History of the Jews in Slovenia
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The small Jewish community of Slovenia (Slovenian: Judovska skupnost Slovenije) is estimated at 400 to 600 members, with most living in the capital, Ljubljana. The Jewish community was devastated by the Holocaust, and has never fully recovered. Until 2003, Ljubljana was the only European capital city without a Jewish place of worship[1].
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[edit] History of the community
[edit] Ancient community
The Jewish community of Slovenia pre-dates the 6th century Slavic migration to Slovenia[2],[3]. The first Jews arrived in Slovenia in Roman times, with archaeological evidence of Jews found in Maribor and Škocjan. In Škocjan, an engraved menorah dating from the 5th century AD was found in a graveyard.[4]
In the 12th century, Jews arrived in Slovenia fleeing poverty in Italy and central Europe. Even though they were forced to live in ghettos, many Jews prospered. Relations between Jews and Slovenes were generally peaceful. In Maribor, Jews were successful bankers, winegrowers and millers. Several "Jewish Courts" (judovsko sodišče) existed in Styria, though not in Carniola or Carinthia, settling disputes between Jews and Christians. Israel Isserlein, who authored several essays on medieval Jewish life in Slovenia, was the most important rabbi at the time, having lived in Maribor.[5] In 1397, Jewish ghettos in Radgona and Ptuj were set ablaze by a secret society called Ungenannte Judenhauer.[6](The name, translated from German, means "Anonymous Jew-beaters")
The first synagogue in Ljubljana is mentioned in 1213. Issued with a Privilegium, Jews were able to settle an area of Ljubljana located between the castle and the Ljubljanica River; this are is now occupied by the Židovska ulica and Židovska steza streets.
The wealth of the Jews bred resentment among the rulers and nobility of Slovenia, with many refusing to repay Jewish money-lenders. Individual regions began expelling their Jews, with the last Jews expelled in 1718.[7]
[edit] Hapsburg rule
In 1809 Charles VI, Emperor of the Holy Roman Empire (and ruler of Slovenia), issued a decree allowing Jews to return to Slovenia. The decree was overturned in 1817 by Francis II, and even by 1910, only 146 Jews lived in Slovenia.[8]
Rampant anti-Semitism caused the Jewish population to remain small, and in 1919 the Slovenian Jewish community combined with the Jewish community of Zagreb, Croatia, due to too few members to function effectively.[9]
[edit] The Holocaust
The Jewish community, tiny even before World War II and the Holocaust, was further reduced by the Nazis.
[edit] Post-war community
Under Communism in Yugoslavia, the Jewish community numbered fewer than 100 members. The Judovska Občina v Ljubljani (Jewish Community of Ljubljana) was officially reformed following World War II; its first president was Artur Kon, followed by Aleksandar Švarc in 1957. In 1969, it numbered only 84 members and its membership was declining due to emigration and age. Miriam Steiner (Vojak z zlatimi gumbi) and Zlate Medic-Vokač (Marpurgi) were two Jewish writers who wrote in Slovene.[10]
[edit] Today
The Jewish community today is estimated at 400-600 members[11], although there are only 130 members of the Jewish Community of Slovenia. The community is mixed Ashkenazi (European) and Sephardi (Spanish) descent. In 1999, the first ever Chief Rabbi of Slovenia was appointed.
The present chief rabbi for Slovenia, Ariel Haddad, resides in Trieste and is a member of the Lubavitcher Hassidic school.[12]
[edit] Notes and references
- ^ Jewish Virtual Library - Slovenia
- ^ Jews of Yugoslavia 1941-1945 Victims of Genocide and Freedom Fighters, Jasa Romano
- ^ Slovenia
- ^ Excerpts from Jews in Yugoslavia - Part I
- ^ V. Travner, Mariborski ghetto, Kronika 2, 1935, pp. 154-150.
- ^ Enciklopedija Slovenije, 4. Zvezek, 1990, p. 315.
- ^ Jewish Virtual Library - Slovenia
- ^ Jewish Virtual Library - Slovenia
- ^ Jewish Virtual Library - Slovenia
- ^ Enciklopedija Slovenije
- ^ Jewish Community of Slovenia - Demographic Overview
- ^ The Jewish Community of Slovenia
- Jewish Virtual Library - Slovenia, Stephanie Persin
- Jewish Monuments in Slovenia
- Excerpts from Jews in Yugoslavia - Part I
- Demographic Overview, Jewish Community of Slovenia
[edit] External links
- (English) (Slovenian) Jewish Community of Slovenia
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