Ricardo Ehrlich

EHRLICH

Surnames derive from one of many different origins. Sometimes there may be more than one explanation for the same name. This family name is a patronymic surname based on a male ancestor's personal name, in this case of biblical origin.

The adjective Ehrlich, derived from the noun Ehre, that is "honesty/honor", means "honest" in German. As part of Jewish names, the term is also a variant of the Hebrew Aaron/Aharon. Aaron/Aharon, son of Amram and Jochebed, of the tribe of Levi, was the elder brother of Moses. He was the first high priest of the Jews, and the ancestor of the Cohanim. Numerous personal and family names are linked to this brother, spokesman and aide of Moses, among them Aron, Aren, Oren, Horn, Goren, Oron and Baron.

Distinguished bearers of the Jewish family name Ehrlich include the German immunologist, bacteriologist and chemotherapist Paul Ehrlich (1854-1915), who created the anti-syphilis drug called Salvarsan and won the Nobel Prize for medicine in 1908; the 20th century French merchant Charles Ehrlich; and the 20th century Polish-born Israeli minister of finance Simha Ehrlich.

Montevideo

Capital of Uruguay

The Jewish community was established before World War I by immigrants from Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Beginning in the lower echelons of commerce and handicrafts, the Jews today belong chiefly to the middle class, with a substantial proportion in industry, commerce, and the liberal professions; few still belong to the working class. The main organization is the Comite Central Israilita (Jewish central committee), which Montevideo (Ashkenazi), the Sephardi Jewish community, the new Jewish congregation of Montevideo (eastern and central Europe), and the Hungarian Jewish community, along with most of the other organizations, except those of communist ideology and affiliations. Another central body is the Zionist organization of Uruguay, which represents all the local Zionist organizations. Although the object of anti-Semitic propaganda
During the 1930's and the victim of some attacks during the early 1960s, the Jews of Montevideo were not the target of urban terrorism launched in the 1960s by the extreme-left Tupamaru. Economic deterioration and social upheavals, however, severely affected the stability of the Jewish community.

Uruguay

República Oriental del Uruguay 

A country in southeast South America. 

21st Century

Estimated Jewish population in 2018: 16.700 out of 3.500.000 (0.47%), the fifth largest Jewish community in Latin America and the 17th largest Jewish community in the world. 

Comité Central Israelita del Uruguay (Central Jewish Committee of Uruguay)
Phone: +598-2903-2943
Website: www.cciu.org.uy  
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/CCIUruguay

 

Strasbourg

The capital of Alsace, Eastern France

The earliest evidence of a Jewish presence in Strasbourg dates from 1188; Jews fled from the area during the anti-Jewish persecutions of the Third Crusade, but they appear to have returned after a short while. The size of the Jewish community, as well as its economic power, is reflected in the fact that in 1242 it paid the highest tax of all of the Jewish communities of the empire. In 1306, the Jewish population numbered about 300. Moneylending appears to have been their sole economic activity, and their customers included Christian religious institutions and noblemen.

The patrician municipality sought to protect the Jews during the Black Death persecutions, pogroms in European cities that began in 1348, after rumors spread that Jews were poisoning the wells in order to spread the plague. Unlike the majority of local governments, the city council attempted to protect its Jewish residents. Nonetheless, a new council arose in 1349 after a rebellion by the local population, who became convinced that the previous council was protecting the Jews because the council had been bribed by them. After the coup, the Jews of Strasbourg were no longer protected. Beginning St. Valentine's Day, Saturday, February 14, 1349, and lasting for approximately 6 days, at least 1,000 Jews were killed, many of whom were burned alive. The only people spared were those who chose to accept baptism. Jewish property was distributed among those who carried out the massacre. On September 12, 1349, Emperor Charles IV officially pardoned the town for the massacre of the Jews and the plunder of their possessions. Jews were not allowed to settle in the city. Every evening at 10:00pm the tolling of the cathedral bell and a municipal herald blowing a horn reminded any Jews in the city that it was time to leave.

In spite of the town's decision to prohibit the settlement of Jews, a number of Jews were authorized to reside there from 1369 onward, but only if they paid extremely high fees. The Jewish population numbered at least 25 families when they were again expelled from Strasbourg at the end of 1388. Those who had been banished settled in surrounding villages, where they continued to maintain commercial relations with the inhabitants of Strasbourg.

One of the most important figures from the area is Josel of Rosheim, (also known as Joselin, Joselmann, Yoselmann, Josel von Rosheim in German, Joseph ben Gershon mi-Rosheim or Joseph ben Gershon Loanz in Hebrew), who advocated for the Jews of Germany and Poland, and who was eventually appointed by the Holy Roman Emperor Maximilian I as governor of all Jews of Germany. Among his numerous activities on behalf of the Jews of Alsace in general, and Strasbourg in particular, in 1543 he sent a petition to the magistrate of Strasbourg, in which he comprehensively refuted the assertions made by Martin Luther in his pamphlets "Concerning the Jews and their Lies" and "Concerning the Shem Ha-Meforash." As a result of Josel's efforts, the magistrate blocked the publication of the new edition of Luther's book.

Once the town came under French sovereignty in 1681, the severity of the anti-Jewish measures were eased, or even temporarily suspended; nonetheless, Jews were still prohibited from settled in Strasbourg, and were still subject to special taxes. In fact, a special mention was made of Strasbourg, where "the Jews are subjected to a corporal tax which reduces them to the level of animals." It was not until the French Revolution, 1789-1799, that restrictions on the Jews in France began to be significantly eased; full emancipation was grated to Sephardic Jews in 1790, and to Ashkenazi Jews in 1791. In spite of strong opposition from the local population, immediately after the National Assembly had granted Jews the rights of citizenship, many returned to established themselves in Strasbourg. In 1806, seven delegates represented the 1,500 Jews of Strasbourg at the Assembly of Notables, and that same year Napoleon appointed Rabbi Joseph David Sinzheim, the Chief Rabbi of Strasbourg, as president of the newly created "Great Sanhedrin."

The community, which was constantly growing, soon built a number of important institutions. In addition to synagogues, a vocational school was founded in 1825, and an old age home, "Elisa," was built in 1853. There was even a short-lived rabbinical seminary that was opened in 1885. The German annexation of 1871 was responsible for the departure of a number of Jews for France, though anti-Semitic violence in the town decreased under the new rule.

The interwar period saw a particularly rapid growth in the local population, in spite of the fact that the rate of immigration from abroad was much lower in Strasbourg than in other towns. In 1931, of the almost 8,500 Jews who were living in Strasbourg, over 60% were born in France.

The entire population of Strasbourg was evacuated to the Southwest of France when World War II broke out in September 1939. After the French surrender in June 1940, the Jewish community succeeded in setting up basic provisional arrangements, including setting up a synagogue and a welfare bureau in Perigueux and a synagogue in Limoges. In Strasbourg proper, the Nazis set fire to the Quai Kleber synagogue, which had been erected in 1898 and systematically destroyed all traces of the structure. Strasbourg Jews set up and directed agricultural schools. Under the auspices of OSE (Oeuvre de Secours aux Enfants, Children's Aid Society), they helped open clinics and children's homes. They also organized rescue missions to Switzerland or to Palestine (via Spain) for infants and older children.

Rabbi Hirschler, Robert Brunschwig, and Elie Cyper, along with youth leader Leo Cohn, were arrested and deported to death camps. Rabbi Samy Klein and Aron Wolf were killed while active in the resistance.

About 10,000 Jews lived in Strasbourg on the eve of World War II. 8,000 returned after the liberation; 1,000 died in concentration camps, and another 1,000 decided to settle elsewhere. In 1965 there were 12,000 Jews in Strasbourg (4.5% of the total population). This increase was the result of natural growth, immigration from smaller Alsatian centers, immigration from Central Europe, and refugees arriving from North Africa. The number of mixed marriages between Jews and non-Jews increased by 40% between 1960 and 1965.

Strasbourg Jewry was one of the most active communities in Europe after World War II, and many of the institutions created since 1945 stressed Jewish education. The University of Strasbourg has a chair of Jewish Studies, which was held by the scholar and philosopher Andre Neher.

Anti-Semitism is still an issue in Strasbourg, though it is generally more latent than it had been throughout the history of the city. The Alsatian population established organizations to prevent the return of Jewish property confiscated in 1940 to the owners, and later banded together to prevent the erection of a synagogue on town land.