Lekari Jevreji u srpskom zdravstvu XIX i ranog XX veka

Abstract

Jevreji su u Srbiji bili poznati još u doba srednjovekovne nemanjićke države; oni se spominju u kraljevskim hrisovuljama. U doba turske vladavine, kada su na prelomu XV i XVI veka prognani iz Španije i Portugalije, najveći deo se rasuo širom Osmanskog carstva, pa i po srpskim zemljama, baveći se uglavnom sitnom trgovinom i zanatstvom. Tu su dočekali i srpske ustanke i autonomiju, prelazeći u Srbiju i iz susednih turskih oblasti. Miloševa Srbija, stekavši unutrašnju autonomiju, u prvo vreme nije imala nijednog školovanog lekara, već je lečenje bilo u rukama narodnih vidara („hećimi”) i putujućih epirskih Grka - iscelitenja („kalojatri”). Prvi diplomirani doktor medicine, Napolitanac - karbonar dr Vita Romita pojavio se u Beogradu 1821. godine, u pratnji turskog guvernera Abdurahman-paše, a kasnije je prešao u Miloševu službu. O njegovom radu sačuvano je dosta dokumenata u arhivi Kneževe kancelarije. Posle njega u Srbiju dolaze lekari raznih nacionalnosti.

Young Serbian autonomous state in her early days had no qualified medical personnel until 1821. Almost all doctors engaged later originated in the neighbouring Austrian Empire. Between them were also many Ashkenazi-branch Jews. A lot of them came between 1845. and 1885, many changed their original citizenship to Serbian, some also converted their confession and names, staying for good in Serbia and playing an outstanding role in the development of the domestic health system. They also participated in the Liberation wars against Turkey (1876, 1877/78) and the war against Bulgaria (1885), serving as active or reserve medical officers. At the end of XIX and the beginning of XX century a lot of young domestic Jews, sons of Sephardic families living with Serbs for centuries under Turkish rule, nicknaming themselves as „Moses-Serbs”; finished medical studies and entered Serbian civil and military service. They also bravely participated as officers of the Serbian Army in the two Balcan (1912/13) and the Great (1914/18) wars, some of them succumbing to war efforts and epidemics. Young Serbian state had no antisemitic feelings, as documented in this article: Jewish doctors were treated as all others in getting any available professional position according to their qualifications and experiences in civil and military health services. Many of them were high-ranking officers of the Serbian Army. A good and long-lasting cohabitation of those two peoples was brutally broken by a Nazi holocaust in 1941/42.