Jewish Cultural Heritage in Serbian Literary Tradition

Abstract

Hajim S. Davičo (1854), born into a family which lived for two hudred years in Belgrade, was an influential figure in Serbian political life and the first Jewish writer in Serbian. In his collection of stories From the Bank of the Danube (Sa Jalije, 1898) he described the life of the Jewish community living below the Dorćol region on the left bank of the Danube, illustrating some contrasts and meeting points of the Serbian and the Jewish cultural heritage. Isak Samokovlija (1889–1950), born in Goražde, graduated in medical studies in Vienna and worked as a general practitioner in Goražde, Fojnica and Sarajevo. In his best short stories “Raphael’s Courtyard” and “Simha” he described moving personal fates of poor Sephardic Jews in Sarajevo. Žak Konfino (1892–1975) was a physician in the Serbian army during the First World War and a German war prisoner during the Second World. In his collections of short stories My Fellow Townsmen (1934) and Both Sides (1936) he described with humorous touches some unexpected turns in the personal lives of the Jewish population in Leskovac. In his short stories under the title 100 years – 90 Pennies (1952) he wrote about the gradual linguistic assimilation of the Jewish population in Leskovac. The tradition of Jewish literature in Serbian finds its richest expression in the works of contemporary Jewish writers like Ivan Ivanji, David Albahari and Eliezer Papo.