HISTORY IN NORTH MACEDONIA

For anyone interested in the Jews of Bulgaria, their history and heritage, what is now known as the Republic of North Macedonia is of special interest for a number of reasons. Firstly, the Bulgarians have always thought of Macedonia as their own because they consider the Macedonians to be in fact Bulgarians. Then, during the Second World War, Bulgarian troops occupied Macedonia and organised the infamous Jewish transports to Nazi-occupied Poland. While relatively clear and well-documented, the historical facts of the Bulgarian "administration" of the former Yugoslav republic continues to be controversial in both North Macedonia and in today's Bulgaria. 

The Jewish community of North Macedonia is among the earliest in Europe. It is thought to have appeared at the time of Alexander of Macedon. Some of the archaeological evidence indicates Jewish presence at the site of Stobi where an inscription and the remains of a synagogue from the 2nd century CE were unearthed. 

Romaniote Jews lived in these lands after Antiquity. In the 12th century Leo II Mung converted to Christianity and became the bishop of 

Ohrid. Ohrid is also the birthplace of a famous Jewish scholar, Judah Leon ben Moses Mosconi. The Sephardis arrived following the Ottoman conquest, and settled mainly in Skopje, Bitola and Štip. Those were the centres of Jewish 

life before the Bulgarians arrived in 1941. The Bulgarians were quick to impose their infamous Protection of the Nation Act in the "New Lands." As a result, Jews were banned from professional life, levied with extortionate taxes and had many of their properties confiscated. Two years later, in March 1943, Bulgarian troops and police rounded up the Jews of Macedonia and herded them onto cattle cars bound for Auschwitz and Treblinka. In total 7,215 Macedonian Jews, or 98 percent of the total number of Jews, were deported. Some individuals, who managed to flee, joined the Communist resistance against the Germans and the 

Bulgarians. Just 2 percent of Macedonia's Jews survived the Holocaust. Most of those who stayed alive emigrated to Israel as soon as Socialist Yugoslavia was set up. There are some 200 Jews in Macedonia today, mainly in Skopje.