- Title: Bosnian musicians keep Sephardic Jews' dwindling language alive
- Date: 5th November 2018
- Summary: BAND ON STAGE PLAYING AUDIENCE APPLAUDING SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA (NOVEMBER 3, 2018) (REUTERS) BOSNIAN JEWISH HISTORIAN, ELI TAUBER, TALKING TO REPORTER DETAIL OF DICTIONARY OF BOSNIAN-JEWISH LANGUAGE ON TABLE (SOUNDBITE) (Bosnian) JEWISH HISTORIAN, ELI TAUBER, SAYING: "Sarajevo replaced Thessaloniki as the centre of Sephardic Jewish culture in the Balkans in the late 19th century, and it went on to become the bastion of the Ladino language and Sephardic culture. Also, we never forgot that language, even though there are very few people today speaking it - but we are doing everything we can to remind people that it still exists." SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA (NOVEMBER 5, 2018) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF OLD JEWISH CEMETERY IN SARAJEVO
- Embargoed: 19th November 2018 17:03
- Keywords: Sephardic Jews endangered language Ladino Balkans Bosnia-Herzegovina expulsion of Jews
- Location: SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
- City: SARAJEVO, BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
- Country: Bosnia and Herzegovina
- Topics: Arts / Culture / Entertainment,Music
- Reuters ID: LVA005958B4MX
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: Sephardic Jews in Bosnia have kept their language alive ever since they were expelled from Spain in the late 15th century and found a home in Sarajevo, but today it is spoken by only a handful of the city's ageing Jews.
Yet Ladino, or Judeo-Spanish, is becoming an inspiration to musicians from across Bosnia's ethnic divide.
At Sarajevo's Jazz Festival, four performers played Sephardic songs including female a Capella choir The Corona, whose seven members come from Bosnia's different ethnic groups.
The Corona's leader and music teacher Tijana Vignjevic says musicians have a duty to preserve Ladino and prevent it from disappearing.
The Jewish community has played a significant role in Sarajevo's cultural and economic life for more than 400 years. Expelled after the Christian re-conquest of the Iberian Peninsula, Jews found sanctuary in the town, then part of the Ottoman Empire.
At the height of its influence, Sarajevo had eight synagogues, serving some 12,000 Jews. But most of them were killed during World War Two, when the city was occupied by Nazi Germany. Fewer than 1,250 remained. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
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