degree than the Christian populsation. After World war I, Bosnia was incorporated into Yugoslavia. At the time of World War Ii, there were about 14,000 Jews in Bosnia. Bosnia was a horific killing field during World War II. The NAZI puppet state oif Cratia not only targeted Jews, but also Gypseys and Serbs. They were assisted by SS units largely recruited from the Muslim poulation. About 4,000 Jews survived the war. Following the War, many surviving Jews returned to Bosnia. Ashkenazim and Sephardim formed a united Jewish community-- the Federation of Jewish Communities of Bosnia and Herzegovina (1945).

Croatia

A Small numbers of Jews reached Croatia during the Roman era when the region was part of the Empire. They came as merchants and traders. This first group of Jews are referred to as Romaniot Jews. Much larger numbers of Jews came in the at the end of the 15th century when Spain and Portugal expelled their Jews (1492 and 1496). Croatia at the time had been conquered by the Ottoman Empire. Sultan Bayazid II welcomed the Sephardic refugees. The Ottoman Empire was a multi-ethnic state with a high level of tolerance for constituent national, ethnic, and religious groups, at least as assessed with contemporary standards. The scolarship, skills, craftsmanship, and diplomatic and commercial connections of the Jews proved useful to the Ottomans. Important Jewish communities developed in Split and Dubrovnik. The Ottomans granted the Jews autonomy in developing community institutions. Ashkenazic Jews came with the Tsarist pogroms beginning in the 17th centry. The Ashkenazim established communities in northrn Croatia, at the time under Hungarian administration. There were important Jewish communities in Zagreb and Osijek as well as Novi Sad and Subotica (now part of Serbia). The Croatian Parliament granted Jews full civil rights (19th century). At the time of World War II there were about 23,000 Jes in Croatia. Unlike Serbia, many Criatians greeted the NAZI armies invading Yugoslavia as liberators (April 1941). Few Jews in Croatia survived the Holocaust.

Kosovo

Macedonia

Montenegro

Serbia

Serbia was one of the Balkan kingdoms conquerred by the Ottomans. King Lazar Grebelyanovich was killed at the Battle of Kosovo Polje 1389 when the Serbs suffered a disatrous defeat at the hands of Turkish Sultan Murat I. This ended the Serbian royal line and devestated the Serbian nobility. This ended the existance of Serbia as an independent state. The first of Serbiato be liberated from the Oyyomans was Vojvodina in the northwest which was acquired by te Hapsburggs and administered by the Hungarians. Jews began arrving their in the (16th century). The first group of Jews were the Sephardic refugees from Spain and Portugal. They were followed by Ashkenazic Jews (17th=19th centuries). Emperor Joseph II issued the Tolerance Edict on the eve of the French Revolution (1782). The Jews made an inportant contrubution in eastablishing new industries. One source reports that there were about 40 Jewish communities in Vojvodina (late-19th century). Most of the Vojvodina Jews were Orthodox. Serbian nationalists afer the Napoleonic Wars (1799-1815) began to agitate for indeopendence from the Ottoman Empire. The Sultan grabted Serbia internal independence (1830). As part of the Sultan's charter, Jews were given equal rights. The Serbian Constitution gve full civil rights to Jews (1888). Jews served in the Serbian Army that fought the Central Powers during World War I. Yugoslavia after World War I as built around Serbia. Jews throughout Yugoslavia received full civil rights. Anyti-Semitic incidents in Serbia were rare during the inter-War era. Serbia was at the center f resistance to NAZI encroachments in the Balkans. Riots in Belrade ousted Prince Paul who HItler had forced to join the Axis. Hitler's resonse was a the terror bombing of Belgrade and the invasion of Yugoslavia.

Slovenia

The Holocaust

The Jewish history in Yugoslavia was only a fraction of their long history in the Balkans. Tragically the one experience shared by the Yugoslav Jews was the Holocaust. There wre about some 78,000 Jews living in Yugoslavia at the time of World war II. This included about 4,000 foreign Jews who fled to Yugoslavia from the Germany and German occupied countries. The NAZIs invaded Yugoslavia (April 1941) and occupied the country within days. Germany divided the country among its Axis partners. The Jews in each area except the Italian occupation zone were immediateky targeted by the NAZIs and local authorities. Few Yugoslavs Jews survived. Yugoslavia became one of the most terrible killing fields of the War. The Jews were onlyb one of the targets.

Created: 3:55 AM 7/16/2007
Last updated: 11:54 AM 12/19/2016