There are histrocal documents that inform of Jews in Belgrade from the 16th century.For centuries, two groups of Jews have been represented. The Jews who were influenced by the German language and culture are the Ashkenazi. The second group consists of Spanish Jews, the Sephardim, exiled from Spain in 1452. They immigrated to Belgrade from the cities of the Ottoman Empire from 1521, when the Ottomans conquered Belgrade. The Belgrade Jewish community was of the greatest importance when there was a Jewish religious school. Belgrade rabbis printed books in Venice, Constantinople and Krakow. In the middle of the 17th century, the religious community had about 800 members. The next period in history was marked by the persecution of Jews. Only with the arrival of Prince Miloš Obrenović to power, their position improved. They are allowed to print books in Hebrew. There was a big change in 1888, when they got equality, then they had the opportunity to live outside the neighborhood. They had four synagogues, a municipality with a cemetery, a school, an administration, humanitarian and national societies. Before World War II, about 10,000 Jews lived in Belgrade, but the Jewish religious community was almost completely destroyed during World War II. All but one of the Sukat Shalom synagogues were destroyed.
LOST HERITAGE
In the 20th century, there were four synagogues: El Kal Vijez, El Kal Nuevo, Beth Israel and Sukkat Shalom.
PROTECTED HERITAGE
The only synagogue that has not been demolished is Sukat Shalom. It was built in 1925. It is situated in Maršala Birjuzova Street.
JEWISH COMMUNITY
Today, about 2,000 Jews live in Belgrade. There is a Jewish community centre at 71a Kralja Petra Street, and you can read more about the Jewish community here
Written by Ana Sarić