Jevreji u Pirotu

Abstract

Prvi Jevreji koji su se doselili u Pirot došli su najverovatnije iz Sofije i Carigrada u 17. veku. Bili su to Sefardi koji su govorili španski (Judeo-Espanjol). Dve stotine godina stari nadgrobni spomenici sa hebrejskim slovima još uvek se mogu naći na pirotskom jevrejskom groblju. Kao turski državljani, pirotski Jevreji uživali su sve slobode, uključujući pravo na trgovinu. Imali su sopstvenu sinagogu u gradu, imali su svog rabina i svoju školu u kojoj su deca pohađala časove verske nastave i takođe učila hebrejski jezik. Jevreji su živeli u svom kvartu, ali se njihova odeća nije razlikovala od odeće ostalog stanovništva. Muškarci su obično imali dugu bradu, dok su žene nosile posebnu kapu pod nazivom "tokado". Starije žene nisu govorile srpski, ali su muškarci i mlađe generacije koje su pohađale školu u gradu, savladali jezik. Nakon povlačenja Turaka, Jevreji koji su odlučili da ostanu u Pirotu, bili su poštovani građani i mnogi od njih su zajedno sa Srbima bili vlasnici trgovačkih radnji ili su bili poslovni partneri. Pirotski Jevreji su po profesiji bili uglavnom trgovci, poštari, hemičari, lekari, bankari. Održavali su dobre i prijateljske odnose sa srpskim stanovništvom. Posebno srdačno prijateljstvo razvilo se među mladima koji su zajedno odrastali i pohađali škole. Tokom Drugog svetskog rata, Bugari koji su okupirali Pirot, pohapsili su sve Jevreje u gradu. Prvo su ih opljačkali, a potom prevezli u Bugarsku i predali Nemcima, koji su ih sve ubili. Niko nije preživeo.

The first Jews who settled in Pirot came there most probably from Sofia and Constantinople in the 17th century. They were Sephardim and spoke Spanish (Judeo-Espagnol). Two hundred years old tombstones with Hebrew letter can still be found in the Pirot Jewish cemetery. As Turkish citizens, the Pirot Jews enjoyed all freedoms including the right to be engaged in trade. They had their own synagogue in the city, they had their rabbi and their own school in which the children attended classes of religious instruction and learned the Hebrew language as well. The Jews lived in their own quarter in the city but their clothing did not differ from that of the rest of the population. Men would usually have a long beard while the women would wear a special cap called “tokado". The older women could not speak Serbian but the men and the young generation, which attended school in the city, mastered the language. After the withdrawal of the Turks, those Jews who chose to remain in Pirot, were all respected citizens and many of them were partners of Serbs as joint owners of trading or other business operations. By profession, the Jews of Pirot were mostly traders, postmen, chemists, physicians, bankers. They maintained good and friendly relations with the Serbian population Particular warm friendship has developed among the youth as they grew up and attended school together. During WWII the Bulgarians who occupied Pirot arrested all the Jews they could lay hands-on in the city. First, they subjected them to plunder and then transported them to Bulgaria proper to hand them over to Germans who killed them all so that no one survived.