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94-601: The Frankfurter Judengasse ( lit.   ' Jews' Lane ' ) was the Jewish ghetto of Frankfurt and one of the earliest ghettos in Germany. It existed from 1462 until 1811 and was home to Germany's largest Jewish community in early modern times . At the end of the 19th century, most of the buildings in the Judengasse were demolished. The area suffered major destruction during World War II and reconstruction left no visible signs of

188-542: A qinah or "lament for Babylon ", and to Ezekiel 19 as a qinah or lamentation over the rulers of Israel. A. W. Streane suggests that Jeremiah 22:6–7 , on the prophesied downfall of Jerusalem , is written "in Ḳinah metre". Kinah was also a city in the extreme south of Judah ( Joshua 15:22 ). It was probably not far from the Dead Sea , in the Wady Fikreh. [REDACTED]  This article incorporates text from

282-500: A financial center. One reason for this was that the city council allowed only the most prosperous Jews to settle in the city. During the 15th century, the guilds, facing competition from the Jewish traders, were able to increase restrictions on the Jews. Nevertheless, when Emperor Maximilian assessed a tax on the Jewish communities to pay for his Italian Campaign in 1497, Frankfurt's contribution

376-458: A fortified tower where 70 Jews had taken refuge was captured. Finally, a qinah or Jewish dirge records that archers attacked a rabbi and his pupils in their school. All three events imply a measure of planning and the presence of soldiers or a strong militia. Exactly who may have been responsible for the Judenschlacht is unclear owing to the scarcity of sources. The theory that it was led by

470-570: A list of people who lived in the city and were granted any rights and privileges due to that city). However, the second community, rebuilt in 1360, had a different and lower status. Each individual had to individually negotiate an agreement with the town council which included how long they would stay in the city, the amount of tribute they would pay and the regulations they must follow. In 1366 Emperor Charles IV instructed his representative Siegfried to prevent Jews from becoming guild masters, from setting their own laws or holding their own courts. In 1424

564-503: A permanent grant of residency. However, the Jews continued to be treated as an alien group, who had a lower status than citizens and non-citizen residents alike. They remained subjects of the Town Council and, unlike Christians, could not apply for citizenship. The Law of 1616 explicitly forbade the Jews from even calling themselves "citizen". Finally, Jews paid more than other residents in extra tariffs and additional taxes. The Law of 1616

658-455: A reduction in grain prices, as well as some anti-Jewish regulations, such as a limitation in the number of Jews and a 50% reduction in the interest rate that Jewish moneylenders could charge. Aside from the guilds, merchants and independent craftsmen also supported Fettmilch in hopes of annulling their debts by restricting the number of moneylenders. In late 1613, the Town Council reached an agreement with Fettmilch and his supporters. This granted

752-525: A special tax to the Emperor for his protection and support. When a large number fled the city, he lost a source of income. To make up for this loss, he confiscated houses of those who had fled and sold them to the city of Frankfurt. Those who returned to the city were allowed by the Emperor to negotiate with the city of Frankfurt to repurchase their belongings. In June 1349 the Emperor Charles IV transferred

846-538: A virtual City-state with limited control from the Emperor. This new wealth and freedom led to the total domination of city government by a few wealthy patricians. In the mid-14th century, renewed violence was directed against the Frankfurt Jews. Ludwig the Bavarian (Luis IV) arrested some members of the Jewish community for alleged crimes. Reacting to the arrests, many local Jews fled the city. The Frankfurt Jews had paid

940-768: Is available at Jewish ghettos in German-occupied Poland . Starting in 1939, Adolf Eichmann , a German Nazi and SS officer began to systematically move Polish Jews away from their homes and into designated areas of large Polish cities. The first large ghetto of World War II at Piotrków Trybunalski was established on October 8, 1939, followed by the Łódź Ghetto in April 1940, the Warsaw Ghetto in October 1940, and many other ghettos established throughout 1940 and 1941. The ghettos were walled off, and any Jew found leaving them

1034-634: Is best illustrated in the Rabbinical Conference held in Frankfurt in 1603. Many of the most important Jewish communities in Germany (including Mainz , Fulda , Cologne and Koblenz ) sent representatives to Frankfurt for this conference. The conference dealt primarily with topics that the Jews had jurisdiction over, and for which five Courts of Justice existed. Some of these topics were: the fraud in trade and coinage, responsibilities to local authorities, religious questions and ritual regulations. However,

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1128-506: Is first mentioned in a purchase document from 1300. Until 1333 when Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian expanded the city, the cemetery lay outside the city walls. It bordered on some gardens of Saint Bartholomew's Cathedral and was walled very early in its history. In 1349, during a Succession Crisis for the Holy Roman Emperor, the city of Frankfurt declared for Günther von Schwarzburg against Charles IV. When they expected an attack from Charles,

1222-547: The Dominicans , who had a papal order to fight heresy , is questionable. Another theory is that the pogrom was actually an attack against the Hohenstaufen led by Frederick II. Frederick II ordered an investigation into the Judenschlacht that lasted some years. In 1246 Conrad IV , on behalf of his father Frederick II, issued a document pardoning the citizens of Frankfurt. It declared a pardon without payment on damages because

1316-519: The Judengasse (Jew's Row), running parallel to the main street. At the beginning of World War II , nearly a quarter of the pre-war Polish areas were annexed by Nazi Germany and placed directly under German civil administration , in violation of international law (in particular, the Hague Convention IV 1907 ). Nazi Germany organized ghettos in many occupied countries, but the ghettos in

1410-734: The Khmelnytsky Uprising . By the 18th century there were 20,000 Ashkenazi Jews and 3,000 Sephardic Jews in Amsterdam. Non-Jewish people also lived in Jewish neighborhoods, for example Rembrandt van Rijn . Following the Nazi German invasion of the Netherlands, in February 1941 the Hebrew quarter was completely sealed off and a ghetto was established. The first group of 425 Jewish men were assembled at

1504-667: The Kraków Ghetto was formally established in the Podgórze district, not in the Jewish district of Kazimierz . As a result, the displaced ethnic Polish families were forced to take up residences outside. In 1942, the Nazis began Operation Reinhard , the systematic deportation to extermination camps during the Holocaust . The authorities deported Jews from everywhere in Europe to the ghettos of

1598-620: The Mainz based Rabbi Elieser ben Nathan (who died between 1145 and 1152) mentioned the Jewish community in Frankfurt in his book Eben ha Eser . Most likely the community was still very small at this point. Until the Late Middle Ages, the Frankfurt Jews lived in the present-day old city , between the Saint Bartholomew's Cathedral , Fahrgasse and the Main River. This prosperous section of

1692-735: The 19th century, with the coming of Jewish emancipation , Jewish ghettos were progressively abolished, and their walls taken down. However, in the course of World War II the Third Reich created a totally new Jewish ghetto-system for the purpose of persecution, terror, and exploitation of Jews, mostly in Eastern Europe. According to the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum archives, "The Germans established at least 1,000 ghettos in German-occupied and annexed Poland and

1786-558: The Budapest world heritage conservation zone. This area features most of the Jewish heritage sites of the Pest side, including the famous "Synagogue Triangle." In 1590, Vincenzo Gonzaga expelled all foreign-born Jews from Mantua; in 1602, he forbade Jewish physicians from treating Christian patients without special permission; in 1610 he established a ghetto, and in 1612 compelled all Jews to live in it. In 1610 Jews constituted about 7.5 percent of

1880-557: The Center of Amsterdam was closed off from February 12, 1941, to May 6, 1941, with barbed wire, and guarded bridges that were open. Kinah Kinah , ḳinah or qinah (plural kinoth, qinot, qinoth ) is Hebrew for a dirge or lamentation. Its general meaning is a dirge or lament , especially as sung by Jewish professional mourning women. Specifically, it can refer to one of the many Hebrew elegies chanted traditionally on Tisha B'Av . The Jerusalem Bible refers to Isaiah 47 as

1974-873: The East, or directly to the extermination camps designed and operated in Poland by Nazi Germans. There were no Polish guards at any of the camps, despite the sometimes used misnomer Polish death camps . Following the Nazi German Operation Barbarossa of 1941, the ghettos were set up first in the prewar Polish cities within the territories of Poland annexed by the Soviet Union during the Soviet invasion of Poland in 1939 (in accordance with Nazi-Soviet Pact ). They included: The Nazi ghettos set up in Soviet Belarus within

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2068-626: The Emperor acknowledged that the Frankfurt Council was correct in rejecting the Heretics Tax. The Jewish population reached its lowest point in 1416 and then grew continuously. In the second half of the 15th century, Frankfurt's Jews provided an increasingly substantial tax revenue. Following the expulsion of the Jews from Trier (1418), Vienna (1420), Cologne (1424), Augsburg (1438), Breslau (1453), Magdeburg (1493), Nuremberg (1499), and Regensburg (1519), Frankfurt gained importance as

2162-495: The Emperor and his descendants, the right to administer their own homes, cemeteries, synagogues and all the easements. In view of the growing number of pogroms – Jews were held responsible for the Black Plague in 1348 – the Emperor included a statement in the promise that turned out to be fatal. The Emperor stated that Frankfurt would not be held responsible if the Jews were killed as a result of sickness or riots. It also stated that

2256-484: The Emperor, but charged for their persecution of Jews. On 28 February 1616, Fettmilch and six others were executed on Frankfurt's Rossmarkt square. On the same day, 20 Adar by the Hebrew calendar, the Jews who had fled were led back into Frankfurt by Imperial soldiers. Above the gates to the Judengasse , a stone Imperial Eagle was added with an inscription reading "Protected by the Roman Imperial Majesty and

2350-457: The German; Slaughter of the Jews ) took place in Frankfurt, brought on by conflicts over Jewish-Christians marriages and the enforced baptism of children of such marriages. The Annales Erphordenses recorded that a few Christians and 180 Jews died during the pogrom. It also records that 24 Jews avoided death by accepting baptism, while under the protection of the city fathers. During the attacks,

2444-610: The Habsburg empire. In 1944 the Pest Ghetto was built here in the neighborhood bordered by Király Street, Csányi Street, Klauzál Square, Kisdiófa Street, Dohány Street and Károly Boulevard, crowding 70,000 people together. One of the borders of the ghetto was the Row of Archways on the Wesselényi Street side. In 2002 this area was named the old Jewish neighborhood of Pest and was entered into

2538-462: The Holy Empire". The first act of the returning Jews was returning the desecrated synagogue and devastated cemetery to religious use. The anniversary of the return was celebrated as Purim Vinz , after Fettmilch's first name. The Purim- Kaddisch includes a merry march which remembers the joyful return. However, the Jews never received the promised compensation for their losses. The Fettmilch Rebellion

2632-672: The Jewish Cemetery was fortified with eleven oriel windows . Later, in 1388 during a war between Swabia and the Salzburg Archbishop , the cemetery was again fortified. The term Judenstättigkeit refers to the set of special regulations which defined the rights and restrictions applicable to a Jewish resident from the Middle Ages to the 19th century. Before the slaughter of the Jewish community in 1349, Frankfurt's Jews were listed in its Burgerlisten (German, lit. "Citizens List",

2726-436: The Jewish Cemetery whilst their houses were plundered and partly destroyed. On the following day, the Jews were forced to leave the city. They found refuge in the surrounding communities, particularly Hanau , Höchst and Offenbach . On 28 September 1614, the Emperor issued a sentence against Fettmilch and his followers. On 27 November, Fettmilch was arrested. He and 38 others were accused of disobedience and rebellion against

2820-516: The Jewish community was forced to pay the salaries of the patrolmen who guarded the gates and patrolled the canals that surrounded the ghetto. The ghetto was abolished after the fall of the Republic of Venice to Napoleon . The Sicilian Jews lived in medieval neighborhoods. The Sicilian Jewish quarter giudecche were abandoned by their inhabitants at the end of the Medieval Era because the expulsion of

2914-423: The Jewish community. The regulations determined that no more than 500 Jewish families live in Frankfurt. In the 60 years before the pogrom, the Jewish population had increased tenfold from 43 to 453. The law now put an upper limit on the growth that was allowed in the Jewish community. Jewish marriages were limited to 12 per year, whilst Christians had to prove only that their wealth allowed a marriage. In business

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3008-454: The Jewish experience relative to the medieval period. Jewish historian Robert Bonfil has argued that the formation of ghettos acted as a sort of middle ground between acceptance and expulsion by the Christian authorities. Following the formation of the ghetto system, there was a sharp decline in incidents such as pogroms , forced expulsion, and accusation of ritual murder that were common during

3102-564: The Jewish population from an intermixed settling throughout the Middle Ages until the Expulsion of the Jews from Spain in 1492 . Jodebreestraat was a street "in the very heart of the Jewish quarter." In the mid 15th century the Ashkenazi Jews began to arrive in Amsterdam in large numbers from Germany and Eastern Europe – especially Ukraine, where 40,000 to 100,000 Jews had been slaughtered by Zaporozhian Cossacks and Ukrainian peasants during

3196-552: The Jewish population increased from 260 in 1543 to about 2,700 in 1613. As the Judengasse could not be enlarged, new houses were created by dividing existing houses. Also, on both sides of the lane, backrows of dwellings were built, so that there were four rows of houses in the ghetto. Finally, additional stories were added to the dwellings and the upper stories were built forward over the lane until they nearly touched each other. On lower houses, large – often multi-story – mansard roofs were added to increase

3290-494: The Jews from Sicily in 1493. While not exactly ghettos, the giudecche of southern Italy were medieval and Early Modern Jewish quarters. The Jews of the region often lived in these neighborhoods either for safety reasons or by the compulsion of Christian authorities. After the expulsion of the Jews from the Kingdom of Naples in 1541, these neighborhoods lost their distinctive Jewish character, and now only traces of evidence remain of

3384-454: The Jews were broadly granted the same rights that Christian non-citizen residents had. These non-citizen rights, which had evolved during the Middle Ages , excluded them from most types of business. All non-citizens were prevented from opening shops, operating retail business in the city, entering into business ventures with full citizens, or owning business property. One significant difference

3478-661: The Jonas Daniel Meijer Square and sent to concentration camps at Buchenwald and Mauthausen , which resulted in mass demonstrations among gentiles, organized by the Dutch Workers Party. However, the deportation of Jews to Nazi death camps continued until the end of World War II . Amsterdam had 3 Jewish neighborhoods before 1940, one in the Center, one in Amsterdam East and one in Amsterdam South. The one in

3572-579: The Kazimierz city, a 34-acre "Jewish Town" was set up by king Jan I Olbracht in 1495 for the relocation of Jews from Kraków Old Town after a citywide fire. Kraków's Kazimierz is one of the finest examples of an old Jewish quarter to be found anywhere in the world. The Jewish quarter was governed by its own municipal form of Jewish self-government called kehilla , a foundation of the local qahal . In smaller Polish towns, ethnic communities were mostly integrated. Nearly complete genocidal destruction of

3666-655: The Polish Jewish community took place during the German occupation of Poland and the ensuing Holocaust . The World War II ghetto-system had been imposed by Nazi Germany roughly between October 1939 and July 1942 in order to confine Poland 's Jewish population of 3.5 million for the purpose of persecution, terror, and exploitation. The Warsaw Ghetto was the largest ghetto in all of Nazi occupied Europe, with over 400,000 Jews crammed into an area of 1.3 square miles (3.4 km ), or 7.2 persons per room. The Łódź Ghetto (set up in

3760-648: The Soviet Union alone." The ghetto system began in Renaissance Italy in July 1555 with Pope Paul IV 's issuing of the Cum nimis absurdum . This change in papal policy implemented a series of restrictions on Jewish life that dramatically reshaped their place in society. Among these restrictions were the requirement of Jews to identify themselves by wearing a yellow badge , restrictions on the ownership of property, restrictions in commerce, and tighter regulations on banking. However,

3854-626: The Warsaw Ghetto alone to Treblinka extermination camp over the course of 52 days during Grossaktion Warsaw (1942) . In some of the ghettos the local resistance organizations launched the ghetto uprisings ; none were successful, and the Jewish populations of the ghettos were almost entirely killed. Jews from Eastern Poland (areas now in Lithuania , Belarus , Ukraine ) were killed using guns rather than in gas chambers, see Ponary massacre , Janowska concentration camp . Phase-wise segregation of

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3948-487: The area surrounding Frankfurt. As a side business, they often bought and sold pawned goods. This led to a small trade in horses, wine, and grain as well as cloth, dresses, and jewelry. Because of the limited market, these enterprises remained small. Based on the amount of tax paid by the Frankfurt Jews, the wealth of the community was inferior to that of the Jewish communities in Nuremberg , Erfurt , Mainz or Regensburg . At

4042-420: The available room. The ghetto remained a very crowded section of town owing to both rapid population growth and the refusal of Frankfurt's municipal authorities to allow the ghetto's area to expand. Virtually every facet of life was regulated by the council's regulations pertaining to the Jewish community. For example, Jews were not allowed to leave the ghetto during nights, Sundays, Christian holidays or during

4136-407: The belongings of the deceased would revert to the city. Two weeks after the Emperor left the city, on 24 July 1349, all the Jews of Frankfurt were beaten to death or burnt as their houses were set aflame. The exact number of victims is unknown, but is estimated to have been 60. In older historical sources, fanatic flagellants are believed to be responsible for initiating the murders as a response to

4230-506: The borders of the Soviet Union from before the Nazi-Soviet invasion of Poland existed in almost all larger cities; which comprise the territories of East Belarus since the Revolutions of 1989 . They included: Established in 1546 by the former Republic of Ragusa . Established in 1738 by the former Republic of Venice . From its creation to its dissolution at the end of the 18th century,

4324-432: The city councils limited expansion in the Judengasse, resulting in a steady increase in population to the point of overcrowding. The original area of about a dozen houses with around 100 inhabitants, grew to almost 200 houses and some 3,000 inhabitants. The plots, originally quite generous, were successively divided while the total size of the ghetto remained the same. This increased the number of plots but subsequently reduced

4418-508: The city of Łódź , renamed Litzmannstadt , in the territories of Poland annexed by Nazi Germany ) was the second largest, holding about 160,000 inmates. Over three million Polish Jews perished in World War II , resulting in the destruction of an entire civilization. The Warsaw ghetto contained more Jews than all of France; the Lodz ghetto more Jews than all of the Netherlands. More Jews lived in

4512-550: The city of Cracow than in all of Italy, and virtually any medium-sized town in Poland had a larger Jewish population than all of Scandinavia. All of southeast Europe – Hungary, Romania, Bulgaria, Yugoslavia, and Greece – had fewer Jews than the original four districts of the General Government. — Christopher Browning A more complete list of over 260 ghettos with approximate number of prisoners, date of creation and liquidation, as well as known deportation route to death camps ,

4606-575: The city to encourage the town council to enforce the Church Dress Order. That demanded, that female Jews wear a blue veil and all males wear yellow rings on their sleeves. However, adherence to these regulations was enforced only for a short time. After another order from the Emperor Frederick III, in 1458, the council finally began building houses outside the city wall and moat. In 1462 the Jews were forced to relocate into these houses. This

4700-533: The city was also the center of political life in Frankfurt. The town hall, the mint and a mansion of the Archbishop of Mainz were located in this area. During this time the Frankfurt Jews were allowed to travel throughout the city, which was an unusual freedom in the Holy Roman Empire . Additionally, many non-Jews lived in the Jewish section of town. In May 1241, a pogrom , known as the Judenschlacht (from

4794-504: The dispute. Tensions between the patricians and the guilds between 1612 and 1614 led to the Fettmilch uprising in 1614, named after its ringleader, Vincenz Fettmilch . During the riot, the Judengasse was attacked and looted, and the Jews were expelled from the city. Two Jews and one assailant were killed in the pogrom . The tension was caused by the guilds' demand for greater participation in urban and fiscal policies. The guilds wanted

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4888-399: The election and coronation of the Holy Roman Emperor. In addition to isolating the Jews, these regulations included a number of arbitrary, restrictive and discriminatory rules. The laws regulated the right to live in the city, the collection of deliveries and the acceptable professions. Every Jew was required to wear a circular yellow mark on his or her clothes to identify as a Jew. Furthermore,

4982-429: The end of the 14th century, the Frankfurt Jews were subject to increased restrictions. Legislation of 1386 forbade the employment of Christians and restricted the number of Jewish servants in a household. A general "Jewish Debt Amnesty" issued by Emperor Wenceslaus essentially disowned the Jewish money lenders to the benefit of their Christian debtors. At the same time, the town council used a rigid new tax law to restrict

5076-479: The fact that ghettos were often located at the town commercial centers drove Jews away from money lending and towards the role of second-hand merchants. In this role, Jews were forbidden from selling anything considered vital to life such as food or other high value commodities, so they gravitated towards reselling secondhand goods in the form of pawn shops. Some scholars, however, have argued that this shift in papal policy inadvertently ended up improving some aspects of

5170-426: The ghetto in today's townscape of Frankfurt. Post-war usage of the area included a car park, a petrol station and a wholesale flower market. The decision to build an administrative complex triggered a public discussion as to what should be done with the archaeological remains uncovered during the excavation in 1977. The foundations of 19 buildings were found and five of these can be seen at the "Museum Judengasse" which

5264-407: The ghetto, the city received a rent from the owner. Within the next century, the ghetto's population grew until the original houses were no longer sufficient. The Jews were then allowed to expand the ghetto into the city moat. Following the expansions of 1552 and 1579, the Judengasse would remain virtually unchanged until the 19th century. During the economic growth at the end of the 14th century,

5358-479: The growth of the community. Between 1412 and 1416, the number of Jewish households dropped from about 27 to about 4. In 1422 the town council rejected the imperial Heretics Tax, claiming that only they had the right to tax the Frankfurt Jews. This action, which the Jewish population had little influence over, caused the entire population to be placed under an Imperial Edict and forced them to flee Frankfurt to avoid punishment. Only in 1424 were they allowed to return after

5452-524: The guilds increased power and rights. However, the population of Frankfurt then learned that the city had extensive debts and that the Town Council had misappropriated the Jewish tax collected. Fettmilch declared the Council deposed and seized the city gates. Consequently, Emperor Matthias , who had been neutral, entered the conflict. He demanded a reinstatement of the Town Council and threatened anyone who opposed him with an Imperial Interdiction which would strip

5546-465: The highest population densities in Europe. Contemporary documents described it as narrow, oppressive and dirty. It is likely that Jews were amongst the earliest inhabitants of Frankfurt. On 18 January 1074, Henry IV granted the citizens and Jews of Worms , the ShUM-cities and other locations, including Frankfurt, certain privileges relating to reductions in fees and import duties . Eighty years later

5640-452: The influx of Jews into Frankfurt was strictly limited. Altogether only 500 Jewish families were allowed to live on the Judengasse after a new set of regulations were issued in 1616. The Laws of 1616 also stated that only 12 weddings would be permitted per year in the ghetto. Even wealthy and influential inhabitants, such as the banker Mayer Amschel Rothschild (1744–1812), were not excluded from these Laws. The Jewish community of Frankfurt

5734-475: The medieval period. During World War II , the new category of Nazi ghettos was formed by the Third Reich in order to confine Jews into tightly packed areas of the cities of Eastern and Central Europe. They served as staging points to begin dividing "able workers" from those who would later be deemed unworthy of life. In many cases, the Nazi-era ghettos did not correspond to historic Jewish quarters. For example,

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5828-441: The most visible of these restrictions was the requirement of Jewish communities to reside in sectioned off, sanctioned neighborhoods known as ghettos. The formation of the ghetto system also brought changes to Jewish economic activity. As a result of the Cum nimis absurdum regulations and the increasing complexity of the early modern economy, the role of Jews as money lenders became more difficult and less profitable. This as well as

5922-449: The narrow street and the limited access, the Judengasse was destroyed three times by fire in the 18th century alone, in 1711, 1721 and 1796. Initially, some 15 families with about 110 members lived in Frankfurt's Judengasse when they were forcibly removed from the city and relocated to the ghetto by decree of Frederick III in 1462. By the 16th century, the number of inhabitants rose to over 3,000, living in 195 houses. The ghetto had one of

6016-512: The new Reichsgaue including Reichsgau Danzig-West Prussia and Reichsgau Wartheland were particularly notorious. The Łódź/Litzmannstadt Ghetto holding 204,000 prisoners existed in a Polish city annexed to Germany; numerous others included Będzin Ghetto , Sosnowiec Ghetto , and the ghetto in Koło . At the turn of the 18th and 19th century the Jewish community gathered in the 7th district along

6110-451: The offender of all rights. Once the rebellious craftsmen learned of the Imperial Interdiction, they took to the streets in protest. The mob directed its anger against the weakest members of the dispute, the Jews. They stormed the gates of the Judengasse which were defended by local Jews. After several hours of fighting at the barricades, the mob entered the ghetto. All inhabitants of the Judengasse , about 1,380 individuals, were driven into

6204-425: The original inhabitants. There were Jewish quarters known as giudecche in Abruzzo , Basilicata , Campania , Calabria , Molise and Apulia . For centuries, Poland was home to one of the largest and most significant Jewish communities in the world. Polish monarchs of the Piast dynasty invited the Jews to the country awarding them rights of status and total religious tolerance . By the mid-16th century, 80% of

6298-426: The plague. However, modern research questions this. Charles IV appears to have given the city of Frankfurt tacit approval for the pogrom, as mentioned above. Additionally, the plague did not reach Frankfurt until autumn 1349. It appears that some local leaders saw the loss of imperial protection as an opportunity to clear their debts and acquire new property. The church yard of St. Bartholomew's Cathedral, for instance,

6392-427: The pogrom occurred, "from carelessness rather than deliberation." The general pardon is an example of the weak political power of the Hohenstaufen in Frankfurt. By the 14th century, Frankfurt was granted the status of a Free Imperial City by the Emperor Ludwig the Bavarian and Charles IV . As a Free Imperial City, Frankfurt was only responsible to the Holy Roman Emperor and not to local princes. The city operated as

6486-407: The population of Mantua . In 1630 the Mantua ghetto was sacked by imperial troops and destroyed. Among the Jewish dead or missing were the composer Salamone Rossi and his sister the opera singer Madama Europa . Although there is evidence indicating the presence of Jews in the Venetian area dating back to the first few centuries AD, during the 15th and early 16th centuries (until 1516), no Jew

6580-441: The resettlement of all Jews living near the cathedral, as the singing in the synagogue was disturbing the Christian services in the cathedral. Then, in 1446 a murder occurred on a Jew known as zum Buchsbaum . The town council secretary recorded this in his book with three crosses, the notation Te Deum laudamus ( Latin God be praised ) and Crist ist entstanden (German "Christ is risen"). In 1452 Cardinal Nicholas of Cusa visited

6674-427: The resolutions of the conference were declared treason in Germany. Emperor Rudolf II found that the resolutions of the Conference surpassed the privileges that he had granted. As a result, the Emperor's protection was withdrawn for some 25 years. Rebellions and pogroms resulted in several cities with a significant Jewish population. In 1631 a large fine was paid by the communities to the Archbishop of Cologne to settle

6768-409: The rights of the Jews. In 1372 the city purchased the office from the Emperor for 6,000 marks. This put the control of Jewish taxes back to the city. By the end of 14th century, the Jewish community had grown large enough to establish a new synagogue, where the Jews participated in services, conducted business, swore judicial oaths, and heard proclamations from the emperor or the town council. Following

6862-455: The road leading to the bridge, with Király Street as its center. The city had not tolerated Jewish people for a long time. Joseph II ’s regulation put an end to the prohibition in 1783. At that time there lived fourteen Jewish families in the immediate vicinity of Budapest, in the great mansion of Barons Orczy. Their numbers increased rapidly. Most of the largest Jewish community of the era moved from Óbuda, but many of them came from other areas of

6956-436: The service, the rabbi would collect owed taxes and dispense punishments for minor offenses. Recent archeological excavations have revealed a 5.6 square meter (60 sq. ft.) area under the synagogue. This area was deep enough to reach the underground water level and most likely served as a mikvah , or ritual bath. The largest area of Jewish owned property in the city was the cemetery. The cemetery had been used since about 1270 and

7050-473: The size of each plot. In the process, many houses were replaced by two or more houses which were often divided in turn. Many of the houses were designed to be narrow and long, in order to maximize the limited space – the smallest house, the Rote Hase, was only about one and a half meters wide. Jewish settlement during the Middle Ages all across the town, but since 1360 following a number of pogroms concentrating on

7144-610: The special Jewish tax to the city of Frankfurt for 15,200 pounds. The responsibility for protecting the Jewish population thereby shifted from the Imperial Representative to the town council of Frankfurt. Technically, the Frankfurt Jews were no longer subjects of the Emperor but of the city council. Nevertheless, the Emperors maintained an interest in the Jewish population until the end of the Empire. The Frankfurt Jews were promised, by

7238-458: The synagogue could be rented by members of the community and were auctioned off if fees were owed. In 1465 the city council decided that the cost of further construction on the Judengasse would be left to the Jewish community. It was now possible, in 1471, to pave the road, build a second well and a warm bath. The city council maintained the rights to the land and to any houses erected, regardless of who had built them. For any developed plot within

7332-516: The synagogue was plundered and the Torah scrolls were destroyed. All of this occurred despite the fact that the Jews had been protected by the Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor since 1236, and had a royal appointee running much of the city government. It seems possible that the Judenschlacht was organized rather than spontaneous. One reason presented is that the fighting lasted more than a day. Secondly,

7426-458: The town council collected all the individual regulations into der Juden stedikeit (the Jewish regulations). The regulations were read each year in the synagogue. In the 14th century, Frankfurt lacked a powerful mercantile upper class. Despite the fair , which already existed, trade was less established in Frankfurt than in other German cities. Therefore, many Frankfurt Jews worked as bankers and provided loans to craftsmen, farmers, and nobles from

7520-635: The world's Jews lived in Poland . Thanks to a long period of Polish statutory religious tolerance and social autonomy, the immigration of Jews to Poland began to increase already during the Crusades because of systemic persecution of Jews in Western Europe . Jewish settlers built their own settlements in Poland. By the mid-14th century they had occupied thirty-five towns in Silesia alone. The Catholic Church , however,

7614-409: The Łódź Ghetto 95% of apartments had no sanitation, piped water or sewers ) hundreds of thousands of Jews died of disease and starvation. The liquidation of WWII ghettos across Poland was closely connected with the formation of highly secretive killing centers built by various German companies including I.A. Topf and Sons of Erfurt, and C.H. Kori GmbH. 254,000–300,000 Jews were deported from

7708-470: Was allowed to live anywhere in the city of Venice for more than 15 days per year; so most of them lived in Venice's possessions on the terrafirma . At its maximum, the population of the ghetto reached 3,000. In exchange for their loss of freedom, the Jews were granted the right to a Jew's coat (the colour yellow was considered humiliating, as it was associated with prostitutes). The gates were locked at night, and

7802-528: Was also the social center of the community where members could carry out many everyday activities. This close connection between religious and everyday life was common in ghetto life. The creation of the ghetto and the corresponding isolation created a sense of self-sufficiency in the Jewish community. Within the synagogue Jewish leaders were selected, regulations from the Rabbis were issued, bankruptcies were declared and corporal punishments were carried out. The seats in

7896-461: Was expanded into what had been Jewish property. In 1360 the Emperor again granted the right for a Jewish settlement in Frankfurt. The Emperor claimed the right to taxes raised from the newly resettled population. The right to half the taxes was then sold to the Archbishop of Mainz, who then sold the rights to Frankfurt. An Imperial representative was sent to Frankfurt to collect the taxes and safeguard

7990-405: Was incorporated into the new building. The ghetto was located outside the city walls east of the medieval city wall ( Staufenmauer ) and formed a slight curve from today's Konstablerwache to Börneplatz, near the river Main . The street was about 330 meters long, three to four meters wide, and had three town gates. The gates were locked at night as well as on Sundays and Christian holidays. Due to

8084-452: Was one of the largest in the ghetto, with a frontage of 9.5 meters (30 ft) and was located directly opposite to the synagogue. Strong winds and the density of the buildings spread the fire. Additionally, the timber-framed construction of houses, the general lack of fire walls and the corbelled upper floors allowed the fire to race through the ghetto. Jewish ghettos in Europe In

8178-457: Was one of the most important in Germany in the 16th century. A Talmudic Academy had been established where the halakhic rabbis taught. Additionally, Kabbalahic works were printed in the ghetto. Whenever the Jewish communities of Germany collected money for the poor Jews in Palestine , the money was sent to Frankfurt for transferral. The central role of Frankfurt's Jews in Jewish spiritual life

8272-708: Was opposed to the tolerant attitude of the Polish royalty. The 1266 council of Breslau applied the Fourth Council of the Lateran limitations on the Jews to the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Gniezno , forbidding side-by-side life of Jews and Christians and setting up Jewish ghettos. In large cities, residential quarters were assigned to them, as found, for example, in Kazimierz , later a prominent district of Kraków . In

8366-534: Was remarkable as for the first time many Christian commentators had supported the Jewish community in this dispute. As a reaction to the Fettmilch Rebellion, a new set of regulations were issued in 1616. However, these laws, originating with the Imperial Commissioners from Hessen and the Mainz palatinate (Kurmainz), were based largely on anti-Semitic attitudes and did little to support the rights of

8460-526: Was revised several times, for example in 1660. Each revision improved the situation of the Jews. However, the Jewish Laws remained a medieval legal construct until the 19th century. On 14 January 1711, one of the largest fires that ever occurred in Frankfurt broke out in the Judengasse . The fire started at about 8 p.m. in the House Eichel (German: Acorn) owned by the senior Rabbi Naphtali Cohen . The house

8554-475: Was second only to that of the city of Worms . By 1431 the town council considered options for dealing with the Jews. Since the town was often in conflict with either the emperor or the Archbishop of Mainz over the Jewish population, this had become a pressing issue. The council debated the creation of a ghetto in both 1432 and 1438 without reaching a conclusion. In 1442 the Emperor Frederick III ordered

8648-676: Was shot. The situation in the ghettos was usually brutal. In Warsaw , 30% of the population were forced to live in 2.4% of the city's area. In the ghetto of Odrzywol , 700 people lived in an area previously occupied by 5 families, between 12 and 30 to each small room. The Jews were not allowed out of the ghetto, so they had to rely on replenishments supplied by the Nazis: in Warsaw this was 181 calories per Jew, compared to 669 calories per non-Jewish Pole and 2,613 calories per German. With crowded living conditions, starvation diets, and little sanitation (in

8742-445: Was that Jews were explicitly allowed to engage in wholesale businesses, trading commodities, such as grain, wine, cloth, silk, and other textiles. The Emperor may have allowed the Jews the wholesale business to weaken the powerful Christian traders, which had usurped the power the guilds had lost in the Fettmilch Rebellion. A result of the new laws was that the regulations were not to be renewed every three years and therefore constituted

8836-483: Was the beginning of the isolated and closed off ghetto. In 1464 the city established eleven houses, one dance hall, two pubs, and a community center at its own expense. The cold bath and synagogue were built by the Jewish community. This first ghetto synagogue, known as the Altschul (German "old school"), was built on the east side of the Judengasse . As any synagogue, this was used for more than just religious services. It

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