Belgrade August 23, 1995 Av 27, 5755
To his Holiness Serbian Patriarch Pavle
Your Holiness,
With the deepest grief in our soul we are witnessing the exodus of our fraternal and beloved Serbian people. Expulsions and persecutions cover pages and pages of our history. The same is happening now to the Serbian people. For centuries the ghetto has been reserved for us, today it is reserved for the Serbian people. According to the Jewish calendar, the Serbian exodus began on the the eve of the 9th of Av, the month and the day when Jews suffered the destruction of the First and the Second Temple. On that day they were also expelled from Spain, and the first gas chamber in Auschwitz was opened on the 9th of Av. We truly sympathize with the suffering of the Serbian people and with You. Your tribulations are our tribulations. Chief Rabbi of Yugoslavia Cadik Danon
Open Letter to Mr. Eli Wiesel
Not long ago you visited Yugoslavia on a peace mission to learn the truth about the situation here and to convey it to the world. I was honored with the opportunity to host a supper of welcome and to offer a toast for you. It was then that I asked you to help lift the sanctions imposed on Yugoslavia by telling the world about what you witnessed during your stay here. After your visit I eagerly expected information about the first steps you would take. It never occurred to me that you would allow the reputation you had gained as a humanist to be misused by the masters of this war. I have to say misused, for how can I otherwise explain the fact that you have signed a document calling for the bombing of Serbia. History is repeating itself in this area. War, slaughter, ethnic cleansing, innocent victims among Serbs, Moslems, Croats, Albanians. Who is to be blamed? You have joined the ranks of those who claim that Serbs alone are to blame. You have chosen to believe a "truth" spread by powerful and efficient propaganda machines instead of trusting your own eyes. I speak to you on the eve of Jamim Noraim, when Jews re-examine their transgressions for the past year. It is an opportunity for every believer to repent and ask forgiveness before God. Shana tova vahatima tova!
Cadik Danon, Chief Rabbi of Yugoslavia
Belgrade, April 1999
The Serbian people is under attack by the world's most powerful war machine. Hospitals, schools, bridges, and the industrial and agricultural infrastructure of the country are being destroyed. The media of NATO countries are fabricating lies about the savage nature of this freedom-loving and brave people and about their genocidal policies. They deceive themselves that they will thus justify their crimes in front of God and man. For centuries the Jews have suffered from false accusations of evil deeds, so no one as well as us can understand the situation in which the Serb people find themselves now. We, the few members of the religion of Moses, who seeking a little justice and peace found shelter in this country, for centuries have shared with the Serbian people good and evil, have had the opportunity to experience the warmth of their hospitality and the openness of their heart. As our ancestors said, you can tell a true friend in bad times. So many Serbs risked their lives as well as those of their dearest to help the Jews during WWII. Today, when for the third time in this century the Serbs find themselves exposed to the rage of the mightiest on earth, I, who in Yugoslavia served for many years as the Chief Rabbi, have no right to remain silent in front of the misfortune which has befallen the Serbs and all citizens of Yugoslavia. I am urging Jewish organizations and Jews throughout the world to do all they can to put a stop to this aggression unleashed upon the Serbs only because thy are firm in their stance that no one can dispose of what belongs to them. Most certainly no one can take away from the Serbs their Holy Land, just as no one can take Jerusalem from the Jews.
Rabbi Cadik Danon