The Arie Livne Jewish cultural center is a cultural center in the town of

Banja Luka Banja Luka ( sr-Cyrl, Бања Лука, ) or Banjaluka ( sr-Cyrl, Бањалука, ) is the second largest city in Bosnia and Herzegovina and the largest city of Republika Srpska. Banja Luka is also the ''de facto'' capital of this entity. I ...

Bosnia and Herzegovina Bosnia and Herzegovina ( sh, / , ), abbreviated BiH () or B&H, sometimes called Bosnia–Herzegovina and often known informally as Bosnia, is a country at the crossroads of south and southeast Europe, located in the Balkans. Bosnia and H ...

. Inaugurated in 2014, it is the only such facility built after the Second World War in the

Balkan The Balkans ( ), also known as the Balkan Peninsula, is a geographical area in southeastern Europe with various geographical and historical definitions. The region takes its name from the Balkan Mountains that stretch throughout the who ...

s. The cultural center is used for the affirmation of Jewish culture, history and tradition. It includes a religious centre - the Ilona Weiss

synagogue A synagogue, ', 'house of assembly', or ', "house of prayer"; Yiddish: ''shul'', Ladino: or ' (from synagogue); or ', "community". sometimes referred to as shul, and interchangeably used with the word temple, is a Jewish house of worshi ...

- as well as shops, coffee bars, and private spaces.

Overview

The synagogue is part of the Jewish cultural centre is named after the mother of Arie Livne, Ilona Weiss, who during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

was murdered in

Auschwitz Auschwitz concentration camp ( (); also or ) was a complex of over 40 concentration and extermination camps operated by Nazi Germany in occupied Poland (in a portion annexed into Germany in 1939) during World War II and the Holocaust. It con ...

. This is one of the two synagogues in the territory of the

Republic of Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Federation of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is located ...

, the other being located in

Doboj Doboj ( sr-cyrl, Добој, ) is a city located in Republika Srpska, an entity of Bosnia and Herzegovina. It is situated on the banks of Bosna river, in the northern region of the Republika Srpska. As of 2013, it has a population of 71,441 ...

. The first Days of

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

and Jewish culture were organised at the ''Arie Livne Jewish cultural center'' in 2015. The Jewish cultural center is named after Arie Livne, friend of

Republika Srpska Republika Srpska ( sr-Cyrl, Република Српска, lit=Serb Republic, also known as Republic of Srpska, ) is one of the two Political divisions of Bosnia and Herzegovina, entities of Bosnia and Herzegovina, the other being the Feder ...

's President Milorad Dodik, who named him as Representative of

in Israel. In 2017 it was revealed that the office is registered as a private company in Israel, despite having received nearly one million Bosnian Marks in public subsidies. Livne was later declared as

persona non grata In diplomacy, a ' (Latin: "person not welcome", plural: ') is a status applied by a host country to foreign diplomats to remove their protection of diplomatic immunity from arrest and other types of prosecution. Diplomacy Under Article 9 of the ...

in Israel, and Dodik threatened to cut off all relations between

and Israel because of this.

References

External links

Jewish Cultural Center

Days of Israel and Jewish culture in Banja Luka

Jewish Community of Banja Luka
{{Jews and Judaism in Bosnia and Herzegovina 2014 establishments in Bosnia and Herzegovina Banja Luka Cultural centers Jewish Bosnian history Jewish museums Jewish organizations established in 2014 Synagogues in Bosnia and Herzegovina