Monastir
The Story of a Jewish Sephardic Community in Macedonia

Victor Meshulam was known by his underground name “Bustrik,” which stuck to him for the rest of his life. He was born in Monastir to an underprivileged family. By 1941 Meshulam had joined the Macedonian resistance movement, reaching the rank of colonel. After the war he served in the Yugoslav army and as the Yugoslav military attaché in Turkey. He and his family emigrated to Israel in 1952.

Mordechai Nachmias was also known by his underground name “Lazo.” He was born in 1922 in Monastir to a family of craftsmen. In the interwar years, his family wandered across Yugoslavia, searching for ways to make living. After the occupation of Yugoslavia in 1941, Nachmias returned to Monastir, joined the local underground communist party and became one of its leaders. He worked in an underground weapons workshop, and also helped organize partisans in the region. His house became the Monastir underground headquarters. In September 1942 he left the city, joined the Macedonian partisan unit operating in the area, and headed the company during the battle in which it took part. At the beginning of 1944 he was appointed deputy head of the regiment of the Seventh Partisan Brigade, and that summer led his regiment in the attack to liberate his hometown. On 25 August 1944 he conducted a battle on a ridge of mountains on the Greek-Yugoslav border, where German soldiers were entrenched in armed bunkers. The exposed partisans, with Nachmias at their lead, battled the fortified formation. Their victory led to the liberation of Monastir, but the soldiers of the regiment paid a heavy price with the death of their Jewish leader. Nachmias was posthumously awarded the highest medal of honor of Yugoslavia – “The Order of the People’s Hero.”

Estreja Ovadja was born in 1922 in Monastir to a poor family. While still quite young, Estreja lost her father. She joined the Hashomer Hazair branch, and in 1938 was sent by the community to Belgrade with a few other girls to learn a profession. With the occupation of Yugoslavia, she returned to Monastir and joined the young communists.

In March 1943, on the eve of the deportation of the Jews from the town, Ovadja and some of her friends went underground, and a short while later joined the ‘Goce Delchev’ partisan unit, where she became the company's political commissar. Despite her non-combat role, she joined her unit for the majority of their battles, claiming her right to fight.

With the establishment of the Seventh Macedonian Brigade, Ovadja was appointed regiment political commissar. In the early hours of the 26 August 1944, she was killed in a battle near the Greek border while attacking, as head of her unit, the last German fortresses in the Kaymakchalan Mountains.

In October 1953, Estreja Ovadja was posthumously awarded the highest medal of honor of Yugoslavia – “The Order of the People’s Hero” – and a monument in her honor was erected in Monastir.

Jamila Kolonomos was born in 1922 in Monastir. In 1941 she became a member of the Macedonian underground. In March 1943, she began to work as a political instructor in the partisan and army units, as well as deputy commissar of the 42nd Division.

After the war, Kolomonos stayed in Macedonia, working in a range of roles in social-political organizations, including as an envoy to the Macedonian Republic Council. She completed her studies in Roman Languages in Skopje, and in 1961 was appointed lecturer in the Humanities Faculty of Skopje University.

Kolomonos wrote a number of books on Ladino, and worked in research, documentation and writing about the Shoah of Macedonian Jewry.

Stella Levi was born in 1927 in Monastir, the middle daughter of five children. Her father Yosef made a living in the fabric trade. Due to financial difficulties, the family left Monastir in 1934 and moved to Zagreb. After the occupation of Yugoslavia, the family returned to Monastir, and Stella joined her peers who were active in the communist youth group in the city.

In March 1943, on the eve of the deportation of the Jews from Monastir, she went underground with some of her friends, later joining the ‘Goce Delchev’ partisan unit.

Nissim Testa was born in 1916 in Monastir. He was a member of Hashomer Hazair and one of its branch’s main activists. In 1934, he joined an agricultural farm in preparation for his emigration to Eretz Israel. After a short while he was called back to Monastir to help sort out a crisis that had broken out at the branch. Testa knew that this could push off his aliya date, but returned nevertheless. Meanwhile, his friends left for Israel, but he was recruited to the Yugoslav army, where he served in the artillery corps.

In April 1939 he boarded an illegal immigrant ship and traveled to Israel, moving to Kibbutz Sha’ar Ha’amakim. In 1943 he volunteered in the British army, took a parachuting and radio course, and in April 1944 parachuted behind enemy lines in Yugoslavia. After the war he returned to Israel and served in the IDF artillery corps. In 1954 he was badly injured in the “Maagan Disaster”, never regaining his full capacity.

The Maagan Disaster
On 29 July 1954, a memorial ceremony was held at Kibbutz Maagan for the fallen parachutists from the Yishuv. During the ceremony, a piper light airplane crashed into the assembled crowd. The catastrophe, which came to be known as “the Maagan Disaster,” led to the deaths of 17 people and the injury of 25. Among the dead were four parachutists who operated in Europe during WWII.