Château-Thierry

A commune in the department of the Aisne, France.

The medieval Jewish community occupied the present rue de la Loi. There was certainly a synagogue in Château-Thierry during the second period in which Jews resided there, from 1315 to 1321; in 1317 legal proceedings were taken against Christian inhabitants who had forced their way into it. The synagogue of Château-Thierry is mentioned in a number of documents recording the prosecutions ordered on March 6, 1318 against the individuals who entered by force into the ‘’Synagogue’’ or ‘’School’’.  On March 6 and August 2, 1318 mandates of arrest were issued to the Bailli de Vitry, at the request of the Jews of Château-Thierry, to prosecute Odinet Vilain and other culprits for having disregarded the protection granted to the Jews by the King, penetrated in the synagogue, smashed the Holy Ark, removed the Torah scrolls, and stole jewels, money and books.

After the expulsion in 1322, Jews from Château-Thierry are documented in Barrois ( Bar-le-Duc). The local scholars included Samuel of Evreux and the tosafists Isaac and his son Bonne-Vie.

During World War 2 the census of 1942 showed 14 Jews registered in Château-Thierry. Previously the ORT organization had established an agricultural school there.

Saverne

In German: Zabern

A town in the department of Bas-Rhin, eastern France.

The presence of Jews in Saverne is confirmed from at least 1334. The community suffered during the Armleder persecutions in 1338. At the time of the Black Death in 1349 there was only one Jewish family in Saverne, which was compelled to leave the town. By 1622 there were again a few Jews living in Saverne; there were seven families in 1716 and 21 in 1784. The community numbered over 300 persons at the close of the 19th century. It maintained a Jewish primary school (founded in 1857). A new synagogue was opened in 1898. Its population subsequently declined. During World War II, 30 Jews of Saverne died during deportation. The community numbered about 100 in 1970.

Orleans

A city and capital of the Loiret department in France.

HISTORY

A Jewish community was established in Orleans before 585. During that year, the Jews of Orleans participated in the welcome which was given to King Gontran and appealed to him to be allowed to rebuild the synagogue, which had previously been destroyed. The community may well have existed earlier, for the second, third, and fourth Councils of Orleans, held in 533, 538, and 541 respectively, had already passed legislation concerning the Jews. During the tenth century, an apostate Orleans Jew, Gautier (Walterius), owned houses in the town. At the beginning of the 11th century, the Jewish community, then quite numerous, was accused of having established relations with Caliph el Hakim in order to instigate persecutions of Christians in Jerusalem. The ensuing general persecution of the French Jews struck first in Orleans, from which Jews were expelled for several years. The importance of the Orleans Jewish community is again attested when in 1171 it attempted to succor the Blois Jewish community at the time of the blood libel. After the expulsion of Jews from the French kingdom in 1182, the synagogue of Orleans was transformed into the St. Sauveur chapel. The community was reconstituted after Jews were permitted to return to France in 1198; among the Jewish notables imprisoned in the Chatelet of Paris in 1204 were two from Orleans. The Jewish cemetery of Orleans was also used by the small surrounding communities.
The large taxes paid by the Jews of Orleans point to the numerical and economic importance of the community (although the customers for their loans were essentially drawn from among the common people), as well as to the size of the Jewish quarter (Grande juiverie during the 13th century) and its numerous institutions, especially its two synagogues. After the expulsion of 1306, a new, smaller, community was formed between 1315 and 1322 (or 1323) and again in 1359. As a result of the complaints of the Christian inhabitants, the Jews were confined to a narrow quarter. As was the case in several other cities, notably Paris, the Jews of Orleans were the victims of a popular uprising in February 1382, later crushed by King Charles VI. It was, however, this same king who in 1394 refused to prolong the residence of Jews in France, thus ending the medieval Jewish community of Orleans.

Early in its history Orleans became an important center of Jewish learning. Isaac b. Menahem, second half of the 11th century, was cited by Rashi for his Talmudic commentaries, and was also known as a legal authority. The hymnologist Meir b. Isaac, late 11th century, was, most probably, his son; the latter's son was the biblical commentator Eleazar b. Meir b. Isaac. The most renowned scholar of Orleans was Joseph b. Isaac Bekhor-Shor. After 1171 the tosafist Jacob of Orleans emigrated to London, where he became one of the victims of the massacre of 1189.

A Jewish community was again established at the beginning of the 19th century; it possessed a small synagogue and, by the close of the century, had about 40 members.
In 1971 there were about 500 Jews in Orleans with a synagogue-community center. In May 1969, the Jewish owners of fashion shops in Orleans suddenly found themselves in the midst of a turmoil of strange gossip, which claimed that Christian women who had been trying on dresses had been drugged and spirited away to exotic brothels. The police had absolutely no knowledge of the alleged kidnapping of any female citizen in Orleans, and yet the rumor spread like wildfire that they had been abducted from six shops, all of which were owned by Jews. Schoolgirls were warned by their teachers not to enter the suspect places and husbands would not allow their wives to go into such shops unaccompanied. The rumor persisted for several weeks, dying out only when a full-scale campaign was organized by the national press, and after conferences held by leading personalities both within and outside of Orleans.

Chartres

A city and capital of the Eure-et-Loir department in France.

21st Century

Communauté Israélite d'Eure et Loir (CIEL)
28 r Changes 
28000 Chartres
France
Phone: 0890210357
Website: https://www.le-site-de.com/communaute-israelite-d-eure-et-loir-ciel--chartres_186691.html

HISTORY

The importance of the Jewish community in Chartres during the middle ages, whose existence is attested as early as 1130, is illustrated by the numerous street names which still exist, such as rue aux Juifs, ruelle aux Juifs, place aux Juifs, and cul-de-sac des Juifs. The Saint-Hilaire hospital is believed to have once been a synagogue. The remains of another synagogue still existed in 1736.

Probably as a consequence of the general expulsions in 1306 and 1321, Jews from Chartres are found in Aouste-sur-Sye in 1331 and in Serre in 1349. The sages of Chartres included Mattathias, a highly esteemed contemporary of Rashi, the liturgical poet Samuel b. Reuben of Chartres, and Joseph of Chartres, who wrote a biblical commentary and an elegy on the York martyrs of 1190.

Lons-le-Saunier

A city and capital of the Department of Jura, in Franche-Comte, France.

A vicus judeorum ("Jewish  quarter") is mentioned in Lons in 1220; the establishment of the community therefore preceded this date. The rue des Juifs (later the rue de la Comedie and rue de la Balerne) is mentioned down to the 14th century. The Jews of Lons owned a cemetery, but there is no record of a synagogue. During the 14th century, Jews from Lons are found in numerous other localities of Franche-Comte.

During World War II, a large number of Jews from Alsace and Lorraine who took refuge in Lons established a community numbering approximately 1,300 members. Lons also became the seat of a regional rabbinate. There was no organized community in Lons by the 1960s.

Luneville

A town in the Meurthe-et-Moselle department in France.

21st Century

Association Culturelle Israelite de Luneville
5, rue Castara
54300 Luneville
France
Phone: 08 92 97 64 43

La cimetière israélite régional de Luneville (Meurthe-et-Moselle)

HISTORY

Several Jews were mentioned in Luneville in 1470-- 72, just before the expulsion from the Duchy of Lorraine. From 1702 Luneville was the seat of the ducal court of Lorraine; Samuel Levy took charge of the court's commercial interests in 1705. Two Jewish families were authorized to live in the town by an edict of 1753; there were 16 families residing there when the synagogue was constructed in 1785. A cemetery was not consecrated until 1791. The community numbered 315 persons in 1808 and 400 in 1855; from 1870 it was augmented by a number of manufacturers from Alsace. Among the Hebrew printing presses established in France in the latter part of the 18th century and early in the 19th was one belonging to Abraham Brisach, who produced in Luneville a machzor with Judeo-German translation in 1797 and a Likkutei Zvi in 1798. A hospital, established in 1857, was in use until 1944. Alfred levy, later chief rabbi of France and a native of Luneville, was rabbi there from 1869 to 1880.

During World War I the incumbent minister, S. Weill, and several other Jews were among the civilians slaughtered at Luneville (1914); 18 other Jews from Luneville fell in battle in this war and six in World War II.

One hundred and thirty-nine Jews (including the patients in the hospital) arrested in Luneville during the German occupation died in the deportations.

In 1969 there were about 200 Jews in Luneville, half of them from North Africa.

Monaco

Principauté de Monaco - Principality of Monaco

A city state on the French Riviera. 

21st Century

Estimated Jewish population in 2018: 1,000 out of 38,000. The vast majority of Jews living in Monaco are not citizens of this country, but permanent residents from other European countries as well as from Israel, Turkey, and other countries. Main Jewish organization:

Association Culturelle Israélite de Monaco
Phone: 377 93 25 73 36
Email: [email protected]
15 avenue de la Costa,
MC-98000, Monaco

Consistoire de Monaco
Website: https://monaco.consistoire.org

Chalon-sur-Saône 

A town in the Saône-et-Loire department in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France. Historically it was part of the former Duchy of Burgundy, France.

Around 820 Agobard, the Archbishop of Lyons, tried to convert forcibly the Jewish children in the city to Christianity, and later instructed the bishop of Chalon to advise his flock to avoid all association with Jews.

From the middle of the tenth century the records mention numerous Jews owning fields and vineyards in the environs of the town, which they cultivated themselves, notably at Sennecey-le-Grand, Fissey, Buxy, and Droux. The medieval community had numerous communal facilities, including a baking oven (Cartulaire Citeaux, no. 193, folio 62--63), a cemetery on the site of the present rue des Places (where three tombstones were found in 1957), and a ritual bath in the close of the former Capuchin convent at Saint-Jean-des- Vignes. The vicus judaeorum ("street of the Jews") occupied the site of the present Grand'rue. Around 1306, just before the general expulsion of the Jews from France, the community in Chalon conducted important loan operations with credit amounting to 23,000 livres. In 1384 a certain number of Jewish families were again authorized to settle in Chalon until finally expelled from France in 1394. The scholar Eliezer b. Judah lived there in the second half of the 11th century. Scholars of the town took part in the synod which met under the presidency of Jacob b. Meir Tam and Samuel b. Meir.

A new community was formed after 1871. The Jewish population in 1968 numbered 140.

Phalsbourg

A town in the Moselle department in north eastern France.

Between 1680 and 1691, King Louis XIV's Secretary of State for War, François Michel Le Tellier, Marquis of Louvois, authorized two Jewish families to settle there; these increased to four in 1702, eight in 1747, and 12 in 1770; on several occasions they were threatened with expulsion. Two Jews acquired merchants' licenses in 1768 and this right was ratified by the Conseil d'Etat. The synagogue was erected in 1772 and rebuilt in 1857; the cemetery dates from 1796. From 1807 until around 1920 Phalsbourg was the seat of a rabbinate (which also served the neighboring communities of Sarrebourg, Mittelbronn, (1827-1837), the model for the Reb-Sichel of Erckmann- Chatrian, and Lazare Isidor (1837-1847), future chief rabbi of France. From the second half of the 19th century the Jewish population decreased from 159 in 1880, to 89 in 1931, and 48 in 1970. During World War II, nine Jews of Phalsbourg died when they were being deported and two were shot dead.

Capestang

A town in the Hérault department in southern France.

Disputes between the archbishop and the viscount of Narbonne, who both claimed jurisdiction over the Jews and their revenues, were submitted to arbitration in 1276; in 1284 the registration of a Jew, Vital of Capestang, as a "Jew of the king" was again contested. Before the expulsion of the Jews from the Kingdom of France in 1306, Jews from Capestang had acquired possessions in Montpellier. The new community, formed after 1359, which used a "Jewish oven" belonging to the archbishop of Narbonne, came to an end with the final expulsion of the Jews from france in 1394. Fifteen scholars of Capestang signed a letter to Abba Mari b. Moses b. Joseph Astruc of Lunel early in the 14th century during the dispute about the study of philosophy, among them being the kabbalist Isaac b. Moses ha-Kohen.

Fontainebleau

Town in the Île-de-France region, approximately 37 miles (about 60 kilometers) south Paris, France.

21ST CENTURY

The synagogue, originally built in the 1850s and rebuilt in 1965, is on Rue Paul Séramy, with cemetery beyond, in the forest at the foot of Mont Ussy.

HISTORY

The Jewish community in Fontainebleau dates from the late 18th century. At first, prayer services were held in a house owned by a member of the community.

During the 19th century, two important porcelain factories there were owned by Jews: Jacob Petit and Baruch Weil.

In 1819, the community purchased part of a house for 1,200 francs. It eventually became inadequate, and on May 12, 1853, the community acquired a site for the erection of a synagogue, located at the point of entrance to the palace gardens, the park, and the forest.

Nathan Salomon, the inspecting architect of the castle and a member of the government, designed the plans for the synagogue and directed the work without accepting any remuneration. The land cost 5,700 francs, the building 15,000. The emperor sent 1,000 francs personally; the state and the town together contributed 3,200; and the community paid the rest. By 1861, the congregation was free from debt.

The foundation stone for the synagogue was laid in May 1856, and the chief rabbi of France, Isidor, presided over the inauguration ceremony on August 23, 1857, in the presence of the subprefect and other authorities.

As of the early 20th century, the community totaled 29 families, composed of merchants, daylaborers, and small fund-holders. The seven families from Melun belonged to the same district.

There were also a certain number of Jews who took no part in community life. During grand festivals, the presence of visitors spending the summer there lends the only animation to religious life.

The community helped Jews reach Paris or Havre on their way to North America, especially Jews fleeing Russia and later, Romania.

HOLOCAUST

At the time of the 1941 census, there were 58 Jews in Fontainebleau.

During the German occupation, Fontainebleau's synagogue, dating from 1857, was looted and destroyed. Its eight-branch candelabrum, made of blue Sèvres porcelain and donated by Napoleon III to the Jewish community, was also smashed.

POST-WAR

After the war, a new Jewish community was established. Composed mostly of North African Jews, it numbered about 400 persons in 1969.

When the synagogue was rebuilt in 1965, a new candelabrum was contributed by SHAPE (Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe) officers stationed in the town.

Tours

A city and the administrative center of the Indre-et-Loire department, central France.

21st Century

There are about 200 families that animate a traditional Jewish community.

In 2009, the Jewish Cultural Association of Indre et Loire or ACIIL was established. In 2010 they organized the celebration of the 150th anniversary of the Jewish community in Tours that included a number of conferences and concerts, a symposium and an exhibition dedicated to the history, culture, music and Jewish art. In particular, the exhibition organized at the Hotel Gouin, a 15th century mansion, with the assistance of the Jewish Museum (MAHJ) of Paris, was undoubtedly the flagship of these events.

In 2011, ACIIL took part in the Eurogusto events presenting Jewish cuisine to the 25,000 participants.  

In the fall of 2016, the community celebrated the 50th anniversary of Nostra Aetae in the presence of the Chief Rabbi of France Haïm Korsia, several rabbis as well as bishops and the archbishop. More than 400 people attended this celebration of friendship between Jews and Catholics.

HISTORY

The Jewish settlement in Tours is one of the earliest in France of which there is evidence (at least from about 570). In 1171 a notable of the community of Tours intervened in favor of the Jews of Blois who were persecuted following an accusation of ritual murder. A council held in this town in 1236 forbade the crusaders - as every other Christian - to conspire against the lives, health, and property of the Jews; those found guilty of such a crime would be expelled from the ranks of the crusaders. Another Council of Tours (1239), however, excluded the Jews from testifying in lawsuits. The Jews then lived in a quarter named "juiverie," which was situated between the Old Bridge and the rue de la Caserne and consisted of at least 20 houses. They owned a synagogue and leased a plot of land from the archbishop in the Saint- Vincent parish (near the present rue du Cygne and de Luce) to use as a cemetery. It was clearly stipulated that they were authorized to bury not only the Jewish dead of Tours, but also those of any other locality. In addition, a plot of agricultural land and a vineyard were worked by Jews.

After the expulsion of 1306, the Jews returned to Tours in 1315. They also suffered in the persecutions of 1321, which were justified after the events as having been perpetrated in punishment for their supposed collusion with the lepers.

Jews do not appear to have returned to Tours in 1359. On the contrary, in that year the municipality ordered the final destruction of the Jewish cemetery. A number of scholars are known to have lived there during the middle of the 13th century; and Joseph b. Elijah toward the close of the 13th century. The works, however, have not survived.

The synagogue of Tours, in a fusion of Art Nouveau and Oriental styles, was erected in 1907 to the plans of the architect Victor Tondu. It includes a residential building reserved for the local rabbi. The stained glasses by Pierre Lux Fournier were added in 1949.

After the World War I, Jewish immigrant families from Turkey and Thessaloniki, Greece, settled in Tours. They were followed during the 1930s by Jewish families from Eastern Europe, particularly from Poland. During the early 1920s a Jewish youth association was founded in Tours.

The Holocaust

During World War 2, the Jews of Tours were persecuted by the Nazis and by the Vichy regime. They were arrested and interned at the La Lande camp in Monts,. A total of 1019 Jews from Tours and the surrounding area were deported to Along with Jewish inhabitants from other places to the Nazi death camps at Auschwitz and Sobibor, of them only 33 survived.

After World War 2

The few survivors returned to Tours and rehabilitated the ransacked synagogue. Community life resumed its course with the appointment of the community's president Pierre Blum, who served in this position until 1972.  In the early 1970s, as a result of the arrival of Jews from North Africa, there were about 550 Jews living in Tours. They owned a synagogue and a Talmud Torah.

Nyons

A town in the Drôme department in southeastern France, in the historical region of Dauphiné.

Like the other Jews of Dauphiné, those of Nyons were not affected by the expulsions of the Jews from the Kingdom of France in 1306 and 1322. During the latter year, a number of Jews expelled from Comtat venaissin joined the Jews already established in Nyons. Their situation was quite satisfactory; a jaw held public office in Nyons and another was in the service of the Dauphin. At the time of the Black Death in 1348, the community suffered violent persecution. It was reconstituted about 1364 and then occupied the present rue Juiverie. The synagogue, whose dilapidated building still existed toward the end of the 19th century, appears to have belonged to this second community. There were no Jews in Nyons by the end of the 15th century. Known among the scholars of Nyons are Isaac b. Mordecai Kimchi, named Petit, a liturgical author, and Chaim of Vienne.

At the beginning of World War II about 50 Jewish families, many of them from the Saar, lived in Nyons. In 1971 Nyons had no organized community.

A port city on the Garonne River in the Gironde department, southwest France

21^st CENTURY

The Grand Synagogue of Bordeaux, at 8, rue du Grand Rabbin Joseph Cohen, was originally built in 1882. After its desecration by the Nazis in World War II, the synagogue was restored. It reopened in 1956 and was recognized as a historical monument in 1998. 

Pauline and Hans Herzl, two of Theodor Herzl’s three children, are buried in a 17th-century Portuguese-Jewish cemetery at 176, Cours de l’Yser  . Another private Jewish cemetery, established in 1725, is located at 74, Cours   de la Marne.

Bordeaux has many streets named for prominent Jewish residents: Rue David-Gradis, who was an 18^th century shipping magnate; Rue (Abraham) Furtado, who served as treasurer of Bordeaux and chairman of Napoléon's Assembly of Jewish Notables in 1806; and Avenue Georges-Mandel, who served as France’s Minister of the Interior, before being assassinated in 1944. Several streets are also named for Léon Blum (1872-1950), France’s first Jewish Prime Minister  who was elected to office three times starting in 1936.

HISTORY

It appears that Jews were living in Bordeaux during the early Middle Ages, and possibly even earlier.  According to legend, Jews began arriving in Bordeaux shortly after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE, drawn there by commercial opportunity. By the 7^th century Bordeaux was home to a thriving Jewish community, and by 828 Jews could trade freely and establish their own administrative and judicial systems and officials. At the same time, however, they were still subject to antisemitism during this period.

A deed dating from 1077 refers to a hill named Montemque Judaïcum, or Mont-Judaique, and to the fact that the city’s Jews were living in an area called Saint-Seurin, outside the northwest walls of the city; a road called Arrua Judega (deriving from the Portuguese for “Jewish Street”) lay at the foot of this hill. Other points of interest in Bordeaux also bear names indicating the presence of Jews, including Porta Judaica,  later renamed Porte Dijeaux (Jewish Port), Puits des Juifs (Jewish Well), and Rue Judaique (Judaic Street). Saint-Seurin was still the location of the Jewish Quarter in 1273, with Rue Caphernam its major road.

During the period when Bordeaux was under English rule (1154-1453), its Jews were not subject to the series of expulsions decreed by the kings of France in 1284, 1305, and 1310—though the kings of England did extort money from the Jewish community in return for protection. Nonetheless, under English rule the Jews of Bordeaux enjoyed freedom of residence, trade, and travel. In 1320, however, a group of French peasants known as Pastoureaux (Shepherds) specifically targeted Jews during the Shepherds’ Crusade of 1320, leading to the murder of hundreds of Jews throughout the region.

By the end of the 15^th century Jewish refugees began to arrive from the Iberian Peninsula after the expulsion from Spain (1492) and Portugal (1496). These Jews, known as Marranos (or, alternatively, as “New Christians,” or “Portuguese merchants”), outwardly lived as Christians, although the general populace suspected them to be secretly Jewish. Marranos were welcomed for their professional and commercial skills and invited to live in Bordeaux; indeed, as physicians, lawyers, and scholars they contributed greatly to Jewish communal life.

Marranos continued to live publicly as Christians, choosing to be baptized, married, and buried in accordance with the rites of the Catholic church until the beginning of the 18^th century. By 1710, however, Marranos began to profess their Judaism more openly, even though practicing their religion in public was still officially forbidden  . Through the 18^th century these Marranos began to live more openly as Portuguese Jews, and were also granted more freedoms to practice their true religion. In 1723 new letters-patent officially referred to the “Portuguese merchants” as Jews, the first time this connection was officially made, and by 1727, they had stopped baptizing their children. By 1730, the Portuguese Jews owned their own cemetery, and priests who performed their marriages generally added a note to the effect that they would be performed "in accordance with the customary rites of the Portuguese nation." Around this time, too, the Portuguese Jewish community    established an institution called the Sedaca, which sent money to four cities in the Holy Land, helped the poor and needy, and supported various members of the community, including teachers of the Talmud Torah and the rabbi  .

By the early 18th century Jews began arriving to settle in Bordeaux from Avignon and neighboring region of Provence. There were tensions between these new arrivals and the more established Portuguese Jews, the latter of whom even tried to have the former expelled at one point. The two communities lived separately, practiced differently, and even worked in different fields: most of the Portuguese Jews worked in finance and supplying marine equipment, while the Avignonese worked in the textile and clothing trades. A 1752 census of the Jews in Bordeaux indicated that 1,598 were Portuguese (327 families) and 348 were Avignonese (81 families).

In April 1799, on the eve of the French Revolution (1789-1799),  the Sedaca, now calling itself the “Portuguese Nation,” sent two representatives to the National Assembly, which was studying reforms to be applied to the Jews of France. These representatives advocated for the National Assembly to preserve freedom of residence, economic activity, and property for the Jews. Their requests were initially deferred, but after a second delegation of Sephardi Jews from Bordeaux appealed, the Assembly issued a decree in January 1790 declaring that the Jews of Bordeaux would enjoy full rights as French citizens.

After the French Revolution, Bordeaux’ Jewish community, along with their non-Jewish compatriots, was subjected to the Reign of Terror  (1793-1794), the period of time when suspected enemies of the revolution were rounded up and executed. A number of Jews from Bordeaux were subject to heavy fines and at least one, Jean Mendes, was among the guillotine’s victims. 

In 1806 Napoleon convened an Assembly of Jewish Notables to consider a set of questions pertaining to the status of the Jews in France, and later a Grand Sanhedrin to ratify their responses. From Bordeaux, Abraham Furtado served as president of the assembly, and Isaac Rodrigues served as secretary. Both also represented the Jews of Bordeaux at the Sanhedrin.

At the beginning of the 19^th century Bordeaux was home to nine synagogues. Abraham Furtado became chief rabbi of Bordeaux in 1809; he was succeeded in 1814 by Abraham Andrade. The Great Synagogue of Bordeaux was built in 1882 on Labirat Street (later renamed rue du Grand Rabbin Joseph Cohen), replacing the synagogue on Causserouge Street, which had been destroyed by fire in 1873. When it opened, the Great Synagogue was the largest in France, with a seating capacity of 1,500; it was aso the first synagogue in France to display the Magen David (Star of David).  

WINE 

Jews became active in the municipal, commercial, and intellectual life of Bordeaux during the 19^th century.  It was during this period that Jews established two of Bordeaux’s most famed wineries: Baron Nathaniel de Rothschild, of the English branch of the Rothschild family, founded Château Mouton-Rothschild in the Médoc in 1853, and his cousin Baron James de Rothschild founded Château Lafite-Rothschild in 1867.

Despite these achievements, by the end of the century the Jewish population of Bordeaux had begun to decline, due mainly to emigration. In 1900, the Jewish population of Bordeaux numbered 1,940.

THE HOLOCAUST

After the Germans invaded France in May 1940, large numbers of Jews fled from Paris and other points north to  Bordeaux. However, under the Franco-German armistice of June 21, 1940, Bordeaux fell under the Occupied Zone , and became a major center of Nazi police and military activities.

A June 1941 census reported 5,177 Jews living in Bordeaux, 1,198 of whom had lived in the community before the war; the majority were refugees from other parts of France or from abroad.

Between July 1942 and February 1944 two-thirds of the Jewish population were arrested and deported. The Grand Synagogue was used by the German army as a prison, from which many local Jews were deported to Nazi concentration camps. In 1944 the synagogue was ransacked and the interior destroyed by French fascists.

POSTWAR

Restoration of the Grand Synagogue began after the war and continued through the 1950s. The interior was refurbished according to the original plan, and the synagogue was rededicated in 1956. A memorial wall located in the synagogue’s courtyard listed the names of local Jews who were killed during the Holocaust. The street where the Grand Synagogue is located was subsequently renamed rue du Grand Rabbin Joseph Cohen, in honor of the local rabbi who was hidden by a Catholic bishop during the war, thereby evading capture.

Ammerschwihr

In German: Ammerschweier

A village  in the Haut-Rhin department in Alsace, France.

Jewish residents in Ammerschwihr are mentioned in 1534 when Joseph (Joselmann) ben Gershom of Rosheim notified them of complaints made by the Colmar magistracy that they were contravening its regulations by introducing foreign currency into the city and selling new clothes there. The municipal regulations of 1561-1563, which refer to the text of a former regulation (of 1440), specify the conditions governing Jewish residence in Ammerschwihr.

The Jews were required to make an annual payment of 16 florins to the city and city guilds, and were prohibited from leaving their homes during the week before Easter, and from fetching water from the wells on Sundays and Christian holy days. Outside their homes they were to wear the Jewish badge. Sale of goods was forbidden to Jews at any place other than in front of the "Stockbrunnen"; they could, however, engage in peddling, and sell their wares at the annual fair; all Jewish visitors to Ammerschwihr had to pay three deniers for each day they spent in the city, and an additional six deniers if they remained overnight.

Jewish residence ceased from the end of the 16th century; the toll was still imposed between 1625 and 1630 on transients (Archives municipales. Bb 17 fol. 82, 103). The "rue des Juifs" was located between the Colmar gate and the market place.

Pontoise

A historic town, part of  in the "new town" of Cergy-Pontoise  in the north-western suburbs of Paris, in the department of Val-d'Oise , France.

Toward the close of the 12th century, the Jews of Pontoise were accused of having murdered a Christian child named Richard. In 1204 there was already an established Jewish community supervised by a Christian provost. Proof of the considerable financial activities transacted by the Jews of Pontoise was the introduction of a special royal seal which was to be affixed to all documents.

Notable among the scholars of Pontoise was Moses b. Abraham of Pontoise, the paytan, tosafist, and commentator on the Pentateuch and Talmud.

Until World War II, there were about 30 Jewish families in Pontoise, but no community was established after the war.

Lautrec

A village in the Tarn department in southern France.

Bourg-en-Bresse

A city and capital of the Ain department in eastern France.

21st Century

Association Culturelle Israélite de l’Ain
1718, Avenue de Lyon
 01960 Peronnas
France

Jewish cemetery
Carré israélite au cimetière municipal
Avenue de l'Egalité
01000 Bourg-en-Bresse

HISTORY

The first mention of Jews in Bourg-en-Bresse dates from 1277 when the Jews and the Cahorsins paid 50 livres to the lady of the manor. An agreement of 1438 between the city guilds and the Jews of Bourg-en-Bresse regarding their share in the expenses for fortifications was signed by 11 heads of families. The Jews then constituted some 3% of the population. The census of 1512 notes that there were no longer Jews living in Bourg-en-Bresse.

At the beginning of World War II, 10 to 15 Jewish families were living in the city. Seven of the Jews arrested during the raids of July 10, 1944, were executed. 

Saint-Denis

A city in the northern suburbs of Paris in the department of Seine-Saint-Denis, France.

21st Century

Of the two synagogues of Saint-Denis, only one is open:

Synagogue de Saint Denis 93200 - ACIP Seine Saint Denis
51 Boulevard Marcel Sembat
93200 Saint-Denis
France
Phone: 01.48.20.30.87
E-mail: [email protected]

HISTORY

In 1111 King Louis VI granted the abbot of Saint-Denis jurisdiction over the five Jewish families who lived there. Jews played a considerable role in the economy of the abbey and contributed toward the development of its estates. A special officer, the "provost of the Jews", was in charge of all Jewish affairs. The tax paid by Jews amounted to 40 pounds in 1302.

On the eve of World War II several hundred Jewish families lived in Saint-Denis, and in 1941, 325 Jews were still accounted for. A community was reestablished after the war, and its size increased especially with the arrival of Jews from North Africa.

In 1971 there were about 2,000 Jews in Saint-Denis.

Melun

A commune in the Seine-et-Marne department, France.

HISTORY

The first explicit reference to Jews in Melun dates from the middle of the 12^th century; in his will, Simon of Beaugency mentions a Jew of Melun among his creditors.

Jewish scholars from Melun took part in the religious council convened by Samuel b. Meir (the Rashbam) and Jacob b. Meir Tam. Scholars who lived in Melun included Meshullam b. Nathan of Melun, who was previously from Narbonne and lived in Melun from 1150. During the second half of the 12^th century, Jedidiah of Melun also lived in Melun. Judah b. David of Melun was one of the four rabbis who confronted Nicholas Donin at the famous disputation organized by Louis IX (St. Louis) in 1240.

There is evidence that a "Rue des Juifs" (“Jewish Street”) existed in the beginning of the 13^th century, as well as a synagogue, the "Escole des Juifs.” There is no record of a medieval Jewish community in Melun after the expulsion of the Jews from the Kingdom of France in 1306.

Although there was no Jewish community, a Machzor from the 14^th century was preserved in the Carmelite convent of Melun.

On the eve of World War II (1939-1945) there was a very small Jewish community in Melun. After the war, the Jewish population increased, mainly as a result of the arrival of Jews from North Africa. In 1969 the Jewish community numbered over 500.

Besançon 

Capital of the Department of Doubs, in the region of Bourgogne-Franche-Comté, France.

Designated a Free Imperial City (an autonomous city-state under the Holy Roman Emperor) in 1184. Annexed to France in 1674

EARLY HISTORY

The first documented presence of Jews in Besançon dates from 1245.  Jewish bankers of Besançon are mentioned in the chronicles of the Anglo-French war of 1296-1301.

In 1320, five Jews expelled in the middle of winter from the surrounding area, succeeded in entering Besançon, at that time a Free Imperial City. Based on their previous commercial relations, they obtained consent from the leaders to reside there. There was a price for gaining refuge, however.  They were required to pay a heavy monthly poll tax to the city treasury, were forbidden to appear in the city without a red and white cloth pinned to their chests, and were ordered to live on a specified street with gates that were locked every evening. This street is known today as the Rue de Richebourg.

A record from 1393 shows that 12 Jewish families retained Joseph de Treves as their schoolmaster. From 1394 to 1404 more Jews expelled from the neighboring regions of Franche Comte and Burgundy took refuge in Besançon. The members of the community were butchers, bankers, and goldsmiths. On occasion, the wealthier among them advanced money to the municipality. In 1454 they were given a burial place in Calmoutier, north of the city, in front of the present Porte de Charmont.

Persecution and expulsion orders forced the Jews to leave Besançon not long afterwards, and in 1465 the municipality sold the cemetery land that had been given to the community.

Jews continued to be denied free access to Besançon from then through the 18th century.  The municipal deliberation register of 1693 shows that Jewish traders were forbidden to visit the city without declaring themselves. They could not stay more than three consecutive days, and they could not make any sales independent of the local authorities.  A few temporary residence permits were granted to a limited number of merchants.  In 1768, the Jew Salomon Sax, an engraver of semiprecious stones, was given a more extended permit, but was instructed to exercise his profession only, and refrain from engaging in trading.

POST FRENCH REVOLUTION

As late as the beginning of the French revolution, Jews were still restricted to a three day stay in Besançon.  In December 1790 the mayor, with the approval of the municipality, evicted the Jews Wolf and Cain for having overstayed their trading permit.

After September 27, 1791, when a national decree was promulgated giving Jews French citizenship, the community in Besançon could begin to reestablish itself. Pogroms that broke out in Alsace brought several new families to the community. In 1792 the Jews petitioned the municipality and were granted permission to hold religious services in the former convent of the Cordeliers. This decision soon attacked by the anti-clerical Jacobins in their newspaper “La Vedette” and in 1793 the community was forced to close their synagogue as were the Catholics to close their churches.

In 1796 the community acquired 180 square meters of land for a cemetery. By 1839 it had become too small, and the community acquired an additional parcel of 756 square meters.

By 1807 the community numbered 20 families, and it sent a delegate to the Council of Jewish Notables and to the Sanhedrin convened by Napoleon.

In 1808 the organization of French Jewry was altered by the establishment of consistories, umbrella hierarchal synagogue bodies binding groups of communities together and governing their activities.  Besançon was first part of the consistory of Nancy, but in 1858 became part of the consistory of Lyon.

An imperial decree on May 22, 1867, authorized the community to acquire land on the Quai Napoleon (now the Quai de Strasbourg). The present synagogue of Besançon was constructed in 1869, and was designed by the local architect Pierre Marmotte. The unusual building is constructed in the Moorish style, and since 1984 has been listed as an historical monument.

The French defeat in the Franco-Prussian War of 1870 led to a new influx into Besançon of Jews from Alsace. Districts were reorganized and in 1872 Besançon became the seat of an independent consistory. By the beginning of the 20th century the Jewish population consisted of 170 families, and it continued to grow until World War II, with the westward movement of Jews from eastern Europe.

THE HOLOCAUST

The community was largely destroyed under the Nazi occupation,  and its members dispersed.  One hundred Jews who had not managed to leave Besançon in May 1940 when Germany invaded France were deported to extermination camps.

POSTWAR

The community slowly revived after World War II, and by 1960 consisted of 120 families.  By 1969 the number had practically doubled due to immigration from North Africa. The community hired a rabbi and a cantor for the synagogue. Today it maintains a community center (Maison Jerome Cahen), an office of the A.C.I. (Association Culturelle Israelite), and its cemetery is located on the Rue Anne Franck.

Sarreguemines

A town in the Moselle department, France.

21st Century

Communaute Israelite
Rue George 5
57200 Sarreguemines
Phone: 08 92 97 64 50

Synagogue

Rue Georges 5
57200 Sarreguemines
France

HISTORY

Jews have lived in Sarreguemines from the 13th century.

Expelled in 1477, they reappeared at the latest in 1690 under the French occupation taking advantage of the expansion of the town. One family was authorized to settle in the town in 1721, others in 1753, and still others in 1787. The synagogue, erected about 1769, was rebuilt in 1862.  The rabbinate originally established in 1791 continues to exist.

After the French revolution the Jewish community slowly increased to 395 persons in 1939.  In the first half of the 19th century, Sarreguemines was the largest community in the department after that of Metz, the only one to have a "deputy-rabbi" in 1831. Before World War II, the synagogue was located on rue de la Chapelle. It was a beautiful building in Vosges sandstone, dating from 1862 and built in "Roman-Byzantine" style on the plans of the architect Desgranges.  It was destroyed on September 17-19, 1940. Between 1939 and 1945, 89 of Sarreguemines Jews died in the Holocaust, having been deported to the Nazi death and concentration camps.

A new synagogue was inaugurated in 1959.

In 1971 the Jewish community numbered 250. Sixty five of the four hundred graves in the Jewish cemetery of Sarreguemines were desecrated in May, 2005.

Alsatian: Colmer

German: Kolmar

A town in the Alsace region, northeastern France. Colmar is located near the border with Germany. 
Between 1871-1918, and 1940-1945, Colmar was part of Germany.

21^ST CENTURY

The synagogue is located on 3 rue de la Cigogne. The synagogue has the distinction of being the only one in the region with a bell tower.

The Katz Room, located in the Musée Bartholdi (located in the home of Auguste Bartholdi, the sculptor of the Statue of Liberty), has a collection of Jewish ritual objects.

HISTORY

Among the earliest written evidence of a Jewish presence in Colmar dates from 1278. During the late 13^th and through the 14^th century, Colmar became a place of refuge for Jews from Rouffach, Mutzig, and other areas who were escaping persecutions and anti-Jewish violence.

Community institutions included a synagogue, a mikvah (ritual bath), a dance hall, and a cemetery. The synagogue was destroyed in a fire in 1297. The community’s Jews lived in a Jewish Quarter.

In the wake of the Black Death epidemic (1348-1349) the Jews of Colmar, like Jews throughout Europe, were subject to violence and persecutions. A number of Jews from Colmar were burned at the stake at the beginning of 1349; the place of their execution was subsequently known as "Judenloch.” The rest of the Jewish community was expelled from Colmar.

Jews were readmitted to Colmar in 1385 and were granted a cemetery from the town. In 1392 the community included at least 29 adults (possibly heads of families). Colmar’s Jewish population, however, decreased beginning in the second half of the 15^th century; by 1468 there were only two Jewish families remaining. Ultimately, in 1510 the town was authorized by the emperor to expel the remaining Jews; the expulsion was officially carried out in 1512.

The Jews from Colmar who had left the town voluntarily or after the expulsion, mostly settled in the surrounding area and continued trading with Colmar’s Christian residents. This ceased, however, in 1534 when the area’s Jews lost the right to trade within Colmar, and in 1541 it became forbidden for Jews to enter the town, even for markets and fairs. In the wake of the latter restriction Joseph (Joselmann) b. Gershon of Rosheim brought an action against the town, which continued for several years (the result of the case is unknown). Nonetheless, the Jews of Alsace maintained commercial relations with the burghers of Colmar during the 16^th century, as evident from the numerous court cases recorded in that period.

Eventually, beginning in the 18^th century a few Jews were granted authorization to live in Colmar, though they were permitted to live there only in eating houses and inns so that they could prepare kosher food for the Jews who came to Colmar to trade.

Colmar was affected by the Inquisition. In 1547, about 60 Marranos from the low countries were arrested in Colmar. They were released only after swearing that their destination was a Christian country, and not Turkey. Later, in 1754, Mirtzel Levi of Wittelsheim was martyred after an Inquisition trial.

After the French Revolution (1789-1799), Jews were once again allowed to settle in Colmar. The community grew in prominence, and in 1808 it became the seat of a consistory, with 25 dependent communities. In 1823 Colmar also became the seat of the chief rabbinate of Alsace (Haut-Rhin).

A synagogue was built in 1843.

The Jewish population numbered approximately 1,200 in 1929.

THE HOLOCAUST

The Jews in Colmar shared the fate of other Jews in Alsace and Moselle during World War II (1939-1945). They were expelled from their homes, and their synagogue was damaged.

POSTWAR

After the war the survivors rebuilt the Jewish community. The synagogue was returned to the community, which restored it, in 1959. The renewed community also established new institutions, including a community center. In 1969 there were over 1,000 Jews living in Colmar.

Morhange

A town in the department of Moselle, France.

Jews are first mentioned there in 1686. As a result of complaints by the townsmen about the increase in the number of Jewish families, Duke Léopold ordered the Jews not to attract new coreligionists to Morhange. In 1734 the townsmen demanded that Jewish residence should be confined to a single street, and that the number of authorized Jewish families should again be reduced. The Jews were compelled to conform to this order, despite their attempts to circumvent it with the connivance of some of the Christian inhabitants. Only five Jewish families remained in Morhange by 1739, the rest having moved away, mainly to Metz. Their numbers increased slightly after the French Revolution.

The synagogue was built at the beginning of the 19th century, and a larger building was erected in 1864. Subsequently, in 1910, Morhange became the seat of a rabbinate grouping the Jewish communities of Château-Salins, Boulay and Forbach. This rabbinate was abolished in 1920.

Forty-five Jews lived in Morhange in 1939, of them six died in the Holocaust. The synagogue was destroyed by the Germans during World War II. At the end of World War II, the small community gave up the reconstruction of the synagogue. A pillar struck with the Star of David is the only vestige of its existence. In 1956 there were only three young people under the age of twenty.

Morhange has supplied the patronymic of several families of Lorraine.

Blois

City in the Centre-Val de Loire region and capital of the Loir-et-Cher department, north-central France.

21st Century

Association culturelle et cultuelle israelite de Blois (ACCIB)
47, rue Ormeaux
41120 Cormera
France

HISTORY

The earliest information concerning Jews in Blois dates from 992. The community is known in medieval Jewish annals for the tragic consequences of a blood libel in 1171, the first ritual murder accusation to be made in France. Thirty-three men, women and children were burned at the stake on May 26, on the orders of Count Theobald.

Other Jewish communities in northern France coordinated efforts to recover the victims’ bodies for burial and to pay for the release of the small number of Jews who had been imprisoned. They also appealed to King Louis VII and the Count of Champagne, who also happened to be the brother of Count Theobald. The king and the count both declared they did not believe the stories about Jews sacrificing Christian children. The king also gave instructions for the protection of his Jewish subjects from such abuses in the future.

The diplomatic efforts were in large part overseen by Rabbi Jacob Tam of Troyes. Tam died soon after, but before his death he declared the 20th of Sivan, the Hebrew date of the massacre, be observed as a fast day. It is still observed in some communities, especially in Europe. Ephraim b. Jacob of Bonn, his brother Hillel, and others composed elegies on the martyrs. The tragedy was the subject of a Hebrew drama by S.D. Goitein, Pulẓelinah (1927).

Jews possibly settled in Blois again, for in 1345 a quarter known as la Juiverie is reported. The present-day rue des Juifs near the cathedral is probably located on the same site.

WORLD WAR II

During the war, a few Jews from Alsace settled in Blois.

POST-WAR

In 1968, there were 60 Jews living in Blois, mainly from North Africa.

Clermont-Ferrand

A city and capital of the Puy-de-Dome department in Auvergne, France.

21st Century

Synagogue
6 Rue Blatin
63000 Clermont Ferrand
Phone:  04 73 93 36 59 - Fax : 04 73 34 06 33
Website: http://juif-clermont.org
Email: [email protected]
 

HISTORY

The presence of Jews there dates back at least to 470, as attested by several letters of Sidonius Apollinaris, bishop of the town; these are the oldest written records to mention Jews in Clermont-Ferrand. The Jews in the locality maintained fairly friendly relations with bishops Gallus and Cautinus, but the situation changed with bishop Avitus, who in 576 forced over 500 Jews to accept baptism. The remainder fled to Marseilles.

A new community was formed at the latest during the tenth century in the quarter of the town whose name Fontgieve (= font-juifs, "Fountain of the Jews") still preserves their memory. A hillock nearby is known as Montjuzet (= Mons judeorum, "Mountain of the Jews"). Although Jews were to be found in Auvergne in considerable numbers during the remainder of the Middle Ages, there is no evidence that any resided in Clermont- Ferrand itself. A prayer room appears to have been established in about 1780.

A new community was organized at the beginning of the 19th century by Israel Wael and subsequently led by Rabi Moise Wolfowitz (1820-1848). Numbering 25 to 30 families in 1901, it belonged to the consistory of Lyons until 1905.

During World War II, many Jews took refuge in Clermont-Ferrand, as it was situated in the Free Zone. Their number reached 8,500, but from the summer of 1942 they were compelled to leave by the police.

There were approximately 800 Jewish residents in 1969. The community had a synagogue, a cultural association, a Talmud Torah, etc.

Montelimar

A town in the department of Drome, France.

The first explicit mention of the presence of Jews in Montelimar dates from 1222. The community attained considerable importance during the 14th and first half of the 15th centuries. The synagogue, remains of which still existed at the end of the 19th century, was situated in the rue de Juiverie or the rue Puits-neuf; the school (or possibly another synagogue) was near the Porte Saint-Martin and the cemetery to the northwest of the present cemeteries. The community also maintained a special butcher's shop. As late as 1452, the Dauphin granted the Jews of Montelimar, with Jews in several other localities of Dauphine, some advantageous privileges; the municipal authorities, however, endeavored to render the lives of the Jews intolerable, for instance by compelling them to attend missionary sermons from 1453 onward. The same situation had granted letters of protection to the Jews of Montelimar; however, in 1486, when only seven Jewish families remained there, the townsmen accused them of debauchery and shady practices and demanded their expulsion.

From 1489, there no longer appear to have been Jews in Montelimar and the Jewish cemetery was closed. At the beginning of World War II, 150 Jewish families found refuge in Montelimar. There was no organized Jewish community in Montelimar in the 1960s.

Perpignan

In Catalan: Perpinyà 

A city in the department of Pyrénées-Orientales in southwestern France, near the Spanish border.

21st Century

Communauté Israélite
Centre Communautaire David Mordoch
5, rue Montescot
66100 Perpignan
France
Phone: 04 68 66 91 67

Synagogue
54, rue François Arago
66000 Perpignan
Phone: 04 68 34 75 81
Fax: 04 68 51 13 31

HISTORY

Formerly the capital of the counts of Roussillon, in 1172 it passed to the kings of Aragon. The earliest mention of Jews in Perpignan dates from 1185; they are said to have owned real estate around this time. Toward the middle of the 13th century, King James I of Aragon offered the Jews of Perpignan land to settle which they would own in freehold. Endeavoring to attract Jews from France, he granted those of Perpignan a number of privileges and exempted them from the payment of various indirect taxes and tolls (1269). Autonomy in civil law was also granted. In 1271 the annual tax of the community amounted to 15,000 solidos in Barcelona currency. Noteworthy among the scholars of Perpignan were Rabbi Menahem b. Solomon Meiri and Rabbi Abraham Bedersi, pupil of Joseph Ezobi. In response to Rabbi Abraham's petition (1274), the king granted the community a privilege to protect them against the threats of informers. He renewed it in 1275, also forbidding the clergy to expel the Jews or summon them before the church tribunal. At that time the community leadership consisted of 20 to 28 counsellors who were appointed for life.
Infante John authorized them to convene and issue regulations, appoint procurators and other communal officials, to enforce obedience to the regulations within the community, and to punish offenders.

Some members of the community engaged in maritime commerce (in partnership with Jewish merchants of Barcelona, Seville, and other places); others were local merchants; an appreciable number practiced moneylending (including several of the community's trustees). Most important of the crafts was the textile industry, but there were also several silversmiths during the 14th century.
When the Kingdom of Majorca was created after the death of James I and the seat of the monarchy established in Perpignan, the government began to oppress the local Jewish community. From the close of the century, a series of decrees were issued which sought to restrict relations between Jews and Christians; the Jews were ordered to wear special dress (1314). Restrictive decrees issued for the kingdom of Majorca were also applied in Perpignan. A poll tax was imposed and around 1317 the king of Majorca seized the promissory notes of the Jews. There is no doubt that living conditions in Perpignan were influenced by the presence of the royal court in the town and the Jews were particularly conscious of the severity of the crown's persecution of the Jews of the kingdom. During the Pastoureaux persecutions (1320), copies of the Talmud found in the town were burnt. Conditions improved during the reign of Pedro IV. In 1347 he appointed his physician Maestre Crescas as a trustee of the community so as to prevent any inequalities in the financial and tax administration. At the time of the Black Death (1348-1349) several of the community's notables became converted in order to escape persecution. In 1363 Perpignan contributed toward the levy of 10,000 livres in Barcelona currency imposed to further the war against Castile. When the vessel containing the host was stolen from a church and pledged with a Jew, the Infante ordered the bailiff to conduct an inquiry in order to prevent an attack on the Jewish quarter (1367). On June 29, 1370, anti-Jewish riots broke out in Perpignan and the king appointed a procurator to investigate the damage. During the 1360s and 1370s, Perpignan became renowned as a center of astronomers. The astronomical tables prepared by Jacob b. David Yom Tov were translated into Catalan there in 1361. In 1372 Crescas David was made physician to the king and a year later Bonet Maimon of Perpignan was appointed to the same office. The rabbis of this period included Samuel Carcossa, who was invited to Barcelona for debates with the rabbis of Aragon and Catalonia. In 1372 the king authorized the Jews of Perpignan to travel to France on business, and in 1377 protection was also granted to Jews who came to trade in Roussillon and Cerdagne from the exterior. In 1383 Pedro gave the community of Perpignan a privilege which prohibited apostates from entering the Jewish quarter in order to engage in disputes on religious questions. He also granted it permission to try informers. Anti-Jewish riots broke out on August 17, 1391. During their course the Jews were given refuge in the fortress, while the inhabitants looted Jewish property. When representatives of the town demanded the conversion of the Jews, the king replied that forced conversion was prohibited. He nevertheless forbade the Jews to leave Perpignan, where refugees from other parts of Catalonia had also arrived. On September 22 John I ordered the bailiff to draw up a list of property to which there were no heirs, especially that of Jews who had been martyred. On December 19 he ordered the Jews who were in the fortress to return to their homes and decreed that they were not to be molested or forced to accept baptism. The Jews of Perpignan undertook not to leave the country and in practice continued to live in the fortress until 1394.

Although the community was declining, at the beginning of the 14th century there were still 200--250 families living there, but it had lost its importance and most of the members were poor. In 1408 King Martin ratified the administrative arrangements for the election of trustees. Christians were forbidden to interfere in the affairs of the community and extensive rights were given to the trustees. In 1412 Pope Benedict XIII wrote to the community of Perpignan on the subject of the propagation of Christianity among the Jews, writing his instructions in Hebrew so as to leave no doubt about his intentions. The community was called upon to send two delegates to a disputation to be held in Tortosa. At that time, Vicente Ferrer visited the town, preaching to the Jews there. Ferdinand i prohibited the building of a new synagogue or the repair of the existing ones in 1415; he also forbade the Jews to practice medicine and pharmacy or to employ Christians in their service. The papal inquisition was active in Perpignan at the close of the 14th century. In 1346 a converso, Johanan David, a butcher by trade, was condemned to the stake. Many others were condemned during the 1420s and 1440s. After the Spanish inquisition had been set up, 22 conversos were sent to the stake in 1485. The French army led by Louis XI and Charles VIII invaded Roussillon in 1462 and conquered Perpignan in 1475.

Following the edict of expulsion from Spain (1492), a number of Jews sought refuge in Perpignan, then under Charles VIII of France; but an expulsion decree was issued against the Jews of the town in September 1493. The remnants of the large community, 39 families, sailed from Marseilles to Naples and from there to Constantinople.

At the beginning of the 20th century, there were several Jewish families living in Perpignan.

Châlons-en-Champagne

Until 1997 known as Chalons-sur-Marne

A city and capital of the department of Marne, northern France.

21st Century

Synagogue
21, rue Lochet
51000 Châlons-en-Champagne
France

HISTORY

The rue de la Petite Juiverie and the rue des Juifs still exist in the city. The medieval community possessed a cemetery, which was disposed of by Philip IV after the expulsion of the Jews from France in 1306. The custumal of the county of Chalons forbade Jews to sell articles they held in pawn without authorization from the seneschal. A stained glass window in the cathedral from around 1150 depicts one of the oldest and most hostile representations of the allegorical "synagoga".

Jews returned to Chalons after the French Revolution and a new community was established in the middle of the 19th century. The synagogue in a Spanish-Moorish design was built between 1874 and 1875 on the plans of the architect Alexis Vagny (1821-1888) and inaugurated in September 1875. Since 6 May 2004, the synagogue of Châlons-en-Champagne has been a recognized as a protected historical monument.

The number of the local Jews increased after the Franco-Prussian War of 1870, when Jews of Alsace-Lorraine who did not want to live under German rule, settled in the region. They were followed by Jews from Central Europe, and finally, in the 1960s, the Jews from North Africa. During 1942-1944, caserne Forgeot, the prison of the city served as an assembly point of the Jews of Marne before they were sent to Drancy and from there to Nazi death and concentration camps. A plaque in the memory of the local Jews who perished in the Holocaust was affixed to the façade of the synagogue in 1993.

In 1968 there were 140 Jews living in Châlons-en-Champagne.

Dijon

A city and capital of Côte-d'Or department, France.

21st Century

The Jewish community numbers about 240 families, mostly from North Africa, but also from Alsace region and Eastern Europe. Merchants, employees, civil servants and liberal professionals make up the majority of the Jewish population. The prayers are celebrated according to the Sephardic rite.

Association cultuelle israelite de Dijon (A.C.I.D.)
Synagogue: Phone 03 80 66 46 47

Website: http://www.aci-dijon.org

HISTORY

The first explicit evidence concerning the Jews there dates from 1196 when the duke of Burgundy placed the Jews of Dijon under the jurisdiction of the commune, which he authorized to admit additional Jews. Ducal charters of 1197 and 1232 specified the authority of the town over the Jews of Dijon. They lived in the rue de la Petite-Juiverie (today rue Piron), the rue de la Grande-Juiverie (rue Charrue), and the rue des Juifs (rue Buffon). The synagogue and a "sabbath house" were situated in the Petite-Juiverie, while the cemetery was in the present rue Berlier. In this cemetery, which was confiscated after the Jews were expelled from France in 1306, over 50 tombstones were found during the 19th century, apparently dating to the 13th century. Some Jews returned to Dijon in 1315, but after the readmission of the Jews to the Kingdom of France in 1359 a more important community was reestablished. When finally expelled in 1394, the Jews of Dijon left for Franche-Comté.

The only known scholars of Dijon are a certain Rabbi Jacob and Simchah Chazan.

After 1789 Jews again settled permanently in Dijon, coming mainly from upper Alsace. The Jewish population numbered 50 families in 1803, 100 in 1869, and about 400 persons in 1902. The community belonged to the Lyons consistory. Construction of the present synagogue in the rue de la Synagogue was begun in 1873; it was dedicated in 1879. The community also acquired land for a cemetery northwest of the city in 1789.

Dijon, an important railroad center, was under careful German surveillance during the Nazi occupation of World War II. The synagogue was emptied of its interior and served as a Nazi warehouse. Ninety Jews from Dijon perished in Auschwitz.

Dijon's returning Jews rapidly rebuilt their community after the war, and in 1960 the community was again flourishing. When Jews from North Africa settled in Dijon, the Jewish community increased to over 1,000 persons (1969), and owned a combined synagogue-communal center. The Community Center was inaugurated in 1980.

Corbeil

Since 1951, part of the city called Corbeil-Essonnes in the Île-de-France region of France.

21ST CENTURY

The Rue des Juifs, the ancient Judearia, still exists.

HISTORY

Jews lived in Corbeil from at least the second half of the 12th century CE. They were expelled in 1180 with the other Jews in the kingdom of France, but are again mentioned in Corbeil from at least 1203. They owned a synagogue (escholle) whose building was preserved until the 14th–15th centuries.

The Jews were again expelled from Corbeil in 1306 with the other Jews in the kingdom, and returned in 1315. The community ceased to exist in 1321.

In the Middle Ages, Corbeil was an important center of Jewish learning. Its scholars included the tosafist Judah of Corbeil, Jacob of Corbeil "the Saint," Samson of Corbeil, Isaac b. Joseph , and Perez b. Elijah. In 1276-77 Rabbi Isaac b. Joseph authored the Amudei Gola (Pillars of Exile), more widely known as Semak (acronym for Sefer Mitzvot Katan, Small Book of Commandments), one of the most popular halakhic books ever written in northern France.

HOLOCAUST

At the beginning of the German occupation of France in World War II (1941), 13 Jewish families were registered in Corbeil.

POST-WAR

A Jewish community did not exist in Corbeil after World War II.

Montpellier

Capital of the Herault department, southern France.

21st Century

Centre Culturel et Communautaire Juif de Montpellier (CCCJ) (Jewish Cultural and Community Center of Montpellier). The CCCJ's vocation is the dissemination of Jewish culture in Montpellier and its region. It is a place open to all and provides its members with a library of over 1,000 titles. The CCCJ offers a kosher restaurant service once a week; every Wednesday noon. The CCCJ has rooms for rent for family celebrations and seminars.

Address: 500 boulevard d’Antigone
34000 Montpellier
France

Website: http://www.ccj34.com/

HISTORY

The first implicit evidence of the presence of Jews there is found in the will of Guilhem V, lord of Montpellier, who forbade the investiture of a Jew as bailiff. Even though Benjamin of Tudela, in about 1165, does not mention any figure for the Jewish population of Montpellier, its importance can be deduced from the fact that he mentions several yeshivot. Until at least the close of the 12th century the Jews of Montpellier appear to have been particularly active in commerce; they are explicitly mentioned in the trade agreement between Montpellier and Agde; and they appear in the tariff of taxes due from the merchants of Montpellier in Narbonne. Until the close of the 12th century they do not appear to have practiced moneylending. In times of war, particularly when the town was besieged, the Jews helped in its defense by supplying weapons, for instance 20,000 arrows, as noted in an agreement at the beginning of the 13th century. From the middle of the 13th century moneylending was regulated by the ordinances of James I, King of Majorca, who also ruled over the duchy of Montpellier together with the bishop of Lender was called upon to swear that it involved neither fraud nor usury. In addition, the consuls of the town prohibited loans to people under the age of 25 without the consent of their parents. James I's legislation concerning the Jews promulgated in 1267 was fairly favorable, especially the clause prohibiting their prosecution on the basis of an anonymous denunciation. Those who accused or denounced Jews were threatened with being condemned themselves if they could not prove their accusation; bail was to be granted to the accused Jew if he could provide a satisfactory guarantee.

During the 13th century a Jewish quarter existed on the present site of the rue Barralerie (until the 15th century it was named Sabatarie neuve); in the first house on this street there are still some remains of the synagogue and in particular of the mikveh in the cellar. Although the Jews were dispossessed of their ancient cemetery when James I gave it to the Cistercians of Valemagne in 1263, the latter were required to refund the cost of the exhumation and the transfer of the remains to the new cemetery. When the Jews were expelled from France in 1306, the king of Majorca opposed the measure. After considerable delay, the expulsion finally took place, and it was scant comfort to the Jews that the king of France was required to give to the king of Majorca two-thirds of the booty seized from his Jews and one-third of that taken from the other Jews of Montpellier.

In 1315, when the return to France was authorized, the Jews of Montpellier, like those elsewhere, were again placed under the authority of their former lords. In 1319 Sancho I, King of Majorca, permitted them to acquire a cemetery. It is not known in which quarter the Jews lived during this short stay, which lasted until 1322 (or 1323). In 1349 James III of Majorca sold his seigneury over Montpellier to Phillip VI of France. Thus when the Jews reestablished themselves there in 1359 they found themselves under the direct sovereignty of the king of France, Charles V. After their first having been assigned to the Castelmoton quarter, complaints from the Christian inhabitants compelled them to move to the rue de la Vielle intendance quarter, where they owned a synagogue and a school (after 1365). The Jews had to provide large financial contributions to the defense of the town, particularly in 1362 and 1363. In 1374 they were also obliged to participate in guarding the gates. The erection of a new synagogue of great beauty in 1387 gave rise to a lawsuit with the bishop of Maguelonne, to whom the Jews paid the then enormous sum of 400 livres. In Montpellier the final expulsion of the Jews from France in 1394 was preceded by violent accusations against them in the municipal council.
Even though the town had numerous Jewish physicians - who were subjected to a probative examination from 1272 - there is no valid evidence that the Jews had a part in founding and organizing the school of medicine there. Excluding those scholars who only lived temporarily in Montpellier, such as Abraham b. David of Posquieres, the foremost scholar in the town was Solomon b. Abraham b. Samuel, who denounced the work of Maimonides to the Inquisition. One of his leading followers was his disciple, Jonah b. Abraham Gerondi, who died in Toledo. The liturgical poet Aryeh Judah Harari lived there during the second half of the 13th century, as did Aaron b. Joseph ha-Levi, the opponent of Solomon b. Abraham Adret, and Isaac b. Jacob ha-kohen Alfasi. From 1303 to 1306 Montpellier was again the scene of a renewed polemic between the supporters and opponents of the study of philosophy. The latter were led by Jacob b. Machir ibn Tibbon. In the later medieval community of Montpellier, the
physician and philosopher Abraham Avigdor was particularly distinguished.

In the middle of the 16th century the presence in Montpellier of conversos, who chiefly lived among the protestant population, is vouched for by a Swiss traveler, a student named platter. From the beginning of the 16th century Jews from Comtat venaissin traded in the town. In 1653 the attorney general of the parliament of Toulouse directed the town magistrates to expel them. Similar orders were repeated in 1679 and 1680. A special register was opened at the town record office for the Jews who made their way to Montpellier as a result of a general authorization, granted from the end of the 17th century, enabling them to trade for one month during each season.

From 1714 nine Jews were allowed to settle in the town; others followed with the tacit consent of the magistrates, in spite of complaints by the Christian merchants. At the beginning of the 19th century (1805) the Jewish community consisted of 105 persons and was headed by R. Moise Milhau, who represented the department of Vaucluse at the Great Sanhedrin. Thirteen local Jews served in the armies of the Revolution and of the Empire, five as volunteers. The historian and physician Joseph Salvador was born in Montpellier of an old Spanish-Jewish family which had fled the Inquisition.

At the beginning of the 20th century there were about 35 Jewish families in Montpellier.

After the 1940 armistice, Montpellier, which was in the unoccupied zone, became a center for Jewish refugees from the occupied part of France. After the latter was occupied by the Germans, Montpellier became an important relaying station for the Jewish partisans. After the liberation the community was reorganized and by 1960 had 600 members. The arrival of Jews from North Africa increased the number to 2,000 in 1969, when the community had a communal center and a Sephardi synagogue with 300 seats. There were two kosher butchers and a Talmud Torah.

In the 1980s, the Jewish Community Center of Montpellier became the Jewish Community and Cultural Center of Montpellier.

In 1994, the Board of Directors of the Jewish Community and Cultural Center of Montpellier (CCCJ) decided to move and settle at 500 boulevard d'Antigone by becoming the owner of its premises with the help of the FSJU, the Town Hall of Montpellier, the General Council of Hérault and the Languedoc Roussillon Regional Council. we are still in these premises today.

Since its creation, many activities have been carried out, including fifteen trips to Israel, celebrations of the Day of Jerusalem and Yom Haatsmaut (day of independence of the State of Israel) that we celebrate every year. Other activities include the prestigious Jewish and Israeli Film Festival which took place for 10 years, the Night of Letters, the week of memory, weekly activities (oriental dances, computer science, choir, modern Hebrew, biblical Hebrew, krav maga,…) as well as conferences, literary evenings, round tables, exhibitions, theater performances. 

Cadenet

A village  in the Vaucluse department near Avignon, France

The first mention of a Jewish community there dates from 1283.

In 1335 an anti-jewfish riot was accompanied by murder and pillage. Subsequently there is no further evidence of the presence of Jews in Cadenet itself, but Jews originally from Cadenet are found in surrounding cities. The rue de la Juiverie with a gate intended to isolate the Jewish quarter still exists in Cadenet. Jews wishing to settle there in 1775 were forced to leave.

Grenoble

Capital of the Isere department, France, formerly capital of Dauphine.

A lamentation on the martyrdom of ten Jews from Grenoble was incorporated in the bourguignon Machzor in the second half of the 13th century. After the Jews were expelled from France in 1306, Dauphin Humbert I allowed a number of them to settle in Grenoble, offering them relatively favorable privileges. However, at the time of the Black Death in 1348, 74 Jews were arrested and, after a trial lasting three months, were burned at the stake. Apart from isolated individuals, there were no Jews in Grenoble until 1717, when a group from Comtat Venaissin attempted to settle there; they were driven out by the city parliament. A new community was formed after the revolution.

During World War II Grenoble, first occupied by the Italians, and later by the Germans, was an important center offering a base shelter for Jewish resistance of every "camouflage" of adults. The gestapo became especially active from 1943 on, made numerous arrests, and tortured and deported many people. Marc Haguenau (for whom a Jewish group of the French underground was named), was tortured and killed in Grenoble; the young Denis Marx was killed there by Brunner, the former commandant of Drancy. Leonce Bernheim, a noted Zionist leader, and his wife were arrested in the vicinity of Grenoble. The "Centre de Documentation Juive Contemporaine" was clandestinely created in Grenoble by Isaac Schneersohn.

After the war, many refugees stayed in the city, and by 1960 the Jewish population numbered over 1,000. In the 1960s the Jewish population increased rapidly reaching about 5,000 in 1969, including immigrants from North Africa. By the late 1960s, it numbered 5,000; by 1971 it had reached about 8,000, but by the turn of the century it had dropped to somewhat less than 7,000. The community has both Ashkenazi and a Sephardi synagogue, and maintains a range of institutions, including kosher butchers, a Talmud Torah, various youth groups and a community center. A Jewish radio center "Kol Hachalom" (Voice of Peace) has been in operation in Grenoble since 1983.

Limoges

Capital of the Haute-Vienne department, France.

21st Century
Synagogue Limoges
25-27 rue Pierre Leroux
87000 Limoges
France
Phone: 05 55 79 98 26

HISTORY

A Jewish source, Sefer Yeshu'at Elohim (in a. M. Habermann, Gezerotashkenaz ve-Tzarefat (1945), 11--15) contains an account of a semi-legendary anti-Jewish persecution in Limoges in 992 resulting from the activities of an apostate from Blois. The Christian writer Adhemar of Chabannes relates that in 1010 Bishop Alduin of Limoges gave the Jewish community the choice of expulsion or conversion. It is possible that both sources refer to the local manifestation of the general anti-Jewish persecutions which occurred around 1009 and which were followed by baptisms and expulsions. At any rate, whether or not the Jews were expelled from Limoges, the expulsion order was no longer in force from the middle of the 11th century; a certain Petrus Judaeus is mentioned in a local document between 1152 and 1173 and Gentianus Judaeus in 1081. Around the middle of the 11th century R. Joseph b. Samuel Bonfils (Tov Elem) headed the Jewish community of Limoges and Anjou.

The beginnings of the modern Jewish community in Limoges date from 1775. During World War II, Limoges became the largest center of refuge for Alsatian Jews; about 1,500 families and many institutions were transferred to the town. The present community, which was formed in 1949, numbered over 650 in 1970 and possessed a synagogue and community center.

Forcalquiers

A village in the Basses-Alpes department, France

The medieval Jewish community, which existed at least from 1275, occupied a separate quarter and owned a synagogue. The ledger of a single merchant of Forcalquiers records 20 Jews as his customers between 1330 and 1332. In 1351, possibly still in the aftermath of the black death, anti- Jewish disorders broke out in Forcalquiers in which the population of the surrounding villages also took part. It is reported that in 1424 several inhabitants of Forcalquiers and Manosque formed a plot to kill all the Jews in the town. In 1472, a citizen of Forcalquiers was appointed guardian (conservateur) of all the Jews of Provence. The community in Forcalquiers was among the first to feel the effects of the definitive decrees of expulsion of 1486. Toward the end of the 18th century, some Jewish merchants, originating from the Comtat Venaissin, attempted to settle in Forcalquiers but were expelled in 1775. In 1940 there were 72 Jews in the labor camp which had been set up in the district.

About 14 Jewish families, mostly assisted by refugees' organization, were registered in Forcalquiers in 1942.

Ettendorf

A commune  in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace, France.  Ettendorf was annexed by Germany between 1871-1918.

Two Jewish families were recorded in the town in 1449. It seems that during the following centuries Ettendorf was home to a rather large Jewish community. The community maintained a synagogue built in the 17th century and replaced by a new building in the 1860s, a Jewish school, a mikve and a yeshiva established in mid-18th century that attracted tens of students of students from the other communities in Alsace. The community belonged to the rabbinate in Buchsweiler.  

The census of 1784 recorded 124 Jewish inhabitants in Ettendorf. After the French Revolution, the Jewish population of Ettendorf decreased significantly with only 37 Jews living in the town in 1868. In 1900 there were 8 Jews in Ettendorf, 5 in 1910 and only 4 in 1936.

The Jewish community of Ettendorf was dissolved towards the end of the 19th century. The building of the synagogue was sold twenty years after its inauguration and consequently it was used as a barn.

The Jewish cemetery of Ettendorf was opened in the 15th century at the same epoch as the Jewish cemeteries of Dangolsheim   and Rosenwiller and it served as a regional cemetery for more than twenty neighboring communities. The Jewish cemetery of Ettendorf is one of the largest and oldest in the entire region comprising thousands of graves on an area of 18 hectares. The cemetery is still used by about twelve Jewish communities in Alsace.

Vitry-en-Perthois

Vitry, Vitry-le-Brule

(Not to be confused with Vitry-le-Francois)

A town in the department of Marne, northern France.

When Louis VII, king of France, sacked the town in 1142, he is said to have spared the Jews, who therefore constituted the majority of the population for a while. In 1230, when Thibaut IV, count of Champagne, granted a communal charter to Vitry, he retained for himself the "guard and jurisdiction" over a number of categories of its inhabitants, particularly the Jews. In 1321, after having been accused of poisoning the wells together with the lepers, 77 Jews were immediately massacred, a large number succeeded in escaping, and another 40 were imprisoned. Once the prisoners realized the hopelessness of their situation, they chose death at the hands of one of their companions, who was then killed by the Christians.

A small Jewish community was founded n the 16th century in the neighboring Vitry-le- francois, as a refuge for the inhabitants of Vitry-le-Brule which had been destroyed by fire. Vitry-le-Francois was built a few miles away from the burnt town. Simchah b. Samuel, who is said to be the author of the talmudic and liturgical compendium known as Machzor Vitry, was a native of the town.

Le Mans

Capital of the department of Sarthe, France.

Reference to Jewish scholars of Le Mans is found in rabbinical literature from the end of the 9th century, the most celebrated being Avun the great (10th century) and Elijah B. Menahem Ha-Zaken (11th century).

A Jew, Vaslinus, is mentioned as a moneylender there between 1104 and 1115. In 1138, the Jews of Le Mans were the victims of a local persecution. They lived in the quarter formed by Rues Marchande, Saint-Jacques, Falotiers or De Merdereau, Barillerie, Ponts-Neufs and De La Juiverie, and owned a synagogue and a cemetery (in the parish of Sainte-Croix), which was also used by other Jews in the vicinity. They probably also had their own market and a hospital.

Another local persecution may have occurred around 1200, since several Jewish converts are found in Le Mans in 1207, and around 1216, Berengaria, the widow of Richard the Lion- Hearted, lady of Le Mans, disposed of the so- called "school of the juiverie", i.e., the synagogue. There is again mention of a Jewish quarter during the second half of the 13th century, at which time the Jews of Le Mans were under the jurisdiction of the bishop.

The Jews were expelled from Le Mans in 1289, at the same time as those of Maine and Anjou.

During World War II many of the Jews in Le Mans were deported. A new community was formed after the war, with many of its members arriving from North Africa.

The community numbered 400 in 1969.

A stained-glass window dating from the 12th century which depicts the synagogue can be seen in the cathedral of Le Mans.

Bischwiller

Bischweiler, in German

A commune in the Bas-Rhin department in Alsace in northeastern France, some 8 km southeast of Hagenau.

Jews arrived in this small town, of some 12,000 inhabitants, situated in the north of Alsace near the River Rhine and the border between France and Germany, in the first half of the fourteenth century, but many were murdered as a result of the plague of 1348/9.

The Jewish settlement was renewed only in the early 19th century. In 1826 there were just 7 Jews in the town. By 1866 there were 246. The community established a synagogue in 1859, there was a school, a ritual bath and a cemetery. They employed a teacher who functioned also as a shochet and cantor.

The Franco-Prussian War of 1870 and the annexation of Alsace by Germany led to many Jews moving to France proper. They took with them stocks from their shops and machinery for making clothing. In 1910 they appointed a rabbi, who had studied in Colmar. During the Second World War many community members either fled or were expelled to camps in the south of France.

The synagogue was reestablished only in 1956 amid high hopes of a thriving community being reestablished. Many younger members, however, began to move to larger towns and some moved to Israel. The community dwindled, it became more and more difficult to hold regular services with a minyan, and the synagogue finally closed in 1987. The building was sold to the town in 2008.

Orange 

Previously a principality and later a town in Vaucluse department, France

The earliest evidence of the presence of Jews in Orange dates from 1282 and in the locality of Courthezon from 1328, at the latest. In 1353 Raymond V, Prince of Orange, granted the Jews of his principality a charter which in effect constituted a series of privileges which were remarkable, indeed almost exceptional, for the 14th century. Even before Raymond's time, however, some precedent had been set in this direction by other princes of Orange, who had, for example, already employed Jews as toll collectors. Because of these favorable conditions, a constant stream of Jews came from Comtat Venaissin to Orange, among them the physician Durand de Cavaillon who arrived there in 1387. This situation lasted until the latter half of the 15th century. In 1477 the municipal council sought to remove Jews from the grain trade in which they were engaged in addition to money lending (Jews frequently acted as brokers for the wealthy burghers of Orange or for Italian financiers). When the council demanded the expulsion of the Jews in 1484, the prince of Orange refused unless the town could indemnify him for the taxes that would be lost by such an action. Jewish houses were openly attacked in 1490 and the expulsion was carried out in 1505.

On several occasions during the first half of the 17th century the parliament of Orange renewed the expulsion decree. Despite this, by 1643 several Jewish families had "clandestinely" resettled in Orange. Their numbers slowly increased, until by 1731 there were 21 families (16 in Orange, 4 in Courthezon, 1 in Jonquieres). The new expulsion orders were only partially applied, and from 1774 on there was a massive influx of Jews from Comtat Veniassin. With the onset of the French revolution, however, the departure of the Jews was almost as rapid. Using the newly acquired liberties, they left Orange for more important towns. In 1808 only 36 Jews remained in Orange and almost all of them bore the name Mosse. The Jewish community rapidly dissolved and was never reconstituted.
Several eminent scholars, particularly Levi b. Gershom, lived in Orange for varying lengths of time. Another such scholar was Mordechai, also named En Crescas, or Ezobi, of Orange, who settled in Carcassonne toward the close of the 13th century. The surname Ezobi, borne by a large number of other scholars, points to a more or less distant origin in Orange. An anonymous scholar and translator of the late 12th century and one Gershom b. Hezekiah, author of medical books in the first half of the 15th century, are intimately connected with the town of Orange.

Thionville

A town in the department of Moselle, France

There is evidence confirming the presence of Jews in Thionville from the 15th century. In 1546 the physician of the count of Nassau-Sarrebruck was a Jew who originated from Thionville. A place known as the "cemetery of the Jews" is mentioned about 1560, but by then the Jews had disappeared from the town. After the French conquest, two Jewish families from Metz were authorized to settle in the town in 1656, in spite of the objections of the inhabitants. In 1780 there were about 20 Jewish inhabitants. Four Thionville Jews were compelled to give up their merchant licenses, which they had purchased in 1767, in spite of a famous speech by their counsel Pierre Louis de Lacretelle. There were 14 Jewish families in Thionville in 1795; 40 in 1812; 310 persons in 1831; 183 in 1880; 332 in 1910; and 281 in 1931. From 1909 to 1940, Thionville was the seat of a rabbinate.

During the Nazi occupation five Jews were shot and about 30 families were deported. In 1970 the Jewish community consisted of some 450 people. The synagogue, established in 1805, has been rebuilt on several occasions, most recently in 1957, after it had been burned down by the Nazis during World War II.

Sospel

A town in the Alpes-Maritimes department, France.

Duppigheim 

A village in the Bas-Rhin department, France.

Le Havre

Major port in northwestern France on the shore of the English Channel and the mouth of the Seine river.

21st Century

There is an Association Cultuelle Israelite du Havre. The community has a Chabad Lubavitch center with a rabbi who serves as spiritual leader of Le Havre’s synagogue.

History

From about the beginning of the 18th century, Jews, especially from Bordeaux and its environs, wished to settle in Le Havre. In 1714, Louis XIV ordered the town to expel all foreign Jews except "those who call themselves 'Portuguese.”

 Around 1725, however, a Jewish family of German origin, the Hombergs, and their relatives the Lallemends, settled in Le Havre. They were not a community but a group of individuals practicing their Judaism privately. The Hombergs became very wealthy merchants involved in armaments, shipping, and international commerce with Russia, the West Indies, as well as several northern countries. They also took part in the slave trade, and created a successful insurance company. The family made every effort to integrate and assimilate into the society around them. They received French nationality in 1775 and converted to Catholicism in 1785-86.

 In 1776 the town refused several Jews permission to reside in Le Havre in spite of their "royal passports" (actually valid for Paris).

An organized community was first founded in the middle of the 19th century. A synagogue was constructed in 1864.

It was a heterogenous community, with merchants, middle class professionals, shopkeepers, and craftsmen, for the most part Ashkenazim.

The mayor of Le Havre from 1919 to 1940, Leon Meyer (1868-1948) was a Jew. A Radical Socialist, he was elected to the National Chamber of Deputies in 1923 as the candidate of the Union of the Left.

The Holocaust

In 1939, the number of Jews in Le Havre was approximately 320.  In addition to those who had settled there during the 19th century including those from Alsace who chose French nationality after the Franco-Prussian War (1870-1871), there were immigrants escaping persecution from Poland, Romania, Russia, and Turkey. There were also recent arrivals from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia who were fleeing the Nazis. An official count in 1940 identified 39 foreign Jews.

Le Havre was occupied by the Germans on June 13, 1940, and transformed by them into a naval base. The Jewish mayor and other Jewish public officials were removed from their posts. Property and businesses owned by Jews were confiscated.  Some Jews fled but most were rounded up in 1942 and 1943 and deported to the Nazi death camps.

Le Havre was liberated by the Allies on September 12, 1944.

Post War

 A new Jewish community was reconstituted after World War II. The synagogue on the Rue Victor Hugo that had been destroyed during bombardments in 1944 was rebuilt and a community center opened.

The community was invigorated by the arrival of Jews from North Africa after 1962.  In February 1957 the Jewish population numbered 265, but by February 1963 it had grown to 520, The new arrivals were much more religiously committed. The synagogue that had only been open on the high holidays began to hold services every week. Now that there was a demand, kosher food became available.

 In 1969 Le Havre had a Jewish population of about 1,000.