On Saturday, May 4, 2024, the Evangelical Pentecostal Church in Osijek and our college hosted around thirty teachers from Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia, Bosnia, and Slovenia who participated in a seminar on Jewish history. The seminar was organized by the non-profit organization Centropa and included an educational tour of significant places related to Jewish history in Osijek.
A visit to the former downtown synagogue was part of the tour, where our lecturer, Julijana Tesija, spoke about the history of the Church and the long-standing cooperation we have maintained with the Jewish community in Osijek. Presenting how the Evangelical Pentecostal Church in Osijek cares for the heritage of the Jewish community, together with our friend, historian Tomislav Vuković, we showed the teachers an example of good cooperation between these two communities, who have been honoring their shared distant and recent history for over 70 years as a bond that connects them.
Julijana also mentioned the recently held exhibition Righteous Among the Nations — Yad Vashem, and Nives Beissman from the Jewish community in Osijek highlighted numerous other religious events that confirm the collaboration between our communities.
At the end, Julijana showed the teachers around the Evangelical Theological College: they were particularly impressed by the library and the children’s corner and promised to return!
PS: There were also Macedonian women in the group:)
