The Embassy of the United States of America in Bosnia and Herzegovina announced on social network X on the occasion of the Jewish holiday Pesach, emphasizing that during this holiday, Jewish families around the world open the Haggadah and read the same ancient story of the journey from slavery to freedom.
In the announcement, they referred to the Sarajevo Haggadah and pointed out that it has its own, special journey to tell.
“Made in medieval Barcelona around 1350, it traveled with the Jews into exile when they were expelled from Spain in 1492. It survived the Inquisition, crossed borders and eventually found a home in Sarajevo, where it was bought by the National Museum in 1894. In 1941, during the Nazi occupation, a German officer came to confiscate it. Museum director Jozo Petrović and curator Derviš Korkut risked everything to keep the book a secret,” the post on X said.
They further stated that the Haggadah was hidden in the village mosque in Bjelašnica, among the Korans and survived the war.
“In the 1950s, when another attempt was made to confiscate the Haggadah, the museum staff intervened again to save it. The Sarajevo Haggadah survived the Inquisition, the Holocaust and the longest siege of the city in modern history. At every step, it was saved by a broad community that transcended religious or ethnic identity. It is a 700-year-old proof of what solidarity looks like,” they stated.
In the weeks leading up to this Passover, that message reached Washington.
“On March 24, Chairman of the BiH Presidency Denis Bećirović and Minister of Foreign Affairs Elmedin Konaković joined members of the US Congress, the Senate and the diplomatic community at the Congressional Seder for Passover on Capitol Hill, dedicated to the Sarajevo Haggadah and the values it has carried for seven centuries”, according to the announcement of the US Embassy in BiH on the X network.
