Jews of Bosnia-Herzegovina
It is believed that Sephardic Jews arrived in Ottoman-ruled Bosnia in the early 16th Century. The earliest indication of Jewish settlement is a gravestone from 1551. A formal community was established in 1565. It is reported that the Jews settled from elsewhere in the Ottoman Empire including Constantinople, Salonika, Skopje, and smaller cities in what today is Macedonia, Bulgaria and Albania.
The Sarajevo Haggadah is believe to have been written in Barcelona around 1350 and taken from Spain during the Expulsion in 1492. It seems to have been in Italy in the 16th Century and was sold to the Sarajevo museum in 1894.
In the 16th Century, 68 heads of family were listed as paying taxes (“harac”) to the Sultan. This may suggest a total Jewish population of around 340-380. Most were reported as being tall and blond, which is not the Sephardic stereotype. By 1690/1691 the Jewish population had grown to 1,500. The Jews were mainly engaged in trade and in handicrafts such as making objects from silk and wool, goldsmiths, watchmakers and herbalists. The Tanzimat reforms starting in 1839 allowed Jewish participation in public life
In 1873 , in Itineraire de l’Orient – Grece et Turquie d’Europe, Emile Isambert wrote that out of a total population of 1.1 million, Bosnia-Herzegovina may have had around 10,000 Jews.
The territory came under Austro-Hungarian administration in 1878, but was not formally annexed until 1908. The occupation pivoted life from Constantinople to Vienna. After the First World War, the territory became part of what was later called Yugoslavia. Germany invaded in 1941 and the Holocaust devastated the Jewish population. Bosnia declared independence from Yugoslavia in 1992, which was followed by a civil war.
Die Sephardim in Bosnien by Moritz Levy, published in Sarajevo in 1911, is apparently the authoritative work on the Jews of Bosnia. When he wrote the book, Levy was a young scholar. He later became Chief Rabbi. The stereotypical black and white photos of Sephardic Jews that seem to accompany every article on the subject are from Levy’s book.
The Tuvi family who are reported to have arrived in Sarajevo from Serbia. I wonder if they are related to the Tubi / Tobi family who appear to have arrived in the Netherlands (and then London) from Venice. Also, Dr Solomon Gaon, the most recent Haham of the Spanish and Portuguese Jews of London was born in Bosnia Herzegovina. Meanwhile, the enterprising Kajon family opened a printing press, a bookshop and a photographic studio.
Genealogy of the Sephardic Jews of Bosnia Herzegovina
Presumably genealogical records are principally scattered between Sarajevo, Belgrade, Vienna and Istanbul, with some Jewish records even further afield.
The Directorate of Ottoman Archives in Ankara have several publications on Bosnia. An article by Adnan Kadrić, Jews in the State Agencies and Offices of the Bosnian Vilayat from 1868 to 1878, is useful in itself but also for the sources.
Ljerka Danon was reported in 1993 to be a genealogist focused on Jewish genealogy. It is not clear if she still lives in the city, and is now in her mid-80s.
A chronology of the Jewish community of Sarajevo, created by Professor Predrag Finci.
An overview of Jewish periodicals in Serbia (from 1888 to 2019) by Biljana Albahari (in Serbian)
- Archives of the Federation. Precious documents of the B&A Archives were burnt by vandals in 2014.
- Sarajevo Historical Archives
- National and University Library of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Jewish community of Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Jewish Museum
- Article on the Jewish cemetery of Sarajevo and preservation plans. See some pictures and a YouTube clip with dramatic Ashkenazi fiddling in the background.
- Article on Jewish Sarajevo
For those who can read the language, it is likely that the Jevrejski Almanah (Jewish Almanac) published in Serbo-Croat from 1971 to 1996 has articles and on the community in Bosnia and Herzegovina.
La Alborada was a Jewish newspaper published in Sarajevo. There are some editions in the newspaper collection of the National Library of Israel.
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