Jews in the Republic of Macedonia
Encyclopedia
The history of the Jews
in the Republic of Macedonia
stretches back two thousand years.
The history of Jews in the territory of the present-day Republic of Macedonia
began during Roman
antiquity, when Jews first arrived in the region. Today, around 200 Jews reside in the Republic of Macedonia, mostly in the capital, Skopje
and a few in Štip
and Bitola
.
At Stobi, in 165 AD, Tiberius Polycharmus, who is designated “father of the synagogue,” converted his villa into a synagogue containing a prayer hall, a dining hall (triclinium) and a portico, reserving the upper story of the complex for his residence and that of his successors. The information comes from a very impressive and informative inscription, arguably the most important one found to date in a Diaspora synagogue.
The remnants of a Jewish synagogue excavated in Stobi (Macedonia) date back to that period and the conclusion that a developed Jewish Community existed in that locality those days is based on these findings.
times, with the next major influx of Jews to the area coming with the Spanish
and Portuguese
Inquisitions, and Sultan
Bayezid II
of the Ottoman Empire
welcomed Jews who were able to reach his territories. They were granted significant autonomy, with various rights including the right to buy real estate, to build synagogues and to conduct trade throughout the Ottoman Empire
. Wealthy merchant cities in the present-day Republic of Macedonia such as Skopje
, Bitola
and Štip
attracted many Jews. Jews in this area prospered in the fields of trade, banking, medicine, and law, with some even reaching positions of power. The Jewish cemetery in Bitola was established in 1497, soon after the first Sephardic Jews moved to the area. The cemetery is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Macedonia, if not in the Balkans overall.
Relations between the Jews and the local non-Jewish population were generally good. Confirmation of good conditions for Jews in Macedonia and Ottoman Europe in general comes from a fifteenth century letter from the Macedonian Jew, Isaac Jarfati, sent to German and Hungarian Jews advising them of the favorable conditions in the Ottoman Empire, and encouraging them to immigrate to the Balkans. An Italian traveler wrote in 1560 that in Skopje Jews exceeded other populations in number. In the 17th century, there were 3,000 Jews and two synagogues in Skopje
, Beit Aron and Beit Yaacov. In 1680, Nathan of Gaza died and was buried in Skopje
. His burial place was a pilgrimage site after his death, but it would not become a permanent pilgrimage site, since it was destroyed in World War II.
At one point, Bitola
had nine synagogues, Skopje
three and Shtip had two.
Several notable Jewish philosophers are born or lived for a time in Macedonia, including Samuel de Medina, Josef ben Lev, Shlomo Koen, Jaakov tam David Yahia, Ishaak ben Samuel Adrabi, Aharon ben Josef Sason, and Sal- amon.
Piccolomini's burning down of Skopje
in 1688-1689 and a massive fire in Bitola
in 1863 significantly diminished the Jewish population in Macedonia in the two largest Jewish centers.
The Jewish community was almost entirely Sephardic, and most spoke Ladino at home as opposed to Hebrew. 1895 the Alliance Israelite Universelle established a school in Bitola. More than 30% of Macedonian Jews spoke French at this time.
Jews also took part in the liberation movement against Ottoman rule. A great number of Macedonian Jews participated in the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising
. One of the most notable participants was Rafael Moshe Kamhi who led one of the rebel groups. It was him who took part in the early activities of the movement under the nickname Skandereg (Skender-beg). He headed a unit in Debar during the uprising of 1903. Mentes Kolomonos, Santo Aroesti, the Muson brothers and Avram Nisan are other known participants in the uprising who collected weapons and provided rebels with money.,
, the Jewish community of Vardar Macedonia
(the area roughly corresponding to the borders of the present-day republic) was centered on Bitola
(approximately 8,000 Jews), Skopje
(approximately 3,000 Jews) and Štip
(approximately 500 Jews). The Jewish communities during WWI in smaller areas, like Dojran and Strumica, that were close to the front line, were significantly affected by the fighting and fled the area. The partition of Macedonia also adversely impacted the Jews in the smaller centers since it deprived them of free flow for most of their merchant activities to the largest Jewish trading center in the Balkans, Salonica.
In March 1941 Bulgaria became an ally of the Axis Powers and in April 1941 the Bulgaria
n army entered Vardar Macedonia, in a strive to recover the region, which it saw as a natural part of its own national homeland. Ever since its independence movement began in late XIX century, Macedonia had been trying to get free from Turkish (and later Serb) rule, either as an independent state or as part of Bulgaria proper.
Although Bulgaria had effectively occupied the region, German authorities, who were in charge, recognised only the Bulgarian military administration and not the civil one. The Bulgarian occupational zone included neither Thessaloniki, with its over 55,000 Jews, neither the Western-most part of Macedonia, including the towns of Debar, Struga, and Tetovo, which were part of Italian-occupied Albania.
On October 4, 1941, the Bulgarian authorities enacted a law prohibiting Jews from engaging in any form of commerce, and forcing them to sell their businesses to non-Jews. However, such laws were not a novelty for the region since the Kingdom of Yugoslavia had had its own anti-Semitic law enacted as early as 1939. The Bulgarians then ghetto
ized the Jews of Bitola, forcing them to move from the Jewish areas of the town, which were relatively affluent, to poorer areas of the town.
Bulgarian authorities had already adopted an antisemitic law called "Law on Protection of the Nation" back in January 1941. Over the course of 1942, they enacted increasingly harsh measures against the Jews under their control in Vardar Macedonia, as well as in occupied northern Greece
, culminating in 1943 with the deportation of Macedonian and Greek Jewry to the extermination camp Treblinka set up by the Nazi
s in Poland
.
Many Jews joined the partisan liberation movement in Yugoslavia. In Macedonia, Haim Estreya Ovadya, a Jewish woman from Bitola
, was among the first women to join the partisan movement in 1941.
The day before the deportations, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Macedonia gave the Jewish community advance warning of the deportation. Shelters were organized, as well as connections to the partisan units, but unfortunately, few Jews took believed that a program for their destruction was underway and chose to stay together in the ghettos instead. In the early morning of Thursday, March 11, 1943 Bulgarians monitored by SS, rounded up the entire Jewish population of Skopje, Bitola and Štip The population was sent to temporary detention center in the state tobacco warehouse known as "Monopol" in Skopje. Among 7,215 people who were detained in warehouses there were:
Although Bulgaria defended Jews with Bulgarian citizenship from Nazi deportation orders, it nevertheless transported non-Bulgarian Jews to their deaths. The Jewish communities of Bulgarian-controlled Yugoslavia and Greece were almost completely wiped out. There was much harsh treatment before being transported in cattle-cars to Treblinka. A few dozen Bitola Jews managed to avoid deportation, and four escaped from the transit camp; none of the 3,276 Jews of Bitola deported to Treblinka survived. In 2003, one Jew remained in the city that had been home to a Sephardic community for more than 400 years. Štip's ancient Jewish community was also completely destroyed.
After liberation of Vardar Macedonia in 1944, total number of surviving Jews, according to Society of Jewish Communities in Yugoslavia, was 419. Some sources state that the remnants of the Jewish community re-gathered in Belgrade
, Serbia
and only about 140 had survived. Most had survived by going into hiding or fighting with the Yugoslav
, Jewish
partisans. Of those transported to the death camps, nobody survived. Most survivors chose to immigrate to Israel
, with some returning to Macedonia, and others remaining in Serbia. As a result of this the number of Jews living in Macedonia drop down to 81 in 1952.
The community recently (2003) opened a synagogue
, and has a community center in Skopje. The community also maintains ties with Jewish communities in Belgrade and Thessaloniki, while a rabbi
travels to Skopje from Belgrade to aid in the conducting of services. The community also recently sent, for the first time, a representative to the annual bible quiz in Israel celebrated every year on Israel's independence day.
of the Jewish Community in Serbia
Isak Asiel, who was also Rabbi of Macedonia.
Rabbi Avi M. Kozma, born in Macedonia, is a graduated student at the Law Faculty in Skopje, Macedonia.
He studied rabbinical studies with his first teacher, mentor and Rabbi, Rabbi Isak Asiel from (2000 - 2007), and after that he enrolled at the world famous Yeshiva - Rabbinical College Beth midrash Sepharadi
in Jerusalem, Israel
, led by the world famous rabbinical figure, Rabbi Shlomo Kassin, where Kozma is still studying. Kozma was inaugurated on 5 May 2008 at the Macedonian Synagogue "Beth Yaakov".
The First Balkan Rabbinical Conference was also held there, organized by the Jewish Community in Macedonia "Yeshiva Bet Midrash Sepharadi - Rabbi Shlomo Kassin, World Zionist Organization - Department for Religious Affairs in Diaspora - Jerusalem - Israel", led by Rabbi Yechiel Wasserman and by the Government of the Republic of Macedonia (a commission for relations with religious communities and groups).
For this event, about 25 rabbis from all over the world participated including the Chief Rabbis of Moscow, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Strasbourg, Paris, Yeshiva Bet Midrash Sepharadi - Rabbi Ezra Kassin and other rabbis from yeshiva
s who are serving all around the world.
The president of the European Jewish Congress
- Mr. Moshe Kantor also participated, as well as a Representative of the JDC, World Jewish Congress
, European Jewish Fund
and many others. The Conference was hosted, in part, by Gligor Tashkovich, Minister of Foreign Investment of the Republic of Macedonia and he also gave a luncheon address.
This project to train Kozma, to serve in a community where the institution of rabbi didn't exist for 60 years, was supported by the Jewish community in Macedonia, Yeshiva - Rabbinical College Bet Midrash Sepharadi in Jerusalem - Israel and the World Zionist Organization - Department for Religious Affairs in Diaspora - Jerusalem - Israel.
: Еврејско маало), in the center of the Macedonian capital Skopje. Macedonia's Jewish community benefited from a 2002 law providing for the return of heirless Jewish property to the Jewish community, a law that is widely recognized as one of the best in Europe. Macedonia
was widely hailed for enabling the Jews to regain their heirloom that was lost in the Holocaust. The museum opened in March 2011, with transferring the urns containing the ashes of Macedonian Jews executed in Treblinka from the Museum of the City of Skopje
to the Holocaust Museum. The museum was the first one to be opened in a museum complex that includes the Archeological Museum of Macedonia and the Museum of Macedonian Independence
. Major landmarks and tourist attractions, such as the Stone Bridge
, Skopje Fortress
and the Old Turkish Bazaar are located around the museum.
Macedonian President Dr. Gjorge Ivanov recalled the long history of co-habitation between Jews and Macedonians and said that with the loss of the Jews "a part of Macedonia had been torn out and that on the Jewish streets of Skopje
, Bitola
and Štip
, after the war there was silence." Representatives of the Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim communities joined their Jewish countrymen in the inauguration of the museum. The museum details the history of the Macedonia's Jewish community since ancient times.
World Jewish Congress (WJC) Research Director Laurence Weinbaum pointed out that no Jewish community in Europe had suffered a greater degree of destruction than the Macedonian one.
Jews
The Jews , also known as the Jewish people, are a nation and ethnoreligious group originating in the Israelites or Hebrews of the Ancient Near East. The Jewish ethnicity, nationality, and religion are strongly interrelated, as Judaism is the traditional faith of the Jewish nation...
in the Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
stretches back two thousand years.
The history of Jews in the territory of the present-day Republic of Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
began during Roman
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire was the post-Republican period of the ancient Roman civilization, characterised by an autocratic form of government and large territorial holdings in Europe and around the Mediterranean....
antiquity, when Jews first arrived in the region. Today, around 200 Jews reside in the Republic of Macedonia, mostly in the capital, Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
and a few in Štip
Štip
Štip is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of the Republic of Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities. As of the 2002 census, the Štip municipality alone had a population of about 47,796...
and Bitola
Bitola
Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia. The city is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba and Nidže mountains, 14 km north of the...
.
Ancient Roman times
The first Jews arrived in the area now known as Republic of Macedonia during Roman times, when Jews fled persecution in other Roman territories, with some settling in Macedonia. The presence of Jews in Macedonia is proved by Agrippa's letter to CaligulaAt Stobi, in 165 AD, Tiberius Polycharmus, who is designated “father of the synagogue,” converted his villa into a synagogue containing a prayer hall, a dining hall (triclinium) and a portico, reserving the upper story of the complex for his residence and that of his successors. The information comes from a very impressive and informative inscription, arguably the most important one found to date in a Diaspora synagogue.
The remnants of a Jewish synagogue excavated in Stobi (Macedonia) date back to that period and the conclusion that a developed Jewish Community existed in that locality those days is based on these findings.
Medieval times
The Jewish community persisted in Macedonia after Roman rule. The First Crusade devastated the Jewish population in Pelagonia and Skopje. However, the Jews in Macedonia continued to have prominent members of their communities. For instance, Leon Mung, the Philosopher, converted to Christianity and succeeded Theophilactus of Ohrid as the archbishop of Ohrid from 1108-1120. A leading Jewish scholar, Judah Leon Mosconi, born in Ohrid in 1328, wrote commentaries stating that incorrect interpretations of scripture often resulted from neglect of grammar. He later became the physician of the king of Majorca, where he assembled a vast library that was used by scholars for centuries to come. The first known synagogue in Skopje, Beth Aharon, was built in 1366.Ottoman Rule and Sephardic migrations
The area's Jewish community remained small well into OttomanOttoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
times, with the next major influx of Jews to the area coming with the Spanish
Spanish Inquisition
The Tribunal of the Holy Office of the Inquisition , commonly known as the Spanish Inquisition , was a tribunal established in 1480 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdoms, and to replace the Medieval...
and Portuguese
Portuguese Inquisition
The Portuguese Inquisition was formally established in Portugal in 1536 at the request of the King of Portugal, João III. Manuel I had asked for the installation of the Inquisition in 1515 to fulfill the commitment of marriage with Maria of Aragon, but it was only after his death that the Pope...
Inquisitions, and Sultan
Sultan
Sultan is a title with several historical meanings. Originally, it was an Arabic language abstract noun meaning "strength", "authority", "rulership", and "dictatorship", derived from the masdar سلطة , meaning "authority" or "power". Later, it came to be used as the title of certain rulers who...
Bayezid II
Bayezid II
Bayezid II or Sultân Bayezid-î Velî was the oldest son and successor of Mehmed II, ruling as Sultan of the Ottoman Empire from 1481 to 1512...
of the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
welcomed Jews who were able to reach his territories. They were granted significant autonomy, with various rights including the right to buy real estate, to build synagogues and to conduct trade throughout the Ottoman Empire
Ottoman Empire
The Ottoman EmpireIt was usually referred to as the "Ottoman Empire", the "Turkish Empire", the "Ottoman Caliphate" or more commonly "Turkey" by its contemporaries...
. Wealthy merchant cities in the present-day Republic of Macedonia such as Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
, Bitola
Bitola
Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia. The city is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba and Nidže mountains, 14 km north of the...
and Štip
Štip
Štip is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of the Republic of Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities. As of the 2002 census, the Štip municipality alone had a population of about 47,796...
attracted many Jews. Jews in this area prospered in the fields of trade, banking, medicine, and law, with some even reaching positions of power. The Jewish cemetery in Bitola was established in 1497, soon after the first Sephardic Jews moved to the area. The cemetery is the oldest Jewish cemetery in Macedonia, if not in the Balkans overall.
Relations between the Jews and the local non-Jewish population were generally good. Confirmation of good conditions for Jews in Macedonia and Ottoman Europe in general comes from a fifteenth century letter from the Macedonian Jew, Isaac Jarfati, sent to German and Hungarian Jews advising them of the favorable conditions in the Ottoman Empire, and encouraging them to immigrate to the Balkans. An Italian traveler wrote in 1560 that in Skopje Jews exceeded other populations in number. In the 17th century, there were 3,000 Jews and two synagogues in Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
, Beit Aron and Beit Yaacov. In 1680, Nathan of Gaza died and was buried in Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
. His burial place was a pilgrimage site after his death, but it would not become a permanent pilgrimage site, since it was destroyed in World War II.
At one point, Bitola
Bitola
Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia. The city is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba and Nidže mountains, 14 km north of the...
had nine synagogues, Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
three and Shtip had two.
Several notable Jewish philosophers are born or lived for a time in Macedonia, including Samuel de Medina, Josef ben Lev, Shlomo Koen, Jaakov tam David Yahia, Ishaak ben Samuel Adrabi, Aharon ben Josef Sason, and Sal- amon.
Piccolomini's burning down of Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
in 1688-1689 and a massive fire in Bitola
Bitola
Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia. The city is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba and Nidže mountains, 14 km north of the...
in 1863 significantly diminished the Jewish population in Macedonia in the two largest Jewish centers.
The Jewish community was almost entirely Sephardic, and most spoke Ladino at home as opposed to Hebrew. 1895 the Alliance Israelite Universelle established a school in Bitola. More than 30% of Macedonian Jews spoke French at this time.
Jews also took part in the liberation movement against Ottoman rule. A great number of Macedonian Jews participated in the Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising
Ilinden-Preobrazhenie Uprising
The Ilinden–Preobrazhenie Uprising or simply the Ilinden Uprising of August 1903 |Macedonia]] affected most of the central and southwestern parts of the Monastir Vilayet receiving the support mainly of the local Bulgarian peasants and to some extent of the Aromanian population of the region...
. One of the most notable participants was Rafael Moshe Kamhi who led one of the rebel groups. It was him who took part in the early activities of the movement under the nickname Skandereg (Skender-beg). He headed a unit in Debar during the uprising of 1903. Mentes Kolomonos, Santo Aroesti, the Muson brothers and Avram Nisan are other known participants in the uprising who collected weapons and provided rebels with money.,
Distribution
Prior to World War IIWorld War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, the Jewish community of Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia
Vardar Macedonia is an area in the north of the Macedonia . The borders of the area are those of the Republic of Macedonia. It covers an area of...
(the area roughly corresponding to the borders of the present-day republic) was centered on Bitola
Bitola
Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia. The city is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba and Nidže mountains, 14 km north of the...
(approximately 8,000 Jews), Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
(approximately 3,000 Jews) and Štip
Stip
Stip can refer to:*Štip, the largest town in the eastern part of the Republic of Macedonia* STIP Statewide Transportation Improvement Program, a 4 year transportation planning document required by the Federal Highway Administration...
(approximately 500 Jews). The Jewish communities during WWI in smaller areas, like Dojran and Strumica, that were close to the front line, were significantly affected by the fighting and fled the area. The partition of Macedonia also adversely impacted the Jews in the smaller centers since it deprived them of free flow for most of their merchant activities to the largest Jewish trading center in the Balkans, Salonica.
World War II and the Holocaust
Bulgaria
Bulgaria , officially the Republic of Bulgaria , is a parliamentary democracy within a unitary constitutional republic in Southeast Europe. The country borders Romania to the north, Serbia and Macedonia to the west, Greece and Turkey to the south, as well as the Black Sea to the east...
n army entered Vardar Macedonia, in a strive to recover the region, which it saw as a natural part of its own national homeland. Ever since its independence movement began in late XIX century, Macedonia had been trying to get free from Turkish (and later Serb) rule, either as an independent state or as part of Bulgaria proper.
Although Bulgaria had effectively occupied the region, German authorities, who were in charge, recognised only the Bulgarian military administration and not the civil one. The Bulgarian occupational zone included neither Thessaloniki, with its over 55,000 Jews, neither the Western-most part of Macedonia, including the towns of Debar, Struga, and Tetovo, which were part of Italian-occupied Albania.
On October 4, 1941, the Bulgarian authorities enacted a law prohibiting Jews from engaging in any form of commerce, and forcing them to sell their businesses to non-Jews. However, such laws were not a novelty for the region since the Kingdom of Yugoslavia had had its own anti-Semitic law enacted as early as 1939. The Bulgarians then ghetto
Ghetto
A ghetto is a section of a city predominantly occupied by a group who live there, especially because of social, economic, or legal issues.The term was originally used in Venice to describe the area where Jews were compelled to live. The term now refers to an overcrowded urban area often associated...
ized the Jews of Bitola, forcing them to move from the Jewish areas of the town, which were relatively affluent, to poorer areas of the town.
Bulgarian authorities had already adopted an antisemitic law called "Law on Protection of the Nation" back in January 1941. Over the course of 1942, they enacted increasingly harsh measures against the Jews under their control in Vardar Macedonia, as well as in occupied northern Greece
Greece
Greece , officially the Hellenic Republic , and historically Hellas or the Republic of Greece in English, is a country in southeastern Europe....
, culminating in 1943 with the deportation of Macedonian and Greek Jewry to the extermination camp Treblinka set up by the Nazi
Nazi Germany
Nazi Germany , also known as the Third Reich , but officially called German Reich from 1933 to 1943 and Greater German Reich from 26 June 1943 onward, is the name commonly used to refer to the state of Germany from 1933 to 1945, when it was a totalitarian dictatorship ruled by...
s in Poland
Poland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
.
Many Jews joined the partisan liberation movement in Yugoslavia. In Macedonia, Haim Estreya Ovadya, a Jewish woman from Bitola
Bitola
Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia. The city is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba and Nidže mountains, 14 km north of the...
, was among the first women to join the partisan movement in 1941.
The day before the deportations, the Central Committee of the Communist Party of Macedonia gave the Jewish community advance warning of the deportation. Shelters were organized, as well as connections to the partisan units, but unfortunately, few Jews took believed that a program for their destruction was underway and chose to stay together in the ghettos instead. In the early morning of Thursday, March 11, 1943 Bulgarians monitored by SS, rounded up the entire Jewish population of Skopje, Bitola and Štip The population was sent to temporary detention center in the state tobacco warehouse known as "Monopol" in Skopje. Among 7,215 people who were detained in warehouses there were:
- 539 children less that 3 years old,
- 602 children age 3 to 10 years
- 1172 children age 10 to 16 years
- 865 people over 60 years old
- 250 seriously ill persons (tied to the bed)
- 4 pregnant women who have given birth in the detention camp.
- 4 people died at the arrival in the camp.
Although Bulgaria defended Jews with Bulgarian citizenship from Nazi deportation orders, it nevertheless transported non-Bulgarian Jews to their deaths. The Jewish communities of Bulgarian-controlled Yugoslavia and Greece were almost completely wiped out. There was much harsh treatment before being transported in cattle-cars to Treblinka. A few dozen Bitola Jews managed to avoid deportation, and four escaped from the transit camp; none of the 3,276 Jews of Bitola deported to Treblinka survived. In 2003, one Jew remained in the city that had been home to a Sephardic community for more than 400 years. Štip's ancient Jewish community was also completely destroyed.
After liberation of Vardar Macedonia in 1944, total number of surviving Jews, according to Society of Jewish Communities in Yugoslavia, was 419. Some sources state that the remnants of the Jewish community re-gathered in Belgrade
Belgrade
Belgrade is the capital and largest city of Serbia. It is located at the confluence of the Sava and Danube rivers, where the Pannonian Plain meets the Balkans. According to official results of Census 2011, the city has a population of 1,639,121. It is one of the 15 largest cities in Europe...
, Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
and only about 140 had survived. Most had survived by going into hiding or fighting with the Yugoslav
Partisans (Yugoslavia)
The Yugoslav Partisans, or simply the Partisans were a Communist-led World War II anti-fascist resistance movement in Yugoslavia...
, Jewish
Jewish partisans
Jewish partisans were fighters in irregular military groups participating in the Jewish resistance movement against Nazi Germany and its collaborators during World War II....
partisans. Of those transported to the death camps, nobody survived. Most survivors chose to immigrate to Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, with some returning to Macedonia, and others remaining in Serbia. As a result of this the number of Jews living in Macedonia drop down to 81 in 1952.
The present
Presently, the Jewish community of the Republic of Macedonia numbers some 200 people. Almost all live in Skopje, with one family in Štip and a single Jew remaining in Bitola.The community recently (2003) opened a synagogue
Synagogue
A synagogue is a Jewish house of prayer. This use of the Greek term synagogue originates in the Septuagint where it sometimes translates the Hebrew word for assembly, kahal...
, and has a community center in Skopje. The community also maintains ties with Jewish communities in Belgrade and Thessaloniki, while a rabbi
Rabbi
In Judaism, a rabbi is a teacher of Torah. This title derives from the Hebrew word רבי , meaning "My Master" , which is the way a student would address a master of Torah...
travels to Skopje from Belgrade to aid in the conducting of services. The community also recently sent, for the first time, a representative to the annual bible quiz in Israel celebrated every year on Israel's independence day.
Religious revival
The Macedonian Jewish Community after a long period of 60 years, has a new native Rabbi born in Macedonia, Avi M. Kozma (27 years old), a student of the Chief RabbiChief Rabbi
Chief Rabbi is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities...
of the Jewish Community in Serbia
Serbia
Serbia , officially the Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country located at the crossroads of Central and Southeast Europe, covering the southern part of the Carpathian basin and the central part of the Balkans...
Isak Asiel, who was also Rabbi of Macedonia.
Rabbi Avi M. Kozma, born in Macedonia, is a graduated student at the Law Faculty in Skopje, Macedonia.
He studied rabbinical studies with his first teacher, mentor and Rabbi, Rabbi Isak Asiel from (2000 - 2007), and after that he enrolled at the world famous Yeshiva - Rabbinical College Beth midrash Sepharadi
Beth midrash
Beth Midrash refers to a study hall, whether in a synagogue, yeshiva, kollel, or other building. It is distinct from a synagogue, although many synagogues are also used as batei midrash and vice versa....
in Jerusalem, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, led by the world famous rabbinical figure, Rabbi Shlomo Kassin, where Kozma is still studying. Kozma was inaugurated on 5 May 2008 at the Macedonian Synagogue "Beth Yaakov".
The First Balkan Rabbinical Conference was also held there, organized by the Jewish Community in Macedonia "Yeshiva Bet Midrash Sepharadi - Rabbi Shlomo Kassin, World Zionist Organization - Department for Religious Affairs in Diaspora - Jerusalem - Israel", led by Rabbi Yechiel Wasserman and by the Government of the Republic of Macedonia (a commission for relations with religious communities and groups).
For this event, about 25 rabbis from all over the world participated including the Chief Rabbis of Moscow, Croatia, Serbia, Romania, Strasbourg, Paris, Yeshiva Bet Midrash Sepharadi - Rabbi Ezra Kassin and other rabbis from yeshiva
Yeshiva
Yeshiva is a Jewish educational institution that focuses on the study of traditional religious texts, primarily the Talmud and Torah study. Study is usually done through daily shiurim and in study pairs called chavrutas...
s who are serving all around the world.
The president of the European Jewish Congress
European Jewish Congress
The European Jewish Congress, , was founded in 1986. It is based in Paris, with offices in Brussels, Strasbourg, Berlin and Budapest...
- Mr. Moshe Kantor also participated, as well as a Representative of the JDC, World Jewish Congress
World Jewish Congress
The World Jewish Congress was founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in August 1936 as an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations...
, European Jewish Fund
European Jewish Fund
The European Jewish Fund is an international non-governmental organisation that coordinates and supports programmes and events aimed at improving interreligious and interethnic relations, reinforcing Jewish national identity, counteracting assimilation, promoting tolerance and reconciliation in...
and many others. The Conference was hosted, in part, by Gligor Tashkovich, Minister of Foreign Investment of the Republic of Macedonia and he also gave a luncheon address.
This project to train Kozma, to serve in a community where the institution of rabbi didn't exist for 60 years, was supported by the Jewish community in Macedonia, Yeshiva - Rabbinical College Bet Midrash Sepharadi in Jerusalem - Israel and the World Zionist Organization - Department for Religious Affairs in Diaspora - Jerusalem - Israel.
The Holocaust Museum in Skopje
A new museum dedicated to the memory of Macedonia's Jews who perished in the Holocaust during the Bulgarian occupation was inaugurated in the presence of the country's President and representatives of Macedonia's religious communities and international Jewish organizations in 2011. The modern building is located in the heart of what was once the city's Jewish quarter (MacedonianMacedonian language
Macedonian is a South Slavic language spoken as a first language by approximately 2–3 million people principally in the region of Macedonia but also in the Macedonian diaspora...
: Еврејско маало), in the center of the Macedonian capital Skopje. Macedonia's Jewish community benefited from a 2002 law providing for the return of heirless Jewish property to the Jewish community, a law that is widely recognized as one of the best in Europe. Macedonia
Republic of Macedonia
Macedonia , officially the Republic of Macedonia , is a country located in the central Balkan peninsula in Southeast Europe. It is one of the successor states of the former Yugoslavia, from which it declared independence in 1991...
was widely hailed for enabling the Jews to regain their heirloom that was lost in the Holocaust. The museum opened in March 2011, with transferring the urns containing the ashes of Macedonian Jews executed in Treblinka from the Museum of the City of Skopje
Museum of the City of Skopje
Museum of the City of Skopje is a cultural institution located in Skopje, Republic of Macedonia. Founded in 1949, it is located in a former railway station that was partly destroyed in the 1963 earthquake. The museum is home to permanent еxhibitions representing the history of Skopje, from the...
to the Holocaust Museum. The museum was the first one to be opened in a museum complex that includes the Archeological Museum of Macedonia and the Museum of Macedonian Independence
Museum of the Macedonian Struggle (Skopje)
The Museum of the Macedonian Struggle is a national museum of the Republic of Macedonia located in the capital city of Skopje. Construction of the museum began June 11th 2008 and it was opened to the public on the 20th anniversary of the declaration of independence on September 8th, 2011...
. Major landmarks and tourist attractions, such as the Stone Bridge
Stone Bridge (Skopje)
The Stone Bridge is a bridge across the Vardar River in Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. The bridge is considered a symbol of Skopje and is the main element of the coat of arms of the city, which in turn is incorporated in the city's flag. The Stone Bridge connects Macedonia...
, Skopje Fortress
Skopje Fortress
The Skopje Fortress , commonly referred to as Kale Fortress, or simply Kale , is a historic fortress located in the old town of Skopje, the capital of the Republic of Macedonia. It is situated on the highest point in the city overlooking the Vardar River...
and the Old Turkish Bazaar are located around the museum.
Macedonian President Dr. Gjorge Ivanov recalled the long history of co-habitation between Jews and Macedonians and said that with the loss of the Jews "a part of Macedonia had been torn out and that on the Jewish streets of Skopje
Skopje
Skopje is the capital and largest city of the Republic of Macedonia with about a third of the total population. It is the country's political, cultural, economic, and academic centre...
, Bitola
Bitola
Bitola is a city in the southwestern part of the Republic of Macedonia. The city is an administrative, cultural, industrial, commercial, and educational centre. It is located in the southern part of the Pelagonia valley, surrounded by the Baba and Nidže mountains, 14 km north of the...
and Štip
Štip
Štip is the largest urban agglomeration in the eastern part of the Republic of Macedonia, serving as the economic, industrial, entertainment and educational focal point for the surrounding municipalities. As of the 2002 census, the Štip municipality alone had a population of about 47,796...
, after the war there was silence." Representatives of the Orthodox, Catholic and Muslim communities joined their Jewish countrymen in the inauguration of the museum. The museum details the history of the Macedonia's Jewish community since ancient times.
World Jewish Congress (WJC) Research Director Laurence Weinbaum pointed out that no Jewish community in Europe had suffered a greater degree of destruction than the Macedonian one.
External links
- Monastir: The Story of a Sephardic Community in Macedonia an online exhibition by Yad VashemYad VashemYad Vashem is Israel's official memorial to the Jewish victims of the Holocaust, established in 1953 through the Yad Vashem Law passed by the Knesset, Israel's parliament....
- A website of the Jewish community in Republic of Macedonia (in Macedonian)
- A comprehensive article about the past, present and future of Jewish life in Macedonia
- The Jews on the Balkans
- Jewish Communities In Macedonia Prior To 1941
- The History of the Jews in Macedonia, from the The Jewish Community in the Republic of Macedonia