The Jewish community of Bosnia and Herzegovina decided to establish its archive to collect and unify archival material related to the Jews of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It officially started working in October, Director of the Center for Research of History of the Jews of BiH, Eli Tauber, confirmed for FENA.
He stated that a cooperation agreement was signed with the Archives of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Travnik and Bihać, the Croatian State Archives and the Jewish Historical Museum.
He underlined that the ultimate goal of forming the archive is collecting archival material that would serve to write a book about the Jews of Bosnia and Herzegovina, their arrival and life, and their contribution to the development of Bosnia.
“That is why this archive has a special social dimension, and not just a historical one dedicated to only one period,” Tauber pointed out.
The director of the Center for Research of History of Jews stated that the archive will be open.
He confirmed that material for the Archives of the Jewish Community of Bosnia and Herzegovina has been collected for twenty years.
Speaking about the significance of the opening of this archive, Tauber assesses that when we look at archives and Jewish communities in the Balkans, we only then realize how little we know about Jews.
“It is the same in Bosnia and Herzegovina. With this move, by establishing a unique archive in Sarajevo, we have opened the door to researching the history of Jews in our country, and I think we have started a new story that will be documented and result in numerous exhibitions and books that we will present to our fellow citizens, but also all researchers and students,” Eli Tauber underlined in a statement for FENA.
