History of the Jews in the Republic of Macedonia

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.^[1][2]

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.^[3] The presence of Jews in Macedonia is proved by Agrippa's letter to Caligula^[4]

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.^[5][6][7]

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.^[8] 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.^[9] 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.^[10] The first known synagogue in Skopje, Beth Aharon, was built in 1366.^[11]

Ottoman Rule and Sephardic migrations

The area's Jewish community remained small well into Ottoman 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.^[12] 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.^[13] 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.^[14] An Italian traveler wrote in 1560 that in Skopje Jews exceeded other populations in number.^[15] In the 17th century, there were 3,000 Jews and two synagogues in Skopje, Beit Aron and Beit Yaacov.^[16] In 1680, Nathan of Gaza died and was buried in Skopje.^[17] His burial place was a pilgrimage site after his death,^[17] but it would not become a permanent pilgrimage site, since it was destroyed in World War II.^[18]

At one point, Bitola had nine synagogues, Skopje three and Shtip had two.^[19]

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.^[20]

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.^[15]

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.^[15]

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.^[21] 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.,^[22][23]

Distribution

Prior to World War II, 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)^[13] and Štip (approximately 500 Jews).^[24] 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

In March 1941 Bulgaria became an ally of the Axis Powers and^[25] in April 1941 the Bulgarian 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.^[26]

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.^[26] 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.^[27] The Bulgarians then ghettoized 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.^[24]

Bulgarian authorities had already adopted an antisemitic law called "Law on Protection of the Nation" back in January 1941.^[25] 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 Nazis in Poland.^[25][28][29]

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.^[30]

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.^[31] In the early morning of Thursday, March 11, 1943 Bulgarians monitored by SS, rounded up the entire Jewish population of Skopje, Bitola and Štip^[13][32] The population was sent to temporary detention center in the state tobacco warehouse known as "Monopol" in Skopje.^[24][32] Among 7,215 people who were detained in warehouses there were:^[33]

• 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.^[34] 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.^[35] Some sources state that the remnants of the Jewish community re-gathered in Belgrade, Serbia^[36] and only about 140 had survived.^[2] Most had survived by going into hiding or fighting with the Yugoslav, Jewish partisans.^[13] Of those transported to the death camps, nobody survived.^[33] 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.^[35]

The present

Presently, the Jewish community of the Republic of Macedonia numbers some 200 people.^[1] Almost all live in Skopje, with one family in Štip and a single Jew remaining in Bitola.^[2]

The community recently (2003^[2]) 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.^[37] 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.^[38]

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 Rabbi 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 yeshivas 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.

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 (Macedonian: 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.

Notes

References

• Chary, Frederick B. (1972). The Bulgarian Jews and the Final Solution, 1940-1944. University of Pittsburgh Press. 
• Kraabel, A. T. (1994). "The diaspora synagogue: archaeological and epigraphic evidence since Sukenik". In Urman, Dan; Flesher, Paul V. M.. Ancient synagogues: historical analysis and archaeological discovery. New York: Brill. pp. 112–115. 
• Assa, A. (1992). Macedonia and the Jewish people. Skopje: University of Pittsburgh Press. 

External links

• Monastir: The Story of a Sephardic Community in Macedonia an online exhibition by Yad Vashem
• 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