September 18-19, 2021 - Conference: Jewish Camp Zemun and Reception Camp Zemun
Past-Present-Future

Exhibition opening Click on pic for our photo gallery

As part of marking of the European Heritage Day organized by the Municipality of Zemun, part of the program was a conference organized by the Jewish Community of Zemun on two camps located during the Second World War at the Belgrade Fair. The conference was held in the Office for Youth of the Municipality of Zemun. On the occasion of the 80th anniversary of the opening of the Jewish camp Zemun, an exhibition "Jewish camp Zemun" by Nenad and Milan Fogel and Dr. Milan Koljanin was set up in the gallery space.
Students of the Music School "Kosta Manojlović" from Zemun also participated in the opening program.
Participants in the conference were: Nenad Fogel - editor of publishing and president of the Jewish community of Zemun - introductory speaker, Dr. Milan Koljanin - historian, Milan Fogel - writer from Israel, Aleksandar Necak - former president of the Federation of Jewish Communities in Serbia, Dr. Jovan Byford - historian from Great Britain, Dr. Milovan Pisari - historian, Dr. Sanja Petrovic Todosijevic - historian, Dr. Dragan Cvetkovic - historian and Dr. Ivo Goldstein - historian from Zagreb.

The Conference and events Click on pic for our photo gallery

The goal and task of the conference was to get an insight into what the Jewish Camp Zemun, later the Transit Camp Zemun was, as well as how far the realization of the formation of the Memorial Museum of Remembrance at the location of the Old Fair, The Topovske šupe and all other places of suffering of Jews, Serbs and Roma in the vicinity of Belgrade during the World War 2.

Without false modesty, all set goals have been fulfilled and we hope that they will help the future management of the Memorial Center "Staro Sajmište", which has not been set even after two years since the adoption of the Law.

The results of the conference will be presented through the website of the Jewish community of Zemun and through the Proceedings which will contain the works of the conference participants.

More about the Sajmište Camp on the Belgrade Archives website: About the project :: Sajmište 1937-44 :: Victims Database

December 31, 2021 - Our community has published the Collection of Works of the participants in this conference. You can view the WEB version of this issue in this PDF document (in Serbian language).

September 7, 2021 - Rosh Hashanah Jewish New Year 5782, celebration in the sign of a pandemic

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The Jewish community of Zemun, i.e. the part of vaccinated, revaccinated and "boosted" members, marked the New Year 5782 in our Synagogue.
A lot of time has passed since the last meeting of our members and everyone wanted to share their experiences with the pandemic that continues to plague the world.
It was also an opportunity for the President to JCZ Mr. Nenad Fogel to invite members to the opening of the Conference on two camps, which will be held on September 18 and 19 in the Gallery of the Youth Office as part of the European Heritage Day.

July 27, 2021 - Commemoration of the Zemun Jews

Members and friends of our community gathered today in the Jewish Cemetery Zemun to commemorate Zemun Jews victims who were taken to Jasenovac and Stara Gradiska concentration camps in cattle wagons on July 27, 1942.
This year, summer vacations of many members overlapped with this date, so fewer people attended this gathering. Restrictions related to epidemiological measures also contributed to that.

July 19, 2021 - Arrangement of the Jewish Cemetery Zemun

After a long time, the greenery of the Jewish cemetery Zemun was arranged before the commemoration of the Jews of Zemun, victims of fascism, which will take place on July 27.
In the previous period, the person who under the contract was in charge of guarding and maintaining the cemetery did not fulfil the undertaken obligations, so he was fired. Other workers have been hired for this occasion, and a new permanent cemetery guard will be appointed soon.

May 23, 2021 - Electoral Assembly of the JC Zemun

With respect to all pandemic measures, the Jewish community of Zemun held a regular Electoral Assembly.
The work of the assembly was opened by the president of the JCZ, Nenad Fogel, who called on for a minute of silence to pay respect to the members who passed away in the last two years.
After the adoption of the agenda and the election of the presidency, election commission and minutes, the President of the Supervisory Board addressed the Assembly with a report on the use of funds in 2020. He pointed out that last year was unusual due to the COVID 19 virus pandemic, that there were not many gatherings of members and realization of our projects, and that accordingly the spending was minimal, but that everything was in accordance with our regulations.
In the continuation, the President of JOZ submitted the annual report on the work of the Executive Board and all commissions, which was unanimously adopted.
After the presentation of the list of nominees for all functions in the JC Zemun, the members unanimously confirmed the election of all nominees.

May 16, 2021 - Jewish community of Zemun for peace in Israel

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The Jewish community of Zemun and activists of the Jewish community of Belgrade, led by Avram Israel and Danilo Medic, organized a gathering dedicated to establishing peace in Israel. At the beginning, the anthems of Serbia and Israel were sung as a sign of respect for our homeland, but also for the state of Israel, which was always with the Jews from Serbia, especially in the most difficult days during the wars of the 1990s and during the NATO bombing. In those difficult times, Israel opened its borders wide to Jews from Serbia and the former Yugoslavia.
After the anthem was sung, the president of the JC Zemun, Nenad Fogel, greeted those present. In a short speech, he called on all parties to cease hostilities. Addressing the audience, he stressed that the gathering was not dedicated to condemning any side for the escalation of the conflict, but he especially pointed out the responsibility of the terrorist organization Hamas, which has been firing rockets at cities across Israel for days. Fogel made a clear distinction between the warring parties, opposing the claims of numerous media that a conflict between Israel and Palestine was at work. Namely, he stated that the conflict is actually taking place between the Israeli army and the terrorist organization Hamas. Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, is holding its citizens hostage, throwing them out as a kind of human shield, not caring about their lives. Avram Israel, Danilo Medic and Holocaust survivor Josif Baruhovic also addressed the gathering.
With a couple of provocations coming from Palestinian activists, the rally took place in a peaceful atmosphere with clear messages that peace has no alternative.
During the meeting, Nenad Fogel gave short interviews for the present media, N1, Fonet and TV Prva, in whose news program he joined live.

January 27, 2021 - Commemoration at the Judenlager Semlin

On the occasion of the International Holocaust Remembrance Day, the delegation of our community attended the commemoration of the victims of genocide at the Judenlager Semlin.

In addition to state, city and diplomatic representatives, wreaths were also laid by representatives of Jewish communities.

On behalf of our community, Nenad Fogel, President of the JC Zemun, and Nenad Altman, President of the Supervisory Board of the JOZ, paid tribute to the victims.

November 12, 2020 – The JCZ Activity Brochure 2018-2020

Our new bilingual catalog of JCZ activities from 2018 to 2020 (5778-5780) called "Disputes, Joys and Corona Threats" has been published.
From the editor's introduction: “Wishing to record and safeguard for the future the activities of the Jewish Community of Zemun, in 2006 we initiated publication of a biannual catalogue which would be a photographic and written reminder of our work.
This is the eighth catalogue, which clearly shows that the court system of Serbia and the coronavirus have undoubtedly affected our activities and decisively marked this two-year period…”

Download or view the catalog in PDF format or watch the accompanying video from our YouTube channel

October 7, 2020 - European Heritage Days

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The manifestation European Heritage Days in 2020, organized by the City Municipality of Zemun, ended on October 7 with the promotion of the book and exhibition "Jewish Professors of Medical Faculties in Serbia" published by the Jewish Community of Zemun.

Prof. Snezana Veljkovic

The book was presented to the visitors by the authors Nenad Fogel, Radoje Colovic and Dragan Pantelic. Zana Zivaljevic from the sector for culture of the municipality of Zemun greeted the guests with an appropriate explanation about the event. She asked the new president of the Zemun City Assembly, Miroslav Gajić, to open the exhibition and announce the promotion of the book. The President of the Assembly especially emphasized the participation of the municipality of Zemun in the realization of the project of publishing a book about Jews who achieved their academic careers at medical faculties in Serbia. He mentioned that this is not their first participation in the support that Zemun provides to the Jewish community, but it will certainly support them in the realization of future projects.

At the beginning of the promotion, Nenad Fogel invited the visitors to pay a minute of silence to the book reviewer, Professor Snezana Veljkovic, who recently passed away as a result of the coronavirus, as well as to all those who died in Serbia and around the world.

The evening continued with presentations by the authors who presented many more interesting details about their work on collecting data on professors of Jewish origin and, among other things, on personal experiences with professors of the Medical Faculty in Belgrade.

July 26, 2020 - Commemoration of Zemun Jews, victims of fascism

Representatives of our municipality laid a wreath at the monument to the Jews of Zemun, victims of fascism, on the occasion of the memory of the Jews from Zemun who were driven away in cattle cars on July 27, 1942, to the Jasenovac and Stara Gradiška camps.

Due to the COVID-19 epidemic and the restrictions on gathering a large number of people, we did not organize a commemoration this year, which would be attended by a larger number of members of the Jewish community and representatives of the City Municipality of Zemun.
It was also noticed that during the day, some people also came individually to pay their respects to the victims, for which we are especially grateful.

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February 2, 2020 - Tubishvat and our Synagogue

Around thirty Jewish community members gathered in our Synagogue to celebrate the New Year of the Trees - Tubishvat, as well as the adjudication of the High Court of Cassation returning the restitution decision of returning the synagogue to us in substitution for other confiscated properties.

January 29, 2020 – The Children's Cultural Center hosts "A Traveling Exhibitions About Good People"

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The Jewish Community of Zemun has joined the multi-day program of the Jewish Community of Belgrade by staging a "Traveling Exhibition on Good People" by Milan and Nenad Fogel. The exhibition was set at the Children's Cultural Center in Belgrade to commemorate the Holocaust Day.
Stefan Zekic and father Danilo Tomic performed national anthems of Serbia and Israel and a commemorative Jewish song dedicated to the victims of Holocaust Jews.
Avram Israel and Nenad Fogel addressed the attendees. They spoked about the Holocaust Day and about projects marking the occasion.
At the end of the opening, Vladanka Cvetkovic read three poems from her collection of poems 50250, named after the number her mother Magdalena Morgenstern was marked in Auschwitz.
The exhibition will be open until March 1, 2020. During February, the Children's Cultural Center will organize visits by elementary and high school students with expert guidance through the exhibition and discussions with surviving Jews from Serbia, historians and authors of the exhibition.