The Sephardi Perspective: When Balkan Muslims were rescued by Jews

The recent turmoil in the Balkans and the hosting of the Global Forum for Combating Anti-Semitism in Israel last week make it an auspicious time to remember a little-known event in Jewish history.

During wars and fractious national events, Jews are usually caught in the middle to a devastating extent. The Jewish community as the ultimate 'other' is rarely trusted by any side in conflict and tries to keep as low a profile as possible. The opposite was the case during the siege of Sarajevo from 1992 to 1996.

The Jewish community of Sarajevo can trace its existence back to a safe haven for those Iberian exiles that fled the Inquisition and ultimately the expulsions. Even today the majority of the Jewish community is Sephardi and although many were wiped out during the Holocaust, Ladino is still spoken by many.

In 1992, with the break-up of Yugoslavia, Bosnian Serbs, backed up by Belgrade surrounded the new Bosnian Capital Sarajevo for what became the longest siege on a city in modern warfare.

During the initial stages of the siege some Jews, along with others, tried to leave the city and many thought all the Jews would leave. To demonstrate the importance of the Jewish community, Bosnian president Alija Izetbegovi? requested that Jews should not depart, saying it was a bad omen for the country if they did. The Jews in the predominantly Muslim Sarajevo were respected and had a fine reputation amongst its neighbors. The Jewish community did not disappoint their fellow Sarajevans and immediately initiated an unprecedented humanitarian project to assist all that needed it in the battered city.

"La Benevolencija" was a humanitarian organization founded by Sephardic Jews in Sarajevo in the middle of the 18th century, which aimed to help the welfare of those who needed it. When the war in Bosnia and Herzegovina broke out in 1992, "La Benevolencija" was reactivated in Sarajevo to assist all who needed its assistance regardless of race or religion in the ethnically torn city.

With the help of the Joint Distribution Committee, the organization opened a free pharmacy and a food delivery service to those who could not leave their homes due to sniper fire.

Ivan Ceresnjes, who was chairman of the Sarajevo Jewish community at the time of the war, said "The Roman Catholic charities exclusively took care of Catholics unless one was willing to convert. The Muslim charities only looked after Muslims." So it was up to the Jewish community to run the only non-sectarian humanitarian organization that truly sought the welfare of all Sarajevans.

Ceresnjes and other prominent members also set up the 'Friends of La Benevolencija' support organization which raised money to bring in food supplies and help evacuate people out of the firing line. The eight convoys that the organization managed to secrete people out of Sarajevo saved many lives and were extremely hazardous operations in their own right. The convoys had to pass through Serb, Bosnian and Croatian areas and the only people who could do this were the Jews.

La Benevolencija also set up a radio station that allowed anyone to communicate with family abroad and importantly ran an essential postal service. This was all provided in the face of an imposing United Nations bureaucracy which put hurdles in the way of almost every project.

The organization continues to this day in the city of Sarajevo and is well admired by most Sarajevans for its contributions during the difficult siege. Many Bosnians, mostly Muslims, owe their life to the plucky Jewish community and the services they rendered.

This episode of bravery by the Jewish community is relatively unknown, even in the wider Jewish world. Ceresnjes was named Chevalier de l' Ordre de la Legion d'Honneur of the French Republic in 1994 for preserving the multi-cultural, multi-confessional spirit of the country, for helping victims of war in a totally non-sectarian way, and for preserving an island of peace among warring parts of the country.

However, this story should be a reminder to those anti-Semites that Jews when given respect and allowed to do so, will strive to assist their neighbors in a time of need.

Jewish history has long been one of expulsion, antagonism and pogrom. The Jews of Sarajevo proved the anti-Semitic canard that Jews are disloyal to their country and only care about themselves is completely untrue. This especially from a community whose history involves the Inquisition, the Expulsion and the Holocaust.