BILATERAL RELATIONS USA - SLOVENIA

Approximately 300 Jews live in Slovenia (202 at the last census). Not all are included in the Jewish community in Slovenia, nor in the Jewish municipality of Ljubljana. Only one, two or three Jewish families live in some Slovene settlements. In addition to the Jewish municipality of Ljubljana, a further two commissions operate, in Maribor and Murska Sobota.

Far more Jews lived on the territory of Slovenia in the past. They had already arrived in the South Slavic lands at the time of Alexander of Macedonia. The earliest mentions of Jews in Slovene ethnic lands are from Koroška (Carinthia); in the 13th century they are mentioned mainly as money lenders in Brže, Beljak (Villach), Celovec (Klagenfurt), and Št. Vid by Glin. They are mentioned in Maribor between 1271 and 1296, but they had already settled there previously. The first document to mention Jews in Ptuj carries the date 1286, and some data about Celje Jews exists from the middle of the 14th century. In 1374, Jews are mentioned in Slovenj Gradec, and in Gorica even early - in 1316. They are mentioned in Koper, Izola and Piran from the 14th century onwards.

They arrived in Ljubljana around 1327, and settled in the area of today's Novi trg, especially in Židovska ulica (Jewish street) and Židovska steza (Jewish path). These two street names preserve the memory of the Jewish quarter, and the synagogue is supposed to have stood on the site of Židovska steza 4. Clearly the Jews made many enemies, above all through their banking business. Not only in Ljubljana but also elsewhere the citizens put pressure on the provincial authorities and these on the Emperor, until he issued an order for the expulsion of the Jews from Štajerska (Staiermark) - on 10 March 1496, and some days later, also ordered their expulsion from Koroška (Carinthia). On 15 January 1515, a further order was issued expelling the Jews from Kranjska (Carniola).

After these expulsion, few Jews came to Slovene lands. Although they traded here, they did not settle permanently, at least not in Ljubljana, until the patent of toleration of Emperor Joseph II recognised freedom of religion and worship. In Ljubljana, the prohibition on settlement lasted even longer, until 1865, when all citizens of Austro-Hungary became equal by constitutional law. So it is not surprising that during the popular census of 1857, there was not a single Jew in Ljubljana, although there were Jews in certain other places at that time. In Prekmurje, they numbered 383 in 1853, and by 1889, already 1107. They had begun to settle in Prekmurje in the second half of the 18th century, at which time they already had their first place of worship in Lendava. Synagogues were later built not only in Lendava, but also in Beltinci and Murska Sobota. There was also a Jewish school in Lendava.

It was very bad for the Jews during the Second World War, when many were transported to Auschwitz.

The number of Jews in Slovenia was essentially reduced after the Second World War. Today, only one lives in Lendava, nine in Murska Sobota, one family in Koper, four in Dolenjska, one in Nova Gorica and one in Kranjska gora. Some monuments remain which bear witness to a time when the Jewish community in Slovenia was more numerous, and their role in the economic life of some towns was appreciable.

A synagogue still stands in Lendava, which has been partially renovated. The synagogues in Murska Sobota and Beltinci were demolished in the sixties of this century. There is still one in Maribor, which is being renovated.

There are some further reminders of the Jewish people in museums (most in the Regional Museum in Murska Sobota, where the collection about the Jews is included in the permanent collection, and a Jewish museum is being planned) and individual Jewish graves in cemeteries - in Štanjel and Kidričevo.

Source: Rodna Gruda, April 1999 (Darinka Kladnik)