Artur London

LONDON, LONDONER, LONDNER

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. In some cases London is a toponymic (derived from a geographic name of a town, city, region or country). Surnames that are based on place names do not always testify to direct origin from that place, but may indicate an indirect relation between the name-bearer or his ancestors and the place, such as birth place, temporary residence, trade, or family-relatives. This surname is associated with London, capital of England and Great Britain, a city which had a Jewish community since the 11th century. As a Jewish family name, London is in some cases a variant of Lamdan, the Hebrew for "scholar". Londner is a German/Yiddish variant, and Londynski a Slavic form. London is recorded as a Jewish family name with the Lithuanian-born author, translator and bookseller, Solomon Zalman ben Moses London (1661-1748). Other distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name London include the Polish-born American lawyer, socialist leader and congressman Meyer London (1871-1926), the Czech Communist statesman, Artur London (1915-1986), and the 20th century Norwegian organization executive, Ben Robert London.

Ostrava Moravska

German: Ostrau

A city in the northeast Czech Republic. The capital of the Moravian-Silesian Region

Ostrava is located near the Polish border, where the Odra, Opava, Ostravice, and Lucina Rivers meet. It is the third-largest city in the Czech Republic. Until 1918 Ostrava was part of the Austrian Empire. During the interwar period, and from the end of World War II until 1993, it was part of the Republic of Czechoslovakia.

One of the Torah scrolls sent from Ostrava to the Central Jewish Museum in Prague during World War II is currently located in the Kingston Synagogue in the United Kingdom.

HISTORY

A few protected Jews (those who were shielded by the local nobles in exchange for taxes and other services) were living in Ostrava by 1508, but the general Jewish population was not permitted to settle in the city until after the emancipation of Jews throughout the Austrian Empire in 1848, and the subsequent removal of residence restrictions. Until then there were a small number of Jews living in the town, both legally and illegally. In 1792, after Emperor Joseph II issued the Tolerance Edict in 1782, a Jewish man named Mordehai Schoenhoff settled in the town and rented a wine store. Later a few Jews arrived from Hotzenplotz, Leipnik, and Ungarisch-Brod. During the first half of the 19th century Jews from Silesia, Moravia, Slovakia, and Galicia began to settle in Ostrava. Those who came to Ostrava from the east tended to be more religious, and the community that they established was more traditional; it was these Galician arrivals who established a mikvah (ritual bath) and an Orthodox synagogue.

Once Jews were allowed to freely settle in the city, communal life began to flourish. A synagogue was built in the Polish part of the town in 1857. A Tarbut society was established in 1860 and led by Shimeon Fraenkel. That year also saw an influx of Jews after Ostrava was ordered by the emperor to remove any remaining residence and economic restrictions on the Jews. A Jewish cemetery was consecrated in 1872, following a cholera epidemic. From 1860 until 1875 the Jewish community was made up of Jews from Moravska Ostrava and the neighboring Polska Ostrava (German: Plnisch-Ostrau). Beginning in 1875, however, the Jewish community of Moravska Ostrava became independent. A community committee was subsequently established, led by Berthold Schwartz, and replaced Tarbut. Marcus Strassman was appointed as the community's leader, with Dr. Joseph Wachsberg acting as his deputy. A new synagogue was consecrated in September 1879, with thousands of people in attendance.

In 1881 the community numbered 700 members. During this period at the end of the 19th century, Ostrava became known as the "Moravian Manchester," due to its increasing importance as an industrial center. The Rothschild and Gutmann families, in particular, owned important coal mines and ironworks in the area. This brought Jews to the city from all over Moravia and Galicia; by 1890 the Jewish population had reached 1,356 and in 1900 the Jewish population was 3,272.

A number of synagogues were built in Ostrava's suburbs in order to accommodate the influx of Jews; an Orthodox synagogue would later be added to the rest in 1926 and the city would ultimately be home to six synagogues. Rabbi Dr. Bernhard Zimmels, the community's first rabbi, was appointed in 1890. Rabbi Zimmels passed away in 1893 and was succeeded by Dr. Yaakov Schapira in 1903. Marcus Strassman, the first leader of the community, was succeeded by Dr. Alois Hilf after his death.

Communal institutions included an old age home, a Bikkur Holim, a women's society, a home for children, and a Bnei Brith lodge. A Hebrew school was established in 1863; it was officially recognized by the authorities as an elementary school in 1884, the same year that the language of instruction was changed to German (the school's language of instruction would eventually be changed to Czech, after the establishment of the Republic of Czechoslovakia); Hebrew was taught for 2 hours each day. By the end of the 19th century the school enrolled 303 students, and had 7 classes. There was also a vocational boarding school affiliated with the metal industries of the Austrian branch of the Rothschild family, which attracted students from all over the Republic of Czechoslovakia. A summer camp for Jewish children was established in 1912.

In 1918 Dr. Reuben Faerber established a publication and sales company; most of the published books dealt with Jewish and Zionist subjects. During the interwar period Julius Kittels Nachfolger published a German translation of the Talmud.

The Republic of Czechoslovakia recognized the Jews as a national minority with concurrent rights, prompting Jews throughout the country to become active Zionists, as well as to take an active role in local politics. The Jews of Ostrava obtained 60 seats in the town council in 1921, including representatives from the Jewish Democrats, the Zionist Party, Jewish Laborers, and Jewish Czechs. In 1931 the first Jewish Party conference was held in Ostrava, and in 1935 Ernst Fisher was elected as the party's representative in the Senate. Dr. Alois Hilf was the president of the Federation of the Jewish Communities of Moravia in the National Jewish Council. Dr. Zigmund Witt was a member of the Senate while Dr. Victor Haas was a member of the Parliament.

Many members of the community were active Zionists; in fact, beginning in 1921 the executive committee of the Zionist organizations of Silesia and Moravia was located in Ostrava. Many Jews in the city contributed generously to Keren HaYessod. Jewish students worked to spread Zionist ideology, particularly among the youth. Zionist organizations held their conventions in the city and a branch of the Palestine Office was opened. Zionist groups that were active included Poalei Zion, Achdut HaAvodah, Mizrachi, Revisionist Zionists, HeHalutz, HaShomer HaTzair, HeHalutz HaKlal Zioni, Blau Weiss, Maccabi, as well as a number of others. Kedmah, a group to prepare young Jews to emigrate to Mandate Palestine, was established in 1924. Community members bought membership and voting rights before the 15th Zionist Congress, as well as in subsequent years; 518 Jews from Ostrava participated in the elections to the 20th Zionist Congress.

In 1931 there were 6,865 Jews (5.4% of the total population) living in Ostrava.

Among the notable figures from Ostrava were the playwright and poet Marcel Meir Faerber, who later became a journalist and wrote for the Tribuna in Bratislava and Yediot Khadashot in Israel. Joseph Wechsberg, a writer and literary critic, as well as the editor of the Jewish weekly Selbswehr (published in Prague), was born in Ostrava in 1907.

THE HOLOCAUST

Following the Munich Agreement of September, 1938, which dissolved the Republic of Czechoslovakia and annexed the Sudeten Region to Nazi Germany, Ostrava absorbed waves of Jews fleeing from the region. In March, 1939 however, the region of Bohemia and Moravia became a protectorate of Nazi Germany, ushering in a period of discrimination and violence against the area's Jews. Ostrava was the first city to be occupied by the Nazis, who burned the city's six synagogues. The city's Jews began to be deported soon after; the first transports took Ostrava's Jews to Poland, while later transports sent them to the Terezin (Theresienstadt) Ghetto. From these locations they were sent to concentration and death camps, where most perished.

Before the deportations began, 348 ritual objects, 680 books, and 246 documents from Ostrava's Jewish community were sent to the Central Jewish Museum in Prague.

POSTWAR

Approximately 250 survivors returned to Ostrava after the war and reestablished a Jewish community. Eventually the communities of Bohumin, Karvina, Krnov, Opava, Prlava, and Olomouc became affiliated with Ostrava's Jewish communit; the entire community consisted of 500 Jews. Ostrava had a cantor, while the regional rabbi, Rabbi Dr. Richard Feder, lived in Brno. 649 Jews lived in Ostrava, 548 of whom were officially registered in the community.

A new cemetery was established in 1965. The old Jewish cemetery was destroyed during the 1980s and the remaining tombstones were transferred to the cemetery in Silesian Ostrava.

In 1997 the Jewish community of Ostrava had 80 members.

Czech Republic

Also known as: Czechia, Česko

Česká republika

A country in Central Europe, member of the European Union (EU). The Czech Republic includes the historical territories of Bohemia, Moravia, and Czech Silesia.

21st Century

Estimated Jewish Population in 2018: 3,900 out of 10,500,000 (0.03%). Main umbrella organization of Jewish communities:

Federation of Jewish Communities in Czech Republic
Phone: 420/224 800 824
Fax: 420/224 810 912
Email: sekretariat@fzo.cz
Web: www.fzo.cz

 

HISTORY

Jews of the Czech Lands

1454 | From Prosperity to Expulsion

Long before famous Israeli singer Arik Einstein crooned about “A Dream of Prague”, and before Judah Loew ben Bezalel, (1512/26 – 1609), known also by the Hebrew acronym of Maharal or The Maharal of Prague, supposedly created his famous Golem there, Moravia and Bohemia (now part of The Czech Republic) were home to a flourishing, prosperous Jewish community.

Various historical sources, including customs invoices and the testimony of Jewish traveler Abraham ben Yaacov – who was an envoy for the Caliph of Cordoba – document Jewish presence in Moravia and Bohemia as early as the 10th century. Works by medieval Jewish scholars – for instance, Arugat Ha-Bosem (“Spice Garden”) by Abraham ben Azriel of Bohemia, who lived in Prague, and Or Zaru'a by Isaac ben Moses of Vienna, a native of Bohemia – show that not only did Jews live in Czech territories, they also spoke and wrote in Czech. Concurrently, the Jews of Bohemia and Moravia enjoyed community autonomy in all matters regarding education, internal community arrangements, civil courts and so on.

In the mid-14th century, the area was home to the flourishing Hussite movement, headed by the Czech priest Jan Hus, who challenged the Catholic Church's religious hegemony and viewed the Bible and its heroes as the sole sources of authority. Many Jews believed that the Hussites were sent by God in order to vanquish the heretic Catholics and increase faith in the Jewish Torah. This belief was their undoing: they were accused of supporting the Hussites in the latter's war against The Catholic Church and Emperor, and were therefore expelled from five crown cities in Moravia. This happened in 1454, and those cities remained off-limits for Jews until the mid-19th century.

1552 | The Gershom Saga

The King of Bohemia, Emperor Rudolph II of the House of Habsburg (1552-1612) was considered an odd duck. This ruler, who suffered most of his life from severe depression, had some strange hobbies, which included the collecting of short people for amusement purposes and the establishment of a special regiment of giants in his army.

However, Rudolph II also enacted enlightened and progressive policies for the times, which were also highly beneficial to his Jewish subjects. During his reign the number of Jews in Prague doubled, and it became one of the global centers of Judaism. In this open and tolerant atmosphere and fruitful ties were forged between Jewish scholars and gentile scientists and clerics. The doors of the Czech economy also opened to the Jews, many of whom, like court Jews Mordechai Meisel ben Samuel and Jacob Bassevi von Treunberg, accumulated large fortunes.

During this time the Jewish printing presses also flourished, publishing books famous for their beautiful typography and unique illustrations. The best known of these was the Prague Haggada, printed at the press owned by Gershom ben Solomon Kohen. The books issued by Gershom Kohen's press included Jewish motifs alongside Royal Habsburg emblems. The trademark of the press was the skyline of Prague set between two lion's tails, inspired by the official emblem of the Kingdom of Bohemia. The Kohen family – and after it the Bak family, which continued the Prague printing tradition – mostly produced rabbinic literature, prayer books and morality pamphlets in Hebrew and Yiddish.

1609 | The Maharal of Prague

One of the giants of Jewish thought throughout the ages was Judah Loew ben Bezalel better known as “The Maharal of Prague” (1512/26-1609). The Maharal wrote dozens of books and treatises, which testify to his sharp mind, phenomenal memory, deep understanding of human nature and extraordinary command of Jewish scriptures, as well as the secular science and learning of his time. Like Maimonides, the Maharal was greatly influenced by Aristotle and often used philosophical and allegorical interpretations for the writings of the sages, whom he viewed as the sole authority to understanding the wisdom of God. His greatness is all the more impressive in light of the fact that he was self-taught, acquiring all his knowledge on his own, with no formal education.

The Maharal never served in any official capacity, but functioned as the de-facto head of the Jewish community of Prague. In this role the Maharal became famous for his great social sensibilities, often criticizing the rich men of the community for their alienation from the lower classes. The Maharal also had a well-grounded educational world-view, believed in freedom of expression and was often critical of the pilpul, the subtle legal, conceptual, and casuistic differentiation method of studying the Talmud prevalent in the yeshivas, which he felt focused on the marginal rather than the salient.

One of the most famous legends concerning him was that of the Golem of Prague: An artificial creature made of clay, which the Maharal supposedly invested with the breath of life to protect the Jews from blood libels and persecution. The Golem ignited the imagination of many an author and is considered today as one of the founding myths of mysticism and of the science fiction genre.

1648 | Windows 18

Throwing people out of windows was a common practice in Czech politics for declaring a revolution.

In 1618 the King of Bohemia, Ferdinand II, sent Catholic envoys on his behalf to Prague, to prepare the ground for his arrival. The people of the city threw the envoys from the window of Hradcany (Prague Castle), an event that became known to history as “The Defenestration of Prague.”

This act of violence was the start of the Thirty Year War between Catholics and Protestants throughout Europe. The war ended in 1648, with the Peace of Westphalia. The Jews, who maintained neutrality during the war and probably, in the spirit of Menachem Begin's famous quip about the Iran-Iraq war, “wished both sides success”, flourished during the fighting. In 1627, the Emperor Ferdinand II expanded their rights, and according to a 1638 census, the number of Jews in the Kingdom of Bohemia reached 7,815.

In 1650, after the end of the war, the Emperor Ferdinand III issued an order of expulsion for Jews who did not live in the kingdom prior to the war. Charles IV followed him with the “Families Law”, which limited Jewish settlement in Bohemia and allowed for only one family member to marry. But they were both outdone by the Empress Maria Theresa, who expelled the Jews of Prague with the edict of 1744, which was rescinded four years later. Due to their experience of frequent edicts and persecutions, the Jews spread out through the rural Czech areas. Official documents show that in 1724 Jews resided in some 800 different locations throughout Bohemia and Moravia.

1781 | The Right of Association

In the second half of the 18th century Czech Jews began to integrate into society at large. One of the expressions of this development was the establishment of Jewish artisan guilds. The Jewish merchants copied the model of the Christian guilds, formed a series of rules regulating the trade amongst themselves and even had a flag and emblems to represent them at the various fairs. An official document from 1729 shows 2,300 Jewish artisans organized in professional guilds in Prague, including 158 tailors, 100 cobblers, 39 milliners, 20 goldsmiths, 37 butchers, 28 barbers and 15 musicians.

In 1781 Emperor Joseph II issued the “Tolerance Edict,” in the spirit of the enlightened absolutism then in vogue, which held the best interests of the state above all else and was based on the values of the Enlightenment, particularly on rationalism and a separation of church and state. The edict, which declared the Jews to be “Useful subjects of the Crown,” was met with mixed feelings by the Jews themselves. While it gave them freedom of occupation, encouraged them to enter public life and allowed them to study at institutions of higher learning, it also forced them to de-emphasize their Jewish identity, study at secular schools, adopt non-Jewish last names and decrease their use of Hebrew and Yiddish.

1848 | To the New World

In 1848 there were some 10,000 Jews living in Prague, mostly in the Jewish Quarter. These were the tense days following the defeat of the “Spring of Nations” revolution, and pogroms were a frequent occurrence. The homes and businesses of many Jews were targeted for looting, and they themselves were beaten and humiliated on a daily basis.

Many of the leaders of the Jewish communities in the region called upon their parishioners to emigrate to the New World beyond the sea: The United States of America. Among the most prominent Jewish immigrants to the United States was Isidore Bush, a businessman, columnist, freedom fighter and senior officer in the American Civil War, and Adolph Brandeis – father of Louis Brandeis, future US Supreme Court Justice and an avid supporter of the Zionist movement.

In 1861 Czech Jews were granted the right to own land. Many of them began to specialize in various agricultural fields, mostly the production of sugar and the wholesale trade of seeds. Many Jews were also prosperous business owners in the cotton and beer trades, in the exporting of eyeglasses and in the coalmines of Moravska-Ostrava. Six years later Czech Jews became members of the exclusive club, alongside countries such as Prussia, which granted the Jews full emancipation.

1898 | Emotions vs. Intellect

When the revered Czech leader Tomas (Thomas) Masaryk was asked when he completely overcame antisemitism, he replied: “Good God, emotionally perhaps never. Only intellectually”. His honest answer clearly reflects the power with which the anti-Semitic idea had taken root in Europe by the late 19th and early 20th centuries.

A few years earlier, in 1898, Masaryk successfully endured the ancient battle between emotion and intellect when he stood by a young Jewish man named Leopold Hilsner, who was accused of cutting the throat of a young Czech woman near the town of Polna and using her blood to bake matza. Despite Masaryk's advocacy, Hilsner did not receive a new trial and languished in prison until 1916, when he was released as part of a mass clemency announced by Charles I, the last ruler of the Austro-Hungarian Empire.

Against the backdrop of such antisemitism the echoes of the Zionist idea reached the Czech lands, mostly through Jewish students from Moravia who studied in Vienna, the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, of which the Czech lands were then a part. These young men and women were deeply influenced by the writings of Theodore Herzl, and in time some of them became important leaders of the Jewish people. Shmuel Hugo Bergman, Hans Kohn and Max Brod, for instance, were avid member of the Kochba Zionist movement in the Czech lands, which upheld the ideal of Jewish resistance inspired by Max Nordau's “Muscular Judaism.”

1918 | Peace between Wars

The Czech regions of Moravia and Bohemia was home to two ethnic groups – Czechs and Germans. While most of the population was Czech, the cultural elite was influenced by Germany, the giant neighbor.

Czech Jews were no exception. The most prominent among them were writers such as Friedrich Adler, Franz Kafka, Franz Werfel and Ludwig Winder, who wrote in German and were steeped in German culture. Alongside them worked Jewish writers from rural areas, including Hanus Bon, Jiri Weil and Frantisek Langer, whose works romanticized country life.

Following the WW1, a new state was formed in the region by the name of Czechoslovakia, which included four historic territories: Bohemia, Moravia, Slovakia, and Ruthenia to the east. Czechoslovakia between the two world wars was a model of Western democracy. Its authorities recognized all the rights of the Jewish minority living within its borders, which numbered about 356,000 people, who enjoyed equal rights and a period of great prosperity.

Despite constituting only about 2.5% of the population, the Jews held prominent positions in the economy, industry and culture of Czechoslovakia. Some 18% of all students were Jews, and members of the Jewish community stood out in the fields of journalism, politics and public life as well. What's more, the authorities legitimized the Jewish national movement and had many dealings with the Zionist movement.

1924 | A Deathbed Wish Denied

The great writer Franz Kafka was born to a middle-class Jewish family in Prague. His father was a well-to-do haberdashery merchant and his mother was an educated woman, from a Levi family. Kafka, who lived most of his life in Prague, passed away in 1924 at the young age of 41.

Before he expired, as he lay dying of tuberculosis, he asked his close friend Max Brod to burn all his manuscripts once he was gone. Happily for the entire world, Brod did not keep this promise, and dedicated all his time after Kafka's death to printing and spreading his close friend's works. Masterpieces such as “Metamorphosis”, “The Trial” and “The Castle” have become mainstays of Western literature, and Kafka's very name has become synonymous with modern man, lost in the maze of unfeeling institutions closing in on him.

Kafka wrote in German, spoke in Czech and even learned a little Hebrew. In his stories he composed a harsh indictment of the very notion of establishment, with the malice and stupidity inherent in it, but at the same time managed, in the spirit of Freudian psychology which began to gain currency in those days, to subtly plumb the depths of the soul of modern man in a world crumbling into barbarism – as the years that followed his death proved, with the outbreak of WW2.

1939 | The Proverbial Black Umbrella

The day after September 29th,1938, the day the Munich Accords were signed, British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain stood at Heston Aerodrome in London, proudly waving the “peace” agreement he had signed with Hitler. While Chamberlain held the famous black umbrella, which has since become a symbol of appeasement and surrender, the Nazi army invaded the Sudetenland in Czechoslovakia – an event that augured the outbreak of the WW2 less than a year later, on September 1st 1939.

A few months after the annexation of the Sudetenland region Germany declared Bohemia and Moravia to be a German “protectorate”. As a first step, all Jews were expelled from Bohemia and Moravia and their belongings were confiscated. By October 1941 some 27 thousand Jews left the Czech lands, becoming refugees throughout the rest of the country. The second phase began on November 24th, when 122 trains left the protectorate carrying 73,608 Jews to Theresienstadt Ghetto (see below) and from there to the gas chambers. Some 263,000 Jews of Czechoslovakia were murdered during the war, of them 71,000 from Bohemia and Moravia.

1944 | A Model Ghetto

On July 23rd, 1944, a Red Cross delegation entered Theresienstadt Ghetto in order to check whether the rumors of the concentration camps established by the Nazis in order to annihilate the Jews of Europe were true. The Nazis, who knew of the delegation's arrival ahead of time, staged an event portraying themselves as a model of enlightenment and humanitarianism: They filled the ghetto with fake cafes, model schools, playgrounds and vegetable gardens, and even produced a propaganda film painting the ghetto as a pastoral country resort. As soon as the production ended most of the “actors”, including many children, were sent to the gas chambers of Auschwitz. In time Theresienstadt Ghetto came to symbolize the full horror of the Holocaust, because of the monstrous pretense created by the Nazis there to delude the enlightened world. Theresienstadt, “the upscale ghetto”, where many famous writers, artists and rabbis were imprisoned, was built in Terezin, north of Prague. The ghetto served as a concentration camp for the Jews of Moravia and Bohemia and for elderly Jews of fame and special privileges, en route to transfer to the death camps.

Management of the ghetto was entrusted to a Council of Elders which was responsible for organizing the labor, distributing food, sanitation and cultural affairs, and internal jurisdiction. Lectures and seminars were held and a library holding 60,000 books was established!

Due to the many artists, writers and scholars living in the ghetto, a robust cultural life developed there. Orchestras, an opera troupe, a theater company and entertainment and satire revues were held. An amusing satirical example describes the ghetto menu thus: “Grilled yawn, stuffed breast of mosquito, leg of flea, frog knee a-la gypsum”.

According to historical sources, between 1941-1945 some 140,000 Jews were forcibly sent to Theresienstadt. By the end of the war, only 19,000 of them survived.

2000 | A Spiritual Monument

After WW2 some 45,000 Jews lived in Czechoslovakia, mainly in Moravia and Bohemia. Upon the rise of the Communist regime in the country, the Jewish community was cut off from its counterparts around the world, but early in this period, between 1948-1950, some 26,000 Jews emigrated from Czechoslovakia, of which 19,000 came to the newly established State of Israel. In the early 2,000s the Jewish community of the Czech Republic numbered approximately 1,700 people.

In 1991 Czechoslovakia split into two countries: The Czech Republic and Slovakia. The Jewish Czech community holds educational activities, and operates a kindergarten and the Gur-Ariyeh School – so named after the Maharal's famous book. In addition, the community operates synagogues and retirement homes, holds Torah classes and cultural activities and provides religious and welfare services. The cultural heritage of the Czech Jews is on display at the famous Jewish Museum in Prague.

The story of this museum is an unusual one: During WW2 the Nazis wished to preserve a future site as the “Exotic Museum of the extinct race”, meant to preserve the heritage of the people they meant to annihilate upon completion of the “Final Solution”. The Nazis believed that the museum would serve to aid anti-Semitic propaganda and justify their actions. Jewish artifacts were collected and looted with typical German efficiency from 153 communities, and the museum's inventory included some 100,000 works of art. The museum staff – who mostly perished in the Holocaust – quickly and feverishly documented the lives of Jewish communities in the Czech lands. The cultural treasure left behind by these people and their devoted work, with the thug's sword against their throats, are a testimony to their power and dedication, and a spiritual monument to their memory.

Marseille

Also: Marseilles

Capital of the department of Bouches-du-Rhone; second largest city in France.

Located on the Mediterranean coast, the ancient port city of Marseille is home to the second-largest Jewish population in France. In 2013, an estimated 80,000 Jews were living in Marseille, comprising nearly ten percent of the total population of the city. The majority of Marseille's Jewish families live in the areas of St. Marguerite, Parc Fleuri, and La Rose.

However, the Jewish population of Marseille has declined in subsequent years due to the significant increase in violent attacks against Jews and Jewish institutions both in Marseille and in France at large. The Jewish Community Security Service (SPJC) reported a 45 percent rise in anti-Semitism since 2011. By 2015, more than 10,000 Jews had left France for Israel.

The Jewish community of Marseille is served by a number of agencies and associations that provide social and educational services designed to strengthen Jewish identity and support Jewish religious life. Jewish leadership is provided by the Federation and the CRIF, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions of France. Other notable organizations include the ACEFI and the Jewish Agency for Israel (AJPI).

For generations, the Jews of Marseille have been deeply committed to charity. Several of the city's social programs were established in the 20th century to provide resources for Jewish immigrants. By the 21st century, Marseille had become one of France's poorest cities, with 25 percent of its residents living below the poverty line and an unemployment rate 30 percent higher than the national average. The Jews of Marseille responded to this reality by developing new programs to address hunger and poverty. One such program was a charity network comprised of 25 separate organizations. Each year, approximately $1 million is distributed through the charity network. The National Appeal for Tzedekah collects millions of dollars for the Jewish Federation which is distributed annually among the city's many charities. The Federation also delivers kosher food to dozens of families throughout Marseille. Baskets for Shabbat serves nearly 1,000 poor Jews every week. One of the oldest Jewish charitable institutions in Marseille is CASIM, the Jewish Charity Society of Marseille. Founded in 1906, CASIM offers a variety of social services as well as food and clothing. CASIM also operates a supermarket which offers food and home supplies for one-tenth their actual price.

There are more than 40 synagogues located throughout Marseille, the overwhelming majority of which are Orthodox. Located on Breteuil Street is Marseille's main synagogue, La Grande Synagogue de Marseille, which has maintained a congregation since its inauguration in 1864. The building was constructed during the second half of the 19th century and was registered as an historic monument in August of 2007. The building also houses the offices of the Consistoire de Marseille and a number of Jewish religious organizations.

In addition to the synagogues, there are also seven mikva'ot (ritual baths), a rabbinical court, and numerous kosher services. By 2014, Marseille boasted 11 dairy restaurants, 27 meat restaurants featuring North African and Middle Eastern cuisine, 11 catering companies, 12 bakeries, and 9 supermarkets. There are more than 24 Jewish schools, including kindergartens, primary schools, high schools, and colleges. Additionally, there are about 20 Jewish study centers and a half-dozen social associations such as camps, youth groups, and recreation clubs, of which Maccabi Sports Marseille is most popular.

The oldest Jewish cultural and community center in Marseille is the Centre Communautaire Edmond Fleg. Founded in 1964, the Centre was established to welcome Jewish families arriving from North Africa, a group which makes up the vast majority of the Marseille's Jewish population. As large numbers of Jews began to settle in Marseille, the Centre provided many social services, including housing and employment. Since the 1990s, the Centre has offered a wide variety of cultural and educational programs. It has established several associations dedicated to community service, as well as Israel advocacy. Other important Jewish cultural institutions include the Jewish Library of Marseille, which was founded in 1994, and the Institut Méditerranéen Mémoire et Archives du Judaisme. The museum explores the history and culture of Jewish communities of the Mediterranean, and features a collection of documents and artifacts.

France's national Jewish newspaper, Actualité Juive, has delivered national and international news to Jewish communities throughout France every week for more than 30 years. It has a audience of about 90,000. On the airwaves is Radio JM, a pluralistic and independent radio show formed in 1982 that promotes Jewish culture.

HISTORY

Archeological evidence indicates a Jewish presence in the region in the first century CE. However, the earliest documented evidence for the presence of Jews in Marseille can be traced back to the late sixth century CE. In a letter from Pope Gregory the Great to Theodore, the bishop of Marseille, dated 591 C.E, there is reference to an attempted forced conversion of a group of Jewish refugees from Clairmont (now Clermont-Ferrand, in central France), who had fled similar persecutions from the local bishop some twenty years earlier. Jewish settlement of Marseille continued through the early Middle Ages when various documents refer to properties either owned by Jews or somehow connected to Jews, such as a "Jewish valley" referenced at the end of the 10th century, and a vineyard mentioned in the late 11th century.

According to the Spanish-Jewish traveler Benjamin of Tudela (1130-1173), there were 300 Jewish families in Marseille when he visited the city around 1165. He reported that there were two areas of Jewish settlement in the city: one in the upper part of the town, which was under the jurisdiction of the bishop, and the other in the lower town, which was under the authority of the viscount. Benjamin of Tudela refers to Marseille as a "town of learned men and scholars" and noted that the yeshivas and the scholars were situated in the upper town. In fact, years later Maimonides would address a letter to the "Wise Men of the Congregation of Marseille." Among the scholars mentioned by Benjamin of Tudela was R. Isaac b. Abba Mari of Marseille (c.1122 - c.1193), commentator, author of prayers, and codifier, best known for his work Ittur Sofrim, or Ittur.

Meanwhile, the Jews who settled in the lower part of the city, close to the port, developed a trading network with other port cities from Spain and North Africa throughout the Mediterranean to the countries of the Levant. They traded wood, spices, textiles, metals, various products for dyeing, and slaves. During the13th and the 14th centuries, the economic activities of the Jews of Marseille extended to include new occupations such as brokers, wine or cloth merchants, laborers, porters, or tailors; at least one document mentions a Jewish stone-cutter (magister lapidis). Certain professions saw Jews enter their ranks in numbers greater than their Christian counterparts; there were more Jewish than Christian physicians, and the field of coral craftsmanship, although not very profitable, was practically a Jewish monopoly. There were Jews active in moneylending, but in a port city their impact was relatively low and it was not a major source of revenue. Soap production, an industry that later became the major economic enterprises of Marseille is thought to have been introduced to the city between 1371- 1401 by Crescas David, a Jew sometimes nicknamed Sabonerius. He was succeeded in the business by his son, Solomon David.

During the early Middle Ages, the Jews in Provence enjoyed a relatively high social standing. Marseille' city regulations of 1257 did not distinguish between the Jewish and Christian inhabitants of the city, referring to all as "citizens of Marseille" (cives Masasiliae), although it should be noted that the Jews did not enjoy the same legal status as their Christian neighbors. The legal status of the Jews changed after 1262 after the city of Marseille led an unsuccessful rebellion against the Duke of Anjou, Count of Provence. After the insurrection, the Jews of Marseille became the responsibility of the count, who was a relatively benevolent ruler and issued a proclamation against the inquisitors who extorted money from the Jewish community under the pretext of fines, and who had compelled the Jews to wear a special badge that was bigger than the badge ordered by the Lateran Council of 1215. Nonetheless, there were a number of restrictions imposed on the Jews. These included the obligation for married Jewish women to wear a special veil (orales). Jews were not allowed to testify against Christians, to work on Sundays or during Christian religious festivals, nor were they allowed to go to the baths more than once a week. Jewish merchants were banned from embarking on sea journeys in groups larger than four; while aboard ships, Jewish passengers had to abstain from eating meat on Christian fast days. Jews were not allowed to travel to Egypt so that they could not become involved with the profitable trade there. According to a note by Rabbi Shlomo Ben Adret (Rashba), a heavy fine was levied on the Jewish community of Marseille at the end of the 13th century following accusations that the Jews were mocking Christianity during their Purim celebrations.

The legal status of the Jews improved during the 14th century when they managed to enjoy the protection of the counts of Provence andthe city authorities. The rivalry that existed between the municipal authorities and the counts allowed the Jews to maneuver between the two and use them as protection from the church. There is no mention of accusations against the Jewish community, not even in the aftermath of the Black Death of 1349-51. Jews succeeded in obtaining certain privileges that made possible for them to observe Jewish law; in order to make matzah, they were allowed to trade flour within the Jewish community, and were thereby exempt from the obligation of conducting this business specific areas designated by the city. Additionally, Jews were permitted to sweep the streets in front of their houses on Fridays, instead of Saturdays, and during Jewish festivals, Jews were exempt from the obligation of walking with a lamp after curfew.

The rulers of Provence also protected the Jews. In 1320, King Robert intervened in favor of the Jews and promised to offer them shelter in his castles and fortresses whenever they might come under attack during the Pastoureaux Crusade. This protection was renewed in 1331 and again one year later by Philippe de Sanguinet, seneschal of Provence. Jews took an active part in defending the city of Marseille against attacks in 1357 and contributed generously easing the financial burdens occasionally imposed by the counts of Provence that the city inhabitants were required to pay. Consequently, the Jewish community of Marseille enjoyed a relative level of protection by the counts of Provence, who occasionally renewed or confirmed the privileges granted to the Jewish community. The relatively benevolent attitude of the counts of Provence continued into the 15th century, as evidenced by the decrees of Yolande, Countess of Provence and Queen of Naples who, in 1422, forbade abuses against the Jews by her officials. Similarly, King Rene of Anjou (1409-1480) declared in 1463 that Jews have a right to the special protection of the authorities, especially since they could not enjoy that of the church. Kind Rene's commitment to this idea became clear when closed the baptistery of Saint-Martin following a complaint by two Jewish deputies, Solomon Botarelli and Baron de Castres, that a Christian woman had baptized a Jewish girl against her will there.

Subsequently, the condition of the Jews worsened during the 15th century. They suffered more than the Christian inhabitants of the city when Marseille was captured by the Aragonese troops of King Alphonso V in 1423. Many Jews left Marseille at the time, seeking refuge in other communities throughout Provence. When Provence was later incorporated into the Kingdom of France in 1481, the situation of the Jews of Marseille worsened considerably. In 1484 and again in the early months of 1485, following accusations of usury, the inhabitants of Marseille attacked and pillaged Jewish neighborhoods, killing a number of Jews. This led to an exodus of Jews from the city, many of whom fled to Sardinia, which became home to about 200 Jewish families from Marseille. King Charles VIII (1483-1498), however, was not inclined to yield to the popular demand to forcibly expel the Jews from Provence. He decreed that all Jews wishing to depart should be allowed to leave Marseille unharmed on the condition that they had satisfied any and all of their commitments to the Christians. The city authorities, on the other hand, were not prepared to let the Jews leave Marseille with their property. Accordingly, in 1486 they organized an inventory of Jewish property in Marseille. The resulting protests by the Jews led to a royal intervention and the Jews gained a few extra years of protection.

The expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 brought new Jewish inhabitants to Marseille. That same year, the Jewish community of Marseille ransomed 118 Jews of Aragon who had been captured by the pirate Bartholemei Janfredi for the price of1,500 ecus. Renewed anti-Jewish attacks in 1493 eventually led to a royal decree ordering the general expulsion of the Jews from Marseille; by 1501 this expulsion had been carried out completely. About half of the Jews of Marseille left for Italy, Northern Africa, and the Ottoman Empire, especially to Salonika, while others chose the Papal estates (Comtat-Venaissin) in Provence, with the remaining half converting to Christianity in order to avoid expulsion.

Before the expulsion, most of the Jews of Marseille lived in the Jewish quarter of the city, which was called by the name of its main streets, Carreria Jusatarie or Carreria Judorum. Along with the neighboring lanes, it formed a kind of island designated Insula Juzatarie. The Church authorities strove to keep the Jews within a separate district and opposed any attempt to leave it. Various documents mention two synagogues in Marseille during the late Middle Ages: the Scola Major and the Scola Minor. Additionally, there maybe have been a third synagogue that functioned for some time. The medieval Jewish cemetery was located at a place consequently known as Mont-Juif or Montjusieu, but following the expulsion of 1501 the cemetery was transferred to a Christian landlord and destroyed.

MIDDLE AGES-CULTURAL LIFE

Marseille was an important center of Jewish civilization during the Middle Ages. The Jews of Marseille, and of Provence more broadly, was generally considered as part of the Jewish culture of Sepharad, although they remained separate from the direct influence of the Arab culture dominant in the Iberian Peninsula.

The cultural figures who made Marseille their home demonstrated this cultural influence. Marseille was the home of several members of the Ibn Tibbon family of translators, philosophers, physicians, and commentators who were instrumental in uncovering the Jewish works of philosophy originally written in Arabic for the Hebrew readers of Provence and in France and Northern Europe. Members of ibn Tibbon family include Jacob ben Machir ibn Tibbon (c.1286 - c.1304, in Montpellier), Moses ibn Tibbon (active between 1240 and 1283), and Samuel ben Judah ibn Tibbon (c.1150, in Lunel - c.1230).

Other distinguished medieval Jewish scholars that lived in Marseille during the late Middle Ages include the liturgical poet Solomon Nasi ben Isaac Nasi Cayl and Nissim Ben Moses of Marseille (active in the early 14th century), who wrote a rationalist Torah commentary titled "Sefer Ha-Nisim" or "Maaseh Nissim." In addition, Marseille was home to Samuel ben Yehudah (ben Meshulam) HaMarsili, also known as Miles Bonjudas (or Bongodos, in Provencal), who translated a number of philosophical and scientific texts from Arabic into Hebrew. Joseph ben Jochanan, sometimes called "the Great" in recognition of his erudition, a native of Northern France, was rabbi in Marseille in 1343. Yehuda Ben David, also known as Bonjudas Bendavi (or Bondavin) or Maestre Bonjua, was a Talmud scholar and a physician of the late 14th century and early 15th century; later in his life he emigrated to Sardinia, where he settled in Alghero and became the rabbi of the Jewish community of Cagliari. Jacob Ben David Provencali, a Talmud commentator of the second half of the 15th century, lived in Marseille and was a sea merchant until he left the city for Naples in the late 1480s.

There were 34 Jewish physicians living in Marseille during the 15th century. Among them was Abraham de Meyrargues who lived during the early years of the 15th century, and Bonet de Lattes. De Lattes was a Jewish physician, rabbi, inventor, and astrologer; after the expulsion of the Jews from Provence, he went to Rome and eventually became the personal physician of Pope Alexander VI and, later, Pope Leo X.

EARLY MODERN PERIOD

1669 saw the creation of a second Jewish community in Marseille, when Joseph Vais Villareal and Abraham Atthias, two Jews from Livorno, Italy, settled in the city with their families. They were taking advantage of an edict made by King Louis XIV promising tax exemptions for the port of Marseille, and settled in the city. Villareal and Atthias were soon followed by other Jews. However, in1682, after pressure from the citizens of Marseille, an expulsion order was issued against Villareal, followed by occasional expulsions of other Jews who settled in Marseille.

The modern Jewish community of Marseille was founded in 1760. By 1768 the community already had a small synagogue in a rented house on rue de Rome and in 1783, with the help of donations from 48 wealthy members of the community, land was purchased in the Rouet quarter for a Jewish cemetery. A new synagogue was opened in 1790 at 1 rue du Pont, serving what was known as the "Portuguese community," since most of its founding families belonged to the Sephardi communities of Livorno, Italy: de Silva, Coen, de Segni, Attias, Foa, Gozlan, Cansino, Vital, and Tunis - Darmon (also spelled D'Armon), Boccara, Lumbroso, Daninos, Bembaron. They were joined by Jewish families from Avignon: Rigau, Duran, de Monteaux, Ravel, Ramut, Graveur, Caracasone.Still others came from the Eastern Mediterranean countries: Constantini, Huziel, Brudo, Coen de Canea and from Tunisia - Semama, Lahmi, Bismot.

Sabaton Constantini, a merchant of Candia (now Heraklion, in Crete, Greece) was also instrumental in founding the new community. In fact, Constantini met with King Louis XVI of France in 1782 and received royal approval for Jewish settlement in Marseille; immediately 13 families received the right to live in Marseille. The Parliament of Aix-en-Provence officially recognized the Jewish community of Marseille in 1788, and also officially acknowledged the privileges that had already been granted to the community in 1776. On the same occasion Daniel de Beaucarie, a Provencal Jew, was recognized as the representative of the Jewish community of Marseille.

By January 1790, the "Jewish Nation" of Marseille, numbering about 200 members, was granted full emancipation by the French Revolution, almost two years before the general emancipation of Jews in France. New settlers came to Marseille from other Jewish communities in Provence: Cremieu and Delpuget from Avignon, another branch of the Delpuget from Cavaillon. Additionally, Jews from Aleppo (now in Syria) also began arriving, including the Marini, Sciama, and Altaras families. The community began adopting the customs of the Jewish community of Livorno, and Spanish was spoken daily.

In the wake of internal disputes, the community was reorganized in 1804; at that time its population had reached approximately 300. In spite of these changes, the establishment of a rabbinical council shortly thereafter, in 1808, reinforced the leading role of the Jewish community of Marseille over other Jewish communities in the south of France.

THE MODERN COMMUNITY

The growth of the Jewish community of Marseille continued throughout the 19th century. Jews were active in the industrial and financial development of the city, as well as in international trade with North African countries. The opening of the Suez Canal in 1869 and the sustained economic growth of Marseille brought about even more economic opportunities for the local Jewish population.

The 19th century also saw the integration of the Jewish community into the social and political life of Marseille. Traditionally supporters of the government in power, with the fall of the Second Empire the community chose to endorse the Republican parties, especially Leon Gambetta who received the backing of Gustave Naquet, editor of Peuple, a local newspaper that promoted democratic ideals. On the other side of the political spectrum, two Jews, Adolphe Carcassone and Gaston Cremieux, became the leaders of the local Revolutionary Commune in the spring of 1871. Following the fall of the radical movement, Gaston Cremieux, who headed the Revolutionary Commission of the Departement Bouches-du-Rhine, was arrested and tried for his role in the revolt. He was eventually condemned to death and was executed in November 1871.

The success of the Jews of Marseille was met with growing opposition which, by the end of the19th century turned, into overt anti-Semitism. Anti-Jewish attitudes were propagated by figures such as Auguste Chirac of Marseille in works published in 1876. However, the expression of anti-Semitism reached its peak during the Dreyfus Affair. During the Dreyfus Affair, Marseille became central location for both the supporters of Dreyfus, as well as for his detractors. An "Anti-Semitic Conference" held in January 1898 in Marseille generated riots against local Jews, with the mob attacking Jewish-owned shops.

During the second half of the 19th century, and then in the early years of the 20th century, the population of Jews in Marseille continued to grow, eventually turning the city into the second largest Jewish community in France, after Paris. Despite the troubled years of the Dreyfus Affair, many Jews in Marseille succeeded in climbing the social ladder and occupying important positions in the economic, social, cultural and political life of the city. Special mention should be made of such personalities as Jules Isaac Mires (1809-1871), a Bordeaux- born financier who played an active role in promoting the local press in Marseille as well as in undertaking large construction projects of a harbor and new districts, and Jacques Isaac Altaras (1786- 1873), born in Aleppo, Syria, who became a ship-builder and philanthropist. Altaras was president of the Jewish Consistory of Marseille for about thirty years, during which he tried unsuccessfully to advance a project of resettling Russian Jews in
French-occupied Algeria.

The cultural life of the Jews of Marseille was enriched by the activities of the author and journalist Louis Astruc (1857-1904), the painter Edouard Cremieux (1856-1944), the geographer and African explorer Edouard Foa (1862-1901), the author Andre Suares (1868-1948), and the world-famous composer Darius Milhaud (1892-1974).

In the mid-19th century, the Jewish community of Marseille purchased land for a new cemetery that opened in 1855 in the St. Pierre neighborhood. The old cemetery of Rouet was closed, and during the 1970s it disappeared beneath new urban developments (the remains and headstones were transferred to the new cemetery).

A second synagogue was opened in 1820 on rue Grignan, but the demographic growth of the community soon brought about the need for an additional, more spacious, synagogue. Donations by community members enabled the acquisition of a plot of land on rue Breteuil, not far from the old port of Marseille. The new synagogue, called Temple Breteuil, opened on September 22, 1864, having been built according to the plans of the architect Nathan Salomon. The design chosen uses Oriental motifs fashionable at the time, particularly in Marseille, which tried to present itself as the "Gate to Orient." The synagogue also contained similarities with a number of important churches built in Marseille at the same time. The architectural style tried to express the desire of the local Jewish community to present its Judaism in a way that would be acceptable to their Christian neighbors, an attitude typical of the decades following the Jewish emancipation. Temple Breteuil also housed the offices of the Jewish religious council.

THE HOLOCAUST

The Jewish community of Marseille continued to grow into the first half of the 20th century. By 1939, there were about 39,000 Jews in Marseille. Along with Lyons, Marseille had the largest Jewish population in the South of France and was home to the largest number of Jewish organizations and institutions. During the late 1930s many Jewish refugees from Germany sought refuge in Marseille, in spite of the fact that most of them lacked legal documents; after 1940, Jews from other regions of France also began arriving in the city, seeking safety. Marseille remained in the "Free Zone" of France from 1940 until 1942 when the Germans occupied the city following the Allied landing in North Africa. The German occupation worsened the condition of the Jews in Marseille; many went underground , a small number joined the French Resistance, while many others were arrested during massive operations conducted jointly by the Germans and French police. Some 6,000 Jews were arrested in the night of January 23rd, 1943. Of the Jews arrested in Marseille, about 4,000 were eventually deported to Nazi concentration camps. Jewish property was seized and transferred to "Aryan" owners. At the end of World War II there were only about 10,000 Jews left in Marseille.

Hiram (Harry) Bingham, IV (1903-1988), who served as US vice-consul in Marseille, distinguished himself as a Righteous among the Nations. During his service in Marseille between 1939 and1941, he issued more than 2,500 US entry visas to Jews and other refugees, including the painter Marc Chagall and the sculptor Jacques Lipchitz. Bingham helped the French Resistance movement smuggle Jews to Spain or North Africa, sometimes paying the expenses from his own pocket.

POSTWAR ERA

For a long time after World War II, Marseille served as a transit port, first for Holocaust survivors, and then for Jews from North African countries, for those making their way to Israel. Tunisian independence in 1956 and the Suez campaign in Egypt that same year led to a wave of Jewish immigrants coming to Marseille. They were joined in the early 1960s by Jewish emigrants from Morocco and Algeria.

At approximately 65,000 members in 1969, the Jewish community of Marseille was the second largest Jewish community in France and the third largest in the whole of Western Europe. During the early 1970s there were more than a dozen of active synagogues in Marseille and its suburbs. There were also three community centers, a Jewish primary school, an ORT vocational school, and a well-developed network of youth movements, associations and organizations. By the turn of the 21st century, Marseille' Jewish population grew to about 80,000, the second largest Jewish community of France and one of the largest anywhere in the Diaspora. Outside of Israel, Marseille also has the largest Jewish population by far in the Mediterranean region.

The religious and communal lives of the Jews of Marseille are coordinated by the CRIF. During the last decades of the 20th century the CRIF was instrumental in providing the means for strengthening the spiritual and material needs of the community.

During the early aughts there was a significant increase in anti-Semitism and violence in France, which has also affected the Jewish community of Marseille. The arson of the Or Aviv synagogue on April 1st, 2002, was a traumatic event that shocked both the Marsailles community, and the world beyond.