Jews first emigrated to Bosnia and Hercegovina after they were expelled from Spain as a result of the Inquisition. The first group of Jews settled in Sarajevo in 1565. They spoke spoke Ladino. They were accepted as non-Muslims. Jews could participate in trade, but they were not allowed to wear Muslim clothing or ride horses in town. Also, they were not allowed to carry weapons and they had to pay higher taxes than the rest of the population.
The Old Jewish Temple was built in 1580 and after a number of fires was renovated in 1909. Electricity was brought to the temple, and a new stone façade and new roof built. It was again severely damaged during the Second World War. The New Temple was built in 1820.
In 1839, new civil rights laws were introduced and the conditions for Jews in the country improved. By 1856, Jews had equality before the law. They participated in trade and they were even allowed to run for political office. At one point in the 19th century, all the doctors in Sarajevo were reported to be Jewish. By 1852, there were 1,074 male Jews, while in the entire Bosnia and Herzegovina, within its borders at the time, the total was 2,170. In 1878, there were three thousand Sephardim, in 1895, 5,729, and in 1910, 8,219.
After World War I, when Bosnia became part of Yugoslavia, Jews continued to enjoy religious freedom. They also owned many properties. Sarajevo became an important Jewish centre in the region, and remained so until the formation of Yugoslavia in 1918.
Il Kal Grande was built in 1931. It was the largest and most lavish synagogue in the Balkans. Nazis destroyed the interior in 1941, and after the war the Jewish community gave the building to the city. On a large stone menora in the entrance, dedicated in April 1965, an inscription reads: “In memory of the arrival [of the Jews] 400 years ago and their contribution to the development of the city and their cooperation in fighting the Fascists in the anti-Fascist war and their many casualties in World War II; erected by the residents of Sarajevo [in exchange] for the donation of the synagogue.”
In April 1941, there were altogether fourteen thousand Jews living within the borders of Bosnia and Herzegovina, of whom about ten thousand were in Sarajevo alone.
The Jewish community suffered enormously during the Second World War, which almost annihilated it. Material goods as well intellectual achievements, created for centuries, like temples and books, disappeared forever. Croatian fascists (Ustaša) sent nine thousand Sarajevo Jews to concentration camps the worst being Pag and Jasenovac. Others included Stara Gradiska Kerestinac, Jadovna, Metajna and Slana. Others were deported to Auschwitz.
Some of those who helped the Jews included: Nurija Pozderac and his wife Devleta; Roza Sober-Dragoje and Zekira Besrevi; Mustafa, Zejneba, Izet and Bahrija Hardaga; Ahmed Sadik; and Dervia Korkut.
Only 1,237 managed to return. In the interior of Bosnia, the conditions were similar, if not worse. Of 3,983 Jews, only 546 survived the horror of the Second World War. About 85 percent of the community perished. Of the survivors, many left for Israel in 1948 and 1949. After the war, about 2,000 returned. With this devastating loss of life went Sephardic traditions such as the use of Ladino.
When the Bosnian war broke out in 1992, the Jewish Joint Distribution Committee provided the community with food and supplies, and they helped to airlift over 2,000 Bosnian Jews out of the country. Many went to Israel and remained there after the war. Those who stayed, used their neutral status during the war to organize a great deal of humanitarian relief to the people of Bosnia.
Serbs bombarded the city in the Bosnian War on the hillside Jewish cemetery in Kovacici. Many tombstones were damaged, as was a stone-faced chapel, which was recently rebuilt. The mines were cleared only in 1998. Entry is through a triple arch and ascend a path to the right of which are old crouching lion tombs with Hebrew and Ladino inscriptions. A commemorative park for the victims of the Fascists was erected nearby. Of the 9,091 names inscribed, 7,092 were of Jews.
Jewish life in Bosnia and Herzegovina is almost entirely centred around La Benevolencija, the community’s religious representative body. There is a community center in Sarajevo that has an active synagogue and offers a number of Jewish activities for all ages, including a choir that sings traditional Jewish songs. It also puts on cultural events and exhibitions that are open to all Bosnians.
The Jewish community in Bosnia-Herzegovina has 1,050 members, of which 700 live in Sarajevo, with the rest in Banja Luka, Mostar, Tuzla, Doboj and Zenica.There is an active Sunday school for 3–12 year olds.