According to the estimates of Hebrew University demographer Sergio DellaPergola’s “World Jewish Population, 2016,” Serbia is home to between 1,400 and 2,800 Jews. Jewish life in Serbia is stable and Judaism is officially recognized by the Serbian government. The Jewish community in Serbia is represented by the Savez Jevrejskih Opština Srbije (Federation of Jewish Communities of Serbia) – the Serbian affiliate of the World Jewish Congress.
Serbia
WJC Affiliate
Savez Jevrejskih Opština Srbije (Federation of Jewish Communities of Serbia)
Telephone: +381 11 262-1837
Fax: +381 11 262-2674
Email: office@savezjos.org
Website: www.savezscg.org/index_EN.html
President: Robert Sabadoš
General Secretery: Danijela Danon
History
Traces of a Jewish presence in Serbia can be traced back thousands of years ago to Roman times. By the 12th century, Jews were quite influential in the region as traders and were generally treated well. Under Ottoman rule, Jewish merchants became influential in trade between the northern and southern portion of the Ottoman Empire and accordingly prospered. Later in the 16th century, Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula during the Inquisition arrived in the region and Jews slowly began to settle in the northern Serbian province of Vojvodina, from which the Ottomans had withdrawn. Austria also ruled over part of the region for two decades in the first half of the 18th century, Jews from various parts of the Austrian Empire began to settle in Vojvodina and establish communities in villages and cities across the region.
During the Serbian struggle for independence against the Ottoman Empire, beginning in 1804, violence spilled into areas where Jewish communities had been established. A large number of Jews moved to Zemun, a muncipality of Belgrade. The Jewish community in Serbia generally supported the revolt, and many supplied Serbian rebels with weapons. In return, Jews in Serbia faced brutal reprisals from the Ottomans. After Serbia obtained its independence in the 1830s, the newly formed Serbian government began persecuting Jews living in the region, barring Jews from certain professions. This was also the case with the country’s monarchy, which supported non-Jewish merchants and also pushed for the implementation of discriminatory measures against Jews.
Anti-Jewish measures continued to prevail throughout the century, and Jews were expelled from provincial towns in 1856. Though a law permitting Jews the freedom to practice professions within their own communities came into effect, strict restrictions on Jews remained. This saw the country’s Jewish population slowly decrease each year. In contrast, Jews living in Vojvodina, which was mostly under the influence of the Autro-Hungarian Empire during this period, experienced stability and the region became an important center of Jewish cultural life. The Treaty of Berlin in 1878 gave Serbian Jews full civil rights, but it was not until 1889 that the Serbian Parliament declared equal rights for all Serbian citizens and officially lifted restrictions on Jews. At the end of the century, Zionism became influential among Serbian Jews and many became devoted to its cause.
In the early portion of the 20th century, many Serbian Jews were decorated for their military service in the various wars fought in the region. Jews fought in the Balkan War from 1912 to 1913 and later fought in World War I. After the war, Serbia became a part of the state of Yugoslavia, and the Jewish community in Serbia was linked to Jews in other parts of the kingdom.
The interwar years saw Jewish life in Serbia maintain a relative sense of stability. Antisemitism generally was not an issue, and Serbian Jews were able to participate equally in Serbian society. However, the aftermath of World War II and the Holocaust saw Serbian Jewry devastated. A majority of Holocaust survivors in Yugoslavia emigrated for Israel following its establishment in 1948, and many Serbian Jews assimilated.
Unlike most other Jewish communities of Eastern Europe, the Jews who remained in Yugoslavia remained in contact with Jews in Israel and Western countries throughout the latter half of the 20th century. In fact, various Jews held important positions in Josip Tito’s adminstration, including Moŝa Pijade, who was a close confidante of Tito and served as the President of the Federal Assembly from 1954 to 1957.
With the disintegration of Yugoslavia in 1991 and the outbreak of the civil war, Yugoslavian Jews were thrown into the middle of the violence. Serbian Jews were cut off from the other Jewish communities in the region and became surrounded by many ethnic and nationalist factions that wanted the support of the Serbian Jews.
Throughout the war, the organized Jewish body in Serbia had various tasks imposed on it, like providing food aid, clothing, medicine, and organizing accommodation for refugees from Bosnia and Herzegovina. During the NATO campaign on Yugoslavia in 1999, the Federation of Jewish Communities of Serbia evacuated around 600 of its members to Hungary from bombed cities, and then to Israel and other countries.
Though many Jews left Serbia and Montenegro (which did not officially gain independence until 2006) during the violence that engulfed the region throughout the 1990s, the Jewish community in Serbia remains stable today and experiences support from the Serbian government, which recognizes Judaism as one of the seven “traditional” religious communities in the country.
The Years of the Holocaust
At the outbreak of World War II, Yugoslavia attempted to maintain a policy of neutrality but were invaded by the Axis powers in 1941. Heightened ethnic and political tensions exploded into murderous violence with the arrival of the Nazis, who almost immediately implemented anti-Semitic policies. Serbian Jews were subjected to forced labor and were deported to the concentration camps of Banjica and Sajmište outside of Belgrade. The Nazis began conducting genocide against Serbian Jewry almost from the outset of occupation, and were aided in the muder of Serbian Jews by the quisling Serbian government of Milan Nedic.
Part of the Vojvodina region was occupied by Hungary, which conducted several raids, most notably in Novi Sad in 1942, where 1,200 Jews were murdered. Other parts of the region were controlled by the German puppet state, the “Independent State of Croatia,” which engaged in a genocide of Serbs under its control. By the end of 1942, Serbia was considered Judenrein. Overall, more than 80 percent of Serbian Jews were murdered in the Holocaust by the Nazis, the Serbian collaborative state, and other collaborators throughout the country and region.
Demography
Hebrew University demographer Sergio DellaPergola estimated the Serbian Jewish population to number between 1,400 and 2,800 people as of 2001. The majority of Serbia Jews live in Belgrade, the capital, and including the Zemun borough of Belgrade. Active Jewish communities can also be found in Novi Sad, Subotica, Zrenjanin, Sombor, and several other cities and towns.
Community Life
The Savez Jevrejskih Opština Srbije (Federation of Jewish Communities of Serbia) represents Serbian Jewry, working to ensure that Jewish life in Serbia is well-maintained and that Serbian Jews have representation in political and national affairs.
Religious and Cultural Life
Jewish religious life in Serbia is active, with synagogues in Belgrade and Subotica. These synagogues are run through the auspices of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Serbia and Rabbi Isak Asiel currently serves as the country’s chief rabbi. The Belgrade synagogue, “Sukat Shalom” is largely Ashkenazi, but follows Sephardic “Nusach” in its Orthodox orientation. The congregation in Subotica follows the Ashkenazi prayer version.
Kosher food is available in Serbia, largely in Belgrade.
Jewish Education
Although there are no Jewish day schools in Serbia, The Federation of Jewish Communities of Serbia offers a number of Jewish educational programs. For example, the Belgrade Jewish community runs a Talmud Torah program that teaches Hebrew and others aspects of Jewish life. In the Novi Sad and Subotica Jewish communities, classes programs of informal Jewish education are availabe to Jewish children of various ages. These communities also offer Hebrew language classes for adults.
youth
Jewish youth groups are particulary active within major Serbian Jewish communities through the Federation, including the Serbian Union of Jewish Students, a cross-communal, peer-led organization, that caters to the interests of Jewish students. It also offers a recreational atmosphere that emphasizes Jewish values and the importance of Zionism, while keeping strong ties with the similar organizations from other parts of the former Yugoslavia.
jewish media
The monthly Jevrejski Pregled covers Jewish news in Serbia and abroad and is circulated both in the country and overseas.
Information for Visitors
Serbia has a number of notable Jewish, including the Subotica Synagogue, which was repopened in March 2018 after extensive renovation returning it to it’s original condition. It is the second largest Ashkenazi synagogue in Europe, just after the Budapest Dohany Synagogue. A Jewish historical museum is located in the building of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Serbia in Belgrade.
Israel
Serbia maintains full diplomatic relations with Israel, and there exists a rapidly increasing volume of trade between the two countries.
Embassy of Israel in Serbia
Bulevar Kneza Aleksandra Kaeadjordjevica 47
11000 Belgrade
Telephone: +381 11 3643500
Fax: +381 11 3643555
Email: info@belgrade.mfa.gov.il
updated
September 2018