The Divergence of Judaism and Islam. Interdependence, Modernity, and Political Turmoil

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Sharing the Same Fate: Muslims and Jews of the Balkans · 55

During the Greek revolt, in many places, such as Chios and Epirus, Jews
and Turks cooperated against the Greeks. At the beginning of the revo-
lution, in Moldovlachia, Jews were at the sides of the Turks against the
Greeks. Because Turks and Jews were the target of Christians, Antonios
Miaoulis, one of the Greek revolutionaries, noted that three to four thou-
sand Turks and Jews in the besieged town of Nafplion were killed by the
Greeks. Revolutionaries killed about 10,000 Jews and Turks when they
entered the capital city of Morean Peninsula, Tripolis. Some sources claim
that the Greeks hated the Jews more than they hated the Turks. When
Tripolis was attacked, some Jews offered a large amount of money to the
Greek army to be released. However, as Colonel Voutier explained, “All
the money in the world could not save them from the anger of Greeks,
who hate them more than Turks.” Because of Jewish support for the Ot-
tomans, the Greeks of Odessa reacted in the same way and assaulted
local Jews.^17 Therefore, many Jews, like Turks, escaped to the Ottoman
territories to save themselves.
During the Serbian rebellions of 1806–1807, the rebels attacked both
Muslim and Jewish quarters of Belgrade, looted their homes, and killed
their residents. Some of the Jews who paid ransom were allowed to es-
cape to Zemun. About 3,000 Jews and Muslims who remained in the city
were forced to convert to Christianity. Some other Jews were driven from
the city. They spread to Zemun, Banat, Bosnia, Bulgaria, or Austria. The
refugees in Vienna approached the Russian ambassador, complaining
about the atrocities committed by the Serbs against the Jews. At that time
the Serbian rebels were receiving aid from Russia, and they were under
the strong influence of Russia. The leader of Serbian rebels, Karadjordie,
did not deny it, but explained that “the Jews were in the service of the
Turks.”^18
When Ruse and Nikopol were occupied by Russia in 1807, Muslim
and Jewish villages and city quarters were attacked and mosques and
synagogues were burned. Similar atrocities took place in 1811 and 1829.
During the Bulgarian revolts and the Ottoman-Russian War of 1877–78,
Muslims and Jews were considered enemies to be exterminated. Espe-
cially during the war, Russians and Bulgarians committed atrocities
against the Muslims and Jews of Vidin, Nikopol, Ruse, Kazanlik, Stara
Zagora, Kiustendil, and Plovdiv. Their houses were burned, and they
were forced to leave what had been their homeland for centuries.^19

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