Während des Bosnienkriegs (1992-1995) wurde die Vielvölkerstadt Sarajewo drei Jahre lange belagert und beschossen. Während dieser humanitären Notsituation öffnete die kleine jüdische Gemeinde Sarajewos ihre Pforten und arbeitete zusammen mit muslimischen, kroatischen und serbischen Bürgern der Stadt, um jenen Menschen im belagerten Sarajewo mit Medikamenten und Lebensmitteln zu versorgen, die am dringendsten Hilfe benötigten. Dieser Film erzählt ihre Geschichte.
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SEPHARDIM
A Sephardic Jew is a Jew descended from, or who follows the customs and traditions of, Jews who lived in the Iberian Peninsula (modern Spain and Portugal) before their expulsion in the late 15th century. The are referred to as Sephardim, as “Sepharad” means Spain in Hebrew. For religious purposes, the term Sephardim also means all Jews who use a Sephardic style of liturgy, and therefore includes most Jews of Middle Eastern background, whether or not they have any historical connection to the Iberian Peninsula.
The precise origins of the Jewish communities of the Iberian peninsula are unclear. There is inconclusive evidence of a Jewish presence dating from pre-Roman times. More substantial references date from the Roman period, when substantial Jewish immigration probably first occurred.
However, in 1492, the Expulsion Decree (often called „Alhambra Decree“) by King Ferdinand II of Aragon and Queen Isabella of Castile expelled more than 20,000 Spanish Jews from the country. In 1497 King Manuel I of Portugal issued a similar decree. Learn more about the expulsion of the Jewish population from Spain in this article from the Jewish Virtual Library.
Many of the expelled Jews re-settled in the Ottoman Empire, to which the area of Bosnia and Herzegovina belonged at that time, and where they were welcomed by Sultan Bajazet II. Others settled in places like what are today Morocco, Algeria, southern France and Italy. Some even settled on the island Curacao in the southern Caribbian.
Ladino, or Judeo-Spanish, is the language of Sephardic Jews. It only became a specifically Jewish language after their expulsion from the Iberian Peninsula at the end of the 15th century. Cut off from the further developments in the language, the Sephardim continued to speak it in the communities and countries to which they emigrated. Ladino therefore reflects the grammar and vocabulary of 14th and 15th century Spanish. In the Sephardic communities of the Ottoman Empire, the language not only retained older forms of Spanish, but borrowed so many words from Hebrew, Arabic, Greek, Turkish, and even French, that it became more and more distorted.
Like other historical Jewish languages, Ladino is in danger of language extinction (another prominent example is Yiddish). Most native speakers are elderly, many of them having emigrated to Israel where the language was not transmitted to their children or grandchildren. However, it is experiencing a minor revival among Sephardic communities, for example in music.
Sephardic history also plays a central role in the Centropa film about Güler Orgun. In the traditional Ladino language of her ancestors, Güler Orgun tells us how her family found a new home in the Ottoman Empire after being expelled from Spain in the late 15th century. We learn why her parents converted to Islam, and how Güler herself later came to find her Jewish roots again - before she married a Muslim man.