Present Population
Novi Sad SynagoguePrior to the conflicts of the 1990s, approximately 2,500 Jews lived in Serbia, most in Belgrade.
In 2011 census 787 people declared themselves as Jewish.
According to the 2002 Serbian census, there were 1,185 Jews in Serbia. 40% of them live in Vojvodina, and 90% of the remaining live in Belgrade. The results of the 2002 census are displayed below:
| Area | Jewish population |
Total population |
|---|---|---|
| Belgrade | 415 | 1,576,124 |
| Novi Sad | 400 | 299,294 |
| Subotica | 89 | 148,401 |
| Pančevo | 42 | 127,162 |
| Rest of Serbia | 239 | 5,646,314 |
| Total | 1,185 | 7,498,001 |
The only remaining functioning synagogue in Serbia is the Belgrade Synagogue. There are also small numbers of Jews in Zrenjanin and Sombor, with isolated families scattered throughout the rest of Serbia.
Manifestations of Anti-Semitism in Serbia are relatively rare and isolated. According to the US State Department Report on Human Rights practices in Serbia for 2006,
- "Jewish leaders in Serbia reported continued incidents of anti-Semitism, including anti-Semitic graffiti, vandalism, small circulation anti-Semitic books, and Internet postings",
and that anti-Semitic incidents have been on the rise in Serbia. As nationalism replaced communism as the main ideology in Serbia, there was a resurgence of anti-semitic statements, as well as a simultaneous attempt on the part of the Serbian regime to instrumentalize the supposed influence of the Jewish community abroad.
The Serbian government recognizes Judaism as one of the seven "traditional" religious communities of Serbia.
Read more about this topic: Serbian Jews
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—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
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—Ralph Waldo Emerson (1803–1882)