The Jewish people began to settle in the Balkans during the Spanish and Portuguese Inquisitions in the 15th century. They settled in mercantile towns of the Ottoman Empire where they could freely practice their crafts. Pristina was one of the places where this community was welcomed, and, by the beginning of the 20th century, it had around three-hundred members. During the Second World War under German occupation, the Jewish community was deported to death camps by the SS Skanderbeg Unit, and some were killed in Tauk Bahçe. According to Minir Dushi, a witness, he tells of a Buk Jahudia [Buk, The Jew], a wealthy Jewish man from Pristina who had paid for himself and others to be executed at the graves of their ancestors in Tauk Bahçe. With the help of Pristina citizens, the surviving Jewish community fled, oftentimes through Albania to friendlier countries. Currently, in Tauk Bahçe, there are fifty-seven graves, their inscriptions are based on the Jewish calendar and have been there since 19th century.