Moses Eliezer Liefmann Calmer

CALM, CALEMAN, CALMEN, CALMER, KALMEN, KALLNER, CALE, CALMSTEIN

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name derives from a Gentile name.

These Jewish family names, formed under the influence of French and German, belong to the group of Jewish names deriving from Kalonymos. The Greek word for "beautiful", Kalonymos is a personal name. Jews may have taken it as an equivalent of the Hebrew Shem Tov ("good name"). Greek names became popular with Jews during the Hellenistic period when many of them also adopted the Greek way of life in the 3rd century BCE, for example Johanan-Horkenos, Yannai-Alexander, Judah-Aristobulos and Shlomit-Alexandra. Several spellings and variants of the Greek Kalonymos are recorded. In its original form, it is first documented as a Jewish name in 8th century Italy, and in central Europe in the 10th century with the Jewish courtier and friend of emperor Otto II, Kalonymos the Jew. The first Latin variant was Kalonymus, which produced Calmus, the Italian forms Calo and Calimani, and the French Calot. Central and Eastern Europe developed names based on Kalman/Calman, adding the patronymic suffixes (to indicate descent from a male ancestor) "-so(h)n" and "-vitz/-witz" (German), and "-vic/-vitch" (Slavic) and variants such as Kleimann and Klee. The name Caleman is documented in Wuerzburg (Germany) in 1212. The German-born official purveyor to Louis XV, Moses Eliezer Liefmann Calmer, became the first Jewish French nobleman. Calmen and Kalmen families lived in Alsace in the late 18th century. The French form Cale is found during the same period in Alsace and in Germany. A distinguished bearer of this name was the German poet Walter Cale (1881-1904), and another German author, Marie Calm (1832-1887) also had name-sakes in 18th century Alsace. In the 20th century, Calmer is recorded as a Jewish family name with Ernst Calmer of Koeln, Germany, who disappeared in German-occupied Minsk during World War II.

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.

Aurich

A town near the river Ems in the district of East Frisia, Lower Saxony, Germany.

Jews from Italy first settled in Aurich apparently around 1378 following an invitation from the ruler of the region. This community came to an end in the 15th century. In 1592 two Jews were permitted to perform as musicians in the villages around Aurich. A new community was formed by 1647 when the court Jew Samson Kalman ben Abraham settled there. He was the court Jew of the Earl of east Frisia. Aurich was the seat of the "Landparnass" and "Landrabbiner" of east Friesland from 1686 until 1813, when they were transferred to Emden.

A cemetery was opened in Aurich in 1764; the synagogue was consecrated in 1811. Under Dutch rule (1807-1815) the Jews enjoyed the civil rights which they had lost in 1744 under Prussian rule.

By 1744 ten families had settled in Aurich. Their number increased steadily and by the time Napoleon granted full political and civil rights to the Jews of east Frisia (1808), Aurich had 16 Jewish families, who in total numbered 180 inhabitants. Their number increased to 600 by the end of the 19th century, about 8% of the total population. Due to the move out of the rural settlements caused by the industrialization, the number of Jewish inhabitants of Aurich decreased at the beginning of the 20th century.

Most of the Jews of Aurich traded in cattle, farm products and textiles. Others were butchers. They had considerable influence on the economic life of the town, for example no market day was held on the Sabbath. In 1933, the year of the Nazis' rise to power in Germany, the Jewish community of Aurich numbered 400 persons.

 

The Holocaust Period

Numerous Jews from Aurich were able to emigrate during the first years of the Nazi regime. After the invasion of the Netherlands by Nazi Germany, the remaining Jews of east Frisia were deported in 1940, among them were 140 Jews from Aurich. The Jewish community ceased to exist.

Paris

Capital of France

In 582, the date of the first documentary evidence of the presence of Jews in Paris, there was already a community with a synagogue. In 614 or 615, the sixth council of Paris decided that Jews who held public office, and their families, must convert to Christianity. From the 12th century on there was a Jewish quarter. According to one of the sources of Joseph ha- Kohen's Emek ha-Bakha, Paris Jews owned about half the land in Paris and the vicinity. They employed many Christian servants and the objects they took in pledge included even church vessels.

Far more portentous was the blood libel which arose against the Jews of Blois in 1171. In 1182, Jews were expelled. The crown confiscated the houses of the Jews as well as the synagogue and the king gave 24 of them to the drapers of Paris and 18 to the furriers. When the Jews were permitted to return to the kingdom of France in 1198 they settled in Paris, in and around the present rue Ferdinand Duval, which became the Jewish quarter once again in the modern era.

The famous disputation on the Talmud was held in Paris in 1240. The Jewish delegation was led by Jehiel b. Joseph of Paris. After the condemnation of the Talmud, 24 cart-loads of Jewish books were burned in public in the Place de Greve, now the Place de l'Hotel de Ville. A Jewish moneylender called Jonathan was accused of desecrating the host in 1290. It is said that this was the main cause of the expulsion of 1306.

Tax rolls of the Jews of Paris of 1292 and 1296 give a good picture of their economic and social status. One striking fact is that a great many of them originated from the provinces. In spite of the prohibition on the settlement of Jews expelled from England, a number of recent arrivals from that country are listed. As in many other places, the profession of physician figures most prominently among the professions noted. The majority of the rest of the Jews engaged in moneylending and commerce. During the same period the composition of the Jewish community, which numbered at least 100 heads of families, changed to a large extent through migration and the number also declined to a marked degree. One of the most illustrious Jewish scholars of medieval France, Judah b. Isaac, known as Sir Leon of Paris, headed the yeshiva of Paris in the early years of the 13th century. He was succeeded by Jehiel b. Joseph, the Jewish leader at the 1240 disputation. After the wholesale destruction of
Jewish books on this occasion until the expulsion of 1306, the yeshivah of Paris produced no more scholars of note.

In 1315, a small number of Jews returned and were expelled again in 1322. The new community was formed in Paris in 1359. Although the Jews were under the protection of the provost of Paris, this was to no avail against the murderous attacks and looting in 1380 and 1382 perpetrated by a populace in revolt against the tax burden. King Charles VI relieved the Jews of responsibility for the valuable pledges which had been stolen from them on this occasion and granted them other financial concessions, but the community was unable to recover. In 1394, the community was struck by the Denis de Machaut affair. Machaut, a Jewish convert to Christianity, had disappeared and the Jews were accused of having murdered him or, at the very least, of having imprisoned him until he agreed to return to Judaism. Seven Jewish notables were condemned to death, but their sentence was commuted to a heavy fine allied to imprisonment until Machaut reappeared. This affair was a prelude to the "definitive" expulsion of the Jews from France in 1394.

From the beginning of the 18th century the Jews of Metz applied to the authorities for permission to enter Paris on their business pursuits; gradually the periods of their stay in the capital increased and were prolonged. At the same time, the city saw the arrival of Jews from Bordeaux (the "Portuguese") and from Avignon. From 1721 to 1772 a police inspector was given special charge over the Jews.
After the discontinuation of the office, the trustee of the Jews from 1777 was Jacob Rodrigues Pereire, a Jew from Bordeaux, who had charge over a group of Spanish and Portuguese Jews, while the German Jews (from Metz, Alsace, and Loraine) were led by Moses Eliezer Liefman Calmer, and those from Avignon by Israel Salom. The German Jews lived in the poor quarters of Saint-Martin and Saint-Denis, and those from Bordeaux, Bayonne, and Avignon inhabited the more luxurious quarters of Saint Germaine and Saint André.

Large numbers of the Jews eked out a miserable living in peddling. The more well-to-do were moneylenders, military purveyors and traders in jewels. There were also some craftsmen among them. Inns preparing kosher food existed from 1721; these also served as prayer rooms. The first publicly acknowledged synagogue was opened in rue de Brisemiche in 1788. The number of Jews of Paris just before the revolution was probably no greater than 500. On Aug. 26, 1789 they presented the constituent assembly with a petition asking for the rights of citizens. Full citizenship rights were granted to the Spanish, Portuguese, and Avignon Jews on Jan. 28, 1790.

After the freedom of movement brought about by emancipation, a large influx of Jews arrived in Paris, numbering 2,908 in 1809. When the Jewish population of Paris had reached between 6,000 and 7,000 persons, the Consistory began to build the first great synagogue. The Consistory established its first primary school in 1819.

The 30,000 or so Jews who lived in Paris in 1869 constituted about 40% of the Jewish population of France. The great majority originated from Metz, Alsace, Lorraine, and Germany, and there were already a few hundreds from Poland. Apart from a very few wealthy capitalists, the great majority of the Jews belonged to the middle economic level. The liberal professions also attracted numerous Jews; the community included an increasing number of professors, lawyers, and physicians. After 1881 the Jewish population increased with the influx of refugees from Poland, Russia, and the Slav provinces of Austria and Romania. At the same time, there was a marked increase in the anti-Semitic movement. The Dreyfus affair, from 1894, split the intellectuals of Paris into "Dreyfusards" and "anti-Dreyfusards" who frequently clashed on the streets, especially in the Latin Quarter. With the law separating church and state in 1905, the Jewish consistories lost their official status, becoming no more than private religious associations. The growing numbers of Jewish immigrants to Paris resented the heavy hand of a Consistory, which was largely under the control of Jews from Alsace and Lorraine, now a minority group. These immigrants formed the greater part of the 13,000 "foreign" Jews who enlisted in World War 1. Especially after 1918, Jews began to arrive from north Africa, Turkey, and the Balkans, and in greatly increased numbers from eastern Europe. Thus in 1939 there were around 150,000 Jews in Paris (over half the total in France). The Jews lived all over the city but there were large concentrations of them in the north and east. More than 150 landmanschaften composed of immigrants from eastern Europe and many charitable societies united large numbers of Jews, while at this period the Paris Consistory (which retained the name with its changed function) had no more than 6,000 members.

Only one of the 19th-century Jewish primary schools was still in existence in 1939, but a few years earlier the system of Jewish education which was strictly private in nature acquired a secondary school and a properly supervised religious education, for which the Consistory was responsible. Many great Jewish scholars were born and lived in Paris in the modern period. They included the Nobel Prize winners Rene Cassin and A. Lwoff. On June 14, 1940, the Wehrmacht entered Paris, which was proclaimed an open city. Most Parisians left, including the Jews. However, the population returned in the following weeks. A sizable number of well-known Jews fled to England and the USA. (Andre Maurois), while some, e.g. Rene Cassin and Gaston Palewski, joined General de Gaulle's free French movement in London. Parisian Jews were active from the very beginning in resistance movements. The march to the etoile on Nov. 11, 1940, of high school and university students, the first major public manifestation of resistance, included among its organizers Francis Cohen, Suzanne Dijan, and Bernard Kirschen.

The first roundups of Parisian Jews of foreign nationality took place in 1941; about 5,000 "foreign" Jews were deported on May 14, about 8,000 "foreigners" in August, and about 100 "intellectuals" on December 13. On July 16, 1942, 12,884 Jews were rounded up in Paris (including about 4,000 children). The Parisian Jews represented over half the 85,000 Jews deported from France to extermination camps in the east. During the night of Oct. 2-3, 1941, seven Parisian synagogues were attacked.

Several scores of Jews fell in the Paris insurrection in August, 1944. Many streets in Paris and the outlying suburbs bear the names of Jewish heroes and martyrs of the Holocaust period and the memorial to the unknown Jewish martyr, a part of the Centre de documentation juive contemporaire, was erected in in 1956 in the heart of Paris.

Between 1955 and 1965, the Jewish community experienced a demographic transformation with the arrival of more than 300,000 Sephardi Jews from North Africa. These Jewish immigrants came primarily from Morocco, Tunisia and Egypt. At the time, Morocco and Tunisia were French protectorates unlike Algeria which was directly governed by France. Since their arrival, the Sephardi Jews of North Africa have remained the majority (60%) of French Jewry.

In 1968 Paris and its suburbs contained about 60% of the Jewish population of France. In 1968 it was estimated at between 300,000 and 350,000 (about 5% of the total population). In 1950, two-thirds of the Jews were concentrated in about a dozen of the poorer or commercial districts in the east of the city. The social and economic advancement of the second generation of east European immigrants, the influx of north Africans, and the gradual implementation of the urban renewal program caused a considerable change in the once Jewish districts and the dispersal of the Jews throughout other districts of Paris.

Between 1957 and 1966 the number of Jewish communities in the Paris region rose from 44 to 148. The Paris Consistory, traditionally presided over by a member of the Rothschild family, officially provides for all religious needs. Approximately 20 synagogues and meeting places for prayer observing Ashkenazi or Sephardi rites are affiliated with the Consistory, which also provides for the religious needs of new communities in the suburbs. This responsibility is shared by traditional orthodox elements, who, together with the reform and other independent groups, maintain another 30 or so synagogues. The orientation and information office of the Fonds social juif unifie had advised or assisted over 100,000 refugees from north Africa. It works in close cooperation with government services and social welfare and educational institutions of the community. Paris was one of the very few cities in the diaspora with a full-fledged Israel-type school, conducted by Israeli teachers according to an Israeli curriculum.

The Six-Day War (1967), which drew thousands of Jews into debates and
Pro-Israel demonstrations, was an opportunity for many of them to reassess their personal attitude toward the Jewish people. During the "students' revolution" of 1968 in nearby Nanterre and in the Sorbonne, young Jews played an outstanding role in the leadership of left-wing activists and often identified with Arab anti-Israel propaganda extolling the Palestinian organizations. Eventually, however, when the "revolutionary" wave subsided, it appeared that the bulk of Jewish students in Paris, including many supporters of various new left groups, remained loyal to Israel and strongly opposed Arab terrorism.

As of 2015, France was home to the third largest Jewish population in the world. It was also the largest in all of Europe. More than half the Jews in France live in the Paris metropolitan area. According to the World Jewish Congress, an estimated 350,000 Jews live in the city of Paris and its many districts. By 2014, Paris had become the largest Jewish city outside of Israel and the United States. Comprising 6% of the city’s total population (2.2 million), the Jews of Paris are a sizeable minority.

There are more than twenty organizations dedicated to serving the Jewish community of Paris. Several offer social services while others combat anti-Semitism. There are those like the Paris Consistory which financially supports many of the city's congregations. One of the largest organizations is the Alliance Israélite Universelle which focuses on self-defense, human rights and Jewish education. The FSJU or Unified Social Jewish Fund assists in the absorption of new immigrants. Other major organizations include the ECJC (European Council of Jewish Communities), EAJCC (European Association of Jewish Communities), ACIP (Association Consitoriale Israelité), CRIF (Representative Council of Jewish Institutions), and the UEJF (Jewish Students Union of France).

Being the third largest Jewish city behind New York and Los Angeles, Paris is home to numerous synagogues. By 2013, there were more than eighty three individual congregations. While the majority of these are orthodox, many conservative and liberal congregations can be found across Paris. During the 1980s, the city received an influx of orthodox Jews, primarily as a result of the Lubavitch movement which has since been very active in Paris and throughout France.

Approximately 4% of school-age children in France are enrolled in Jewish day schools. In Paris, there are over thirty private Jewish schools. These include those associated with both the orthodox and liberal movements. Chabad Lubavitch has established many educational programs of its own. The Jewish schools in Paris range from the pre-school to High School level. There are additionally a number of Hebrew schools which enroll students of all ages.

Among countless cultural institutions are museums and memorials which preserve the city's Jewish history. Some celebrate the works of Jewish artists while others commemorate the Holocaust and remember its victims. The Museum of Jewish art displays sketches by Mane-Katz, the paintings of Alphonse Levy and the lithographs of Chagall. At the Center of Contemporary Jewish Documentation (CDJC), stands the Memorial de la Shoah. Here, visitors can view the center's many Holocaust memorials including the Memorial of the Unknown Jewish Martyrs, the Wall of Names, and the Wall of the Righteous Among the Nations. Located behind the Notre Dame is the Memorial of Deportation, a memorial to the 200,000 Jews who were deported from Vichy France to the Nazi concentration camps. On the wall of a primary school on rue Buffault is a plaque commemorating the 12,000 Parisian Jewish children who died in Auschwitz following their deportation from France between 1942 and 1944.

For decades, Paris has been the center of the intellectual and cultural life of French Jewry. The city offers a number of institutions dedicated to Jewish history and culture. Located at the Alliance Israélite Universalle is the largest Jewish library in all of Europe. At the Bibliothèque Medem is the Paris Library of Yiddish. The Mercaz Rashi is home to the University Center for Jewish Studies, a well known destination for Jewish education. One of the most routinely visited cultural centers in Paris is the Chabad House. As of 2014, it was the largest in the world. The Chabad House caters to thousands of Jewish students from Paris and elsewhere every year.

Located in the city of Paris are certain districts, many of them historic, which are well known for their significant Jewish populations. One in particular is Le Marais “The Marsh”, which had long been an aristocratic district of Paris until much of the city’s nobility began to move. By the end of the 19th century, the district had become an active commercial area. It was at this time that thousands of Ashkenazi Jews fleeing persecution in Eastern Europe began to settle Le Marais, bringing their specialization in clothing with them. Arriving from Romania, Austria, Hungary and Russia, they developed a new community alongside an already established community of Parisian Jews. As Jewish immigration continued into the mid 20th century, this Jewish quarter in the fourth arrondissement of Paris became known as the “Pletzl”, a Yiddish term meaning “little place”. Despite having been targeted by the Nazis during World War II, the area has continued to be a major center of the Paris Jewish community. Since the 1990s, the area has grown. Along the Rue des Rosiers are a number of Jewish restaurants, bookstores, kosher food outlets and synagogues. Another notable area with a sizeable Jewish community is in the city’s 9th district. Known as the Faubourg-Montmarte, it is home to several synagogues, kosher restaurants as well as many offices to a number of Jewish organizations.

With centuries-old Jewish neighborhoods, Paris has its share of important Jewish landmarks. Established in 1874 is the Rothschild Synagogue and while it may not be ancient, its main attraction is its rabbis who are well known for being donned in Napoleonic era apparel. The synagogue on Rue Buffault opened in 1877 and was the first synagogue in Paris to adopt the Spanish/Portuguese rite. Next to the synagogue is a memorial dedicated to the 12,000 children who perished in the Holocaust. The Copernic synagogue is the city’s largest non-orthodox congregation. In 1980 it was the target of an anti-Semitic bombing which led to the death of four people during the celebration of Simchat Torah, the first attack against the Jewish people in France since World War II. In the 1970s, the remains of what many believed to have been a Yeshiva were found under the Rouen Law Courts. Just an hour outside of Paris, this site is presumed to be from the 12th century when Jews comprised nearly 20% of the total population.

Serving many of the medical needs of the Jewish community of Paris are organizations such as the OSE and CASIP. While the Rothschild hospital provides general medical care, the OSE or Society for the Health of the Jewish Population, offers several health centers around the city. CASIP focuses on providing the community social services include children and elderly homes.

Being a community of nearly 400,000 people, the Jews of Paris enjoy a diversity of media outlets centered on Jewish culture. Broadcasted every week are Jewish television programs which include news and a variety of entertainment. On radio are several stations such as Shalom Paris which airs Jewish music, news and programming. Circulating throughout Paris are two weekly Jewish papers and a number of monthly journals. One of the city’s major newspapers is the Actualité Juive. There are also online journals such as the Israel Infos and Tribute Juive.