Srpska Pravoslavna Crkva I Jevreji 1918–1937
Serbian Orthodox Church And The Jews 1918-1937

Summary/Abstract: Attitude of Serbian Orthodox Church towards the Jews in Kingdom of Yugoslavia was determined by the tradition of religious tolerance inherited from the Principality, later Kingdom of Serbia. Although the activity of Serbian Orthodox Church, as opposed to the Roman Catholic Church, was not characterized by clericalism, one could sense the increase of the political activity of the highest dignitaries of the church and of the part of the priesthood. Their understandings and actions were influenced by the Bolshevik revolution in Russia and great sufferings of the Russian Orthodox Church and people. That was the main cause of the increase of anti-Semitism of certain clerics and dignitaries of the SOC, which could be tracked in the religious press. All the main facets of modern political anti-Semitism were accepted, including the role of the Jews in the destruction of orthodox Russia and creation of world revolution. Some anti-Semitic stereotypes were used to a lesser degrees, such as that Jews bring the destructive influence of Western materialism and liberalism. Especially important were public speeches of Patriarch Varnava, which triggered negative reactions of the Jewish public. However, the overall attitude of Jewish community to the activity of Patriarch Varnava remained positive, which was obvious during his sudden death in July 1937 during the great Concordat crisis.

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