Jews of Serbia
Sephardic Jews arrived in Serbia with the Ottoman Empire. The defeat of the Ottoman Empire at the siege of Vienna and the subsequent Habsburg push south was a disaster for the Jews, with many being held for ransom. This is the period in which Belogrado refugees, including the Cohen Belinfante family, arrived in Amsterdam.
Jews had a difficult time after Serbian independence, often suffering discrimination. Anti-Jewish laws were not repealed until 1889. Jews fought for Serbia in the First World War. Around half the Jews of Serbia were murdered during the Holocaust.
There is a Sephardic cemetery in Belgrade containing 4,000 gravestones and a Holocaust memorial. The Ashkenazi cemetery is opposite. Names of people buried in the Jewish cemeteries is online. The Sephardic cemetery is at 1 Mije Kovačevića Street.
Serbian Wikipedia has a useful entry on the Sephardic Jewish community of Belgrade.
Federation of Jewish Communities of Serbia.
Sephardic Routes of Belgrade, by the Cervantes Institute.
Genealogy of the Sephardic Jews of Serbia
Jewish Digital Collection of the Historical Archives of Belgrade
Jewish Digital Library of the Republic of Serbia.
Centropa’s Balkans Jewish Source Book is currently out of print.
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