Prior to the Holocaust, Poland had the largest Jewish population in Europe, as a percentage of its population. This was followed by Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia and Romania.
Why were there so many Jews in Germany before WWII?
Before the Nazi takeover of power in 1933, Germany had a thriving Jewish population with strong community organizations. Jews had lived in Germany since Roman times. They were well integrated into German society—they spoke the language, identified with the nationality, and worked alongside non-Jews.
Why were there so many Jews in Poland before WWII?
Poland became a shelter for Jews persecuted and expelled from various European countries and the home to the world's largest Jewish community of the time. According to some sources, about three-quarters of the world's Jews lived in Poland by the middle of the 16th century.
The Jewish population had swelled from 56,000 in 1918 to 608,000 by 1946. The total population had reached 1,850,000 (Figure 3). Much of the immigration had been due to the Nazi persecution of European Jewry.
Before 1948, Palestine was home to a diverse population of Arabs, Jews, and Christians, as all groups had religious ties to the area, especially the city of Jerusalem.
In 1939, the global population of Jewish people worldwide peaked at around 16.6 million. That population was soon decimated by the Holocaust, which saw Nazi Germany and its collaborators kill approximately 6 million Jews. In just a few horrifying years, the global population of Jews had fallen by more than a third.
By more than 1,000 years, “Israel” predates “Palestine.” The land then became home primarily to an Arab population, again for more than a millennium. Both Jews and Arabs thus have a legitimate claim to the land. The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has seen myriad wrongs and brutalities on both sides.
In the aftermath of the Holocaust, most survivors felt there was no future for Jews in Europe. They desired a homeland where Jews would no longer be a vulnerable minority. Those hopes were realized on May 14, 1948, when the modern State of Israel was established.
The origins of Judaism date back more than 3500 years. This religion is rooted in the ancient near eastern region of Canaan (which today constitutes Israel and the Palestinian territories). Judaism emerged from the beliefs and practices of the people known as “Israel”.
The Expulsion of Jews from Spain was the expulsion of practicing Jews following the Alhambra Decree in 1492, which was enacted to eliminate their influence on Spain's large converso population and to ensure its members did not revert to Judaism.
One of two major ancestral groups of Jewish people whose ancestors lived in France and Central and Eastern Europe, including Germany, Poland, and Russia. The other group is called Sephardic Jews and includes those whose ancestors lived in Spain, Portugal, North Africa, and the Middle East.
The three partitions of Poland brought much additional territory to Russia, along with the Jews who were long settled in those lands. Alexander III of Russia escalated anti-Jewish policies. Beginning in the 1880s, waves of anti-Jewish pogroms swept across different regions of the empire for several decades.
The rise in antisemitism has been caused by the internet, current events like the pandemic and the Israel-Palestine conflict, and right-wing political extremism. Due to the rise in antisemitism, the fear of harassment and violence among Jews in Germany has risen, along with antisemitic vandalism and attacks.
The Northern Kingdom was conquered by the Assyrian Empire in 722 BCE and most of its inhabitants were exiled, but the Southern Kingdom remained under Jewish rule until 586 BCE when the Babylonian Empire conquered it, exiling many Jews.
In the 21st century, France has the largest Jewish population in Europe, followed by the United Kingdom, Germany, Russia and Ukraine. Prior to the Holocaust, Poland had the largest Jewish population in Europe, as a percentage of its population. This was followed by Lithuania, Hungary, Latvia and Romania.
It is inaccurate to say the State of Israel only came into existence because of the Holocaust. The First Zionist Congress, convened in 1897, called for the creation of a Jewish State in the land of Israel secured by international law.
Both Jews and Arabs have claimed it as theirs alone. From a purely historical perspective, “Israel” predates “Palestine” by more than a millennium. But, with the Jewish people then dispersed from their homeland, “Palestine” became home to a substantial Arab population, again for more than a millennium.
While the State of Israel was established on 15 May 1948 and admitted to the United Nations, a Palestinian State was not established. The remaining territories of pre-1948 Palestine, the West Bank - including East Jerusalem- and Gaza Strip, were administered from 1948 till 1967 by Jordan and Egypt, respectively.
The two accounts agree that Jesus was born in Bethlehem, modern day Palestine, in Roman-controlled Judea, that his mother, Mary, was engaged to a man named Joseph, who was descended from King David and was not his biological father, and that his birth was caused by divine intervention.
Ashkenazi Jews share genetic similarities with Southern Europeans, such as Italians and Greeks, while exhibiting unique markers distinguishing them from non-Jewish groups.
During the Jagiellon Era Poland became the home to Europe's largest Jewish population, as royal edicts warranting Jewish safety and religious freedom from the 13th century contrasted with bouts of persecution in Western Europe, especially following the Black Death of 1348–1349, blamed by some in the West on Jews ...
