engleski

Fallen Jewish Soldiers in Croatia during the First World War

As citizens of a country at war, the citizens of the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia (then part of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy) participated in all wartime activities during the First World War, regardless of their faith or nationality. Therefore, the Jewish community of Croatia also adapted itself to the wartime circumstances and was included in all war- related activities. Young Jewish men fit for military service were mobilised and sent to various fronts ; their fathers, grandfathers and brothers were too old or declared unfit for military service financed the war through their everyday work and war bonds ; their mothers, sisters, daughters and wives were active in numerous charity organisations and spent their days collecting monetary aid or food in various ways. The municipal, social and political life of the Croatian Jewish communities was frozen until mid-1917, while their religious life was limited to celebrating religious holidays. Zionist and, in part, the Jewish cultural societies ceased their activities, leaving only charities active. The number of mobilised Croatian Jews remains unknown, as does the number of their dead, since there are still no general summary data on the demographic losses of Croatia in the First World War (died in wartime operation, died of wounds, or died of epidemics which spread at the fronts). Dead Jewish soldiers were usually buried near the place of their death, leaving only a small number to be buried near their homes. Their names were only rarely inscribed on family tombs or recorded in registers of deaths. It is currently known that there were 33 Jewish municipalities in the Kingdom of Croatia and Slavonia on the eve of the First World War, 28 of which were included in this study (the ones which now lie on the territory of Serbia as well as the ones in Istria and Dalmatia have been left out). Only three of these have erected memorials to commemorate the Jewish soldiers who died during the First World War. In this study, the author shall strive to offer estimates of the number of Jewish soldiers who died in Croatia.

First World War, Jews, soldiers

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