Jewish Belgrade

The Book of Esther is recited in Belgrade on the 15th day of Adar (Shushan Purim). Ashkenazi Jews, who migrated from central Europe, settled over the centuries along the Sava River. Following the 1492 expulsion from Spain, the Sephardic Jews settled in the Belgrade area of Dorćol. Just before WW2, the Belgrade Jews, like Serbs, were divided over loyalties to the King and to communism. There were divisions even among Jewish masons, some of whom belonged to the Serbian Lodge and others to Jewish Bene Berith Lodge in Belgrade. During WW2, under German occupation, Belgrade Jews suffered a terrible fate, and the infamy of being the first city in Europe proclaimed as Judenfrei fell on Belgrade. Baruh Brothers Choir, founded in 1879 as Serbo-Jewish Singing Society, is still active. Before WW2, the Jewish community in Belgrade was about 12,000 strong, and today about 2,200 Jews live in Belgrade.