Jevreji i antisemitizam u Kraljevini Jugoslaviji: 1918–1941 by Milan Koljanin

Abstract

Reviewed by: Jevreji i antisemitizam u Kraljevini Jugoslaviji: 1918–1941 by Milan Koljanin Petar Čolić Milan Koljanin. Jevreji i antisemitizam u Kraljevini Jugoslaviji: 1918–1941 [The Jews and Anti-Semitism in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia, 1918–1941]. Belgrade: Institut savremenu istoriju, 2008. 550 pp. ISBN 9788674031254. Well acquainted with the history of the Jews in former Yugoslavia, Milan Koljanin devoted decades of research to the status of Jews and the question of anti-Semitism in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia. The Jews and Anti-Semitism in the Kingdom of Yugoslavia is a product of this work. Published by the Institute for Contemporary History in 2008, it presents an expanded version of the author’s doctoral dissertation. In addition to this study, numerous related works by Koljanin include: German concentration camp in the Belgrade fairground 1941–1944 (Master’s thesis), The Holocaust in Yugoslavia 1941–1944, Anti-Semitic stereotypes and propaganda in Serbia 1941–1942, and Picture of the enemy/ally in Serbia 1941–1944. Traditions, ideologies, stereotypes. The book is divided into four parts. In the first chapter, “Yugoslav Jews and the Social Environment”1 the author deals with the definition of the term anti-Semitism, citing interpretations ranging from old encyclopedias to those of modern historians. The author states that “Anti-Semitism has been intensified and radicalized by secular religion in a nation dominated by racism.”2 A large part is dedicated to the methods the Nazi’s used to eliminate the Jews (gas chambers, crematoriums) as well as Hitler’s commitment to “the final solution.” The author brings up the fact that in the camps, which were “the embodiment of the Nazi idealized universe,”3 around 3.5 million Jews were killed throughout Europe. Koljanin addresses the issue of the immigration of the Jews into the Balkans as well as their position in the Serbian rebellions of 1804 and 1815. He points out that Serbian-Jewish relations were harmonious, but that an exception to this was the passage of anti-Semitic laws of 1861. In proportion to the general population, the number of Jews on the side of Serbia in the Balkan wars [End Page 173] (1912–13) and World War I (1914–18) was significant. Citing many arguments, the author observes that the Jews had a significant impact on the modernization of Balkan societies, including Serbian. Given the great economic power they had in relation to the population in general, Jews were often accused of involvement in a number of financial scandals. “The principal position of anti-Semitic propaganda in Yugoslavia was that the Jews were behind almost all major scandals, which has been an important part of the stereotyping of Jews as parasites and crooks who unfairly gain wealth and live at the expense of the people—the host.”4 According to Koljanin, the fact is that after the establishment of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes, Jews played a prominent role in strengthening the commercial, financial, and industrial capital, and the former political elite allowed a high degree of assimilation of Jews. The second part of the book is entitled “Anti-Semitism.”5 Anti-Semitism as a phenomenon occurred and continuously existed in Europe for several hundred years. In the territory of Yugoslavia the problem of the “final solution” of the Jewish question was first formulated in the 1930s by Dimitrije Ljotić, the leader of the joint combat organization known as the Yugoslav National Movement “Zbor.” It should be noted that the Kingdom of Yugoslavia was a very heterogeneous state in terms of religious and ethnic views. In the total collapse of Parliamentary life and among growing ethnic tensions, the Jewish community loyally supported the Yugoslav state, confirmed by the election of prominent Jews as councilors in Belgrade by King Alexandar Karadjordjević’s 1932 decree. The author states the fact that the global economic crisis and an overall poor financial situation of the country have often been the catalyst for the emergence of negativism towards Jews, i.e., it was not part of some abstract doctrine. In the third chapter, “In the Shadow of the Upcoming Disaster,”6 Koljanin argues that the position of Jews during the Second World War in Yugoslavia (1941–45) was...