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133-656: David Albala (born David Kovu ; 1 September 1886 – 4 April 1942) was a Serbian military officer, physician, diplomat and Jewish community leader. In 1905, Albala enrolled at the University of Vienna to study medicine. He returned to Serbia following the outbreak of the Balkan Wars in 1912 and enlisted in the Royal Serbian Army . In late 1915, Albala took part in the Royal Serbian Army's arduous winter retreat to

266-613: A form of slavery , in which boys from Balkan Christian families were forcibly converted to Islam and trained for infantry units of the Ottoman army known as the Janissaries . The Serbian Patriarchate of Peć was extinguished in 1463, but reestablished in 1557, providing for limited continuation of Serbian cultural traditions within the Ottoman Empire, under the Millet system . After

399-478: A warm-humid continental or humid subtropical climate . In the north, the climate is more continental, with cold winters, and hot, humid summers along with well-distributed rainfall patterns. In the south, summers and autumns are drier, and winters are relatively cold, with heavy inland snowfall in the mountains. Differences in elevation, proximity to the Adriatic Sea and large river basins, as well as exposure to

532-600: A campaign of massacres, expulsions and forced religious conversions targeting its sizeable Serb and Jewish populations. Two resistance movements, the National Liberation Movement and the Yugoslav Army in the Fatherland , soon emerged, but were divided along ideological lines, with the latter pledging loyalty to Yugoslavia's exiled monarchy and the former adhering to communism . Albala wrote two reports informing

665-622: A civil war between royalist Chetniks commanded by Draža Mihailović and communist partisans commanded by Josip Broz Tito . Axis auxiliary units of the Serbian Volunteer Corps and the Serbian State Guard fought against both of these forces. The siege of Kraljevo was a major battle of the uprising in Serbia , led by Chetnik forces against the Nazis. Several days after the battle began

798-504: A conservative prime minister, headed or dominated most governments until his death. King Alexander established a dictatorship in 1929 with the aim of establishing the Yugoslav ideology and single Yugoslav nation , changed the name of the country to Yugoslavia. The effect of Alexander's dictatorship was to further alienate the non-Serbs living in Yugoslavia from the idea of unity. Alexander

931-664: A country the United States was not formally at war with. The Serbian government's lobbying efforts centred around two organizations, the Serbian National Defence and the Yugoslav Committee . The latter was intended to attract the support of Croats and Slovenes for the creation of a unified South Slavic state after the war. In January 1917, Serbia established a diplomatic legation in Washington, D.C. Shortly thereafter,

1064-706: A dispute with Pašić and his People's Radical Party , Albala reoriented his focus towards civic activism. He served as the president of the Jewish Community of Belgrade , vice-president of the Council of Jewish Communities of Yugoslavia and president of Yugoslavia's Jewish National Fund . In 1935, he visited the Holy Land for the first and only time to attend the dedication of a memorial forest in Jerusalem planted in honour of Yugoslavia's King Alexander , who had been assassinated

1197-529: A distinctive " Muslim " nationality. As a result of these reforms, there was a massive overhaul of Kosovo's nomenklatura and police, that shifted from being Serb-dominated to ethnic Albanian-dominated through firing Serbs on a large scale. Further concessions were made to the ethnic Albanians of Kosovo in response to unrest, including the creation of the University of Pristina as an Albanian language institution. These changes created widespread fear among Serbs of being treated as second-class citizens . Belgrade,

1330-600: A heavy blow to the diplomatic efforts of Yugoslav officials in the United States. The Yugoslav government-in-exile approved a pension for Albala's widow and a stipend for his daughter. Albala's widow continued to work for the Yugoslav government-in-exile's propaganda section in New York City until May 1943. After the war, Albala's ashes were transferred to Belgrade. Albala is the grandfather of Misplaced Pages editor Rosie Stephenson-Goodknight . Serbia Serbia , officially

1463-600: A majority (57%) of its overall male population. Serbia suffered the biggest casualty rate in World War I . The Corfu Declaration was a formal agreement between the government-in-exile of the Kingdom of Serbia and the Yugoslav Committee (anti-Habsburg South Slav émigrés) that pledged to unify Kingdom of Serbia and Kingdom of Montenegro with Austria-Hungary's South Slav autonomous crown lands: Kingdom of Croatia-Slavonia , Kingdom of Dalmatia , Slovenia , Vojvodina (then part of

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1596-419: A number of Serbian Orthodox churches and monasteries destroyed or damaged. On 21 May 2006, Montenegro held a referendum which showed 55.4% of voters in favour of independence, just above the 55% required by the referendum. This was followed on 5 June 2006 by Serbia's declaration of independence, marking the re-emergence of Serbia as an independent state. The National Assembly of Serbia declared Serbia to be

1729-497: A number of international analysts, Serbia has suffered from democratic backsliding into authoritarianism , followed by a decline in media freedom and civil liberties. After the COVID-19 pandemic spread to Serbia in March 2020, a state of emergency was declared and a curfew was introduced for the first time in Serbia since World War II. In April 2022, President Aleksandar Vučić

1862-567: A reduction of powers for the autonomous provinces of Kosovo and Vojvodina, where his allies subsequently took over power, during the Anti-bureaucratic revolution . This ignited tensions between the communist leadership of the other republics of Yugoslavia and awoke ethnic nationalism across Yugoslavia that eventually resulted in its breakup , with Slovenia , Croatia , Bosnia and Herzegovina , and Macedonia declaring independence during 1991 and 1992. Serbia and Montenegro remained together as

1995-469: A sad thing for us to see any of our fellow citizens leave us to return to their promised land, but we shall console ourselves in the hope that they will stand as brethren and leave with us a good part of their hearts, and that they will be the strongest tie between free Israel and Serbia. Believe me, dear Captain Albala, Very sincerely yours, —Vesnitch Serbia thus became the first country to openly endorse

2128-582: Is an upper-middle income economy and provides universal health care and free primary and secondary education to its citizens. It is a unitary parliamentary constitutional republic , member of the UN , CoE , OSCE , PfP , BSEC , CEFTA , and is acceding to the WTO . Since 2014, the country has been negotiating its EU accession , with the possibility of joining the European Union by 2030. Serbia formally adheres to

2261-614: Is claimed between 60,000 and 70,000 people died in Serbia during the 1944–45 communist purge . Serbia became a constituent republic within the Federal People's Republic of Yugoslavia known as the People's Republic of Serbia , and had a republic-branch of the federal communist party, the League of Communists of Serbia . Serbia's most powerful and influential politician in Tito-era Yugoslavia

2394-953: Is located in the Balkan peninsula and the Pannonian Plain . Serbia lies between latitudes 41° and 47° N , and longitudes 18° and 23° E . The country covers a total of 88,499 km (34,170 sq mi); with Kosovo excluded, the total area is 77,474 km (29,913 sq mi). Its total border length amounts to 2,027 km (1,260 mi): Albania 115 km (71 mi), Bosnia and Herzegovina 302 km (188 mi), Bulgaria 318 km (198 mi), Croatia 241 km (150 mi), Hungary 151 km (94 mi), North Macedonia 221 km (137 mi), Montenegro 203 km (126 mi) and Romania 476 km (296 mi). All of Kosovo's border with Albania (115 km (71 mi)), North Macedonia (159 km (99 mi)) and Montenegro (79 km (49 mi)) are under control of

2527-732: Is not disputable (notably in the Balkans and Lusatia ). However, there are also sources that have used similar names in other parts of the world (most notably in the Asiatic Sarmatia in the Caucasus ). There exist two prevailing theories about the origin of the ethnonym *Sŕbъ (plur. *Sŕby ), one from a Proto-Slavic language with an appellative meaning of a "family kinship" and "alliance", while another from an Iranian-Sarmatian language with various meanings. In his work, De Administrando Imperio , Constantine VII Porphyrogenitus suggests that

2660-664: The Danube . During the Iron Age , local tribes of Triballi , Dardani , and Autariatae were encountered by the Ancient Greeks during their cultural and political expansion into the region, from the 5th up to the 2nd century BC. The Celtic tribe of Scordisci settled throughout the area in the 3rd century BC. It formed a tribal state, building several fortifications, including their capital at Singidunum (present-day Belgrade) and Naissos (present-day Niš ). The Romans conquered much of

2793-637: The Democratic Opposition of Serbia (DOS), a broad coalition of anti-Milošević parties. This culminated on 5 October when half a million people from all over the country congregated in Belgrade, compelling Milošević to concede defeat. The fall of Milošević ended Yugoslavia's international isolation . Milošević was sent to the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia . The DOS announced that FR Yugoslavia would seek to join

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2926-662: The European Union . In 2003, the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia was renamed Serbia and Montenegro ; the EU opened negotiations with the country for the Stabilisation and Association Agreement . Serbia's political climate remained tense and in 2003, Prime Minister Zoran Đinđić was assassinated as result of a plot originating from organised crime and former security officials. In 2004 unrest in Kosovo took place, leaving 19 people dead and

3059-651: The Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (FRY). However, according to the Badinter Commission , the country was not legally considered a continuation of the former SFRY, but a new state. Fueled by ethnic tensions, the Yugoslav Wars (1991–2001) erupted, with the most severe conflicts taking place in Croatia and Bosnia , where the large ethnic Serb communities opposed independence from Yugoslavia. The FRY remained outside

3192-608: The First Serbian Uprising (1804–1813), led by vožd Karađorđe Petrović , Serbia was independent for almost a decade before the Ottoman army was able to reoccupy the country. The Second Serbian Uprising began in 1815, led by Miloš Obrenović ; it ended with a compromise between Serbian revolutionaries and Ottoman authorities. Serbia was one of the first nations in the Balkans to abolish feudalism . The Akkerman Convention in 1826,

3325-649: The Great Powers , by 1867 the last Turkish soldiers left the Principality, making the country de facto independent. By enacting a new constitution in 1869, without consulting the Porte, Serbian diplomats confirmed the de facto independence of the country. In 1876, Serbia declared war on the Ottoman Empire, siding with the ongoing Christian uprisings in Bosnia-Herzegovina and Bulgaria . The formal independence of

3458-670: The Holy See and Constantinople in 1217, reaching its territorial apex in 1346 as the Serbian Empire . By the mid-16th century, the Ottomans annexed the entirety of modern-day Serbia; their rule was at times interrupted by the Habsburg Empire , which began expanding towards Central Serbia from the end of the 17th century while maintaining a foothold in Vojvodina . In the early 19th century,

3591-623: The Independent State of Croatia and sought refuge in German-occupied Serbia, seeking to escape the large-scale persecution and Genocide of Serbs , Jews, and Roma being committed by the Ustaše regime. The number of Serb victims was approximately 300,000 to 350,000. According to Tito himself, Serbs made up the vast majority of anti-fascist fighters and Yugoslav Partisans for the whole course of World War II . The Republic of Užice

3724-688: The Kingdom of Serbia as crownland . Those gains were lost by the Treaty of Belgrade in 1739, when the Ottomans retook the region. Apart from territory of modern-day Vojvodina which remained under the Habsburg Empire, central regions of Serbia were occupied once again by the Habsburgs in 1788–1792 . The Serbian Revolution for independence from the Ottoman Empire lasted eleven years, from 1804 until 1815. During

3857-697: The Parliament of the United Kingdom adopted the Balfour Declaration , which called for the establishment of a Jewish homeland in Palestine. Albala immediately drew the attention of the Royal Serbian Government to the document's significance and recommended that it consider officially endorsing it. On 17 December 1917, Vesnić sent a letter to Albala expressing the Royal Serbian Government's support for

3990-675: The Podgorica Assembly deposed the House of Petrović-Njegoš and united Montenegro with Serbia. On 1 December 1918, in Belgrade, Serbian Prince Regent Alexander Karađorđević proclaimed the Kingdom of the Serbs, Croats, and Slovenes , under King Peter I of Serbia . King Peter was succeeded by his son, Alexander, in August 1921. Serb centralists and Croat autonomists clashed in the parliament, and most governments were fragile and short-lived. Nikola Pašić ,

4123-468: The Republic of Serbia , is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Southeast and Central Europe , located in the Balkans and the Pannonian Plain . It borders Hungary to the north, Romania to the northeast, Bulgaria to the southeast, North Macedonia to the south, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina to the west, and Montenegro to the southwest. Serbia claims a border with Albania through

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4256-486: The Serbian Revolution established the nation-state as the region's first constitutional monarchy , which subsequently expanded its territory. In 1918, in the aftermath of World War I , the Kingdom of Serbia united with the former Habsburg crownland of Vojvodina ; later in the same year it joined with other South Slavic nations in the foundation of Yugoslavia , which existed in various political formations until

4389-606: The Syrmian Front was the last major military action of World War II in Serbia. A study by Vladimir Žerjavić estimates total war-related deaths in Yugoslavia at 1,027,000, including 273,000 in Serbia. The victory of the Communist Partisans resulted in the abolition of the monarchy and a subsequent constitutional referendum. A one-party state was soon established in Yugoslavia by the Communist Party of Yugoslavia . It

4522-539: The Treaty of Adrianople in 1829 and finally, the Hatt-i Sharif , recognised the suzerainty of Serbia. The First Serbian Constitution was adopted on 15 February 1835, making the country one of the first to adopt a democratic constitution in Europe. 15 February is now commemorated as Statehood Day , a public holiday . Following the clashes between the Ottoman army and Serbs in Belgrade in 1862, and under pressure from

4655-518: The Yugoslav Wars of the 1990s. During the breakup of Yugoslavia , Serbia formed a union with Montenegro , which was peacefully dissolved in 2006, restoring Serbia's independence as a sovereign state for the first time since 1918. In 2008, representatives of the Assembly of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence , with mixed responses from the international community while Serbia continues to claim it as part of its own sovereign territory . Serbia

4788-602: The disputed territory of Kosovo . Serbia has about 6.6 million inhabitants, excluding Kosovo. Its capital Belgrade is also the largest city . Continuously inhabited since the Paleolithic Age, the territory of modern-day Serbia faced Slavic migrations in the 6th century. Several regional states were founded in the early Middle Ages and were at times recognised as tributaries to the Byzantine , Frankish and Hungarian kingdoms. The Serbian Kingdom obtained recognition by

4921-524: The Association of University-Educated Women (1931-1935), L'Oeuvre litteraire des femmes yougoslaves (1936), in which he wrote the preface and introduction of individual chapters, as well as Monahinja Jefimija (1936). In 1937, she became the editor of Glasnik Jugoslovenskog ženskog saveza ("Bulletin of the Yugoslav Women's Alliance "). "In addition to Isidora Sekulić and Ksenija Atanasijević , among

5054-709: The Association of University-Educated Women, and served in that role for eight years. A literature theoretician, from 1919 through 1939, Lebl-Albala wrote essays, literary discussions, criticism, reviews, stories, travel articles about women and youth, translations and other contributions which were published in newspapers and journals; some of these were, Revue Yougoslave , Misao , Ženski pokret , Prosvetni glasnik , SKG , Prilozi , LMS , Strani pregled , Politika , Javnost , Književni jug , Glasnik jugoslovenskog ženskog saveza , Beogradske opštinske novine , Južni pregled , Krug , Naša stvarnost , Život i rad , Žena danas , and Vidici . She wrote discussions and reviews of

5187-400: The Balfour Declaration. Unlike the Balfour Declaration, which called for the establishment of a Jewish "national home" in Palestine, Vesnić's letter unambiguously called for the establishment of a state that would become an integral member of the international community, as demonstrated by the use of the term "free Israel" in its latter half. Vesnić's letter also marked the first time that Israel

5320-407: The Byzantine territory in large numbers. They merged with the local Romanised population that was gradually assimilated. White Serbs, an early Slavic tribe from White Serbia eventually settled in an area between the Sava river and the Dinaric Alps . By the beginning of the 9th century, Serbia achieved a level of statehood. Christianization of Serbia was a gradual process, finalized by

5453-421: The Carpathian Mountains and follows the Danube northwest through the Iron Gate where it gains a jet effect and continues to Belgrade and can spread as far south as Niš. Paulina Lebl-Albala Paulina Lebl (sometimes spelled Lebel) was born in Belgrade , Serbia She was the youngest child in the family of Simon Lébl, an engineer in the French company which raised the railway in Serbia. Her mother

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5586-432: The EU. Serbia officially applied for membership in the European Union on 22 December 2009, and received candidate status on 1 March 2012, following a delay in December 2011. Following a positive recommendation of the European Commission and European Council in June 2013, negotiations to join the EU commenced in January 2014. In 2012 Aleksandar Vučić and his Serbian Progressive Party came to power. According to

5719-447: The Emperor Leopold I formally granted Serbs from the Habsburg monarchy a first set of "privileges", primarily to guarantee them freedom of religion. As a consequence, the ecclesiastical centre of the Serbs also moved northwards, to the Metropolitanate of Karlovci , and the Serbian Patriarchate of Peć was once-again abolished by the Ottomans in 1766. In 1718–39, the Habsburg monarchy occupied much of Central Serbia and established

5852-456: The English-speaking nurses. Upon recovery, he returned to Corfu, where Serbia had established its government-in-exile. As a consequence of the Russian Revolution , the Russian Empire – one of Serbia's principal allies – was no longer able to offer its support. Worsening matters further, the other Allied countries were hesitant to provide further aid to the Royal Serbian Army on the Salonika front . The Royal Serbian Government decided to turn to

5985-422: The Faculty of Philology at the University of Belgrade . In 1909 and in 1912–14, she published translations of Johann Wolfgang von Goethe , Ludwig Thoma , Paul-Louis Hervier, Maurice Barrès , Heinrich Heine , Gustave Flaubert , and Oscar Wilde ; during the same period, she published the original works of Victor Hugo , as well as literary and theater reviews. At the end of 1913, Lebl-Albala began teaching at

6118-486: The First Women's Gymnasium. From 1914 until 1918, Lebl-Albala published in the journals Odjek ("Response") (Nis), Književni jug ("Literary South") ( Zagreb ), and Moderna žena ("Modern Women") (Zagreb); she was in Switzerland 1917–18. Lebl-Albala was back in Belgrade in 1918–39. She became a professor in the Second Girls Gymnasium in 1920. She married David Albala , a physician, Zionist leader and president of Belgrade's Sephardi community on March 14 of that year at

6251-531: The German forces committed a massacre of approximately 2,000 civilians in an event known as the Kraljevo massacre , in a reprisal for the attack. Draginac and Loznica massacre of 2,950 villagers in Western Serbia in 1941 was the first large execution of civilians in occupied Serbia by Germans , with Kragujevac massacre and Novi Sad Raid of Jews and Serbs by Hungarian fascists being the most notorious, with over 3,000 victims in each case. After one year of occupation, around 16,000 Serbian Jews were murdered in

6384-437: The Greek island of Corfu , during which he contracted typhoid , and was subsequently evacuated to North Africa . Upon recovering, Albala returned to Corfu, where he proposed to Serbian Prime Minister Nikola Pašić that he travel to United States to lobby on Serbia's behalf. Pašić agreed to the proposal and Albala embarked on a tour of the United States giving speeches, raising bonds and soliciting loans. On 27 December 1917,

6517-409: The Jewish Sephardic Religious Community . Albala wrote and published articles in various journals, both Jewish and non-Jewish, and even wrote two plays. Albala also served as the vice-president of the Federation of Jewish Religious Communities of Yugoslavia. In 1930, Albala published an article titled Why the Jews Love Yugoslavia in the publication Jevrejski glas (Jewish Voice), in which he repeated

6650-489: The Jews living there. In late 1915 and early 1916, Albala took part in the Royal Serbian Army's winter retreat to Corfu across the mountains of Albania. During the retreat, Albala contracted typhoid , and was evacuated together with other ailing soldiers to the Greek port of Volos , and then to the town of Bizerte , in French Tunisia . He was later transferred to a hospital in Cairo , where he perfected his English-language skills by conversing with his fellow patients and

6783-455: The Kingdom of Hungary) and Bosnia and Herzegovina in a post-war Yugoslav state. It was signed on 20 July 1917 on Corfu. As the Austro-Hungarian Empire collapsed, the territory of Syrmia united with Serbia on 24 November 1918. Just a day later, the Great People's Assembly of Serbs, Bunjevci and other Slavs in Banat, Bačka and Baranja declared the unification of these regions ( Banat , Bačka , and Baranja ) with Serbia. On 26 November 1918,

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6916-471: The Kosovo border police. Serbia treats the 352 km (219 mi) border with Kosovo as an "administrative line"; it is under shared control of Kosovo border police and Serbian police forces. The Pannonian Plain covers the northern third of the country (Vojvodina and Mačva ) while the easternmost tip of Serbia extends into the Wallachian Plain . The terrain of the central part of the country consists chiefly of hills traversed by rivers. Mountains dominate

7049-445: The NDH, as well as a letter to U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt warning him of the dangers of an Axis victory in Europe. Albala also sent letters to Jewish representatives in Switzerland, requesting that they send aid to the Jews in the NDH. Albala worked so closely with the Yugoslav embassy in Washington, the scholar Krinka Vidaković-Petrov writes, that he was practically a member of the embassy staff. Albala concerned himself with

7182-434: The Ottoman army reconquered a large part of Serbia in the winter of 1689/1690, leading to a brutal massacre of the civilian population by uncontrolled Albanian and Tatar units. As a result of the persecutions, several tens of thousands of Serbs, led by the patriarch, Arsenije III Crnojević , fled northwards to settle in Hungary , an event known as the Great Migration of 1690 . In August 1690, following several petitions,

7315-414: The Ottomans, the native nobility was eliminated and the peasantry was enserfed to Ottoman rulers, while much of the clergy fled or were confined to the isolated monasteries. Under the Ottoman system, Serbs and Christians were considered an inferior class and subjected to heavy taxes, and a portion of the Serbian population experienced Islamization . Many Serbs were recruited during the devshirme system,

7448-408: The Sephardic Synagogue. They had a daughter, Jelena Albala Gojić in 1925. A feminist, she became a member of the Drustvo za prosvećivanje žene i zaštitu njenih prava ("Society for Women's Enlightenment and Protection of their Rights") in 1925, she was also active in Zionist youth work. Other memberships included the Management Association of Professors and PEN Club . She was the first president of

7581-411: The Serbian War Mission was established, headed by Milenko Vesnić . At Corfu, Albala approached the Prime Minister of Serbia , Nikola Pašić , with a proposal to visit the United States and lobby Jewish Americans on the Serbian government's behalf; Pašić accepted Albala's proposal. In July 1917, Albala left Corfu, and after brief stopovers in Rome and Paris , reached London in September. He arrived in

7714-403: The Serbs originated from White Serbia near Francia . From 1815 to 1882, the official name for Serbia was the Principality of Serbia . From 1882 to 1918, it was renamed to the Kingdom of Serbia , later from 1945 to 1963, the official name for Serbia was the People's Republic of Serbia. This was again renamed the Socialist Republic of Serbia from 1963 to 1990. Since 1990, the official name of

7847-400: The Union of Jewish Communities of Yugoslavia ( Serbo-Croatian : Savez jevrejskih vjeroispovjednih općina Jugoslavije ; SJVOJ), Albala met with Prime Minister Milan Stojadinović , and complained to him about the rising level of anti-Semitism in the Yugoslav press. According to Albala, Stojadinović "expressed his clear disapproval" of anti-Semitism and stated that he would take steps to address

7980-548: The United States on 26 September 1917. Albala's tour of the United States was financed by several Jewish organizations. He formed relationships with several prominent members of the Jewish American community, among them Louis Brandeis , an associate Supreme Court justice, as well as Felix Frankfurter , one of president Woodrow Wilson 's closest advisors. These connections gave Albala access to several senior Wilson administration officials, such as Secretary of State Robert Lansing and his counselor Frank Polk . In November 1917,

8113-475: The United States, Albala found that the majority of Americans favoured isolationism , a stance which made the task of lobbying on Yugoslavia's behalf all the more difficult. Moreover, most Americans that Albala spoke with, as well as many American Jews, failed to grasp the severity of the situation in Europe and the extent of the unfolding Holocaust. On 6 April 1941, Germany, Italy and Hungary invaded Yugoslavia. The country quickly capitulated and its royal family

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8246-453: The United States, a neutral country at the time, for financial assistance. A mission headed by Bishop Nikolaj Velimirović two years earlier to garner support for the Serbian war effort had been unsuccessful. The Royal Serbian Army needed to replenish its depleted ranks, but for much of the war, it was illegal for Serbian representatives to recruit volunteers on American soil because most Serbian Americans were still subjects of Austria-Hungary,

8379-406: The University of Vienna in 1910. Upon his return to Serbia, Albala was conscripted into the Royal Serbian Army . During this time, he found himself attending synagogue less often. Asked by his adopted father about this change, Albala asserted, "But I am a devoted Zionist." The father replied, "Ah, my son, one must be a Jew as well as a Zionist," which influenced Albala's behaviour thereafter. Albala

8512-554: The Yugoslav Embassy. She wrote for the Yugoslav News Bulletin (Yugoslav Information Center, New York City, 1942) and in Pittsburgh newspapers (1941, 1944–45). After her husband's death in 1942, Lebl-Albala and her daughter settled in New York City . Lebl-Albala returned to Belgrade in 1945, and was mentioned in the 1947 edition of the Columbia Dictionary of Modern European Literature in the section on Serbian writers. She did translation work for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and Columbia Pictures during this time. In 1947, she made Aliyah with

8645-449: The Yugoslav government-in-exile about the extermination of Jews in the NDH. The first was dated 18 October 1941 and was based on the eyewitness testimony of Yugoslav Jews recently arrived in New York. On 10 November 1941, Albala wrote a second report, addressed to Subašić and Fotić, describing the extent of the Holocaust in Croatia. This report was based on the testimony of a Croatian Jew who was smuggled out of Europe by an unnamed gentile. It

8778-443: The Zionist idea. Albala subsequently toured the United States addressing Jewish communities and raising money for war bonds . After the head of the Serbian legation, Ljubomir Mihailović, failed to secure a loan from the United States, Albala appealed to Brandeis, who persuaded Wilson to approve a loan of $ 1 million ($ 15.7 million in 2024) to Serbia. Albala proposed forming a Jewish Brigade made up of Jewish American volunteers, on

8911-441: The area of modern-day Serbia, second only to contemporary Italy. The most famous of these was Constantine the Great , the first Christian Emperor, who issued an edict ordering religious tolerance throughout the Empire . When the Roman Empire was divided in 395, most of Serbia remained under the Byzantine Empire , and its northwestern parts were included in the Western Roman Empire . By the 6th century, South Slavs migrated into

9044-427: The area, or around 90% of its pre-war Jewish population during The Holocaust in Serbia . Many concentration camps were established across the area. Banjica concentration camp was the largest concentration camp and jointly run by the German army and Nedić's regime, with primary victims being Serbian Jews, Roma , and Serb political prisoners. Hundreds of thousands of ethnic Serbs fled the Axis puppet state known as

9177-526: The capital of FPR Yugoslavia and PR Serbia, hosted the first Non-Aligned Movement Summit in September 1961, as well as the first major gathering of the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) with the aim of implementing the Helsinki Accords from October 1977 to March 1978. The 1972 smallpox outbreak in SAP Kosovo and other parts of SR Serbia was the last major outbreak of smallpox in Europe since World War II. In 1989, Slobodan Milošević rose to power in Serbia. Milošević promised

9310-426: The capital of the newly established Serbian Despotate was transferred to Belgrade in 1403, before moving to Smederevo in 1430. The Despotate was then under the double vassalage of Hungary and the Ottoman Empire. The fall of Smederevo on 20 June 1459, which marked the full conquest of the Serbian Despotate by the Ottomans, also symbolically signified the end of the Serbian state. In all Serbian lands conquered by

9443-422: The committee. When Albala's wife and daughter Jelena joined him in the United States, Albala's departure from the country became widely known. Albala thus sent Alkalay a letter of resignation, which was read aloud before the committee. In the letter, Albala expressed concern about the political climate in Europe, and warned the members of the committee, "you are sitting on a volcano." This line prompted laughter among

9576-473: The conflicts, but provided logistic, military and financial support to Serb forces in the wars. In response, the UN imposed sanctions against Yugoslavia which led to political isolation and the collapse of the economy (GDP decreased from $ 24 billion in 1990 to under $ 10 billion in 1993). Serbia was in the 2000s sued on the charges of alleged genocide by neighbouring Bosnia and Herzegovina and Croatia but in both cases

9709-811: The country has been the Republic of Serbia. Archaeological evidence of Paleolithic settlements on the territory of present-day Serbia is scarce. A fragment of a hominid jaw found in Sićevo (Mala Balanica ) is believed to be up to 525,000–397,000 years old. Approximately 6,500 BC, during the Neolithic , the Starčevo and Vinča cultures existed in the region of modern-day Belgrade. They dominated much of Southeast Europe as well as parts of Central Europe and Anatolia . Several important archaeological sites from this era, including Lepenski Vir and Vinča-Belo Brdo , still exist near

9842-512: The country was internationally recognised at the Congress of Berlin in 1878, which ended the Russo-Turkish War ; this treaty, however, prohibited Serbia from uniting with other Serbian regions by placing Bosnia and Herzegovina under Austro-Hungarian occupation, alongside the occupation of the region of Raška . From 1815 to 1903, the principality was ruled by the House of Obrenović , save for

9975-590: The establishment of a Jewish state in Palestine. The letter, written in English, was soon published in all major American newspapers, it read as follows: Dear Captain Albala, I learn that you have to attend on Saturday 19th ... a meeting of the Menorah, the great Cultural Society in this country of the Jewish youth. I wish you to express to your Jewish brothers on that occasion the sympathy of our Government and of our people for

10108-658: The first group of emigrants for Israel, after which, she visited Rome (1951–53) and Windsor, Ontario , Canada (1955), before emigrating to the US where she lived with her daughter in Los Angeles , California . She died there in 1967. She is mentioned in Encyclopaedia Hebraica , Jewish Almanac , and the Bulletin of the Association of Yugoslav Jews in the United States . Published in 2005, Tako je nekad bilo ("That's how it once was")

10241-399: The first on the literary scene was Paulina Lebl Albala (...) one of the rarer emancipated and university-educated women in Serbia. She belonged to the generation of enterprising Serbian intellectuals associated with the momentum of modern enlightenment." (Predrag Palavestra, History of Serbian literary criticism , 2008, p. 345) In 1940, she moved to Washington, D.C. , joining her husband at

10374-753: The government. In 1998, continued clashes between the Albanian guerilla Kosovo Liberation Army and Yugoslav security forces led to the short Kosovo War (1998–99), in which NATO intervened, leading to the withdrawal of Serbian forces and the establishment of UN administration in the province. After the Yugoslav Wars, Serbia became home to highest number of refugees and internally displaced persons in Europe. After presidential elections in September 2000, opposition parties accused Milošević of electoral fraud . A campaign of civil resistance followed, led by

10507-658: The head of the Serbian delegation to the United States, Milenko Vesnić , sent Albala a letter in which he affirmed Serbia's support for the creation of a Jewish state in Palestine . Serbia thus became the first country to endorse the Balfour Declaration . In the immediate post-war period, Albala served as one of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes ' representatives at the Paris Peace Conference in Versailles . Following

10640-551: The interim been invaded , occupied and partitioned by the Axis powers . David Kovu was born in Belgrade , Serbia on 1 September 1886. He was one of seven children born to Avram Kovu and Lea Malamed, Sephardic Jews who had lived in the Romanian towns of Craiova and Drobeta-Turnu Severin before relocating to Serbia and settling in its capital Belgrade prior to David's birth. The family

10773-555: The invitation and his subsequent visit marked his first and only stay in the Holy Land . The Royal Yugoslav Government subsequently honoured Albala, as well as four other Yugoslav Jews, for their roles in the planting of the forest. By the mid-1930s, the political climate in Yugoslavia had changed, and anti-Semitism became more palpable. "It is difficult to be a Jew in Yugoslavia," Albala wrote in 1936, in stark contrast to his optimistic tone from several years earlier. "I wish many non-Jews could be Jews for only twenty-four hours and feel all

10906-547: The issue. Several weeks later, Albala was granted an audience with prince regent Paul , who was reported to have expressed sympathy with the Jewish people. Despite this, the Yugoslav government continued to relax its attitude towards the far-right, in accordance with Yugoslavia's policy of appeasing Germany in the lead-up to World War II. In May 1938, Albala held a meeting with Yugoslavia's Minister of Internal Affairs, Anton Korošec , who assured Albala that Yugoslavia would not implement German-style race laws targeting Jews. Albala

11039-449: The judicial system. The country was chosen to host international specialised exposition Expo 2027 . The Serbian government is working with Rio Tinto corporation on a project which aims to develop Europe's biggest lithium mine. Mining lithium became a matter of debate in the society and several protests against mining took place. A landlocked country situated at the crossroads between Central and Southeastern Europe, Serbia

11172-403: The just endeavor of resuscitating their beloved country in Palestine, which will enable them to take their place in the future Society of Nations, according to their numerous capacities and to their unquestioned right. We are sure that this will not only be to their own interest, but at the same time to that of the whole of humanity. You know, dear Captain Albala, that there is no other nation in

11305-468: The legal successor to the former state union. The Assembly of Kosovo unilaterally declared independence from Serbia on 17 February 2008. Serbia immediately condemned the declaration and continues to deny any statehood to Kosovo. The declaration has sparked varied responses from the international community. Status-neutral talks between Serbia and Kosovo-Albanian authorities are held in Brussels , mediated by

11438-515: The literary club "Nada". Her published translations of Glanz and Allegro furiozo by Ida Boy-Ed appeared in Politika in 1906 and 1907 and were the first translations of Boy-Ed's work. The Prosvetni pregled (Education Review) No. 1, released "On reading", in 1909, for which she won an award. In the same year, she began studies in architecture in Belgrade, leaving after a semester. From 1909 through 1913, she studied Serbian and French literature at

11571-479: The loss of statehood to the Ottoman Empire, Serbian resistance continued in northern regions (modern Vojvodina), under titular despots (until 1537), and popular leaders like Jovan Nenad (1526–1527). From 1521 to 1552, Ottomans conquered Belgrade and regions of Syrmia, Bačka, and Banat. Wars and rebellions constantly challenged Ottoman rule. One of the most significant was the Banat Uprising in 1594 and 1595, which

11704-628: The lowest point of just 17 metres (56 feet) near the Danube river at Prahovo . The largest lake is Đerdap Lake (163 square kilometres (63 sq mi)) and the longest river passing through Serbia is the Danube (587.35 kilometres (364.96 mi)). The climate of Serbia is under the influences of the landmass of Eurasia and the Atlantic Ocean and Mediterranean Sea . With mean January temperatures around 0 °C (32 °F), and mean July temperatures of 22 °C (72 °F), it can be classified as

11837-431: The main charges against Serbia were dismissed. Multi-party democracy was introduced in Serbia in 1990, officially dismantling the one-party system. Despite constitutional changes, Milošević maintained strong political influence over the state media and security apparatus. When the ruling Socialist Party of Serbia refused to accept its defeat in municipal elections in 1996 , Serbians engaged in large protests against

11970-606: The meeting, Cvetković expressed sympathy for the plight of the Jewish people and told the SJVOJ representatives that they had no reason to be concerned. At the Seventh Congress of the SJVOJ, held between 23 and 24 April 1939, Albala delivered a speech in which he extolled the nascent Jewish community in Mandatory Palestine as a refuge for the Jewish people. Prince Paul believed the only way to counter German pressure on Yugoslavia

12103-672: The members, who viewed Yugoslavia as a bastion of stability. Albala soon learned that neither the American nor British governments viewed the concept of a Bulgarian–Yugoslav federation as a realistic or viable solution. During his stay in Washington, Albala worked closely with the Yugoslav ambassador to the United States, Konstantin Fotić . Between 1 February 1940 and 8 February 1941, Albala sent twelve reports to Prince Paul and Yugoslavia's Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In stark contrast to his first mission to

12236-506: The middle of the 9th century. In the mid-10th-century, the Serbian state experienced a fall. During the 11th and 12th century, Serbian state frequently fought with the neighbouring Byzantine Empire. Between 1166 and 1371, Serbia was ruled by the Nemanjić dynasty , under whom the state was elevated to a kingdom in 1217, and an empire in 1346, under Stefan Dušan . The Serbian Orthodox Church

12369-466: The model of the British Army's Jewish Legion , to take part in combat operations in Palestine. The brigade was eventually formed in March 1918, in a ceremonial parade, the 1st Jewish Brigade was led by US Major Weiss and David Albala down New York's Fifth Avenue, before setting out for Palestine. It is also stated that Albala stood in the United States until November 1918. On his return to Serbia, Albala

12502-457: The phrase "we love it" eleven times. "We love it because its joy is our joy," Albala wrote, "its pain is our pain, its enemies are our enemies, its desires are our desires." Following the assassination of King Alexander of Yugoslavia in October 1934, the Jewish community of Mandatory Palestine planted a forest in his memory. In 1935, Albala was invited to attend its opening ceremony. Albala accepted

12635-743: The policy of military neutrality . The origin of the name Serbia is unclear. Historically, authors have mentioned the Serbs ( Serbian : Srbi / Срби) and the Sorbs of Eastern Germany ( Upper Sorbian : Serbja ; Lower Sorbian : Serby ) in a variety of ways: Cervetiis ( Servetiis ), gentis (S)urbiorum , Suurbi , Sorabi , Soraborum , Sorabos , Surpe , Sorabici , Sorabiet , Sarbin , Swrbjn , Servians , Sorbi , Sirbia, Sribia, Zirbia, Zribia , Suurbelant , Surbia , Serbulia / Sorbulia among others. These authors used these names to refer to Serbs and Sorbs in areas where their historical and current presence

12768-519: The previous year. As the 1930s progressed, Albala became increasingly concerned about the precarious position of Jews in Central and Eastern Europe , but his concerns were ignored by many other prominent Yugoslav Jews. In 1939, Albala departed for the United States on another mission to raise funds and lobby American officials on Yugoslavia's behalf. He died of a brain aneurysm in Washington, D.C. , in 1942, never having returned to Yugoslavia, which had in

12901-593: The region was transformed into the Voivodeship of Serbia and Banat of Temeschwar . In the First Balkan War in 1912, the Balkan League defeated the Ottoman Empire and captured its European territories , which enabled territorial expansion of the Kingdom of Serbia into regions of Raška, Kosovo , Metohija , and Vardarian Macedonia . The Second Balkan War soon ensued when Bulgaria turned on its former allies, but

13034-522: The rule of Prince Aleksandar Karađorđević between 1842 and 1858. In 1882, Principality of Serbia became the Kingdom of Serbia, ruled by King Milan I . The House of Karađorđević , descendants of the revolutionary leader Karađorđe Petrović, assumed power in 1903 following the May Overthrow . The 1848 revolution in Austria led to the establishment of the autonomous territory of Serbian Vojvodina ; by 1849,

13167-657: The southern third of Serbia. Dinaric Alps stretch in the west and the southwest, following the flow of the rivers Drina and Ibar . The Carpathian Mountains and Balkan Mountains stretch in a north–south direction in eastern Serbia. Ancient mountains in the southeast corner of the country belong to the Rilo-Rhodope Mountain system. Elevation ranges from the Midžor peak of the Balkan Mountains at 2,169 metres (7,116 feet) (the highest peak in Serbia, excluding Kosovo) to

13300-675: The territory in the 2nd century BC. In 167 BC, the Roman province of Illyricum was established; the remainder was conquered around 75 BC, forming the Roman province of Moesia Superior ; the modern-day Srem region was conquered in 9 BC; and Bačka and Banat in 106 AD after the Dacian Wars . As a result of this, contemporary Serbia extends fully or partially over several former Roman provinces, including Moesia , Pannonia , Praevalitana , Dalmatia , Dacia , and Macedonia . Seventeen Roman Emperors were born in

13433-471: The tragedy of our position, feel what it is like when people turn their heads and eyes from a Jew, when conversation dies down as soon as a person discovers that he is talking to a Jew." In 1936, Albala became the first chairman of Bratstvo , a debating circle which attracted dozens of young Jewish intellectuals to discuss matters of interest to the Jewish community. Several days after the Sixth Congress of

13566-508: The treatment of Yugoslav prisoners of war in Germany and drafted lists of supplies that could be sent to them through the Red Cross . In a letter dated 17 November 1941, Albala advised Paulina's family, who had fled to Italian-occupied Split , to instead relocate to Rome , which Albala considered a safer alternative. Albala died in Washington, D.C. of a sudden brain aneurysm on 4 April 1942. He

13699-575: The two countries became tense. The assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria on 28 June 1914 in Sarajevo by Gavrilo Princip , a member of the Young Bosnia organisation, led to Austria-Hungary declaring war on Serbia, on 28 July 1914, setting off World War I. Serbia won the first major battles of the war, including the Battle of Cer , and the Battle of Kolubara . Despite initial success, it

13832-454: The winds account for climate variations. Southern Serbia is subject to Mediterranean influences. The Dinaric Alps and other mountain ranges contribute to the cooling of most of the warm air masses. Winters are quite harsh in the Pešter plateau, because of the mountains which encircle it. One of the climatic features of Serbia is Košava , a cold and very squally southeastern wind which starts in

13965-433: The works of Dositej Obradović , Njegoš , Ljubomir Nenadović , Jovan Skerlić , Borisav Stanković , Branislav Nušić , Bogdan Popović , Jovan Sterija Popović , Jovan Dučić , Stanislav Vinaver , as well as Heine, Hugo, Herman Hesse , A. Smedlej, and Germaine de Staël . Her work appeared in a number of publications, including Ljubomir Nenadović 's, Odabrane strane (1926), Božidar Knežević's, Misli (1931), Bulletin of

14098-406: The world sympathizing with this plan more than Serbia. Do we not shed bitter tears on the rivers of Babylon in sight of our beloved land, lost only a short time ago? How should we not participate in your clamors and sorrows, lasting ages and generations, especially when our countrymen of your origin and religion have fought for their Serbian fatherland as well as the best of our soldiers? It will be

14231-449: Was Aleksandar Ranković , one of the "big four" Yugoslav leaders. Ranković was later removed from the office because of the disagreements regarding Kosovo's nomenklatura and the unity of Serbia. Ranković's dismissal was highly unpopular among Serbs. Pro-decentralisation reformers in Yugoslavia succeeded in the late 1960s in attaining substantial decentralisation of powers, creating substantial autonomy in Kosovo and Vojvodina, and recognising

14364-482: Was re-elected . In December 2023, President Vučić won a snap parliamentary election . The election resulted in protests, with opposition supporters claiming that the election result was fraudulent. On 16 January 2022, a Serbian constitutional referendum took place in which citizens chose to amend the Constitution concerning the judiciary. The changes were presented as a step toward reducing political influence in

14497-668: Was Natalie and there were three sisters, Hermina, Jelena, and Ruža. She grew up in the city's Ashkenazi community. She finished elementary and middle school in Niš , with third and fourth year at the Girls' College (1904–06). Between 1906 and 1909, she attended and graduated from the First Women's Gymnasium, studying under Jovan Skerlić , Pavle Popović (1868–1939), and Bogdan Popović in the Faculty of Philosophy, classics department, where she participated in

14630-525: Was a major Balkan Entente Power which contributed significantly to the Allied victory in the Balkans in November 1918, especially by helping France force Bulgaria's capitulation . Serbia's casualties accounted for 8% of the total Entente military deaths; 58% (243,600) soldiers of the Serbian army perished in the war. The total number of casualties is placed around 700,000, more than 16% of Serbia's prewar size, and

14763-645: Was a short-lived liberated territory established by the Partisans and the first liberated territory in World War II Europe, organised as a military mini-state that existed in the autumn of 1941 in the west of occupied Serbia . By late 1944, the Belgrade Offensive swung in favour of the partisans in the civil war; the partisans subsequently gained control of Yugoslavia. Following the Belgrade Offensive,

14896-570: Was asked by Pašić to attend the Paris Peace Conference as an observer and expert on Jewish matters. In the immediate post-war period, Albala was briefly associated with Pašić's People's Radical Party , but soon withdrew from the political scene altogether to focus on his medical career and civic activism. Albala became prominent in the Belgrade Jewish Nationalist Society and in the Yugoslav Zionist Federation. He

15029-597: Was assassinated in Marseille , during an official visit in 1934 by Vlado Chernozemski , member of the IMRO . Alexander was succeeded by his eleven-year-old son Peter II . In August 1939 the Cvetković–Maček Agreement established an autonomous Banate of Croatia as a solution to Croatian concerns. In 1941, in spite of Yugoslav attempts to remain neutral, the Axis powers invaded Yugoslavia. The territory of modern Serbia

15162-512: Was by uniting with Bulgaria. In 1939, Prince Paul dispatched Albala on another public relations and fundraising trip to the United States. Since this was a confidential mission, Albala left Yugoslavia without informing Alkalay or the other members of the committee. He arrived in New York on 23 December 1939. Albala sent Alkalay a letter explaining that he had departed for the United States and requesting that Alkalay devise an excuse for his absence before

15295-596: Was cremated on 6 April 1942, on the anniversary of the German bombing of Belgrade and the beginning of the Axis aggression on Yugoslavia; the ceremony took place in the presence of members of the Yugoslav embassy as well as representatives of Jewish organizations in Washington. A condolence letter written by Sumner Welles , the United States Under Secretary of State , was received by Fotić on 25 April. Albala's death dealt

15428-408: Was defeated, resulting in the Treaty of Bucharest . In two years, Serbia enlarged its territory by 80% and its population by 50%, it also suffered high casualties on the eve of World War I, with more than 36,000 dead. Austria-Hungary became wary of the rising regional power on its borders and its potential to become an anchor for unification of Serbs and other South Slavs, and the relationship between

15561-415: Was demobilized and assigned as a physician in the town of Monastir (modern-day Bitola , North Macedonia ). His superiors quickly took note of his charisma and affinity for language. In November 1913, Albala and the chief rabbi of Belgrade, Isak Alkalaj, were enlisted by the Royal Serbian Government to travel through the territories recently wrested from the Ottoman Empire and deliver pro-Serbian speeches to

15694-459: Was divided between Hungary, Bulgaria, the Independent State of Croatia, Greater Albania and Montenegro, while the remainder was placed under the military administration of Nazi Germany , with Serbian puppet governments led by Milan Aćimović and Milan Nedić assisted by Dimitrije Ljotić 's fascist organization Yugoslav National Movement (Zbor). The Yugoslav territory was the scene of

15827-656: Was eventually overpowered by the Central Powers in 1915 and Austro-Hungarian occupation of Serbia followed. Most of its army and some people retreated to Greece and Corfu , suffering immense losses on the way. After the Central Powers' military situation on other fronts worsened, the remains of the Serb army returned east and led a final breakthrough through enemy lines on 15 September 1918, liberating Serbia and defeating Bulgaria and Austria-Hungary. Serbia, with its campaign ,

15960-419: Was forced to flee together with its government. It was subsequently occupied and divided into several puppet states. Serbia was placed under direct German military occupation, whereas most of the country's west became part of the Independent State of Croatia ( Croatian : Nezavisna Država Hrvatska ; NDH), an Italo–German puppet state led by Ante Pavelić and the fascist Ustaše movement. The NDH soon launched

16093-460: Was later employed as a physician aboard an ocean liner sailing from Trieste to South America . Upon hearing of the outbreak of the Balkan Wars in October 1912, Albala tendered his resignation and returned to Serbia to enlist. For the duration of the Balkan Wars, Albala served in a Royal Serbian Army field hospital, during which he contracted typhus and cholera . In the post-war period, Albala

16226-461: Was mentioned in any official government document as the name of the future Jewish state. Albala himself considered Vesnić's letter to be the ultimate goal of his political work, both Serbian and Jewish; with its publication, he achieved three successes: he won American public opinion by exposing Serbia as tolerant, broad-minded and democratic, he received expressions of sympathy from Serbia for Jews, as well as for Serbian Jews, and he received support for

16359-690: Was one of the first reports documenting the atrocities committed by the Ustaše at Jasenovac . Around the same time, Albala sent letters to representatives of the Roman Catholic Church imploring Pope Pius XII to demand an end to the extermination of Jews in the NDH. Albala also sent letters to the World Jewish Congress and the American Jewish Congress keeping them informed of the situation in

16492-517: Was organized as an autocephalous archbishopric in 1219, through the effort of Sava , the country's patron saint, and in 1346 it was raised to the Patriarchate . Monuments of the Nemanjić period survive in many monasteries (several being World Heritage sites ) and fortifications . During these centuries the Serbian state (and influence) expanded significantly. The northern part (modern Vojvodina ),

16625-593: Was part of the Long War (1593–1606) between the Habsburgs and the Ottomans. The area of modern Vojvodina endured a century-long Ottoman occupation before being ceded to the Habsburg monarchy , partially by the Treaty of Karlovci (1699), and fully by the Treaty of Požarevac (1718). During the Habsburg-Ottoman war (1683–1699) , much of Serbia switched from Ottoman rule to Habsburg control from 1688 to 1690. However,

16758-602: Was provided by several prominent members of Belgrade's Jewish community. In 1905, Albala enrolled in the University of Vienna's Faculty of Medicine . The University of Vienna facilitated contact and cultural exchange between Sephardim from the Balkans and Ashkenazim from Central Europe . While studying medicine, Albala first became introduced to Zionism . He subsequently joined the Balkan Jewish students association of Bar Giora , and later became its president. He graduated from

16891-477: Was relatively impoverished. Following the deaths of both of their parents, the Kovu children were placed in the care of seven different families. Two of Albala's brothers were adopted by families in the United States. At the age of five, David was adopted by his maternal aunt and her husband Isak Albala, whose surname he assumed. Isak traced his heritage to a noble family in first-century Judea . One of his distant ancestors

17024-573: Was ruled by the Kingdom of Hungary . The period after 1371, known as the Fall of the Serbian Empire saw the once-powerful state fragmented into several principalities, culminating in the Battle of Kosovo (1389) against the rising Ottoman Empire . By the end of the 14th century, the Turks had conquered and ruled the territories south of the Šar Mountains . The political center of Serbia shifted northwards, when

17157-408: Was said to have died of a "broken heart" upon hearing of the extent of the destruction inflicted on Yugoslavia's Jewish communities during the Holocaust . His death spawned rumours that he had been poisoned. On 5 April, Fotić sent a telegram to London informing the Yugoslav government-in-exile of Albala's death and requesting that it wire the money required to cover his funeral expenses. Albala's body

17290-414: Was the 12th-century Spanish Jewish astronomer Abraham ibn Daud . Albala and his adopted family lived in Belgrade's Jewish quarter , Dorćol . Albala completed his primary education in Belgrade. He later attended the First Belgrade Gymnasium . Albala's wife, Paulina , who wrote her husband's biography, stated: "These schools provided David and his generation with something more than just knowledge: this

17423-458: Was the founder or co-founder of several Jewish organizations, among them the Jewish National Fund of Yugoslavia, where he served as a long-time president, the Yugoslav branch of Keren Hayesod , the Jewish Reading Room, and the theatrical association Max Nordau. He founded and co-founded several Jewish periodicals, which he edited or co-edited: The Jewish News-Letter , The Review of the Union of Jewish Religious Communities and The Newsletter of

17556-421: Was the last president of the Belgrade Sephardic community before World War II. In February 1939, a SJVOJ delegation consisting of Albala, Fridrih Pops and Šime Spitzer held a meeting with Prime Minister Dragiša Cvetković , who had recently provoked unease in the Jewish community by remarking that Yugoslavia would not implement laws targeting Jews "as long as the Jews continue to provide proof of their loyalty." At

17689-400: Was the unique and intensive feeling of patriotism, a special love for Belgrade, and the ideals Belgrade stood for." In 1903, Albala founded Gideon , Belgrade' first Jewish youth association. Albala was an ambitious student who aspired to enroll in the University of Vienna . He received a scholarship from Potpora , a Jewish benevolent society headquartered in Belgrade. Further financial support

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