The Destruction of the Memory of Jewish Presence in Eastern Europe; A Case Study: Former Yugoslavia

The Destruction of the Memory of Jewish Presence in Eastern Europe; A Case Study: Former Yugoslavia
Interview with Ivan Ceresnjes

The Institute of Global Jewish Affairs has published a lengthy interview with my friend and colleague Ivan Ceresnjes about the Destruction of Jewish Memory in the Former Yugoslavia. No one knows more than Ivan about the fate of Jewish synagogues, cemeteries and Holocaust sites in the region.

Ivan Ceresnjes was the head of the Jewish community of Bosnia-Herzegovina and a vice-chairman of the Yugoslav Federation of Jewish Communities until his emigration to Israel in 1996. During the civil war in Bosnia-Herzegovina he organized rescue efforts to evacuate Jews and non-Jews and also organized nonsectarian humanitarian relief for citizens of the besieged city and other parts of the country. An architect by profession, he is presently employed by the Center for Jewish Art of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. He has been a leader in the documentation of Jewish historic, religious and cultural sites in the former Yugoslavia for the Center and for the U.S. Commission for the Preservation of America's Heritage Abroad. A summary of his Bosnia documentation can be found at www.jewish-heritage-europe.eu

Read interview here.