On the night of 10–11 March 1943, the Jewish inhabitants of Skopje, Bitola, Štip and other towns were forced to leave their homes. They were Jews from the territories of present-day North Macedonia, which during the Second World War were under Bulgarian occupation. More than seven thousand Macedonian Jews were gathered in the confined space of the warehouses of the “Monopol” tobacco company in Skopje. They were then deported to the German Nazi Extermination Camp in Treblinka in three transports. The deportations began on 22 March 1943.
On Tuesday, 10 March 2026, the President of the Republic of North Macedonia, Ms Gordana Siljanovska-Davkova, paid an official visit to the Treblinka Museum – the German Nazi Extermination Camp and the Labour Camp (1941–1944) together with a delegation. Among the participants were also grandchildren of surviving Macedonian Jews: Rashela Mizrahi – Member of the Parliament of North Macedonia, and Goran Sadikarijo – Director of the Holocaust Memorial Center for the Jews of Macedonia and Director of the Holocaust Fund of Macedonian Jews in Skopje, as well as representatives of the Jewish Community.
“Standing over this abyss of evil, we believe and promise that we will not allow historical revisionism and falsification of the truth about the Holocaust of Macedonian Jews. Indeed, it is no coincidence that we have the Holocaust Fund of Macedonian Jews in Skopje, as the guardian of the three urns with ashes from Treblinka. Let me reiterate, we promise that we will not allow the memory of the victims of the Holocaust to be erased and forgotten by anyone, ever!” – said the President of the Republic of North Macedonia at the stone bearing the inscription “Macedonia”.
Participants in Tuesday’s ceremony paid tribute to the victims by laying flowers at the central monument on the grounds of the former Treblinka II Extermination camp and at the stone bearing the inscription “Macedonia”. The Kaddish prayer was also recited. Afterwards, the guests visited the exhibition in the museum building. Her Excellency the President also met with the Director of the Treblinka Museum, Mr Edward Kopówka, and the Deputy Director for the former Extermination Camp and the Labour Camp, Mr Albert Stankowski.
