Jewish quarter (diaspora)

Area of a city traditionally inhabited by Jews From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In the Jewish diaspora, a Jewish quarter (also known as jewry, juiverie, Judengasse, Jewynstreet, Jewtown, Judería or proto-ghetto)[1] is the area of a city traditionally inhabited by Jews. Jewish quarters, like the Jewish ghettos in Europe, were often the outgrowths of segregated ghettos instituted by the surrounding Christian or Muslim authorities. A Yiddish term for a Jewish quarter or neighborhood is "Di yiddishe gas" (Yiddish: די ייִדישע גאַס ), or "The Jewish quarter."[2] While in Ladino, they are known as maalé yahudí, meaning "The Jewish quarter".

An 1880 watercolour of the Roman Ghetto by Ettore Roesler Franz.

Many European and Near Eastern cities once had a historical Jewish quarter and some still have it. The history of the Jews in Iraq is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity c. 586 BC. Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities.

Arab world

The Jewish Cemetery of the Mellah of Fez

From the late medieval and early modern period onwards Jews, the only remaining dhimmi, were increasingly confined to ghettolike quarters, such as the mellah in Morocco, the hara in Algeria and Tunisia and the qa'a in Yemen.[3][4] The mellah of Fez, founded in the fifteenth century, became the prototype of the Moroccan ghetto. Though it was probably founded in order to protect and not to punish the Jews, they resented the transfer and viewed it as bitter exile and manifestation of a painful segregation.[4]

Later foundation were founded with the explicit intent of ostracism rather than protection.[5] As such, Jews often had to wear distinguishing clothes and were not allowed to wear shoes outside the mellah.[6] In cities, a mellah was surrounded by a wall with a fortified gateway, often close to kasbah of the king or governor, whereas rural mellahs were separate villages inhabited solely by the Jews.[4]

Europe

Prague-Josefov, which was demolished between 1893 and 1913
The Warsaw Ghetto in May 1941
Jewish Quarter of Třebíč, Czech Republic
The entrance, called the "Port de la Calandre", to the Jewish Quarter in Avignon, France.
Synagogue in the Jewish Quarter of Troyes, France
Jewish cemetery of Legnica, Poland
Jewish Quarter of Caltagirone, Italy
Main articles: Jewish ghettos in Europe and Ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe

Jewish quarters in Europe existed for a number of reasons. In some cases, Christian authorities wished to segregate Jews from the Christian population so that Christians would not be "contaminated" by them [citation needed] or so as to put psychological pressure on Jews to convert to Christianity. From the Jewish point of view, concentration of Jews within a limited area offered a level of protection from outside influences or mob violence. In many cases, residents had their own justice system.

When political authorities designated an area where Jews were required by law to live, such areas were commonly referred to as ghettos, and were usually coupled with many other disabilities and indignities. The areas chosen usually consisted of the most undesirable areas of a city.

In the English city of Norwich, the Jewish quarter was close to the castle, as a source of protection in times of local pogroms. This pattern was seen in other English towns, where Jews were under the protection of the Normans.[7]

In the 19th century, Jewish ghettos were progressively abolished, and their walls taken down, though some areas of Jewish concentration continued and continue to exist. In some cities, Jewish quarters refer to areas which historically had concentrations of Jews. For example, many maps of Spanish towns mark a "Jewish Quarter", though Spain hasn't had a significant Jewish population for over 500 years.

In Eastern Europe there were no Jewish quarters or ghettos. Jews lived in small towns known as shtetls.

Over the course of World War II, Nazi Germany reestablished Jewish ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe (which they called Jewish quarters) for the purpose of segregation, persecution, terror, and exploitation of Jews, mostly in Eastern Europe. According to USHMM archives, "The Germans established at least 1,000 ghettos in German-occupied and annexed Poland and the Soviet Union alone."[8]

Austria
Belgium
Czech Republic
France
Germany
The Judengasse, Frankfurt in 1868
Greece
Hungary
Ireland
Italy
Netherlands
Poland
Portugal
Romania
Spain
Turkey
United Kingdom

Africa

El Ghriba, Djerba island, Tunisia.
Artifacts from the Jewish Quarter, Casablanca, Morocco.
Algeria
Egypt
  • Cairo — Harat Al-Yahud Al-Qara’In and Harat Al-Yahud[20]
Libya
Morocco
Tunisia

Asia

China
India
Lebanon
Turkey
Iran
Iraq
Syria
Uzbekistan
Yemen

Americas

Argentina
Brazil
United States
Uruguay
Canada

References

External links

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