In the monthly Jewish cultural edition of “Omanut”, issue No.9; dated September 1940, Dr. Gavro Schwartz states in his editorial his assertion that “the Jewish Community in Zemun is one of the oldest in Croatia”. The deduction made by Dr. Schwartz was based on the documents extracted by Dr. Urbach from the archives of the Zemun Jewish Community which he never returned. Based on Dr. Gavrilovic’s research work it transpired that the Jewish Community was founded in the year 1739. This information became general knowledge to the Zemun Jews only toward the end of 1940, or early in 1941, since access to the Community archives had been a privilege of a few. This gave rise to public censure of certain prominent personages of the Jewish Community. At the same time a general feeling of regret that the bicentenary of the existence of the Community had not been celebrated in 1939 was expressed.
Regardless of the actual year of the establishment of the Jewish Community in this town, the fact remains that it functioned continually, from it’s founding, except for the years under occupation from 1941 to the fall of 1944. During this period its work was sporadic.
THE SETTLEMENT OF JEWS IN ZEMUN
Zemun (Semlin) is one of the oldest towns in the Balkans. During the reign of the Roman Empire it was called Taurunum, while it is recorded under the name of Zemlen in the XII century. During the period from 1521 to 1717 it was held by the Turks upon which followed the accession to Austria when it became a border town. Up to 1728 Zemun was governed by the Slavonic Chamber Inspection; from then it fell under private feudal rule, with little sympathy for Jews, both where their religion and national entity was concerned.
Considering the geographical position and the commercial importance of Zemun, it can be safely concluded that there were individual Jewish families already settled in this town during the middle ages, possibly even earlier than that. However, research of archive material published up to now, has shown that in the year 1726, Josif Isak and Isak Moses, both Jews, were definitely citizens of Zemun.
Once the Austrians took over the government of Zemun, the ethnic structure of Zemun inhabitants changed under the influence of Eugenie of Savoy and the Empress Maria Theresa. Into the then majority of Serbian inhabitants, first came Greek settlers, soon to be followed by Germans.
When Belgrade fell under Austrian authority in 1717, together with a large number of German settlers came a certain number of Ashkenazi Jews mostly tradesmen and craftsmen. When in 1739 the Turks once again established their rule in Belgrade, a group of some twenty, mainly, Ashkenazi families stayed on and finally settled in Zemun. Thus the year 1739 represents the date of the first settlement of Jews in Zemun as a group. From then on Jews have continually been deemed as citizens of Zemun.
Up to 1746, the status of Jews in Zemun as well as their living conditions hardly differed from those of Jews in other parts of Austria. They were equally treated as second rate citizens faced with numerous impediments. One of the major restrictions was the choice of employment which lay open to them. Essentially, Jews were permitted to be craftsmen and tradesmen but only to the extent Christian craftsmen and tradesmen felt comfortable with.
At the time Zemun came within the bounds of the military frontier in the year 1746 the position of the Jews worsened by the imposition of new restrictions. Namely, Jews were forbidden to settle inside the area of military frontiers and were threatened with the prospect of being evicted from Zemun. However, they remained in Zemun following a decree issued on October 8, 1753 by Maria Theresa which granted the privilege to Jews already living in Zemun to remain in Zemun. On the same day the Empress granted to Rafael Salamon a “Turk” Jew and to his family and to the entire household permission to stay in the area of the military frontier for life.
According to the census of 1755 the following Jewish families lived in 15 houses in Zemun:
Rafael Salamon, Mayer Rechnitz, Elias Soret with his son in law Benjamin, Abraham Mayer with his son in law, Koloman Brandeis, Henoh Levi, Moses Koloman, Feischl the Jew (Judt), Moses Jew (Judt), Mandl Kleis, Lazar Keis, the widow of Abraham Lebl, Simon the glazier (Glaser), Salamon the Jew (Jude), Wolf the water carrier: the first four were marked as Turkish, and the remaining as German Jews. The cantor, the ritual slaughterer (shochet) and the school attendant resided in the sixteenth, so called, Jewish house. The records stated that they had all come from Belgrade in 1739
The census dating from 1756 is more accurate and lists the following Jewish families living in their own houses:
Rafael Salamon, tradesman in scrap iron
Mandl Kleis, tradesman in scrap iron
Moses Isaac, wholesaler
Majer Rehnicer, tradesman
Abraham Feischl, distiller of brandy
Koloman Brandeis’ widow
Salamon Mestic’s widow
Markus Izak, glazier
Abraham Lebl, tanner
Wolf Enoh, water carrier
Henoh Levi, tailor
Lazar Keis, tradesman
Hercl Kohen, glazier
Mayer the blind, tradesman
Simon Abraham, tradesman
Living as tenants in houses owned by others the following are listed:
Elias Soret, tradesman
Josef Michel, tradesman
Markus Nathan, distiller of brandy
Isaac, rag-and-bone man, mender
In the sixteenth, so called, Jewish house, the cantor, the teacher, the ritual slaughterer (Schachter) and the school attendant resided.
It had been recorded that all of them came from Belgrade.
In order to maintain the number of families to the granted thirty, only the first born son was allowed to marry, under the condition that he did not leave the family household. Should the second or any other son in line marry he had to leave Zemun, i.e. the area of the military frontier. House ownership was allowed only to those privileged families which at the time of the Empress’ grant had already owned houses.
The military authority kept a keen eye on the disposition and interests of Christians so that measures and decisions passed were, as a rule, detrimental to Jews. In Zemun Jews were not allowed to perform any public function in the municipal government, while, for example, the same right was given to Serbs and ethnic Romanians (Aromanians).
The animosity of the Germans toward the Jews was mainly biased by questions pertinent to religion. The Serbs and Aromanians saw them as their rivals in trade. Consequently various trade bans and restrictions were imposed. Such impositions mainly referred to craftsmen services which basically comprised the business of Jews.
Setting up of trade and craftsmen shops in the Main Street was obstructed, the tendency being to keep Jewish inhabitants grouped round Dubrovacka Street.
Nevertheless, despite all the problems the Zemun Jews were consistently faced with, there were certain decisions brought by authorities in charge which contributed to the preservation of the sense of community, religion and tradition. By the decision of the Slavonian-Srem military frontier in Osijek dated April 22, 1755 all existing and future Jewish judges and men of religion were granted the right to rule in private law-suits between Jews within the Zemun Jewish Community, and the Zemun Magistrate was instructed to extend official support and assistance to Jewish judges in performing their official duty in the above stated cases. Each year election of judges as well as inspection and reckoning was carried out in the presence of one member of the Town Hall council. The necessity for more detailed regulation of law-suits brought before Jewish judges consequently emerged and on May 10, 1799 the Jewish Community proposed the following measures to the Magistrate:
1. In cases where one Jew is suing another he shall primarily address his complaint before the Jewish Community, and only upon finding fault with the decision passed, can he refer his complaint to the Magistrate Court.
2. To extend the right to Jewish judges to sentence Jews to a 48 hour custody, with no interference from the Town Court.
3. No Jew can be entitled to approach the Municipal clerk “with exceptionally trivial matters” without the knowledge and prior consent of a Jewish judge.
4. In cases where two Jewish litigants come to a settlement before the Jewish Community in accordance with Jewish law, the ruling shall remain unaltered.
Regarding the submitted document the Magistrate decided:
1. That no Jew can turn directly to the Magistrate for “trivial matters”, except when he has found fault with the ruling of the Jewish Community.
2. That no Jew and in particular bachelors shall be issued a passport, without the prior knowledge of a Jewish judge.
It is important to note that the degree of self-government of the Jewish Community achieved implied the right to self-regulation of all religious issues, the right to maintain a Jewish school etc. The school was later incorporated in the state education program. As already noted, Jews in Austria were inhabitants without civil rights, tolerated in the countries of the Empire by special favor of the ruler. Although they were permitted to engage in trade and crafts, various bans and restrictions were imposed on them even in these economic activities. Thus, for instance, when Christian traders figured out that the purchase and sale of old rags was a profitable business they lodged a complaint with the Austrian authorities. Following the said complaint Jews were forbidden to engage in this activity in entire regions of the empire. Something very similar happened with the purchase and sale of leeches. There were also various complaints against Jews made by Zemun tradesmen. One of their requests put before the authorities was to forbid the Jews of Zemun to deal in textiles, since their low pricing of goods made it impossible for others to sell their wares. Even innkeepers complained and requested that Jews be allowed to sell drinks only to their compatriots. As a rule the authorities conceded to all such requests, which resulted in a highly unfavorable economic environment for the Jewish population. However, Jewish tradesmen always managed to quickly find their footing, and create new sources of income by inventing new marketable items.
Bearing in mind the conditions stated it is clearly evident why in the census of 1756 out of the 19 privileged families, 11 Jewish families were listed as tradesmen, 7 craftsmen and one water carrier. The list does not include the cantor, teacher, sahter (ritual slaughterer) and the school attendant living in the so called Jewish house.
From census dating from 1815 we see that out of the 45 Jewish families living at the time in Zemun, 35 were tradesmen, 4 craftsmen and one family each of the rabbi, the teacher, slaughterer, musician, water carrier, and the sexton.
The increased number of families to that of 45 happened during the First Serbian Uprising in 1804 when a great number of Jews fled from Belgrade to Zemun. The problem was put before the Emperor Franz and on January 17, 1816 who resolved that the 30 Jewish families originating from the 19 which in 1753 had been given the privilege of residence in Zemun were granted continued stay and ownership of 30 houses together with one Community house.
The problem of residence for the remaining 15 families remained unresolved right up to the turbulent events of 1848.
Out of 221 Jewish inhabitants there were 187 Ashkenazi and 37 Sephardim.
As a result of the proscription of settlement of Jews in Zemun and the restriction on their families to split physically upon the marriage of their sons and daughters, their number varied very little through the decades. According to censuses made by the Magistrate, the number of Jews listed through the years is as follows:
1808 – 242
1831 – 263
1840 – 285
1847 – 277
1863 – 211
As a town on the borderline of Austria and Turkey, Zemun became an important trading point, with a potential for making profit. The fact instigated a wave of relocation of ethnic Romanians (Aromanians) and Jews. Upon pledging an oath of allegiance Aromanians were permitted to remain in Zemun, while there were instances when unprivileged Jews were ordered to sell their houses and property and leave town within a fortnight period. As early as 1781 Emperor Joseph decided that the State would profit by controlling the progress of educating Jews and their management. This measure prevented the Jewish people to spread and settle extensively inside the territory of the Empire. Further Jews could not be relocated to places where their presence had not been tolerated so far. They were to remain in locations where they had already settled and that only to a measure of toleration that was advantageous for the State.
By the same decision the use of the popular language of the Jews (probably Yiddish) was forbidden in public dealings. Upon a two year period of grace Jews had to be obliged to submit all their contracts, regulations, wills, invoices, ledgers and testaments, in short everything related to judical and out-of-court matters in the standard court language of the country in question. The tax imposed for toleration, as well as all other taxes were not to be revoked, thus keeping at bay all Jewish “scum” without personal means of living and board.
Notwithstanding the prohibition of Jew settlement in Zemun, the number of their families rose above the permitted number of the privileged 30. For this reason the Jewish Community lodged an appeal for endorsement of residence for further 14 families, in all 50 individuals. By its decision dated June 16, 1848 the Ministry of War referred the said appeal for settlement to the Superior Municipal Council of Zemun.
However, the Revolutionary Committee, which in 1848, took over the government of the city paid little heed to the enactment of Imperial orders and for the time being left everything in a state of adjournment.
During 1848/49 rumors spread that with the aid of frontier men the Serbian population was preparing to do away with the Jewish and Catholic population. Although the rumors were unfounded, they generated vast anxiety and fear of pogrom.
The order issued by the Military Command in 1849 forbade Hungarian Jews to reside in the area of the Military frontier since they significantly aided the Hungarian uprising. So it came that the Council of Zemun also punished Simon Herzl (grandfather to Theodore Herzl) with a prison sentence of ten days in chains, but released him on bail paid by the Jewish Community for the duration of the Jewish holidays.
On June 16, 1852 the Jewish Community implored the Emperor Franz Joseph to render the same rights to the Jews of Zemun enjoyed by Jews in other Austrian provinces. The request was that, beside the first born son, the remaining sons could also marry without having to leave town. It was further requested that purchase of real estate be permitted. The request was denied by the Magistrate by its adverse ruling. Acting upon the ruling the Emperor also refuted the same request. Thus the restriction of the number of families to thirty remained in force. In the forthcoming years this number was to rise to 33, by obtaining special privileges.
In 1862 the Command of the Troup Brigade in Zemun requested the Magistrate to declare whether it upheld a restricted or unrestrained settlement of Jews. The Magistrate elected unrestrained settlement. Such a governmental standpoint was influenced by events taking place in Serbia at the time. Mainly the departure of the Turks from Belgrade brought a tide of renewed enthusiasm and trade development. It was assumed that Zemun would become a major trading center instead of Belgrade.
The Austrian-Hungarian treaty of 1876, upheld the constitutional rights of citizens to a life of improved personal liberties, independence and equality of all citizens, Jews included. However, this did not immediately apply to the Jews of Zemun. But soon it became untenable that only in Zemun could a few hundred Jews be denied their citizen rights. On February 27, 1868 the Emperor Franz Joseph acknowledged to the Jews within the Military frontier equal rights to those of other confessions recognized by Austria. This brought to an end all restrictions regarding settlement, purchase of real estate and choice of employment. On March 25, 1868 the Mayor asked the General Command to discontinue any further collection of the protection tax imposed on Jewish families.
The result was that Jews in Austria were given the opportunity to choose professions of interest and personal ability. Despite the protracted transformation of Jewish population organization, Jews eventually penetrated all aspects of social life. Beside the prevailing number of tradesmen and craftsmen, the number of doctors, lawyers, engineers, professors and artists constantly increased. Very soon, certain Jews were acclaimed as leading professionals or widely acclaimed artists.
RELIGIOUS LIFE
The settlement of Jews in Zemun was met by the opposition of authorities and resistance and mistrust of the town inhabitants. This must have had a great influence on the organization of Jews into a body struggling more or less, collectively, to remain in this town. A fact supporting this assumption is that a so called Jewish house was built simultaneously with the erection of family homes. The rabbi (cantor), teacher, ritual slaughterer (shochet) and the school attendant lived in this house.
According to data available, a cantor, Rav Jehuda Jeruham, the first rabbi in Zemun, was already a resident of the so called Jewish house as early as 1793. Records state that he was a Turkish citizen, so that it is safe to presume that he was a Sephardim. A characteristic of this Jewish Community is that there was never any segregation between the Ashkenazi, who constituted the majority and the Sephardim. On the contrary, cooperation and mutual understanding were ever present. Among other manifestations of goodwill, marriage unions between the Ashkenazi and the Sephardim were a commonplace affair. The one thing the Jewish community uncompromisingly opposed was the marriage of Jews to gojim (non-Jews, Christians and others).
No record of the actual time when rabbi Jeruham came to Zemun has been found up to now. The only data available is that he died in Zemun in 1763.
The attendance of a rabbi in the mid 18th century documents that religious life of the Zemun Jews was practiced for more than a hundred years before the first synagogue was built.
It must have been very difficult to obtain authorization to erect a Jewish house of prayer. Presenting the entire Jewish Community in existence in 1833, Jacob Isaac Albahari submitted an application to the Zemun Magistrate to approve the construction of a Jewish house of prayer. The application was referred to the Slavonic General Command which on June 10, 1833 refuted the request made by Jacob Isaac Albahari, a Turkish subject. It was stated in the commentary that no aspirations to enhance the Jewish population of Zemun would be favoured.
The Jewish Community of Zemun was not discouraged by this rejection and negative response. Applications for a permit to build a house of prayer were submitted continuously. Such efforts finally brought positive results and the Ashkenazi synagogue was built in the year 1863.
On major Jewish holidays the temple brimmed with parishioners. On these occasions there was talk of the necessity to expand the temple. However, once the holidays were over, all such talk was laid aside.
