Description

A rare book in Croatian language is a pioneering work on the history of Jews in Zagreb. The book is divided into 2 parts: the first part explains the history of the community from the 1780s until 1850s, and the second part lists all the Jewish families from the 1850s. The interleaved illustrations showcase Jewish community buildings, such as the office buildings, the synagogue, and the houses for children’s holidays on the coast. 

The book was written two years before the beginning of WWII in Yugoslavia. During WWII, under the Independent State Croatia, a Nazi puppet state, the Jewish community was supressed and thousands perished in concentration camps Auschwitz and Jesenovac. The Jewish organisations in the book were closed down and the synagogue was demolished between 1941-1942.

The author, the chief rabbi professor Dr.  Gavro Schwarz (Gábor Schwarcz, 1872-1942) was born in a Hungarian town Nádudvar, and was studying in Požega and Budapest. He was a leader of the Zagreb Jewish community and an author of many books on local Jewish history and religious books. He died during WWII, in 1942.

We could only trace three examples in libraries worldwide (National Library of Israel, Zagreb City Library, Library of Congress).

References: OCLC 713756560. ÖBL 1815-1950, Bd. 11 (Lfg. 54, 1999), S. 435 (http://www.biographien.ac.at/oebl/oebl_S/Schwarz_Gavro_1872_1942.xml); Hrvatska enciklopedija (http://www.enciklopedija.hr/natuknica.aspx?id=55029).