engleski

Heterogeneous Communities during and after Nazi Rule: Relationships between Jews and "Non-Aryans": Relationships between Jews and "Non-Aryans" in Zagreb

The Independent State of Croatia (ISC) was proclaimed on April 10, 1941. Anti-Jewish measures were implemented swiftly and on April 30 the Racial laws were proclaimed. The three Jewish communities in Zagreb (Neolog, Orthodox and Sephardic) were dismantled immediately and on May 14, 1941 only the Neolog was reinstated, under the direct control of the Ministry of Interior of ISC. Membership was mandatory for all the city’s Jews as defined by racial laws. The community was responsible for Jews imprisoned in concentration camps in the ISC and for the remaining Jews in Zagreb, where it ran old people’s home(s), a school, registrar books and a synagogue. It was financed by mandatory membership fees and international Jewish organizations. The presentation intends to examine the relationships between different members of this coerced community: prewar members with diverse political and religious affiliation and new “non-Aryan” members, who perceived themselves mostly as Catholics, sometimes prewar Yugoslav or Croatian nationalists with occasional even antisemitic tendencies. Some had converted to Catholicism for the sake of marriage, others were already born as Catholic Croatians. On the other hand, there were converts to Judaism, some of them even married to prominent Zionists, who had been active in the prewar Community. Finally, there were also a number of Jewish refugees from the Third Reich. Their reactions to the new situation differed significantly: From acceptance and a new kind of group solidarity to refusal to accept this imposed identity and even unwillingness to show solidarity to other persecuted community members. Chances of survival often depended on “Aryan” family members. While many “non-Aryan” Croats were deported, those who were intermarried could in some cases remain. Finally, the post-war choices and identities of these different community members as well as the destiny of Jewish refugees from the Reich will also be addressed.

Shoah ; Holocaust ; Zagreb ; Croatia ; Racial laws

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