Abstract
In this chapter on the Sephardim’s local identity, I focus on the Sephardic community in present- day Sarajevo and my interviewees’ perceptions on belonging to the city. I develop hypotheses in relation to Sephardic identity formation in Sarajevo—deriving from the reference group’s intergenerational cultural memory. The chapter moreover reflects on the ways in which (remembered) rescue of Sarajevo Jews during the Holocaust has shaped patterns of Jewish identification in contemporary Sarajevo. Furthermore, the chapter sheds light on how the interviewees reflect upon the ongoing economic crises, anti-Semitism and the Islamization today in Bosnia-Herzegovina, and specifically in their hometown, Sarajevo. Hence, this chapter is of great relevance for those interested in contemporary Sarajevo Sephardi culture and the role of the economic crises and the Islamization of the Sarajevan society.
An earlier version of parts of this chapter was published in the Nationalities Papers, volume 46, issue 5, 2018, 892–910. The anonymous reviewer helped improve my work profoundly.
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- 1.
The Haggadah is read during Passover and is a Jewish text based on the book of Exodus from the Torah.
- 2.
There is one only Shabbat service that the young join. There is no specific service for the young.
- 3.
Vladimir was circumcised in the hospital in Sarajevo where he was born as part of the B’rit mila ritual. B’rit is unity in Hebrew and mila circumcision, and the B’rit mila, therefore, symbolizes a unity with God and the newborn son—the chazan of the Jewish Community Center came to perform a ritual and to give Vladimir his name. This was because there was, and still is not, any mohel (person responsible for circumcisions) in Sarajevo. Igor had a similar experience to Vladimir in that he was also circumcised in the hospital in Sarajevo where he was born and blessed by the chazan afterwards. Yehuda was circumcised in Salonica because his family had a relative there who was mohel (cf. Birri-Tomovska 2012: 49).
- 4.
Tefillin are black leather boxes containing verses from the Torah that are worn during morning prayers.
- 5.
Elma Softić-Kaunić was invited to the Stockholm Jewish Community Center (18.6.2017) to speak about mixed marriages at a conference funded by the Joint Distribution Committee: ‘The Arithmetic of Interfaith Marriages Stockholm.’ The Sarajevo Jews are clearly an important example of a mixed-marriage practice.
- 6.
The Baščaršija is the old historical and cultural center of Sarajevo. Every year in July, the canton of Sarajevo organizes the night of the Baščaršija, which is the biggest cultural festival in the country.
- 7.
These poor members would have to demonstrate their state of income to the general secretary of the Community, Elma Softic-Kaunitz. Additionally, they can get a part of their heating bills paid for by the Community.
- 8.
Pašas di karni kon porus are deep fried patties with minced meat and leek. Mijnika di spinaka is a pie stuffed with cheese, matza and spinach. Frtuljikas is a deep fried matza cake with syrup. Guevos inhaminadus are eggs boiled in oil and onion crust for at least ten hours. Sungatu are patties made of minced meat, leek and motzot. Pastel di leči is a cheesecake and lokumikus a sponge cake.
- 9.
Sarma is a dish made of cabbage or wine leaves rolled around minced meat. Buranija is a green bean stew with other vegetables and sometimes meat. Čorba is a soup or stew made of vegetables and sometimes meat. Mućkalica is usually made from cold, leftover barbecued meat which is stewed with various other vegetables.
- 10.
Eliezer Papo learned his liturgical tradition from Rabbi Cadik Danon, the chief rabbi in Yugoslavia, and the years after its disintegration (1972–1998) (Skype conversation with E. Papo, 5.12.2015; cf Ivanković 2011: 145).
- 11.
The Sephardic tradition has been considered more liberal or relaxed than the Ashkenazic tradition. Thus, one could argue that the Sephardim did not need a reform movement to the same extent since they were already emancipated. The question of liberalism and emancipation can, on the one hand, involve greater legal rights and opportunities for women. On the other hand, Jews feared and felt threatened by the rise of nation-states and the sense of liberalism that accompanied nationalism and anti-Semitism (S. Abrevaya Stein, Personal Communication, 14.7.2016).
- 12.
The choir is called Beyachad (together in Hebrew) and the members are mainly Serbs who are studying or who studied music in Banja Luka. There is another choir in Sarajevo called Pontanima that integrated Jewish songs in their repertoire.
- 13.
Republika Srpska is a product of the 1992–1995 war. According to the Dayton agreement, 49% of the Bosnian territory was formally formed and recognized as Republika Srpska, an autonomous entity. In 1993, Bosnian Serbs held two thirds of the Bosnian territory (Djokić 2006: 2802, 2013: 70; Markowitz 2010: 9). According to the population census in 2013, Republika Srpska was populated by 171,839 declared Bosniaks, 29,645 declared Croats, 1,001,299 declared Serbs, 8189 declared undeclared, 15,325 others and 2127 with no answer (Jukić 2016: 54).
- 14.
See more examples under ’Komentari’: https://www.klix.ba/vijesti/bih/finci-povodom-hanuke-u-ovo-mracno-doba-svjetlost-nam-je-svima-potrebna/171213008 (last accessed 4.5.2018).
- 15.
Komšiluk is a word derived from Turkish, as is komşu—neighbor. Bougarel notes that Komšiluk designates the entire realm of neighborly relations, but that in the context of the multi-community Bosnian society, it applies above all else to good neighborly relations between members of different communities (Bougarel 1999/2000: 27) The term has been seen as a metaphor of Bosnia from the Ottoman times onward. Today’s high degree of ethnic division in the country, however, indicates that Komšiluk is no longer a central reality.
- 16.
See, for example, the June 2016 UK referendum on EU membership (Brexit) and the European election victories for right-wing nationalist parties, with their anti-immigrant and xenophobic rhetoric (i.e., Alternative für Deutschland, UK Independence Party, Le Front National and Partij voor de Vrijheid). At present, in almost all European states (notable exceptions being Cyprus and the Rep. of Ireland), right-wing-extremist and populist parties are gaining support.
- 17.
Moreover, in Sarajevo the population by religion was the following: 42,459 Muslims, 2887 Catholics, 2028 Orthodox Christians, 1569 Agnostics, 3175 Atheists, 2364 not declared, 580 others, and 119 who gave no answer (Jukić 2016: 71). According to the same census, 48,600 persons in Sarajevo declared their mother tongue to be Bosnian; 2096 Croatian; 1271 Serbian; 3083 ‘Other’; and 131 gave no answer (Jukić 2016: 85).
In the whole of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the population, in terms of national/ethnic affiliation, were as follows: 1,769,592 Bosniaks; 544,780 Croats; 1,086,733 Serbs; 27,055 who affirmed that they identified with no particular ethnicity (‘undeclared’); 96,539 others; and 6460 who provided no answer to the question of ethnicity whatsoever (Jukić 2016: 54). Regarding the linguistic choice of the population in the whole of Bosnia Herzegovina: 1,866,585 million said they were speakers of Bosnian; 515,481 spoke Croatian; 1,086,027 spoke Serbian; 55,579 spoke other languages; and 7487 people gave no answer (Jukić 2016: 82).
- 18.
In the whole of Yugoslavia, the 1991 census shows that there were approximately 23.5 million people living in the federation. There were 8.5 million Serbs, 4.65 million Croats, 2.3 million Bosniaks, 1.76 million Slovenes, 1.4 million Macedonians, and 550,000 Montenegrins. Albanians constituted nearly 2.2 million and there were around 380,000 Hungarians. In this census, more than 720,000 persons were declared as Yugoslavs, that is, persons who often came from mixed marriages and were ‘nationally undeclared’ (Djokić 2006: 2791).
- 19.
Schwarz-Friesel (2015: 27–28) shows how anti-Jewish sentiments have a long history in Germany’s cultural and communicative memory. She points to Hegel’s anti-Jewish statements about Jews lacking a soul and Grimm’s fairytale ‘Der Jude im Dorn’ that was taken out of the Grimm’s collection only in 1945. These and other thought structures have been handed down over the generations and, as a result, this Gedankengut, she argues, provides the background to prevailing anti-Semitic sentiment today (Schwarz-Friesel 2015: 29).
- 20.
Moreover, Schwarz-Friesel (2015: 15, 19) argues that in Germany one problem is that the prevailing definition of anti-Semitism is too vague: those who deny the existence of the Shoah, and defenders of the Third Reich, are classified as anti-Semites, while those who merely post anti-Semitic comments that circulate on the Internet about ‘Jews’ being ‘occupiers’ and ‘criminals’ are not perceived as such.
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Rock, J. (2019). Local Identity of the Sephardim in Sarajevo. In: Intergenerational Memory and Language of the Sarajevo Sephardim. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-14046-5_4
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