A Note from the Editors

This is the second volume of Serbian Studies dedicated to the life, experience, and contributions—practical and creative—of the Jewish people in Serbia. Their presence on the Balkan Peninsula dates back to Roman times. While the exact time of their arrival in Serbia is not certain, there is firm evidence of their presence during the Middle Ages. Moreover, a significant increase in Jewish population and settlements occurred in the fifteenth century following their expulsion from Spain and Portugal. The history of both Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews in Serbia is lengthy, and their life within Serbian society, especially during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, is well documented.

The Jewish migrations into Serbia were, in large measure, prompted by the centrality of its geographical location on the Balkan Peninsula with its abundance of waterways, trade routes, established centers of commerce, as well as evidence of rich agricultural productivity. As important, if not more important, is that the decision to settle in Serbia was surely affected by the recognition of a commonality of interests and potential for cooperation in achieving a shared and satisfactory existence with their host nation. Initially, the Jewish contribution to their joint society was through their occupations as tradesmen, storekeepers, and craftsmen—skills essential to any society, but especially to one on the cusp of developing its urban centers. Thus, these two peoples—Jews and Serbs, brought together by periodic migrations—shared in the work and subsequent prosperity of their country. Despite occasional and limited conflicts, the majority of Jews prospered in increasingly numerous and varied professions, including those of merchants, teachers, contractors, lawyers, physicians, architects, artists, musicians, and writers. While the integration into Serbian life and acceptance into certain professions and Serbian society in general varied under different monarchical regimes, Jewish communities continued to expand and flourish, especially in the late nineteenth century and the interwar period of the twentieth century.

As evidenced in both written and visual documentation, to a significant degree and in contrast to experiences elsewhere, the Jewish population was more readily integrated within the Serbian society. This is supported by their ease in adapting to the Serbian language, the frequent Slavicizing of Jewish names, and, even more revealing, the use of Serbian in the Cyrillic script, examples of which appear even on gravestones in Jewish cemeteries. In the context of a generally encouraging political, economic, and societal atmosphere, the Jews in turn contributed substantially to the progress and prosperity of their adopted nation. Living together, they formed professional and personal relationships. Together they experienced both successes and sorrows, subjugation and independence. Sharing common aspirations, they were participants in the modernization of Serbia. The articles and visual images presented in this volume of Serbian Studies document in a small but significant way the shared lives and achievements on the same land by these two ethnic groups. It also documents how after the horrors and devastation of Nazism little remains in Serbia today to testify to the thriving Jewish communities which are now almost totally lost. However, testimony does remain of the enormous legacy of Jewish creativity in the nation’s literary and artistic tradition, the latter is especially evidenced in the still extant public and private, religious and secular architecture of Serbia’s urban centers.

This volume examines the Jewish experience in Serbia through articles focused on history, literary works, literary analysis, individual recollections, art, and architecture. Also included is significant pictorial documentation that provides further insight and thus understanding of the character of Serbia’s Jewish population. As in the previous volume (vol. 27) our aim was to produce a comprehensive examination of the Jewish life and experience in Serbia. However, our interest and engagement in this topic is not new. Dating to the early years of its publication (1984), the journal Serbian Studies has featured literary works by internationally renowned Jewish writers from Serbia as well as scholarly analysis of a broad spectrum of Jewish prose and poetry.

The contributors to this volume echo the breadth and diversity of the topics explored. They are established active professionals in Serbia and the United States. We extend our sincere thanks for their dedication in meeting the...