Could Jews From Holocaust Era Enter Syria?

 Nadene Goldfoot                                              

                                                 Jewish family in Damascus 1901

I have a friend whose mother lived on Jew Street in Damascus, Syria with her family.  She parents were Cohens, a Jeweler.   Could they have been immigrants? Could this be their family? The family was Halabi.    

No, it was generally not possible for Jewish refugees from Holocaust Germany to legally enter Syria during that period. Syria was under French Mandate authority at the time, and its immigration policies, much like those of many other nations and the British Mandate in neighboring Palestine, were highly restrictive toward Jewish refugees. 

During the 1930s and 1940s:

• Widespread Restrictions: Most countries, including the United States and the United Kingdom, significantly restricted Jewish immigration due to a combination of antisemitism, economic depression, isolationist policies, and national security concerns. The British, who controlled the Palestine Mandate, severely limited Jewish entry there as well, particularly after the 1939 White Paper, making it nearly impossible for many to find safe haven.
• Syria Under Mandate: Syria was under French control until 1946. There is no evidence of a specific policy by the French Mandate authorities to accept Jewish refugees from Germany. In fact, within Syria itself, there were periods of heightened anti-Jewish sentiment and violence in the late 1930s and early 1940s, leading many local Syrian Jews to seek escape to Palestine.
• Illegal Escape Routes: Some European Jews attempted to escape via the Balkans and Turkey toward Palestine, often through clandestine operations, but this was a difficult and dangerous process, not a legal immigration channel into Syria.
• Post-Independence: After Syria gained independence, the situation for its Jewish population deteriorated further, with the government explicitly banning Jewish emigration to Palestine and imposing harsh penalties for those who attempted to leave illegally. 
In essence, during the Holocaust, the overwhelming majority of countries closed their doors to Jewish refugees, and Syria was no exception to this global pattern of indifference and restrictive policies. 

                                        Aleppo Syria Jewish wedding in 1904
  1492 When Columbus (a hidden Jew (anusim) sailed the ocean blue

The history of the Jews in Syria goes back to ancient times. They were joined by Sephardim who fled after the expulsion of the Jews from Spain and Portugal in 1492 CE. There were large Jewish communities in Aleppo, Damascus, and Qamishli for centuries. In the early 20th century, a large percentage of Syrian Jews immigrated to British Mandate-Palestine (Israel), the U.S. and Latin America.  

However, following the Syrian Civil War, some of the remaining Jews of Syria left the country. In 2022, it was alleged that only four Jews remain in Damascus. As of April 4 2025, there are approximately six remaining Jews in Damascus.

• Sephardic Haven: Following the 1492 expulsion from Spain, many Sephardic Jews settled in Aleppo, enriching its intellectual and commercial life. 

The community, known as Halabi (from Aleppo), maintained a strong, distinct, and influential presence until most left following anti-Jewish riots in 1947. 

                                 



Model of the Central Synagogue of Aleppo in The Museum of the Jewish People at Beit Hatfutsot:  Is it still there in 2026?  

Resource:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Syria

Aleppo, Syria Now In Spotlight with HTS Rebels

Nadene Goldfoot                                             

For several years, Idlib remained a battleground as Syrian government forces tried to regain control.  The Idlib Governorate clashes (September 2011 – March 2012) were violent incidents involving the newly formed Free Syrian Army (FSA) and government-loyal forces.  

Idlib is a city in northwestern Syria, and is the capital of the Idlib Governorate. It has an elevation of nearly 500 meters (1,600 ft) above sea level, and is 59 kilometers (37 mi) southwest of Aleppo. The city was taken over by Syrian revolution troops at the beginning of the Syrian Civil War in 2011, and by 2017 was the de facto capital of the Syrian Salvation Government.

Russia has launched air strikes on parts of Aleppo - Syria's second largest city.  But a ceasefire deal in 2020 brokered by Russia, which has long been Syria's President Assad’s key ally, and Turkey, which has backed the rebels, has largely held.

Aleppo was one of the bloodiest battlegrounds and represented one of the rebels’ biggest defeats.  To achieve victory, Assad relied on Russian airpower and Iranian military help on the ground - mainly through militias sponsored by Iran. These included Hezbollah.

There is little doubt that the setback Hezbollah has suffered recently from Israel’s offensive in Lebanon, as well as Israeli strikes on Iranian military commanders in Syria, has played a significant part in the decision by Islamist militants and rebel groups in Idlib to make their sudden, unexpected move on Aleppo. 

The war in Syria has for the past four years felt as if it were effectively over.

President Bashar al-Assad’s rule is essentially uncontested in the country’s major cities, while some other parts of Syria remain out of his direct control.

These include Kurdish majority areas in the east, which have been more or less separate from Syrian state control since the early years of the conflict.

There has been some continued, though relatively muted unrest, in the south where the revolution against Assad’s rule began in 2011.

In the vast Syrian desert, holdouts from the group calling themselves Islamic State of ISIS still pose a security threat, particularly during the truffle hunting season when people head to the area to find the highly profitable delicacy. 

Rebel forces launched the largest offensive against the Syrian government in years on Wednesday.                                           

                                                 Assad in 2018, 6 years ago

 Bashar al-Assad (born 11 September 1965) is a Syrian politician and dictator who has been the 19th and current president of Syria since 2000. In addition, he is the commander-in-chief of the Syrian Armed Forces and the secretary-general of the Central Command of the Arab Socialist Ba'ath Party.

       Syrian Rebels capture dozens of villages and seize them

And in the north-west, the province of Idlib has been held by jihadist and rebel groups driven there at the height of the war.

The dominant force in Idlib is the one that has launched the surprise attack on Aleppo, HTS.

For some time now, HTS ( Hay'at Tahrir al-Sham) , A foreign terrorist organization in northwest Syria. The US State Department added HTS to the list of foreign terrorist organizations in May 2018,  has established its power base in Idlib where it is the de facto local administration, although its efforts towards legitimacy have been tarnished by alleged human rights abuses.  Its ambitions beyond Idlib had become unclear.

Since breaking with Al Qaeda terrorists, its goal has been limited to trying to establish fundamentalist Islamic rule in Syria rather than a wider caliphate, as Isis tried and failed to do.  It had shown little sign of attempting to reignite the Syrian conflict on a major scale and renew its challenge to Assad’s rule over much of the country - until now.

• It comes as rebel forces have launched the largest offensive against the government in years earlier this week.  The surprise offensive prompted the first Russian strikes on the city since 2016, and saw Syria's military withdraw its troops from the city.

• More than 300 people have been killed - including at least 20 civilians - since the offensive began, the UK-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says.

• Roads into Aleppo have been closed, as has the airport.  The war in Syria has for the past four years felt as if it were effectively over.

Aleppo was once upon a time a Jewish city called Aram-Zobah and its Jewish community was one of the oldest in the world.   A 6th century synagogue was taken over by the Muslims and turned into a mosque, the Al-Hayyat.  Our ancient travel guide, Benjamin of Tudela, found 1,500 Jews there in about 1170 and later in the Middle Ages the Jews were important as their city was the home of many men of learning, including themselves.  Spanish Jews arrived after 1492's Spanish Inquisition against Jews who were forced to leave,  reinvigorating the community.                                                  

                                  Jewish family in Damascus in 1910

In the early 20th century, a large percentage of Syrian Jews immigrated to British Mandate-Palestine, the U.S. and Latin America. Before WWI in 1914, there were 14,000 Jews living in Aleppo.  

After the UN decision of November 1947 to partition Palestine, anti-Jewish riots took place in Aleppo, and many Jews fled.  By 1991, 400 Jews remained working in trade and peddling.  The city had its Jewish quarter where many synagogues still stood, the oldest being the Mustaribah that was destroyed in the riots of 1947.  The oldest part of this synagogue was dated from the 4th century, so it was a sad loss.  Here, a famous 10th century masoretic codex of the Tanakh (Bible), now in Israel, corrected by Ben Asher, was formerly preserved.  

Resource:

https://www.bbc.com/news/live/cy5l50y76k3t

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Idlib_Governorate

https://www.dni.gov/nctc/ftos/hts_fto.html#:~:text=The%20group%20places%20a%20priority,Front%20from%202012%20to%202017.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Syria

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia

Book:  Messages From A Syrian Jew Trapped In Egypt

EBLA Fallen by Akkadians and How It Affected Israel and Judah Part II on Ebla

 Nadene Goldfoot

Israel today is facing lots of provocations from Hezbollah Terrorists on the border between Israel and Lebanon.  "If they don't watch out, we'll take them back to the Stone Age", was the comment from Israel.  We'll not go back that far, but take a look at ancient history between the two.  

When was the kingdom of Ebla of Northern Syria destroyed?  

Ebla flourished greatly between 2400 and 2250 BC, as a trading city with a sophisticated economic and social system. Ebla was one of the earliest kingdoms in Syria. 

Its remains constitute a tell located about 55 km (34 mi) southwest of Aleppo near the village of Mardikh.  (Reduced to a mound, once a great kingdom.)  So goes the history.  

                         Tiglath-Pileser II (745-726 BCE) strong, like USA

                      Sargon  II, the Assyrian king (721-712 BCE)

   Sennacherib, (705-681 BCE, son of Sargon II,     The second king of the Sargonid dynasty, Sennacherib is one of the most famous Assyrian kings for the role he plays in the Hebrew Bible, which describes history.  Until 689 BCE, he was constantly engaged in wars with Elam and Babylon.  He invaded Judah in 701 BCE and captured 46 cities, but Jerusalem was not one of them.  His first campaign against Judah resulted in Hezekiah's surrender, and the second was cut short by the plague.                                                                                                          

                                                                    

    Akkadians, here being attacked by a lion, soldiers not ruffled at all...

Ebla was destroyed by the Akkadians under Naram Sin in 2250 BC. Naram-Sin was Sargon's grandson. The god-like Akkadian kings ruled with absolute authority. Naram-Sin's title was "King of the Four Quarters" meaning "Ruler of The World".  

Akkad existed in the Babylonian period and was the northern region of the valley between the Euphrates and the Tigris Rivers, which contained Babylon, Sippar, and other important cities.  Akkad was also the ancient city of Babylonia (mentioned in Gen.10:10).  It was the residence of Sargon the Great who became king of the Assyrians! Assyrians, also Semites, had an aggressive kingdom in the 20th century BCE. 

Aleppo, before and after War

 

In 2000 BC Ebla now (Tel Mardikh) was annexed into the Aleppo kingdom of Yamkhad. The city in Syria in the 1980s-2000 was called by the Jews as Aram-Zobah and its Jewish community was one of the oldest in the world.  The mosque there (Al- Hayyat) was previously a synagogue built in the 6th century CE.  1,,500 Jews lived in Aleppo in 1170 CE.  Even later, it became the home of many learned Jews and rabbis.  Spanish Jews arrived from Spain and lived in Aleppo after 1492, the Spanish Inquisition.  Before WWI in 1914 there were 14,000 Jews living here.  Then they started to emigrate to the US and England. Jews fled from Aleppo because of the riots against them in 1947.  Surprisingly, in 1991 there were 400 Jews still living in Aleppo and their occupations were in trade and peddling.  The Mustaribah synagogue was destroyed during the 1947 riots, however, and that had dated back to the 4th century CE.  A famous 10th century  masoretic codex of the Bible, which is now safe in Israel, was formerly preserved.  Ben Asher was involved.  Aleppo was the recent center of Jewish businesses until the war. .  There was even a "Jew Street" in Syria.                        

By 1948 BCE Abraham was born in Ur of the Chaldees by the Euphrates River.    In 1600 BC Elba was conquered and heavily damaged by the Hittites.                                                 

The Hittites lived in Asia Minor and were a powerful ancient people.  Their power extended South to Syria.  Their main kingdom fell in 1200 BCE but flourished in Northern Syria and in the vicinity of the Euphrates River.  

Then they were overrun by the Armenians and the Assyrians.  The Bible connects the Hittites with the Canaanites (Gen.10:15.) and indicates that some lived in Eretz Yisrael/Canaan at an early period.  Abraham purchased the cave in Machpelah from a Hittite while Esau took wives from among them.                                      

     Recalling the story of King David and Bathsheba, whose husband , Uriah, was a Hittite in David's army.  Uriah was killed in battle.  

The Hittites were one of the 7 peoples from whom the Israelites conquered Canaan.  Later, David had Hittite warriors, and Solomon had Hittite wives.

All the neighbor states fought each other at times.  One needs a score pad to keep track of it all.

1. Israelite kings David and then son Solomon fought against the Aramean states in Mesopotamia and Syria.  This helped to strengthen Assyria.

    a. King Ashurbanipal II (883-59 BCE) of Assyrian army overran Syria and the Phoenician cities in 876.  

   b. 853 BCE  Shalmaneser III attacked Ben Hadad II of Damascus. 

   c.  King Ahab of Israel supported Ben  Hadad II in the battle of Karkar.

   d. 848 BCE Shalmaneser III attacked 2nd time -another failure.  

   e. 842 BCE King Ahab's house was liquidated (all the people). King Jehu took his place, paid tribute.  

   f.  841 BCE Damascus held out.  

  g.  806 BCE Damascus was captured which freed Israel from Damascus' control

 h. 803-802 BCE Adad-Nitari III (810-783) compelled the submission of Ben-Hadad III of Damascus.  Johoash of Israel and his son Jeroboam II were successful against Ben-Hadad III because of 

 i. 782-772 BCE Shalmaneser IV and his passivity.  He was under the pressure of kings of Ararat, and of Ashur-Dan III of 772-759 BCE

j.  744 BCE Jeroboam II of Israel (784-744 BCE) died and Uzziah became head of the W anti-Assyrian alliance.  The Assyrian decline , which made this possible, was ended  by:

k. 745-727 BCE Tiglath-Pileser III who overthrew the Syrian confederacy. 

l. 735 BCE: King Ahaz of Judah was attacked by King Pekah of Israel in alliance with Damascus., Philistia, and Edom, so appealed for help to Tiglath-Pileser.   

m. Result was Israel lost its territory in Transjordan and Galilee  

 Philistia, Tyre, Moab, and Edom became Assyrian provinces.  

n. 726 BCE: Hosea of Israel tried to throw off the yoke that led to Shalmaneser V's siege of Samaria 

o. 721 BCE:  Samaria was captured by Sargon and deported 27,290 Israelites to Assyria and Media, and replaced them with Syrian and Babylonian prisoners.  

p.715 BCE Ashdod revolted supported by King Hezekiah of Judah but was suppressed.

q. 705 BCE Accession of Sennacherib causing (?) an uprising throughout the Assyrian Empire giving Hezekiah a chance to reassert his independence.

r. 701 BCE Sennacherib marched south, subdued the Phoenician cities one by one and defeated the Egyptian forces at Eltekeh,, took Ascalon and Joppa, sacked Lachish but not Jerusalem.  

s. 700 BCE Sennacherib invaded and ravaged Judah all the while Hezekiah held out and got moderate terms by paying tribute and ceding territory.

t. 699 BCE  Sennacherib returned home because he was forced to leave when hit by a plague throughout the army.  

u. 669-626 BCE King Manasseh of Judah in plot against Ashurbanipal.

v. 652 BCE Manasseh of Judah was exiled to Assyria because of complicity in a plot against Ashurbanipal 

w. After this time, Assyria declined rapidly and was succeeded by Babylon.  

Resource:

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia 

https://www.boredpanda.com/before-after-war-photos-aleppo-syria/?utm_source=google&utm_medium=organic&utm_campaign=organic

ALEPPO, Syrian City For Jews, Muslims, Christians

Nadene Goldfoot

Aleppo, the Sukari district of Aleppo on 13 November, 2014
The Aleppo bombings (April–July 2016) were intense bombardments on both rebel and government-held areas in the city of Aleppo, Syria starting in late April 2016. Some rebel shelling also hit a Kurdish-held part of the city. The bombings decreased in intensity after 55 days when a temporary truce was established. However, the bombings continued through July.

Involved in the Syrian Civil War
flattened by Assad's bombs
Opposition groups are from the East
Government troops come from the West
"Rebel-held areas have been flattened and abandoned after thousands were killed by "barrel bombs" – steel drums full of shrapnel and explosives – dropped by Syrian government aircraft"

Aleppo, a city in Syria, has been hit many times by the recent war going on in Syria. It had been a city full of Jews and was quite the business center with people from all religions.  "Aleppo was the crown of Jewish splendor in the Sephardic world. "
                                                     

An Aleppo legend, told by both Jews and Muslims, was that the patriarch Abraham had settled down for a while and lived in Aleppo during his wanderings from his native city of Ur (today in Iraq).  He is believe to have milked his cows there.  Halab is the Arabic name for Aleppo.  It is the Aramaic and Hebrew word for "milked." 
                                                    

 Lebanon in the beginning was a part of Syria.  "Lebanon-Syria relations were officially established in October 2008 when Syrian President Bashar Assad issued a decree to establish diplomatic relations with Lebanon for the first time since both countries gained independence from France in 1943 (Lebanon) and 1946 (Syria). Lebanon had traditionally been seen by Syria as part of Greater Syria"
                                                    

Aleppo's Jewish people in Syria goes back to Biblical days and is intertwined with the history and politics of Jerusalem.

There was THE GREAT SYNAGOGUE in Aleppo, with the foundation constructed by King David's General, Joab ben Seruya from about 950 BCE.   Joab conquered the city told in 2 Sam 8:3-8, is still sometimes referred to as Joab's Synagogue.  The design is influenced by Muslim mosques with the ark being an exact copy of a mosque's mihrab, so must have been completed after the Muslim conquest of Syria.  
                                                     

It was called Aram-Zobah by the Jews.  It's listed in Psalms 60:2.  Written by King David at the outset of his campaign against Israel's enemies, David expressed his faith in G-d's assurances that his reign would be consolidated from within and feared from without, so he wrote:  When he made war against Aram-naharaim and Aram-tzobah, and Joab returned and smote Edom." Joab had left his campaign against Aram to attack Edom, which was en route to assist Aram, and killed 12,000 of the enemy.  Joab was born in the 10th century BCE, was David's nephew and commander-in-chief, appointed to head the army.  Joab had supported Adonjah's (4th son of David and elder brother of Solomon) claim to succeed David, and was put to death by King Solomon.  

The Jewish community of Aleppo was one of the oldest in the world.  The Great Synagogue must be what was a synagogue and was converted into the AL-HAYYAT MOSQUE that dated from the 6th century.  1500 Jews were there, found by Benjamin of Tudela.  Later during the Middle Ages the community became known as the home of many men of learning.  
                                                   

Spanish Jews settled there after 1492's Spanish Inquisition, adding spice to the community.  14,000 Jews lived in Aleppo before 1914-the beginning of WWI.  Many then emigrated to England and the USA.  Riots took place in Aleppo and Jews fled after November 1947 with the UN partitioning Palestine.  By 1991, 400 Jews lived in Aleppo.  Most were traders and peddlers.  The Jewish neighborhood, called the Jewish Quarter, contained many ancient synagogues, the oldest being the Mustaribah that was destroyed in the 1947 riots.  The main part had dated back to the 4th century.  It was here that a very famous Masoretic Codex of the Bible was preserved and edited by Ben Asher.  It's now in Israel.                                          

                                      OTTOMAN EMPIRE-400 Year Rule
                                              Jew of the period
                                 Palestine-part of the empire in 1517

The Ottoman Empire encompassed today's Turkey, Israel, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and other territories, but fell after WWI by 1917.  Mandates were given to France and Great Britain to rule.  Britain's was good for 30 years.  The French took control over Aleppo and it and Damascus became a French mandate.  One traveled on a French passport or travel papers.  Massive emigration from Syria happened again after WWI and continued until about 1925 when the GREAT DEPRESSION began.  These people who left then made up the Syrian Jewish communities of Brooklyn and New Jersey.  

The Ottoman Empire's condition for Jews was good compared to other times and places, but they were kept as Dhimmis or 2nd class citizens with many things they were not allowed to do.  They wanted you to believe that they favored the Jews compared to other people because Jews did contribute to a good economy and they were good in commerce.  However, no one wants to be held down as they were.  


Life was held to be very strict for men and women of Syria, even for the Jews.  They were separated so that women got together and played cards. Girls didn't get any formal education until the middle of the 20th century, though a few attended Alliance Israelite Universelle schools.  Marriages were generally arranged after a girl had her 1st menstrual cycle, often as young as 13 or 14. I imagine this was true also in earlier days.  Tradition was that teenage girls and even married women wore gold bangle bracelets, and that is also a very old tradition.   Few women ever worked and rarely shopped!  In the Middle East the husband arranged for a stock of staple items and to market because he was the better negotiator and this was important.  Women were highly respected and honored because being a mother and homemaker was important.  Women kept their heads covered, and if  out in public, also covered their faces.  In other words, they followed the Muslim customs.  

The Ottoman government didn't keep birth records for the Jewish communities, so people depended on the individual rabbis to keep records of the brit milahs, marriages and deaths of the Jewish communities.  From about 1850 on, the Ottoman government appointed a chief rabbi (hakham bashi).  rabbis often came form families which had a long tradition for providing the community with hakhamim, like the Kassins and the Labatons.  Aleppan rabbis were learned in Kabbalah and Talmudic legal traditional.  Aleppan Jews had a well-known reputation for respecting rabbinic authority.  

In the early 1800s European powers called for equal treatment for Christians and Jews.  Jewish contractual positions with the government disappeared, but civil service positions were created.   The jizha tax was a substitution for military service and was eliminated.  By 1908 the Young Turks began conscripting Jews into their army, and this caused mass emigration of Jews to North and South America.  

Before WWI, the Ottomans lost control of their empire.  Jewish men had to serve in the army and fight in the Balkan Wars.  They didn't want to fight in this war.  Syrian Jews moved to Mexico City, Buenos Aires, Argentina, New York, Chicago though most went to New York.  

By then President Assad has virtually made all Jews prisoners.  They could not leave the city nor even have telephones.  Judith Feld Carr of Canada heard about this situation and managed to talk the president into allowing her to take out all the Jews as long as she didn't take them to Israel.  
                                             

                  2009 Aleppo  before Civil War Destruction                               
February 2012 Aleppo bombings - On 10 February 2012, two large bombs exploded at Syrian security forces buildings in Aleppo. According to the Syrian government and state media, the blasts were caused by two suicide car bombs. It reported that 28 people were killed (24 members of the security forces and four civilians) and 235 wounded. Jabhat 

The Syrian Civil War started: " initial March 2011 Arab Spring protests and the 15 July 2012 declaration by the International Committee of the Red Cross that the fighting had gradually become so widespread that the situation should be regarded as a civil war."

Steven V. Roberts wrote a special to the Washington Post on Sunday, December 20, 2009, and  is quoted as saying, "As a Jew, I never felt unsafe or unwelcome in Syria, but the country's once vibrant Jewish population has been driven away, and the grand synagogue of Aleppo lies decaying and desecrated behind iron gates. Syria has taken a different view of its Christian population, which remains at about 10 percent, 14 centuries after the region's conquest by Arabic-speaking Muslims. The Baath Party, which has ruled since 1963, is decidedly secular. But one of its founders, Michel Aflaq, was Greek Orthodox. Christians have traditionally served in high government posts, and Christian practices and monuments are widely respected. 

In the bazaars of Aleppo, the names on the gold and jewelry stores are still mainly Armenian, reflecting the influx of Armenians who fled Turkey during World War I. The town has the second-largest Christian population in the Middle East." 

                                                       

Aleppo's 2019 population is now estimated at 1,834,093. In 1950, the population of Aleppo was 377,981. Aleppo has grown by 854,628 since 2015, which represents a 16.98% annual change.
                                                   

ISIS

Is ISIS out of Syria today?  "ISIS is a proto-state terrorist network that can be traced back to a group called al-Qaeda in Iraq, which was started by a Jordanian terrorist named Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, and arose in response to the U.S. invasion of Iraq in 2003.  The word is that they are almost beaten.  Can Syria handle it by themselves if the USA pulls out now?  

Resource http://www.jewishgen.rg/sefardsig/aleppojews.htm
The NEw Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://www.ibtimes.co.uk/aleppo-once-jewel-syria-now-rebels-last-stand-flattened-by-assads-bombs-1475250
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_the_Syrian_Civil_War