Eighteenth Century of Anti-Semitism By Exiling Jews

 Nadene Goldfoot

Eighteenth century

1703                                                                     

The Aleinu prayer is prohibited in most of Germany. There are 21 lines.

In the traditional words of the Aleinu, we state that God will "sweep away false gods from the earth" and "repair the world." On that day, the prayer says, "God will be One and God's Name will be One." The Aleinu, in its essence, is a prayer about our hope for the world to be united and at peace, for evil to be driven ..Aleinu or Aleinu leshabei'ach, meaning "it is upon us" or "it is our obligation or duty [to praise God]", is a Jewish prayer found in the siddur, the classical Jewish prayerbook. It is recited in most communities at the end of each of the three daily Jewish services and in the middle of the Rosh Hashanah mussaf.

1	It is our duty to praise the Master of all,	Aleinu l'šabeaḥ la'Adon hakol	עָלֵינוּ לְשַׁבֵּחַ לַאֲדוֹן הַכֹּל,‎
2	to ascribe greatness to the Author of creation,	latet gedulah l'yoṣer b'reišit,	לָתֵת גְּדֻלָּה לְיוֹצֵר בְּרֵאשִׁית,

                                                       

            

1706

An outbreak of the plague and a terrible famine in Algiers reduced many Jewish families to indigence. Then, influenced by false accusations, the bey imposed an exorbitant fine on the community and ordered the destruction of the synagogues, which were saved only by the payment of a further sum. This ruined the majority of the Jews.

1711

Johann Andreas Eisenmenger writes his Entdecktes Judenthum ("Judaism Unmasked"), a work denouncing Judaism and which had a formative influence on modern antisemitic polemics.In Amsterdam he met three Christians who had been converted to Judaism, and this filled him with indignation. As a further cause of his hatred of Judaism, he claims the otherwise unknown attacks against Christianity which he heard from the mouth of David Lida, then (1681) rabbi of Amsterdam. For nineteen years he studied rabbinical literature assisted by Jews, first in Heidelberg and afterward in Frankfort-on-the-Main, pretending that he desired to be converted to Judaism.Having collected from rabbinical literature all that was calculated to bring it into disrepute and to give justification for anti-Jewish prejudices, he published his "Entdecktes Judenthum" (Judaism Unmasked), which has remained the arsenal for detractors of Talmudic literature down to the present day. We have 2;  Palestinian- by people before 400 BCE and Babylonian-by people before 500 BCE. This one is longer.    A collection of the records of academic discussion and judicial administration of Jewish Law by generations of scholars and jurists in many academies and in more than one country. What a record of thinking before those dates!  

1712

Blood libel in Sandomierz, Poland and expulsion of the town's Jews. An allegation that Jews murder Christians in order to get blood for the Passover or other rituals.  

1715

Elector Max Emanuel orders the deportation of all Jews living in Bavaria-SE of Germany-

Major cities include Munich (its capital and largest city, which is also the third largest city in Germany), Nuremberg, and Augsburg.

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1717

All Jews living in Gibraltar-bordered on north by Spain,  are expelled.

1718

The last Jews of Carniola, Styria and Carinthia are expelled.

They are historically significant regions in the Alps, primarily located in what is now Slovenia and Austria. They were part of the Inner Austrian territories, ruled by the Habsburgs. These regions were duchies, and their historical significance lies in their role as a buffer zone between the Habsburg lands and the Kingdom of Hungary, Venice, and other surrounding states. 

1721

Arab creditors set fire to an Ashkenazi synagogue, fed up with debts. Ashkenazi Jews are banned from Jerusalem along with anyone who looks like an Ashkenazi Jew. Some Ashkenazim dressed up like Sephardic Jews in order to fool the authorities.

1721

Maria Barbara Carillo was burned at the stake for heresy during the Spanish Inquisition. She was executed at the age of 95 or 96 and is the oldest person known to have been executed at the instigation of the Inquisition. Carillo was sentenced to death for heresy for returning to her faith in Judaism.

1724

Jews of Radom, Poland are exiled.

1727

Edict of Catherine I of Russia: "The Jews... who are found in Ukraine and in other Russian provinces are to be expelled at once beyond the frontiers of Russia."

1734

The Haidamaks, paramilitary bands in Polish Ukraine, attack Jews.

1736

María Francisca Ana de Castro, called La bella toledana, a Spanish immigrant to Peru, was arrested in 1726, accused of "judaizing" (being a practicing Jew)  (anusim). She was burned at the stake after an auto de fe in 1736. This event was a major spectacle in Lima, Peru but it raised questions about possible irregular procedures and corruption within the Inquisition.

1737

Blood libel in Jarosław, Poland leads to Jews being tortured and others being put to death.  

1742 Elizabeth of Russia issues a decree of expulsion of all the Jews out of Ukraine. Her resolution to the Senate's appeal regarding harm to the trade: "I don't desire any profits from the enemies of Christ". One of the deportees is Antonio Ribera Sanchez, her own personal physician and the head of army's medical dept.  In 1742, Elizabeth of Russia (Elizaveta Petrovna), not Queen Elizabeth (of England), was the reigning empress of Russia. She came to power in 1741 and ruled until her death in 1762. While Elizabeth did rule a vast territory, including parts of what is now Ukraine, it's important to note that the concept of "Ukraine" as a distinct, unified entity is a more modern idea. The territory she ruled was part of the broader Russian Empire, and its governance was structured differently than a modern nation-state. 

1743

The Russians gain control of Riga, Latvia and all local Jews are expelled.

1744

Frederick II The Great (a "heroic genius", according to Hitler) limits Breslau, Poland to ten "protected" Jewish families, on the grounds that otherwise they will "transform it into complete Jerusalem". He encourages this practice in other Prussian cities. In 1750 he issues Revidiertes General Privilegium und Reglement vor die Judenschaft: "protected" Jews had an alternative to "either abstain from marriage or leave Berlin" (Simon Dubnow).

1744                                                                    

Archduchess of Austria Maria Theresa orders: "... no Jew is to be tolerated in our inherited duchy of Bohemia" by the end of Feb. 1745. In December 1748 she reverses her position, on condition that Jews pay for readmission every ten years. This extortion was known among the Jews as malke-geld (queen's money).^] In 1752 she introduces the law limiting each Jewish family to one son.

1746

The city of Radom, Poland bans Jews from entering.

1753

The Jewish community of Kaunas, Lithuania  is expelled

1755

Jeronimo Jose Ramos, a merchant from Bragança, Portugal, is burned at the stake for being secretly Jewish. (anusim).                       

Painting (16th century) showing the alleged desecration of hosts by Jews in Passau in 1477 (detail), Oberhausmuseum [de] (Passau); The picture is attempting to show a Jew stabbing  the bread (body of Christ), thereby killing their god.  

         Catholic rite in church by priest:  

In the Catholic Eucharist, the bread is unleavened, wheaten bread, often called a host. The wine is natural grape wine, typically red, to which a small quantity of water is added. The bread and wine are consecrated and transformed into the body and blood of Christ, according to Catholic belief. 

1761

Several Jews from Alsace, France are executed after being accused of host desecration,

It involves the mistreatment or malicious use of a consecrated host—the bread used in the Eucharistic service of the Divine Liturgy or Mass, an old accusation tried again.  

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1761

The Jews of Kaunas, Lithuania are expelled after anti-Jewish riots.

1762

Rhode Island refuses to grant Jews citizenship stating "no person who is not of the Christian religion can be admitted free to this colony."

In 1762, Rhode Island was a British colony, not yet part of the United States. The United States of America was formed later, after declaring independence from Great Britain in 1776 and formally established with the Treaty of Paris in 1783. Rhode Island became the 13th state to ratify the Constitution on May 29, 1790. 

1766

All but 6 Jews are expelled from Toruń, Poland.

1768

Haidamaks massacre the Jews of Uman, Ukraine.

Russian brigand bands of the eighteenth century. The disorganized condition of Poland during the eighteenth century made it possible for the discontented peasants and Cossacks of the Greek Orthodox faith to make organized attacks on their Catholic masters—the Polish nobles—and the Jews. The general disorder, and the agitation of the Greek Orthodox priests led to the formation of brigand bands known as "Haidamacks," composed of runaway serfs, Saporogians, and Cossacks from Russian Ukraine. In 1734 and again in 1750, under Cossack leaders, they robbed and destroyed many towns, villages, and estates in Kiev, Volhynia, and Podolia, killing a great number of Jews and Polish nobles. In 1768 occurred the Uman massacre, when Gonta and his followers killed thousands of Jews, sparing neither old nor young.

1775

Pope Pius VI issues a severe Editto sopra gli ebrei (Edict concerning the Jews). Previously lifted restrictions are reimposed, Judaism is suppressed.

1775

A blood libel spread in Hebron, Palestine, in which Jews were falsely accused of murdering the son of a local sheikh. Mob attacks took place. At first the Sheikh demanded to kill all the Jews but after pleas settled on a large fine that nearly destroyed the community.

1776

The Jewish community of Basra, Iraq is massacred.

1782

Holy Roman Emperor Joseph II abolishes most of persecution practices in Toleranzpatent on condition that Yiddish and Hebrew are eliminated from public records and judicial autonomy is annulled. Judaism is branded "quintessence of foolishness and nonsense". Moses Mendelssohn writes: "Such a tolerance... is even more dangerous play in tolerance than open persecution".

1783

The Sultan expels the Moroccan Jews for failing to pay an exorbitant ransom.

1785

Ali Burzi Pasha murders hundreds of Libyan Jews.

1786

Jews are expelled from Jeddah, Saudi Arabia, most of them flee to Yemen.

1790

Yazid becomes the Sultan of Morocco and immediately orders troops to massacre and plunder the Jewish quarter of Tétouan, Morocco.

1790

The Touro Synagogue's warden, Moses Seixas, wrote to George Washington, expressing his support for Washington's administration and good wishes for him. Washington sent a letter in response, which read in part:

"... the Government of the United States ... gives to bigotry no sanction, to persecution no assistance. ... May the children of the Stock of Abraham, who dwell in this land, continue to merit and enjoy the good will of the other Inhabitants; while every one shall sit in safety under his own vine and fig tree, and there shall be none to make him afraid. May the father of all mercies scatter light and not darkness in our paths, and make us all in our several vocations useful here, and in his own due time and way everlastingly happy."

— Letter of George Washington to the Hebrew Congregation in Newport, Rhode Island:  It expresses his wish for the Jewish community in the United States to enjoy peace and prosperity, along with the broader concept of religious liberty for all citizens. 1744–1809. Moses Seixas was a first-generation American of Portuguese Jewish stock, his parents having emigrated from Lisbon. The family settled in Newport, Rhode Island, where Seixas was later to distinguish himself in civic, religious, and mercantile affairs. A Freemason, Seixas was grand master of his Masonic lodge.There is an annual event reading Washington's letter, and speakers at the annual event have included Supreme Court Justices Ruth Bader Ginsburg and Elena Kagan; and Brown University Presidents Ruth Simmons and Christina Paxson.

1790, 20 May

Eleazer Solomon is quartered for the alleged murder of a Christian girl in Grodno, Belarus.

1790–1792

Destruction of most of the Jewish communities of Morocco.

1791                                           

Catherine II of Russia confines Jews to the Pale of Settlement and imposes them with double taxes.

1797                                                               

Napoleon calls for the end of Jewish segregation, ghettoization and the denial of equal rights.                  

                  1806 French print depicting Napoleon granting freedom of worship to the Jews

The first laws to emancipate Jews in France were enacted during the French Revolution, establishing them as citizens equal to other Frenchmen. In countries that Napoleon Bonaparte's ensuing Consulate and French Empire conquered during the Napoleonic Wars, he emancipated the Jews and introduced other ideas of liberty. He overrode old laws restricting Jews to reside in ghettos, removed the forced identification of Jews by their wearing the Star of David. In Malta, he ended the enslavement of Jews and permitted the construction of a synagogue there. He also lifted laws that limited Jews' rights to property, worship, and certain occupations. In anticipation of a victory in the Holy Land that failed to come about, he wrote a proclamation published in April 1799 for a Jewish homeland there.                                  

Resource: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Timeline_of_antisemitism

https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/the-treatment-of-jews-in-arab-islamic-countries

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

https://www.jewishencyclopedia.com/articles/7056-haidamacks

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

The Jews of Belgium

Nadene Goldfoot                                                                                                                     

Painting (16th century) showing the alleged desecration of hosts by Jews in Passau in 1477 (detail),Oberhausmuseum (de) (Passau). An example of how anti-Semitism has edged into oil paintings depicting lies.  

The history of Jews, the Ashkenazis, entering Europe  began with the Roman conquests. Jews followed the path of the Roman legions to Belgium in the years 53-57 CE.

Jews were late in settling in Belgium according to written records, however.  It wasn't until the 13th century that a few Jews were in the area which constituted the present Belgium of Brabant and Hainault.

They were almost exterminated by 1348 caused by being blamed for the Black Death.  A fresh settlement was established in Brabant, especially in Brussels, but was wiped out in 1370 as the result of a charge of Host Desecration. " Host desecration is a form of sacrilege in Christianity (most frequently identified as such in the traditions of Anglicanism, Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, and Catholicism) involving the mistreatment or malicious use of a consecrated host—the sacred bread used in the Eucharistic service or Mass."  How they were charged with this seems to be a contrived and malicious charge, as they would not have been near any such bread.  As we see above, the charge was not only made in 1370 but also in 1477, a different aspect of the usual blood libel.  

By the 16th century, many Marranos (derogatory word for Jews who had to convert to Catholicism in order to remain in Spain or be killed) settled in Antwerp. Today the term used is Anusim for Jews whose ancestors were forced to convert.   Under Spanish rule, it had become a great center of the spice trade, and the leading family in this trade was the banking-house of MENDES.  There were occasional judicial inquiries in 1531-2, and 1540-1, and again in 1550, etc, but the secret settlement retained its importance until an  open Jewish community was formed at Amsterdam.  
1. Alvaro M (see Ibn Yaish, Solomon
2. Diogo M d: 1543-Portuguese banker who established an important financial and trading house at Antwerp in about 1500 and long headed the Marrano community of that city.  He was the brother in law of Gracia Nasi.                                                                       

Oldest synagogue in Antwerp, Belgium, built in 1893

  In the 17th and 18th centuries, Amsterdam Jews often traveled in Belgium  for trade, and there was a semi-overt synagogue in Antwerp.  
                                                                                

A soldier standing guard outside synagogue  in Antwerp, Belgium today

Ashkenazi Jews began to settle in the 18th century when the area was under Austrian rule, and became formally organized under the French from 1794 to 1814.  The the Dutch were the rulers from 1814 to 1830.  
                                                                               

When the kingdom of Belgium was constituted in 1830-1, religious equality became part of the fundamental law of the state, as in Holland, and Belgian Jewry was organized under a consistory with its center in Brussels.  Antwerp, however, because of its great diamond industry, was the largest community.                                                                           

Belgium's Yellow Badge

   Like all European Jews, the Jews of Belgium suffered severely during the German occupation from 1940 to 1944.  " On May 10, 1940, Nazi Germany invaded Belgium, taking just 18 days to put the country under military rule which lasted until liberation in September 1944".  "Anti-Jewish measures began in the autumn of 1940 and grew worse over time. The first prohibitions included ritual slaughter and other religious rites. Other discriminatory actions followed with the Nazis prohibiting Jews from certain professions, such as the fields of law and education. By 1941, authorities started to confiscate property, including the diamond exchange, to set up curfews and to confine Jews to cities. The Nazis ordered Jews to wear yellow badges in early 1942 and, in September of that same year, began rounding them up by the thousands and deporting them, mostly to Auschwitz. Very few Belgian Jews survived concentration camps."

The Jewish community numbered 66,000 on the eve of the Second World War.  The usual anti-Semitic legislation was introduced into Belgium and 53,000 out of about 100,000 Jews were deported.                                                               

Diane von Furstenberg

"Diane Simone Michelle Halfin was born in Brussels, Belgium, to Jewish parents. Her father was Romanian-born Leon (Lipa) Halfin, who had migrated to Belgium in 1929 from Chişinău (then in Bessarabia, a province of Romania, and now the capital of Moldova). Her mother was Greek-born Liliane Nahmias, a Holocaust survivor.   Just eighteen months before Fürstenberg was born, her mother was in the Auschwitz concentration camp. Furstenberg has spoken broadly about her mother’s influence in her life, crediting her with teaching her that “Fear is not an option.”   Furstenberg later studied economics at the University of Geneva in Switzerland. She then moved to Paris and worked as an assistant to fashion photographer’s agent, Albert Koski.  She left Paris for Italy to work as an apprentice to the textile manufacturer Angelo Ferretti in his factory, where she learned about cut, color and fabric.  It was here that she designed and produced her first silk jersey dresses."

"Formerly Princess Diane of Fürstenberg(German: Diane Prinzessin zu Fürstenberg, born 31 December 1946) is a Belgian-born American fashion designer best known for her iconic wrap dress.  She initially rose to prominence when she married into the German princely House of Fürstenberg, as the wife of Prince Egon of Fürstenberg. Following their divorce in 1972, she has continued to use his family name, although she is no longer entitled to use the title princess following her divorce and subsequent remarriage in 2001.

              "On 24 May 2014, a gunman opened fire at the Jewish Museum of Belgiumin Brussels, Belgium, killing four people. Three died at the scene; a fourth was taken to hospital and died on 6 June. The attack was being investigated as terrorism by Belgian authorities.
Then on 30 May, Mehdi Nemmouche, a 29-year-old French national of Algerian origin, was arrested at Marseille in connection with the shooting. He is believed to have spent over a year in Syria and had links with radical Islamists  and appears to have recorded a video bearing the flag of the rebel group Islamic State in Iraq and Syria. "     Above you see policeman patrolling by the museum today as an orthodox Jewish man and son walk by.                                                                                      
There were 31,8000 Jews living in Belgium by 1990.  The community of Brussels consisted of 15,000 Jews and that of Antwerp was also 15,000 being the largest.  Small centers existed in Charleroi and Ostend with semi-organized groups also in Ghent, Liege, Arlon, Knokke and Mons.  Belgium is the 4th largest Jewish Community in Europe.

Brussels (Today Brussels has over 20,000 Jewish inhabitants).

                                                                       
Resource: The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_the_Jews_in_Belgium

http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Belgium.html
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Diane_von_F%C3%BCrstenberg
http://www.visitbelgium.com/?page=jewish-heritage
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jewish_Museum_of_Belgium_shooting