JEWISH HERITAGE SITES IN CROATIA 

PRELIMINARY REPORT 

United States Commission for 

the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad 

2005 
UNITED STATES COMMISSION FOR 

THE PRESERVATION OF AMERICA’S HERITAGE ABROAD 

Warren L. Miller, Chairman 

McLean, VA 

Members: 

Ned Bandler 

Bridgewater, CT 

Chaskel Besser 

New York, NY 

Amy S. Epstein 

Pinellas Park, FL 

 

Edgar Gluck 

Brooklyn, NY 

Phyllis Kaminsky 

Potomac, MD 

Zvi Kestenbaum 

Brooklyn, NY 

Daniel Lapin 

Mercer Island, WA 

Gary J. Lavine 

Fayetteville, NY 

Michael B. Levy 

Washington, DC 

Rachmiel Liberman 

Brookline, MA 

Laura Raybin Miller 

Hollywood, FL 

Vincent Obsitnik 

Peachtree City, VA 

August B. Pust

Euclid, OH 

Menno Ratzker 

Monsey, NY 

Harriet Rotter 

Bingham Farms, MI 

Lee Seeman 

Great Neck, NY 

 

Steven E. Some 

Princeton, NJ 

Irving Stolberg 

New Haven, CT 

Ari Storch 

Potomac, MD 

Staff: 

Jeffrey L. Farrow 

Executive Director 

Samuel D. Gruber 

Research Director 

Katrina A. Krzysztofiak 

Program Manager 

888 17th Street, N.W., Suite 1160 

Washington, DC 20006 

Ph: (202) 254-3824 Fax: (202) 254-3934 

E-mail: uscommission@heritageabroad.gov
October 10, 2005 

Message from the Chairman 

One of the principal missions that United States law assigns the Commission for the Preservation 

of America’s Heritage Abroad is to identify and report on cemeteries, monuments, and historic 

buildings in Central and Eastern Europe associated with the cultural heritage of U.S. citizens, 

especially endangered sites. The Congress and the President were prompted to establish the 

Commission because of the special problem faced by Jewish sites in the region: The 

communities that had once cared for the properties were annihilated during the Holocaust. The 

atheistic Communist Party dictatorships that succeeded the Nazis throughout most of the region 

were insensitive to American Jewish concerns about the preservation of the sites. Properties 

were converted to other uses or encroached upon by development. Natural deterioration was not 

counteracted. Vandalism often went unchecked. 

This report preliminarily identifies and discusses Jewish cemeteries, synagogue buildings, and 

Jewish monuments located in the Republic of Croatia. The Commission plans to report on a more 

thorough survey of Jewish sites in the country. We hope that these reports will encourage 

preservation efforts and assist American Jews of Croatian descent to connect with the last 

remnants of their heritage in Croatia. 

The Commission is also required by U.S. law to seek assurances from the governments of the 

region regarding the protection and preservation of these cultural heritage properties. I am 

pleased to note that the Governments of the United States and Croatia entered into a Commissionnegotiated agreement regarding the protection and preservation of certain cultural properties 

earlier this year. The agreement covers the sites identified in this report. 

 
Table of Contents 

Map of Croatia ............................................................................................................................... i 

I. JEWISH HISTORY IN CROATIA ........................................................................................... 1 

II. EFFECTS OF THE 1990S WAR ............................................................................................. 2 

II.1. JEWS............................................................................................................................................................2

II.2. CULTURAL SITES.........................................................................................................................................3 

III. HISTORIC MONUMENT PRESERVATION POLICY............................................................... 4 

IV. JEWISH HERITAGE SITES IN CROATIA .............................................................................. 4 

IV.1. STATUS OF SITES.........................................................................................................................................5

IV.2. MAJOR SITES...............................................................................................................................................5

IV.3. HOLOCAUST SITES ....................................................................................................................................12

IV.4. ARCHEOLOGICAL SITES.............................................................................................................................14

IV.5. SITE LIST...................................................................................................................................................14

V. BIBLIOGRAPHY ................................................................................................................. 24 
i

Map of Croatia 

 

 
1

I. Jewish History in Croatia

Jews lived on the Dalmatian Coast in ancient Roman times and are also known to have had 

ancient settlements inland. Archaeological finds from the second, third, and fourth centuries 

have revealed traces of Jews in Istria, Dalmatia and inland Slavonia, but the only evidence of 

permanent ancient settlements has been found at Salona (Split) and Mursa (Osijek). 

There were a few Jewish settlements in what is now Croatia during the Middle Ages. These 

settlements were mainly on the coast, where major Jewish communities linked to sea-going 

commerce developed. Jews were mentioned in the 14th century in the towns of Zadar (1303), 

Dubrovnik (1326), and Split (1397), and, later, in Sibenik (1432) and Rijeka (1436). In inland 

Croatia, there is evidence of a Jewish presence in Zagreb in 1355. 

Most of inland Croatia came under Hapsburg rule in 1526. The Hapsburgs ordered the 

wholesale expulsion of Jews from the territory, and few Jews lived in inland Croatia until 

Emperor Joseph II issued an Edict of Tolerance in 1783. It allowed Jews freedom of movement 

and other civil rights in Croatian territory. Ashkenazic Jewish immigrants from Hungary, 

Bohemia, Moravia, and Austria soon moved south and founded most inland Croatia Jewish 

communities. Jews in this part of Croatia achieved full emancipation only in 1873 but by the end 

of the 19th century most Jewish communities of the region were prosperous, integrated, and 

upwardly mobile. 

Along the coast, small medieval Jewish communities were bolstered in the late 15th and early 

16th centuries by waves of Sephardic Jewish refugees fleeing Spain, Portugal, and parts of Italy. 

None of the communities (except that in the Istrian port of Rijeka) ever reached more than a few 

hundred people. They wielded considerable economic influence however. 

About 25,000 Jews lived in Croatia on the eve of World War II. In April 1941, after the Nazi 

conquest of Yugoslavia, Croatia was proclaimed an independent country. It was ruled as a Nazi 

puppet state by the ultra-nationalist, fascist Ustasa movement. The Ustasa implemented harsh 

anti-Semitic legislation and carried out horrific atrocities against Jews, Serbs, and Gypsies 

(Roma). A number of transit and concentration camps were set up, including the Jasenovac 

death camp south of Zagreb, sometimes referred to as the “Auschwitz of the Balkans.”1

 

Most of the Dalmatian Coast area, however, was occupied by the Italians, who were generally 

more lenient and refused to carry out mass deportations to German death camps. Most Jews in 

the area were interned on Rab Island. 

About 5,000 Croatian Jews survived the Holocaust. Most were either in the Italian-occupied 

zone or were fighters in anti-fascist partisan units. Many immigrated to Israel after the war. 

 

1 For chronology of the Jewish Holocaust in Croatia, see Lengel-Krizman, Narcisa, “The Chronology of the Jewish 

Ordeal,” in Voice, No. 1, Spring 1996, Zagreb, 31-37.
2

Yugoslav Jews belonged to local communities linked in autonomous republic-wide 

organizations, which in turn were members of a nationwide Federation of Yugoslav Jewish 

Communities based in Belgrade. The country had only one rabbi. 

Most Jews were concentrated in Zagreb, capital of Croatia, Sarajevo, capital of BosniaHerzegovina, and Belgrade, capital of Serbia and the federal capital. 

Legally, the Jewish community – consisting of about 6,000 people throughout the former 

Yugoslavia – was recognized as both an ethnic and a religious community. 

Yugoslavia was not a member of the Soviet bloc, and Jews were not persecuted or isolated as 

were Jews in other communist states. Instead, they assimilated into society and lost contact with 

religious life; they were Yugoslavs first and Jews second. 

The Federation of Yugoslav Jewish Communities was responsible for caring for Jewish 

cemeteries, synagogues, and other infrastructure in towns where no communities existed. As 

Ivan Ceresnjes, a former president of the Sarajevo Jewish community and current researcher for 

the Center for Jewish Art at Hebrew University, put it: “Some of these cemeteries were moved 

elsewhere; while others were maintained at considerable expense. In addition, the [Yugoslav] 

Jewish community erected close to thirty memorials around the country to commemorate the 

Jews who lost their lives during the war.”2

Throughout the 1980s, participation of Jews grew in wide-ranging programs and activities run by 

the Federation and individual Jewish communities. International Jewish philanthropic 

organizations helped. 

Though Yugoslavia had broken diplomatic relations with Israel after the Six-Day War in 1967, 

commercial and cultural ties as well as cooperation in the areas of sports and tourism grew 

during the 1980s. 

About 2,000 Jews lived in Croatia on the eve of the 1990s civil wars. They were highly 

integrated into mainstream society: Of the post World War II generations, about 80 percent were 

intermarried, or the children of mixed marriages. Only a small minority were religious. 

II. Effects of the 1990s War 

II.1. Jews 

The new government of Croatia that came out of the wars appeared to use support for Jews as a 

means of counterbalancing an image of nationalism and historic revisionism that the country had 

acquired. 

 

2 Ceresnjes, Ivan. Caught in the Winds of War: Jews in the Former Yugoslavia. Jerusalem: World Jewish Congress, 

1999, 27.
3

The government funded the reconstruction of the Zagreb Jewish community building after it was 

hit by a terrorist bomb in 1991. It provided other financial assistance, fostered cooperative 

relationships with aid organizations, such as the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee 

(JDC), and awarded honors to Jews and Jewish causes. President Tudjman also toned down 

statements in his memoirs that were viewed as anti-Semitic and apologized for giving offense. 

Local Jewish leaders met with Tudjman and other senior officials, and several Jews occupied 

prominent government positions. Many Jews, however, chose to emigrate. 

Among those who stayed, a number found their identity by reclaiming affiliation with the Jewish 

world. This sparked a revival of communal life. Though most members remained nonobservant, a rabbi took up a position in Zagreb in 1998 for the first time since World War II. 

II.2. Cultural Sites 

The bitter fighting sparked by Croatia’s secession from Yugoslavia in 1991 took a heavy toll on 

cultural heritage sites. 

According to the report, “Heritage at Risk 2001-2002: Croatia” prepared by Vlado Ukraincik for 

the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), more than 2,000 cultural 

monuments were damaged, or destroyed in Croatia by Serb paramilitary forces and the Yugoslav 

Army between 1991 and 1995.3 

The total number of registered and protected cultural monuments amounted to 5,926. About 37 

percent suffered at least some damage, and nearly seven percent were destroyed during the 

fighting. “This destruction was undertaken without military necessity, but rather with the aim of 

destroying a culture, a people, and their continuity in a large segment of the territory of the 

Republic of Croatia,” wrote Ukraincik. “During 1991 and 1992, the historical centers of towns 

and villages, which had no military units or strategic assets or targets, were shelled or mined over 

many months.” 

According to the report, the greatest concentrations of damaged cultural monuments were 

located in Dubrovnik-Neretva County (683 cultural monuments, most of them in Dubrovnik) and 

in Osijek-Baranja County (356 cultural monuments, most of them in Osijek). The most severely 

damaged historical buildings were in the devastated town of Vukovar (21 completely destroyed 

and 50 partly demolished). 

Ukraincik reported that civilian buildings listed as cultural monuments suffered the most 

damage: 1,759, most located in historical urban centers, were harmed. 

Religious cultural monuments came second on the list, amounting to one-fifth of the total 

number of damaged or destroyed monuments. Roman Catholic sites were hit most often. 

 

3 Ukraincik, Vlado. “H@R! Heritage at Risk 2001-2002: Croatia”. ICOMOS. www.icomos.org. This section is 

drawn from this report: See http://www.international.icomos.org/risk/2001/croa2001.htm.
4

The roof of the historic synagogue in the center of Dubrovnik was hit by shells in December 

1991 and suffered considerable damage. Also, the building housing the Jewish community 

headquarters in Osijek was damaged. In Zagreb, both the Jewish community building, and the 

Jewish cemetery were hit by terrorist bombs. 

III. Historic Monument Preservation Policy 

Croatia’s Service for the Protection of Cultural Monuments began to systematically register 

historic cultural monuments in 1991 and report damage to government ministries, news media, 

and international bodies including UNESCO and the Council of Europe.4 

A Special Central Commission for Registering and Estimating War Damage to Cultural 

Monuments was also set up at the Institute for the Protection of Cultural Monuments to 

formulate a method to register and evaluate war damage to cultural monuments. 

IV. Jewish Heritage Sites in Croatia 

Croatia’s sites of Jewish heritage range from archeological relics, to medieval ghetto areas, to 

synagogues, and to Jewish cemeteries with designs that reflect both Sephardic and Ashkenazic 

traditions. In addition, there are Holocaust sites, including memorials. 

Over the course of history, sites of Jewish heritage existed in more than 80 cities, towns, and 

villages. These included about 70 synagogues, 30 of which were built as synagogues and 30 of 

which were located in converted rooms in residences. (There is no documentation for the 

remaining 10.) Most of Croatia’s synagogues have been destroyed.5 

There are believed to be at least 67 Jewish cemeteries existing in Croatia. Most date from the 

mid-19th to the early 20th century. Some are well maintained, but others -- probably the 

majority -- are neglected and overgrown. 

The Adriatic Coast cities of Split and Dubrovnik both have centuries-old synagogues within 

Jewish ghetto areas in the ancient city centers. 

In northern and inland Croatia, where Jewish settlement began in the 18th century, many towns 

boasted large, ornate synagogues dating from the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The 

synagogues served prosperous, highly acculturated, and upwardly mobile Jewish communities. 

Some were designed by leading architects of the day: The synagogue in Rijeka, for example, was 

designed by Budapest architect Lipot Baumhorn, the most prolific modern European designer of 

synagogues. The synagogues in Slavonski Brod and Krizevci were designed by Leo Hönigsberg 

and Julius Deutsch, whose firm designed “almost every twentieth building erected in Zagreb 

 

4 See the ICOMOS report, Ibid. Much of the following section of this report is drawn from the ICOMOS report. 5 Karac, Zlako. “Synagogue Architecture in Croatia in the Age of Historicism,” in Voice, No. 3, Autumn 2000. 

Zagreb. 
5

between 1890 and 1910.”6

 In some towns, two synagogues existed, either for the Ashkenazic 

community or the Sephardic communities, or for orthodox and reform congregations, or old and 

new buildings. 

Almost all Croatian synagogues that stood before World War II has been destroyed -- many by 

the fascist Ustasha regime that ruled the Nazi puppet Independent Croatia. Others destroyed by 

the Nazis, by Allied bombing, by partisans, or, after World War II, by the communist authorities. 

At least two other synagogues, which survived World War II, although in a damaged condition, 

were subsequently demolished by the Jewish community. 

After World War II, several other surviving synagogues were transformed for other uses, ranging 

from churches to cultural venues to schools. Jewish community officials would like to have 

these buildings publicly identified and would prefer to see them serving an “appropriate” 

function. 

“If nothing else, we would at least like to have the synagogue buildings serving some cultural 

purpose and marked by memorial plaques,” said Ognjen Kraus, president of the Coordination 

Commission of Jewish Communities in Croatia. “Some of them have already been designated in 

this way. We would also prefer that the synagogue buildings being used for inappropriate 

purposes be converted for utilization, which would be more in keeping with their former function 

and present memorial character.”7

During the 1990s, there were several instances of vandalism against Jewish sites in Croatia, 

including terrorist bombs at the Jewish community center and Jewish cemetery in Zagreb, and 

vandalism at the cemeteries in Karlovac and Koprivnica. 

IV.1. Status of Sites 

The information on most of the Jewish heritage sites listed here was collated from material from 

several sources. These included Center for Jewish Art researcher Ivan Ceresnjes, published 

information, the International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies Cemetery Project, 

and the JewishGen Web site, which includes information provided by Srdjan Matic, a former 

official of the Zagreb Jewish Community who now lives in New York. Information was also 

gained through visits to some of the sites. 

IV.2. Major Sites 

1. Zagreb 

Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, is the site of the country’s largest Jewish community: about 1,500 

out of Croatia’s 2,000 to 2,500 Jews there. 

 

6

 Laszlo, Aleksandar and Zlatko Juric. “Hönigsberg & Deutsch. An Architectural Opus: A Blueprint for a Critical 

Retrospective,” in Voice, No.1, op cit, 61. 7

 Kraus, Ognjen, “The Memory and the Identity,” in Voice, No. 3, op cit
6

Jews are believed to have settled in Zagreb around 1355. They were expelled a century later, 

however, and were not permitted to establish a permanent community again until the end of the 

18th century. The first Jewish religious community comprising about 75 members was formally 

established in 1806. By 1940, nearly 12,000 Jews lived in Zagreb and the highly assimilated 

community was the most prosperous in Yugoslavia. It included many businessmen, 

professionals, and intellectuals. Most were killed in the Holocaust. 

The Jewish community headquarters is in a building at Palmoticeva 16, built in 1857.8 The 

building houses community offices, a synagogue, a kindergarten, an art gallery, club 

premises/function room, a Holocaust research and documentation center, and the Lavoslav Sik 

Library, the largest Jewish library in the Balkans. This is a collection of 2,000 bound 

periodicals, 6,000 documents, and other materials. Its Hebraica collection consists of books 

printed by Jewish printing houses in Italy and Central and Eastern Europe. Most date from the 

19th century, but some rare books in the collection date from the 16th, 17th and 18th centuries. 

These include a 16th century edition of the Shulhan Aruch by Joseph Caro, printed in Venice, 

Italy. 

The Jewish community building was seriously damaged by a terrorist bomb in August 1991. 

The Croatian government funded repairs and the building was formally reopened in September 

1992. Down the street at Palmoticeva 22, a plaque marks the building that once housed the 

Maccabbee sports club. The community also has an old age home in a separate building. 

There also a Judaica collection at the Zagreb Arts and Crafts museum. 

A parking lot now occupies the site at Praska 7 where Zagreb’s main synagogue stood until its 

destruction at the end of 1941/the beginning of 1942 on the orders of the Ustasha mayor of 

Zagreb. (Pictures taken by an anonymous photographer exist, showing various stages of the 

demolition.9) A shopping center was built on the site after the war, but it burned down about 30 

years ago. A memorial plaque on the wall of an adjoining building commemorates the 

synagogue. 

Built in 1867, the synagogue was designed by architect Franjo Klein. The design was influenced 

by Ludwig von Forster’s Tempelgasse synagogue in Vienna, Austria. 

After years of legal wrangling, the empty plot was restituted to the Zagreb Jewish community in 

1999. The community plans to erect a new Jewish complex on the site, including a memorial 

synagogue, a cultural and community center, and a museum. 

 

8

 For date, see Wall, Alexandra J., “Comeback in Croatia,” in Jewish Community News, vol. 14, No. 17, Nov. 19, 

1999. 

9

 See, among others, Voice, No. 1, op cit, 30, and Knezevic, Snjeska. Reliquiae Reliquiarum: Zagreb Synagogue. 

Zagreb: Jewish Community of Zagreb, 1990. The photographs have been preserved in the Zagreb City Museum and 

in the Directorate for the Protection of the Cultural Patrimony of the Ministry of Culture. The demolition was also 

filmed, but only one minute of the film survives. Mira Wolf used this footage from an Ustasha propaganda film in 

her Croatian Television (HTV) documentary “The Zagreb Synagogue 1867-1942.” 
7

The question of just what to build has been a major point of debate among local Jews and a 

significant issue for the city. The question is whether a totally new, modern building should be 

erected or whether the new structure should recreate the facade of the destroyed landmark. 

Zagreb’s central Mirogoj cemetery was established in 1876 to replace several smaller, older 

cemeteries. This was the city’s first central cemetery serving all religions, where Catholics, 

Muslims, Jews, and other were buried. The Jewish section, established in 1878, replaced two 

earlier Jewish cemeteries – one opened in 1811 and used for burials until 1877, and one opened 

in 1858, and used for burials until 1878. Some of the monuments from these cemeteries were 

moved to Mirogoj. 

Mirogoj is among the most impressive and the best maintained cemetery complexes, not only in 

Croatia, but also in the whole region. Architect Herman Bollè, who died in 1926, designed it to 

be a beautiful park and an open-air art gallery, as well as a place of burial. It is a monumental 

composition of arcades, pavilions, and domes, intermingled with rich vegetation and sculptures. 

His plan was to encircle the entire cemetery with impressive arcades, but these remained 

unfinished due to lack of funds. 

The Jewish section at Mirogoj originally had 13 separate sections: 10 for Ashkenazic Neolog, 

two for Sephardic, and one for Orthodox Jews. Prominent Zagreb Jews also had family tombs 

located in one of the cemetery’s arcades. 

At its peak, the cemetery had 4,000 to 5,000 monuments but now it has about 1,500. The city of 

Zagreb has title to the property. 

A number of the Jewish tombs have been replaced with the graves of non-Jews. The local law 

provides that graves that are not maintained after a generation may be sold as burial plots to 

others. During the Communist period, in 1961 approximately 1,000 Jewish graves were 

exhumed and moved into a mass grave in the Jewish section of the main cemetery in Zagreb. 

This City subsequently sold the plots. Some of the old tombstones have been replaced by new 

monuments but in other cases the name of a newly buried person has been added to a tombstone. 

An imposing statue of Moses by the sculptor Antun Augustincic serves as a Holocaust memorial. 

(Originally, it was intended to form part of a family tomb, but the family in question donated it 

for use as a memorial after the war.) 

A terrorist bomb exploded in the Jewish section of the cemetery in 1991 but the damage was 

soon repaired. 

2. Osijek 

Osijek, the biggest town in the eastern region of Croatia known as Slavonia, is on the Drava 

River near the border with Serbia. It has three sections -- the Lower Town, Upper Town, and 

Fortress -- which merged into one city in 1786. 
8

Osijek’s Jewish community was formally established in 1849 and it included prosperous 

merchants, businessmen, and professionals. In the late 19th century, Osijek had the largest 

Jewish community in Croatia: In 1880, its 1,585 members were more than the Zagreb 

community’s 1,296. Jews made up nearly nine percent of Osijek’s population. 

The area was the scene of fierce fighting during the 1990s wars. 

 

Today’s Jewish community has about 100 members. Headquarters of the community is in the 

former Jewish school at Radiceva 13. 

In a park across from this building is a striking Holocaust memorial, a sculpture by Oscar Nemon 

called “Mother and Child.” 

Osijek’s main synagogue was designed by the architect Theodor Stern. It was built in 1869 on 

the upper town’s main commercial street, opposite the county hall. It was a massive brick 

building with a plaster facade and terracotta decoration. Built in a style utilizing both neoRomanesque and neo-Moorish forms, it had two towers topped by lotus domes and was taller 

than any other building in the town. The synagogue burned in 1941 and its ruins were torn down 

in 1948-1950. An apartment building now stands on the spot. 

A smaller synagogue was built in Osijek’s Lower Town in 1903. The architect is not known. It 

is a freestanding building combining neo-Romanesque and neo-Moorish elements, with a slightly 

projecting central facade flanked by two towers topped by ‘onion’ domes. This synagogue was 

sold by the Jewish community and, since 1970, has functioned as a Pentecostal church. It is in 

good condition. The tablets of the Ten Commandments from its synagogue history can still be 

seen – below a cross – at the peak of the central part of the facade. The Ark, crowned by Tablets 

of the Law, remains in place, as do Stars of David in the round windows of the former women's 

gallery. 

The Jewish cemetery in the Upper Town (at Cepinska 11-13), dating back to 1850, and still in 

use by the community, has a neo-Romanesque ceremonial hall in good condition, and is 

surrounded by a fence. Many of its 500-600 tombs denote the prosperity of the pre-war 

community. Inscriptions on the tombs are in Hebrew, German, Hungarian, and Croatian. The 

condition of the cemetery is good; maintenance is fair. 

The Lower Town Jewish cemetery was established in 1860, and has 70-100 tombs with 

inscriptions in Hebrew, German, and Hungarian. Though surrounded by a wire fence with a 

gate, it is overgrown and not well maintained. The small cemetery chapel was slightly damaged 

in the 1990s war but it has been repaired. 

3. Split 

Jews lived near Split in Salona in ancient Roman times (see Archaeological Sites on page 17). 

After Salona was destroyed by invaders in the seventh century, Jews presumably took refuge 

within the walls of the nearby palace and founded the core of the eventual Jewish community in 
9

the new settlement, which grew into the city of Split. The first documentary evidence of a 

Jewish community in Split dates from the mid-14th century, when Episcopal records mention a 

“great synagogue” within the walls of the palace. 

The Jewish community grew markedly with the arrival of exiles from Spain and Portugal in the 

late 15th and the early 16th centuries. 

Today about 100 Jews live in Split. 

The existing synagogue is believed to date from about 1500, but it has been rebuilt and renovated 

many times since then. It was incorporated into a residential building in the northwestern corner 

of the palace walls. During the Italian occupation in 1942, Italian fascists devastated the tiny 

sanctuary, and destroyed most of the synagogue’s ritual objects, archives, Torah scrolls, books, 

and ancient archives in a public bonfire in the main town square. 

On some of the interior walls of the palace, archaeologists have discovered carvings of menorahs 

with four to six branches and a base dating from the 12th century concentrated in an area believed 

to have been the site of the earliest Jewish settlement or gathering place. 

The synagogue was restored after the war. It is a rectangular room with windows set into arches, 

and a stone ark flanked by columns set under a decorative arch delineating the eastern wall. It 

was again fully renovated and ceremonially reopened in September 1996. 

The synagogue is located on Zidovski prolaz (Jewish passage), a narrow alley in the cramped old 

Jewish quarter in the northwestern part of the palace, which is still known as the ghetto. Another 

alley is called “Jews’ Place” and the northwestern tower of the palace is known as “Jews’ Gate.” 

The large, old Jewish cemetery is located on the eastern slope of Mt. Marjan above the town. 

The plot is more or less rectangular (with one side longer than the other). Jews obtained the site 

as a cemetery in 1573 after Jewish exiles from Spain and Portugal found refuge in Split but the 

earliest extant tombstone is from 1717. Jews were buried at the cemetery until World War II. 

The cemetery includes some 700 tombstones. There are two types of stones, both horizontal in 

the Sephardic fashion: one in the shape of a sarcophagus roof, and the other a flat slab. Both 

types have inscriptions in Hebrew, in often elaborate calligraphy. The modern tombs have 

additional inscriptions in Italian or Croatian but there is no elaborate graphic or figurative 

decoration. Two 17th century tombstones brought to Split from the islands of Hvar and Brac do 

have figurative decorations. The one from Jelsa on Hvar shows a dove with an olive branch and 

the one from Bol on Brac shows an angel climbing a ladder to the sky with the inscription “This 

friend has mounted/Into angelic heights/To take a rest in the garden of Eden/In the Grove of 

Salvation.”10 

 

10 Efron, Zusja and Dusko Keckemet. Zidovsko Groblje u Splitu 1573-1973. Split: Jewish Community of Split, 

1973, 24.
10

The cemetery is a unique monument as one of the oldest cemeteries in this part of Europe. The 

attractive location, on the forested slope above the city, makes it particularly picturesque. It is 

surrounded with a wall and has a gate. But, although the cemetery is designated a cultural 

monument, maintenance is not good; it is partly overgrown and traces of vandalism are visible. 

There is a cemetery chapel, now used as a coffee house. 

There is a Holocaust memorial in the new Jewish cemetery, which is a section of the Lovrinac 

municipal cemetery. 

4. Dubrovnik 

Dubrovnik was an important maritime and trading center. For centuries, it was an independent 

city-state republic known as Ragusa. Jewish presence was first recorded in 1356 but the 

community began to flourish with the arrival of refugees following the expulsion of Jews from 

Spain in 1492. 

Today, the Jewish community numbers 46 people, only about 20 of whom actually live in 

Dubrovnik. 

A Jewish ghetto was set up in the mid-16th century on a single street, Zudioska (Jewish Street). 

A steep, narrow alley originally called Lojarska, it is located in the center of the city just off the 

Stradun, the wide promenade that forms the heart of the Old Town. The ghetto had 11 houses 

and a synagogue, and it was closed by gates at either end. The houses were connected to each 

other and also with the synagogue by interior passageways, so it was possible to move through 

the ghetto from house to house, without setting foot outdoors. 

The synagogue was established in 1408. It is on the upper floor of a narrow, two-story stone 

building at Zudioska 5 and, probably, dated to 1300. The exterior is similar to other buildings on 

the street, though noteworthy for its windows framed by pointed Saracen arches on the first (U.S. 

second) floor. The sanctuary was redesigned in the baroque style in the mid-17th century and 

features a delicately carved wooden lecturne, and a wooden ark flanked by Corinthian columns 

with twisted shafts. 

The synagogue survived a major earthquake in 1667 and World War II. During World War II, 

the local Toletino family smuggled the precious ritual objects – and even the ark – to safety 

using the internal passages that linked the synagogue to neighboring houses. These objects 

include valuable silver and textiles, as well as Torah scrolls from the 13th and 14th centuries that 

were brought to Dubrovnik from Spain after 1492. 

When Dubrovnik was attacked in 1991 and 1992, two shells hit the synagogue roof and caused 

serious damage. Restoration work was begun in 1996, overseen by the Dubrovnik Rebuilding 

Fund, a nonprofit organization established jointly by the Dubrovnik tourist agency Atlas and the 

American Society of Travel Agents. A non-Jewish couple from Washington, DC spearheaded 

fundraising after visiting the synagogue in June 1996. The restoration was completed in 1997 

and the synagogue was rededicated that year during Rosh Hashanah, the Jewish New Year. 
11

For several years during the 1990s, Dubrovnik Jews engaged in a legal battle to regain more than 

50 of their ritual objects that had been taken to the United States in 1993-4 by a former president 

of the community, Michael Papo. The objects were sent to the United States on loan for an 

exhibition at Yeshiva University Museum. Papo then argued that the objects would not be safe 

in Dubrovnik given the continuing Balkan conflicts. Backed by the Croatian government, the 

Dubrovnik Jewish community took the case to court in Zagreb and New York and eventually got 

the objects back in late 1998. 

Since then, two rooms on the floor beneath the synagogue were refurbished and equipped with 

alarm systems as exhibition halls for the treasures. 

In addition, the community moved its office to a nearby building, at Zudioska 3, where it hoped 

to renovate two apartments for community use. 

The Jewish community purchased a plot for a cemetery in 1652. It was located in the Ploce 

district, outside the old city near the northern ramparts. The community sold the land at the end 

of the 19th century and transferred the graves, to the still in use Boninovo cemetery outside of the 

town. (The site of the original cemetery is now a parking lot.) The exhumation and transfer was 

completed in 1911. About 30 tombstones from the old cemetery lean against the wall, and 

fragments of old tombstones have been cemented into the wall. 

Boninovo has about 200 tombstones. It is well maintained and surrounded by a high wall with a 

gate. There is a small, but well maintained cemetery chapel. The site is designated as an historic 

landmark. There are several main types of grave markers, with inscriptions in Hebrew, Ladino, 

and Croatian. These include: 

• traditional Sephardic style horizontal slabs with ornamental carving and Hebrew 

inscription; 

• horizontal tombs with ornamentation that exhibits a Turkish influence -- sun, moon, stars, 

and stylized plant motif; 

• horizontal tombs shaped like sarcophagi with peaked or gabled roofs and Hebrew 

inscriptions on the sides; and 

• upright Ashkenazic style upright tombstones and other markers. 

A number of old Jewish tombstones were used in the construction of the northern side of the city 

walls. Some sources say that this occurred during reconstruction work in the 18th century to 

repair the damage caused by a devastating earthquake in 1667. Others say that it was done 

during World War I. 

5. Rijeka

A Jewish presence in Rijeka dates back to the 15th century, and a Jewish community was 

formally established in 1781. The first synagogue was founded in 1832 in the home of Mozes 

Halevi in Calle del Tempio. Rijeka (known as Fiume in Italian) was a major seaport on the 

Istrian peninsula and attracted Jews from all over the Hapsburg Empire. Later, when Istria 
12

became part of Italy after the defeat of the Austro-Hungarian Empire in World War I, the city 

attracted many Jews from Italy. 

As many as 2,500 Jews lived in Rijeka between the two world wars. In addition to the main 

Neologue community, there was a smaller Orthodox congregation, mainly comprised of 

immigrants from Poland, Russia, and Galicia. 

The ornate, domed Neologue synagogue designed by Lipot Baumhorn and built in 1902-3 was 

destroyed in 1944. Its grandeur testified to the prosperity of the local Jews, who included 

merchants, businessmen, and other prominent citizens. 

The modest, modernist Orthodox synagogue built in 1928, survived the war and is in use today 

by the 70-member Rijeka Jewish community.11 It is one of only three synagogues in Croatia 

(along with Dubrovnik and Split) that were not damaged, destroyed, or converted for other use 

during or after World War II. Designed by G. Angyal and P. Fabbro, it has an asymmetrical, 

three-part façade, featuring a brick tower and two entrances of different heights. Inside, there is 

a vestibule and a sanctuary divided into three sections. There is little decoration aside from the 

stone and brick wall facing. The synagogue contains a beautiful, elaborate Ark made of Carrara 

marble that was brought to Rijeka from Ancona, Italy. 

The synagogue has been designated for protective status as a cultural monument by the Rijeka 

Commission of the National Bureau for the Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage. 

The old Jewish cemetery was founded in 1840 or earlier outside the city walls and was used for 

burials until 1874. 

In 1875, a Jewish section was established in the new Kozala municipal cemetery. It has a 

ceremonial hall, about 550 monuments, and is listed as a historic landmark. A score of 

tombstones from the old Jewish cemetery were moved here and incorporated into a 

commemorative wall. In 1981, the Jewish community erected a Holocaust memorial in the 

cemetery. Designed in white Istrian stone by architect Zdenko Sila, it bears the names of the 278 

Holocaust victims from Rijeka. 

IV.3. Holocaust Sites 

The Fascist Ustasa regime established some 30 concentration camps to isolate and eliminate 

"non-Croatian" elements of the population and political opponents. Jews were considered 

"foreign" as were other non-Catholic minorities, including Serbs, Roma (Gypsies), and Muslims. 

Inmates were murdered at the camps or deported to the German death camp of AuschwitzBirkenau. There are monuments at some of these places.12

 

11 For Details, see Musafia, Josip. “The Orthodox Synagogue in Rijeka,” in Voice, No. 2, Autumn 1998, Zagreb, 

38-39. 

12 The Jewish community in Zagreb has an extensive Holocaust Documentation Center that has begun to publish 

material and set up a database on Holocaust topics, including victims and survivors. See, for example, Svob, Melita. 

Jews in Croatia: Holocaust Victims and Survivors. Zagreb: Jewish Community of Zagreb, 2000. 
13

1. Jasenovac 

The largest of the Croatian camps were a complex of five subcamps along the Sava River known 

as Jasenovac. Four -- at Krapje, Brocica, Ciglana, Kozasa -- were close to one another about 60 

miles (97 kilometers) south of Zagreb. The fifth -- Stara Gradiska -- was further away. 

Estimates of the number of Jews killed at Jasenovac range from 8,000 to 20,000. Noted historian 

Dr. Slavko Goldstajn, former President of the Council of the Jasenovac Memorial, puts the 

number at 16,000 to 17,000. In addition, most of the 7,000 Jews estimated to have been sent to 

Auschwitz from Croatian camps were sent from Jasenovac. 

A museum was established at Jasenovac. In 1991, archives, tapes, documents, and other relics 

documenting the camp were removed for safekeeping during the wars of the 1990s. In 2000, 

the material was sent to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, where it was catalogued 

and restored. 

In December 2001, trunkloads of this material were returned and reinstalled in the Jasenovac 

Museum, which had been restored to house the relics. 

2. Danica 

The first Ustasa concentration camp was established in this town near Koprivnica during April 

1941. About 600 Jews were interned there. During July 1941 they were transferred to other 

camps and most were killed. A monument shaped like a giant gallows was erected at Danica in 

1981. 

3. Djakovo 

Djakovo was the site of a World War II transit camp for Jews. It was set up in a local mill and 

operated from December 1941 to the summer of 1942. Initial transports from Sarajevo brought 

more than 1,800 women and children. These were followed in February and March 1942 by 

further transports bringing more than 1,100 women and children from the camp at Stara 

Gradiska. Nearly 570 people died during detention at Djakovo. The remaining 2,450 were taken 

to Jasenovac where they were killed between June 15 and July 5, 1942. The Jews who died at 

the Djakovo camp were buried in a special part of the municipal cemetery in 1942. Each 

individual grave has a metal marker showing birth and death dates. The site is designated a 

historic landmark. There is also a monument to the Holocaust victims.13 

4. Rab 

Some 3,500 Jews were interned by the Italians on Rab Island. 

A plaque erected at a ceremony in 1993 honors the “Jewish Partisan Battalion,” a unit formed by 

Jewish Rab internees after Italy capitulated to the Allies in September 1943. 

 

13 See Goldstein, Ivo. “The Genocide of the Jews in the Independent State of Croatia,” in Voice, No. 1, op cit,; 35. 
14

Photographic documentation of conditions on Rab exists. These are photographs taken 

clandestinely by Elvira Kohn, a Jewish Croatian photo-journalist who smuggled her camera and 

rolls of film with her when she was interned on Rab in 1943.14 

IV.4. Archeological Sites 

1. Salona (Solin) 

Salona (now a suburb of Split called Solin) was the capital of the Roman province of Dalmatia 

and one of the most important Roman commercial seaports on the Adriatic. Archeological finds 

dating to the second and third centuries C.E. reveal traces of a well established Jewish 

community. These include a pendant, ceramic oil lamps decorated with menorahs, a fragment of 

a Jewish sarcophagus marked with a menorah, and the tombstone of a Syrian Jew named 

Malhos. 

Salona was destroyed by Avar invaders in the early seventh century. Jews from Salona are 

presumed to have sought refuge with other survivors in the neighboring palace of Diocletian and 

formed the core of the Jewish community of Split. 

2. Senj 

A third century tombstone of a Jew, Aurelius Dionisius, was found in Senj, a town on the 

northern Adriatic coast that was an ancient Roman port at the intersection of two main trade 

routes. There is no indication of a permanent Jewish settlement. The tombstone’s inscription is 

in Greek. 

3. Mursa 

The ancient Roman settlement of Mursa (now Osijek), was a major inland commercial center. 

Archeological evidence indicates that there was a Jewish community with a synagogue. A 

fragment of an excavated slab bears an inscription noting the “renewal of the proseuche” – 

proseuche was a Greek term for synagogue used by the Romans. 

IV.5. Site List 

1. Cernik 

A Jewish cemetery established in the 18th century was reported in the 1990s to still exist. 

 

14 See Ivanus, Rhea. “The Photographs of Elvira Kohn,” in Voice No. 2, op cit, 58 ff.
15

2. Cakovec 

Jewish Community 

Travnik 28 

40000 Cakovec 

Tel: 040/363339 

The Jewish cemetery is part of the municipal cemetery established in 1897 and is still actively 

used today. It includes tombstones from the old Jewish cemetery, which was located in the 

center of the town and in use for burials from 1794 through 1927. There is a monument to 

Holocaust victims but the ceremonial hall built in 1891 was demolished in 1991. Its foundations 

are still visible as a huge rectangle, opposite to the main entrance. 

The cemetery is listed as a historical landmark and maintained by local authorities and the 

Cakovec Jewish community. It is fairly well maintained, although some of the stones are lying 

on the ground. 

The gate is decorated with two menorahs. There are three family mausoleums, built at the turn 

of the 19th-20th century. The tombstones are inscribed in Hungarian, German, Hebrew, and 

Croatian. 

The synagogue was built in 1836, damaged during World War II, and demolished after 1945. 

The plot was confiscated in 1959. 

3. Daruvar 

Jewish community: 

Vinogradska St. 

43500 Daruvar 

The synagogue, part of a complex including a rabbi’s house and cheder (Jewish primary school), 

was built in 1860 and was used until 1941. The property was nationalized in 1948 but the 

building still stands. The synagogue was extensively rebuilt in 1951 and converted into a 

theater. All Jewish symbols were removed. In 1999, it was reportedly being transformed into a 

Pentecostal church. 

The Jewish cemetery on Vinogradska Street was established in 1860 and is listed as a historic 

landmark. It is still actively used and has about 200 gravestones protected by a wire fence. It 

was restored in the 1990s and has a Holocaust memorial. Ivan Ceresnjes reports that the 

cemetery is under the personal protection and care of Zlatko Bienenfeld, the head of the Jewish 

community. It is, he says, "wonderfully maintained ... The whole plot is one of the bestpreserved small cemeteries in the area." 
16

4. Dakovo 

The Jewish cemetery, established in 1879, is located next to the municipal cemetery. It has 

about 700 tombs and a neo-Romanesque Ceremonial Hall, also built in 1879, with a Holocaust 

memorial to the women and children victims of the Dakovo concentration camp. 

Dakovo was the site of a World War II transit camp for Jews from December 1941 through the 

summer of 1942. Initial transports from Sarajevo brought more than 1,800 women and children. 

These were followed in February and March 1942 by further transports bringing more than 1,100 

women and children from the camp at Stara Gradiska. Nearly 570 people died during detention 

at Dakovo. The remaining 2,450 were taken to Jasenovac where they were killed between June 

15 and July 5, 1942. The Jews who died at the Dakovo camp were buried in 1942 in a special 

part of the municipal cemetery in individual marked graves. The site is designated a historic 

landmark, and there is also a monument to Holocaust victims. 

The synagogue was built in 1880 and abandoned in 1941; the building was sold in 1948. 

5. Djurdjevac 

The Jewish cemetery was established in 1860 and its former size remains unknown. Today, only 

two tombstones exist, lying damaged in a Gypsy (Roma) village that was built on the site of the 

cemetery. On one of them, the carved blessing of the Cohanim is still visible. 

6. Gola 

There is a ruined Jewish cemetery next to the Christian cemetery. There are only about ten 

partly destroyed tombstones without legible inscriptions. Local authorities have promised to 

erect a fence around the site to protect it from further decay. 

7. Karlovac 

The cemetery dating from the early 19th century is listed as a historical landmark. It has a fine, 

late-19th century ceremonial hall and about 200 tombs. In the past 15 years, it has suffered at 

least two instances of vandalism. 

A street in Karlovac called Zidovska varos (Jewish town) marks the site of the former Jewish 

quarter. The synagogue designed by Ernest Mühlbauer and built in 1870-71 was built on the 

edge of the historic Jewish quarter area. It was used as a warehouse during World War II and 

was sold to the municipality in 1946. It was torn down around 1960. 

 

8. Koprivnica 

Jewish Community: 

Frankopanska 19 

43300 Koprivnica 
17

The Jewish community founded around 1850 built a synagogue in 1875-76 located on Svilarska 

Street outside the city center. It had a tripartite facade with a taller middle section, clearly 

influenced -- as was the synagogue in Zagreb -- by Ludwig von Forster’s synagogue in Vienna, 

Austria. During World War II, it was used as a prison. After the war, it was used as a 

warehouse and industrial site. In 1999, plans were made to convert it into a concert hall as part 

of a nearby music school. A memorial plaque was put up to honor Holocaust victims in 1996. 

There is a Jewish cemetery dating from 1842 with a Ceremonial Hall and about 250 tombs, 

including five family mausoleums. The inscriptions on the oldest tombstones are in Hebrew and 

the later ones in German and Croatian, with a few in Hungarian. Bullet-scars from the battles 

fought in this region during the 1990s war mark the majority of the tombstones. The cemetery 

has a monument to Jewish soldiers who died in World War I. In 1975, a monument to Holocaust 

victims was erected. The ceremonial hall, long in disuse, was recently reconstructed and its 

entrance wall and the main façade serve as a Holocaust memorial. The whole cemetery is 

surrounded by a wall and is fairly well maintained by the tiny Jewish community. The 

community was reestablished at the end of the 1990s and has a few dozen members. 

9. Kotoriba 

In the mid-1990s, the Jewish cemetery had the remains of a few monuments. 

10. Krapina 

The Jewish section of the Municipal Cemetery was established in 1890 and has 30 wellmaintained tombs, with inscriptions in Hebrew, German, and Croatian. The ceremonial hall was 

destroyed about 20 years ago but its foundations are still visible. There is no separation between 

the Jewish section and the rest of the cemetery. 

11. Krizevci 

The synagogue was built in 1895 by Bernard Hönigsberg and Julius Deutsch. It had a tripartite 

facade in pointed brickwork and rough plastering with a raised, semi-circular central section 

topped by the Ten Commandments and enclosing a rose window. Neo-Renaissance decorative 

elements included arched windows, corner finials with the Star of David, and a balustrade on the 

roof. The synagogue was abandoned in 1941 and nationalized in 1949. It was converted into a 

youth center in 1956. All decorative elements were removed. The building exists, housing 

cultural offices and, as of the mid-1990s, a radio station. 

There are two Jewish cemeteries. The old cemetery was established in 1840 and nationalized in 

1958. Designated a historical landmark, the site exists with 70 tombs. 

The New cemetery is a section of the main municipal cemetery, established in 1899 and 

surrounded by a high wall. It has about 100 monuments with inscriptions in German, Hebrew, 
18

and Croatian and is well maintained. There is a monument to Jews from Krizevci who served 

and died in World War I. 

There is no ceremonial hall, but there are monumental arcades with tombs of prominent 

members of the Jewish community. There are five family mausoleums adjacent to each other 

with burials dating from 1920-38. Despite the general good maintenance of the cemetery, the 

entire complex is in a state of serious decay. 

The original registry book of the Krizevci Chevra Kadisha from 1868 is kept in the archives of 

the Zagreb Jewish community. It contains a history of the organization and of the two 

cemeteries, statutes, plans of both cemeteries, and a list of persons buried in the cemetries. 

12. Kutina 

The Jewish cemetery is a part of the extremely large, main municipal cemetery. It has about 70-

80 monuments. It is difficult to locate, since it is situated in a distant, un-maintained part of the 

cemetery and is heavily overgrown with vegetation. All the tombstones are heavily damaged 

and vandalized. Many tombs were broken open long ago, and the inscriptions are barely legible. 

The languages used in the inscriptions are German, written sometimes with Hebrew characters, 

and Croatian. The situation of the cemetery is desperate. 

13. Legrad 

The Jewish cemetery was located outside of the village. Today the site is covered with thick 

underbrush and almost totally inaccessible. The remnants of only two tombs are apparent. 

14. Lipik 

The Jewish cemetery is part of the main municipal cemetery and was established in the 19th 

century. It has some 30-40 monuments, all of them damaged and, possibly, vandalized. All 

inscriptions have been destroyed. 

The area was the scene of fierce battles between Serbs and Croats in 1991 and traces of heavy 

fighting are visible on every stone. 

15. Ludbreg 

The synagogue, which was built in 1895, was abandoned in 1941, sold in 1948, and transformed 

into a residential building that still exists as a private property. 

A Jewish section of the municipal cemetery was established in 1890 and still exists with 29 

monuments and one family mausoleum. A number of monuments have the date of birth marked 

with a Star of David and the date of death with a cross. It appears that tombs marked like this are 

relatively well maintained. The other, "purely" Jewish tombs (that is, without the cross marking 

date of death), however, do not seem to be well cared for, although there is no significant 

distance between them and the rest of the cemetery. A couple of these stones are lying on the 
19

ground, but it was not possible to establish if they were toppled deliberately or had fallen 

because of the condition of the ground. 

The names on the tombs are all Ashkenazic, and inscriptions are in German, Hebrew, and 

Croatian. Overall maintenance is relatively good. 

16. Nasice 

The synagogue was built in 1898 and destroyed in 1942. 

The cemetery dates from 1865 and still exists. It has about 60-70 tombs. It is completely 

overgrown and does not have a fence. 

17. Nova Gradiska (Cernik) 

There appears to have been an old Jewish cemetery established in the 18th century in Nova 

Gradiska but Ivan Ceresnjes reported that "no relevant information about its destiny could be 

found." Neither the municipality nor the local museum had any information about it. (Note: 

This contradicts information provided by former Zagreb community activist Srdjan Matic and 

published on the JewishGen Website that an 18th century cemetery with 50-70 monuments exists 

and is listed as a historic landmark. According to Matic's information, the cemetery was 

renovated in 1990, damaged during the war in 1992 and renovated again in 1994.) 

Jews from Nova Gradiska used the Jewish cemetery in nearby Cernik. This cemetery, 

established in the 18th century, is inaccessible due to the overgrowth of vegetation and a huge 

pile of timber blocking the gate. The cemetery is partly fenced. A cemetery chapel exists in 

ruins. The cemetery also has one mausoleum but Ceresnjes was not able to examine it closely as 

access was impossible. 

18. Opatija 

The cemetery, which was established in 1908, exists today. It has about 75 monuments and also 

a Holocaust memorial. 

19. Orahovica 

The cemetery was destroyed immediately after World War II. 

20. Pakrac 

The cemetery, which was established in 1875, still exists. 
20

21. Pitomaca 

The Jewish cemetery was established in the 19th century but there are no more monuments left; 

they disappeared without a trace. Ivan Ceresnjes could not find out from neighbors just what 

happened to them. He speculates that, since the Catholic cemetery is on the other side of the 

street, there is a possibility that stones from the Jewish cemetery were stolen and reused there. 

22. Pleternica 

A dozen or so monuments were reported to exist in the 19th century cemetery. 

23. Podravska Slatina 

No trace remains of the Jewish cemetery that was established in 1858. Remains from the 

cemetery were exhumed in the 1970s. 

24. Podravske Sesvete 

Nineteenth century cemetery still exists. 

25. Sisak 

The synagogue, built on the main town square, dates from about 1880. It was sold in 1949 and 

as of the late 1990s was used as a music school. 

The cemetery was established in the early 19th century. It suffered heavily from Allied bombing 

during World War II and remains were exhumed in 1960. According to Ivan Ceresnjes, about 

150 tombstones were still standing a few years ago but on a more recent visit he found only "a 

few broken stones." The cemetery, he says, "literally disappeared after the last war." 

26. Slavonska Pozega 

The Jewish cemetery was established in 1900. It is large, with approximately 600 monuments 

but it is very neglected and overgrown. It has not been used for burial for decades and is not 

being maintained. Many monuments are lying on the ground; there appears to be little chance 

that they will be re-erected in the foreseeable future. Also there are scars of the recent war 

(maybe even the previous one?) visible on many monuments. Inscriptions are in Hebrew, 

German, and Croatian. 

27. Slavonski Brod 

The Jewish community was founded in 1873. The massive freestanding synagogue with two 

towers and a big rose window was built in 1896 by Leo Hönigsberg and Julius Deutsch on the 

site of the community’s first synagogue, which had been in a private home. The synagogue was 

devastated in 1941 and appears to have been fully demolished in Allied bombing later in the war. 
21

The Jewish cemetery was established in 1880, still exists, and is well maintained, with about 100 

tombstones surrounded by a high wall of brick masonry and a gate. Languages used for 

inscriptions are Hebrew, German, Hungarian, and Croatian. The cemetery has a Holocaust 

memorial, a family mausoleum of the Cohen family, and a large ceremonial hall dating to 1880, 

which is in a seriously-neglected condition. 

28. Suhopolje 

A small Jewish cemetery with 10-15 monuments is located inside the Catholic cemetery but 

visibly separated from the other tombs. There have been no burials since World War II but the 

cemetery is well maintained. The languages used for inscriptions are Hungarian, Croatian, 

Hebrew, and German. 

29. Uljanik 

A cemetery founded in the 19th century still existed in the mid-1990s and had 15-20 monuments. 

30. Varazdin 

Jews settled in Varazdin, about 50 miles northwest of Zagreb, in 1777. The first Jewish school 

in Croatia was founded in the town in 1826. 

The facade of the Neo-Moorish Synagogue, built in 1861, had a central section with an arched 

top above a small rose window. This was flanked by two side towers, topped by ‘onion’ domes. 

The synagogue was damaged in 1941 and rebuilt in 1946. In 1969, it was turned into a movie 

theater. The rear exterior remained intact, with blond stone and high, arched windows, but the 

front part was replaced with a red entryway in a socialist-realist style. The cinema has since 

vacated the premises. 

The large walled Jewish cemetery, dating from 1806, has 500-700 tombs. Located just out of 

town on the road to Koprivnica, it is in a relatively good condition, recently restored, and well 

maintained, though it has been the victim of vandalism. Ivan Ceresnjes found a number of 

monuments lying on the ground. A significant number of the monuments are older slabs with 

Hebrew and German inscriptions. The newer monuments are in the style of the Christian 

monuments from the same era and are richly decorated. On the newer monuments, it is common 

to see inscriptions in Croatian and, sometimes, in Hungarian. The cemetery chapel, built in 

1900, is designated a historical landmark. 

31. Vinkovci 

The large Jewish cemetery was established in 1870 in a complex with cemeteries of other 

religions. It is totally overgrown with vegetation, though the other cemeteries in the same 

complex are very well maintained. Only the foundations of the cemetery chapel remain. 
22

32. Virovitica 

The Jewish cemetery is located outside town, at ulica Ericha Shlomovica 1. Established in 1870, 

it has 181 monuments and a seriously rundown cemetery chapel. The oldest tomb is that of 

Moritz Wilchek and is dated October 26, 1872. Listed as a historical landmark, the cemetery 

also has monuments moved from the old cemetery located in the neighboring village of 

Antunovac. The cemetery was used from 1830 to 1870. There is an imposing stone block at the 

entrance. It has an inscription in German (in Gothic characters) and Hebrew urging that the 

tombs be cared for. 

Many monuments have been damaged, broken, or knocked down, and a couple of dozen stones 

are missing. There was serious fighting in the area in the 1991-92 war, and traces of bullets scar 

all the stones. Some slabs have been moved and it is obvious that some tombs have been 

opened. On some monuments, traces of pickaxes and hammers are visible. 

A significant part of the plot, between the cemetery chapel and the first line of tombs, is used for 

agricultural purposes by an elderly couple who live in the chapel and serves as caretakers for the 

cemetery. Behind the chapel, are a few tombs, mainly of children. 

Restoration of the cemetery has been scheduled. It was recently cleared of vegetation, so all 

monuments are accessible. Languages used for inscriptions are German, Hungarian, Hebrew, 

and Croatian. 

33. Voloder 

The Jewish cemetery no longer exists. 

34. Vrbovec 

The Jewish cemetery, established before 1914, is located at the edge of town. It has about 50 

monuments. Though fenced with barbed wire, it is overgrown and seriously neglected. 

Inscriptions are in Hebrew, German, and Croatian. Access is through a private property between 

a henhouse and a pigsty. 

35. Vukovar 

The Jewish cemetery, established in 1850 in a suburb of the town, is well maintained by the 

city's public works service. It has some 75 to 100 monuments with inscriptions in Hebrew, 

Hungarian, German, and Croatian, and is surrounded by a fence without a gate. The imposing 

ceremonial hall, one of the largest in the region, was heavily damaged in the 1990s war, when 

much of the town was destroyed. 

Vukovar’s first synagogue, dating from 1857, was turned into a church and demolished in the 

1950s. 
23

Its splendid “new synagogue,” designed by Viennese architect Ludwig Schone and inaugurated 

in 1889, was the first domed synagogue in Croatia. It was partially destroyed in 1941. In 1958, 

the Federation of Jewish Communities sold it for the material and had it demolished. 

36. Zala 

There is a small Jewish cemetery next to the Christian one, with just six monuments. Only one 

of them has a legible inscription - the name Pichler. There is no fence and no maintenance. 

37. Zupanja 

A cemetery that was established in the 19th or 20th century still existed in the mid-1990s on 

property confiscated after 1945.
24

V. Bibliography

Ceresnjes, Ivan. Caught in the Winds of War: Jews in the Former Yugoslavia. Jerusalem: World 

Jewish Congress, 1999. 

Efron, Zusja and Dusko Keckemet. Zidovsko Groblje u Splitu 1573-1973. Split: Jewish 

Community of Split, 1973. 

Funke, Phyllis Ellen. “Croatia,” in Haddassah Magazine, January 2001, pp. 42-47. 

Goldstein, Ivo. Croatia: A History. London: Hurst & Company, 1999. 

Gruber, Ruth Ellen. Jewish Heritage Travel: A Guide to East-Central Europe. Riverdale, NJ: 

Jason Aronson, Inc., 1999. 

Horovic, Sabrina. “The Jewish Community of Dubrovnik, Its Past and Its Present,” in Voice, 

No. 3, Autumn 2000. Zagreb. 

International Association of Jewish Genealogical Societies - Cemetery Project, as it appears on 

the web site www.JewishGen.org. 

“Jewish Sites in Croatia,” in Voice, No. 3, Autumn 2000. Zagreb. 

Jews in Yugoslavia (exhibition catalogue). Zagreb: Muzejski Prostor, 1989. 

Kaplan, Robert D. “Dubrovnik, a Glorious Phoenix,” in The New York Times Magazine, Sept. 

13, 1998. 

Karac, Zlako. Synagogue Architecture in Croatia in the Age of Historicism (Exhibition 

Catalogue). Zagreb: Museum of Arts and Crafts, 2000. (Text also published in Voice, No. 3, 

Autumn 2000). 

Knezevic, Snjeska. Reliquiae Reliquiarum: Zagreb Synagogue. Zagreb: Jewish Community of 

Zagreb, 1996. 

Kovac, Vlasta. “Osijek Reminiscences,” in Voice, No. 3, Autumn 2000. Zagreb. 

Kovac, Vlasta (ed). Jewish Heritage in Zagreb and Croatia. Zagreb: Jewish Community of 

Zagreb, 1993. 

Kraus, Ognjen. “The Jewish Community in Croatia,” in Voice, Spring 1996. Zagreb. 

Krinsky, Carol Herselle. Synagogues of Europe. Boston: The Architectural History Foundation 

and the MIT Press, 1985. 

Laszlo, Aleksandar and Zlatko Juric. “Hönigsberg & Deutsch. An Architectural Opus: A 

Blueprint for a Critical Retrospective,” in Voice, Spring 1996. Zagreb. 
25

Stulli, Bernard. Zidovi u Dubrovniku. Zagreb, 1989. 

Svob, Melita. Jews in Croatia: Holocaust Victims and Survivors. Zagreb: Jewish Community of 

Zagreb, 2000. 

Tomasevic, Nebojsa. Treasures of Yugoslavia: An Encyclopedic Touring Guide. Belgrade: 

Yugoslaviapublic, 1980. 

Vekaric, Zivko. The Place of Jews in the History of the City of Split. Split, 2000). 
United States Commission for 

the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad

888 17th Street, NW, Suite 1160 

Washington, DC 20006 

Phone: (202) 254-3824 Fax: (202) 254-3934 

e-mail: uscommission@heritageabroad.gov 

Website: www.heritageabroad.gov