Records of Dr Albert Vajs, the President

Collection

Holding institution (official language):: Јеврејски историјски музеј (Jevrejski istorijski muzej)

Scope and content:: The collection comprises records and correspondence created by Dr Albert Vajs in his capacity as the president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Yugoslavia between 1948 and 1964.

Administrative/biographical history:: Dr Albert Vajs was a prominent Serbian and Yugoslav lawyer and the president of the Federation of Jewish Communities of Yugoslavia (SJOJ) from 1948 to 1964. His efforts and authority enabled a number of monthly magazines to get started in that period, such as the "Jewish Review" in 1950 and the "Jewish Almanac" in 1954, the Jewish Historical Museum in Belgrade started to collect archival material. "The Crimes of Fascist Occupiers and Their Collaborators Against the Jews in Yugoslavia" was published in 1952 and Dubnov's" Brief History of the Jewish People" in 1962. Albert Vajs encouraged the work of Jewish youth clubs, strengthened connections with Jewish organisations worldwide (The World Jewish Congress, JOINT, Conference on the Jewish Material Claims Against Germany) and with Yugoslav Jewish organisations abroad. He participated in the European Conference of the World Jewish Congress in Paris in 1945. He was a member of the Executive Board of the World Jewish Congress. SJOJ erected a monument of Albert Vajs at the Jewish cemetery in Belgrade in gratitude and appreciation of his work. In Kibbutz Gat, Israel, a forest was planted dedicated to him, while the Preschool of the Jewish Municipality of Belgrade and the Jewish Home in Skopje were named after him. Albert Vajs died on 4 April 1964 in Belgrade.