Judaism
Jews had been present when the region now called the Republic of Macedonia was under Roman rule in the second century AD. The population was decimated by the Crusades, but rose again following the immigration of Sephardic Jews under the Ottoman Empire. In the Second World War, Macedonia was occupied by Bulgaria, an Axis power, and the Jews were sent to concentration camps. As in the rest of the Balkans, the Holocaust and immigration to Israel means that Macedonia now has a much smaller Jewish community, numbering roughly 200. It is mainly based in the capital, Skopje, and has no functioning synagogue.
Read more about this topic: Religion In Macedonia
Famous quotes containing the word judaism:
“Christianity is the religion of melancholy and hypochondria. Islam, on the other hand, promotes apathy, and Judaism instills its adherents with a certain choleric vehemence, the heathen Greeks may well be called happy optimists.”
—Franz Grillparzer (1791–1872)