#Crif - Interview with Berta Romano Nikolikj, President of the Jewish Community in the Republic of Macedonia and Goran Sadikarijo, CEO of the national Holocaust memorial center

Crif - Few weeks ago (March 14th), Macedonia adopted International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism. This definition includes Israel hatred. What is the current situation in Macedonia about antisemitism and anti-Israel feelings? Did the country recently face some wages of anti-Semitic events?

Berta Romano Nikolikj - There haven’t been explicit incidents of anti-Semitism, such as physical attacks on community property or its members. However, there have been some articles with anti-Semitic content on some online portals and we were careful to inform the relevant institutions on these occurrences.  

Crif - Before the Holocaust, around 11.000 Jews were living in Macedonia. 7144 of them were deported to ghettos and concentration camps such as Treblinka. Less than 2% survived the Holocaust. What is the current Jewish population in Macedonia and how is it organized?

Berta Romano Nikolikj - The community consists of 200 members, the majority of them living in the capital, Skopje, with the exception of two families that live in other cities in Macedonia. The highest body of the community is the Assembly that consists of all adult members and holds regular sessions at least once a year according to the Statute, and holds general elections every 4 years. The Assembly elects the president and 6 members of the Board of Directors - the leadership of the community. Still, the Assembly is in charge of all major issues that have to do with the property and legal status of the community. 

Crif - The Jewish Community in the Republic of Macedonia is a member of the European Jewish Congress. What is your relationship with other European Jewish communities?

Berta Romano Nikolikj - Our community has close and warm ties with the ex-Yugoslavian communities since we were one community until the breakup of Yugoslavia in 1991. Moreover, we nurture good connections with other regional communities, such as Greece and Bulgaria. In times of need, these communities have shown utmost solidarity and assistance, and we stay devoted to deepening the ties.

 Crif - A Holocaust Memorial Center exists in Skopje – Macedonia capital – since 2011. As part of the commemoration of 75th anniversary of the expulsion of Jews from the country, the Memorial will present a whole new exhibition about history of the Macedonian Jews. Can you tell us a little bit about it and the role of the Macedonian Government in the Holocaust memory duty?

Goran Sadikarijo - The History of the Jews in Macedonia dates in Roman times. One of the oldest, if not the oldest, synagogue outside the Land of Israel is in the ancient city of Stobi, some 100 km south from Skopje.

The new permanent exhibition will present the history of the Jews in the Balkans, starting from Antiquity i.e. 2000 years ago. Special focus in the exhibition will be dedicated to the expulsion from Spain in 1492, the arrival of the Sephardim in the Balkans, then ruled by the Ottoman Empire, and all they brought with them: their skills they had learned in Spain, their Ladino language and their custom and traditions. The exhibition will present the horrific events that occurred in WWII and almost complete annihilation of the Jews in Macedonia, the persecution and deportation to the death camp Treblinka.

The link between Jews from Macedonia and France is very strong, because during the 19th century, it was the  l'Alliance Israélite Universelle that, more than anyone else, helped raise the educational level of Jews in Macedonia.

The fate of French and Macedonian Jews was sealed by the same person, Theodor Danneker, who was responsible for their deportation. After organizing and deporting more than 13.000 Jews from France, Danneker was send to Bulgaria, then an  ally of  Nazi Germany, to organize the deportation of the Jews from the occupied territories by Bulgaria of Thrace in Greece, Vardar Macedonia and Pirot in Serbia as well as Bulgaria itself.  

The exhibition continues with a presentation of Jewish resistance and the partisan movement, since many of the Jews who survived joined Tito’s partisans. The exhibition will feature Righteous Among the Nations, who risked their life’s to save Jewish ones. The exhibition ends with the establishing of the State of Israel, Yugoslav and Macedonian Jewish immigration to Israel and the Jewish Community in Macedonia today.

The Holocaust Fund of the Jews from Macedonia is a joint venture institution between the Jewish Community in  Macedonia and the Government of Macedonia. Its main goal is to build and maintain  the Holocaust Memorial Center and its educational programs.

This year when we commemorated the 75 years since the destruction of the Jews from Macedonia, the Jewish Community and the Holocaust Fund asked the Prime Minister Mr. Zoran Zaev  to be the patron of this solemn anniversary, which was accepted. Like every year, the Government has been paying solemn tribute to its Jewish Community that perished in the Shoah. On 27th of January, every year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs organizes various activities to mark the International Holocaust Remembrance Day.

Since 2012, the Holocaust Memorial Center is part of the National Curriculum for History i.e. when learning on WWII and Holocaust visit to the Holocaust Center, and its then temporary exhibition, was recommended.

The Holocaust Memorial Center is committed and focused on Holocaust education, research and preserving the memory of the Holocaust, thus every year at least four regional teacher training seminars are organized in the Center with our partners, such as Centropa from Vienna and Memorial de la Shoah from Paris. The Holocaust Memorial Center organizes project for students, publishes books, organizes Art Colonies dedicated to Holocaust, creates exhibitions and  events.

The Holocaust Memorial Center is a Legacy program of the Jewish Community in Macedonia so that in our country and in this region, we can learn from the past, recognize and prevent deviant behavior that may lead to genocide, combat anti-Semitism, Holocaust denial, discrimination, xenophobia, and by doing so we are building a more just and equitable society.

The story of Jews in Macedonia can perhaps best be described by one of the last Holocaust survivors from what had once been the multiethnic city of Bitola (Monastir), Moriz Romano, who once wrote: “Living separately is like living in a ghetto, while living in a totally mixed society is like assimilation. So it is living separately, yet side by side with others, that leads us to emancipation.”

Comments and statements taken by Marie-Sarah Seeberger

You can also read:

• MACEDONIA ADOPTS DEFINITION OF ANTISEMITISM THAT MENTIONS ISRAEL HATRED in The Jerusalem Post