Summary of Jewish history in France •
Jews in the Roman era
Determining when Jews settled in Gaul is nearly impossible. However, from the fourth century on, several written records from the Romans show the presence of the Jews. Very few came from Palestine and most came from Rome where they had emigrated after the destruction of Jerusalem in 132 – 135 after Jesus Christ. The Roman Empire, now under Christian rule, persecuted more and more the Jews who found refuge in the heart of Gaul where Christianity was still developing. There were few of them and they were living mainly in a cluster of thirty hamlets located along the Mediterranean cost and at the crossroads of commercial routes e.g. Clermont-Ferrand / Poitiers and along the Rhone Valley, towards the Rhine. Gallic falks (inhabitants of Gaul) considered the Jews to be the same as Romans and as a result granted them some privileges such as freedom of belief and access to civil servants’ jobs. •
The Catholic Church and the Jews
In the fifth century, German tribes (the Francs) lead by Clovis (481-511) invaded northern Gaul. Converted to Christianity, the king saw himself as a protector of the Church. Despite Clovis’s slight religious fanaticism, Jews were left in peace. But, in the fourth century, the Catholic Church that transferred its headquarters to Rome accused the Jews of not recognising Jesus Christ as the Messiah and God’s son. From then on, the Catholic Church tended to limit the liberty of Jews, excluding them from social life and forbidding them to hold any job of power over Christians. Between the 6th and the 7th century, mixed marriages were forbidden for Catholics. Between the 7th and the 8th century, when Islam appeared in France because of the Arabic invasion from the South (invasion stopped in 762 at Poitiers by Charles MARTEL), the political situation worsened for the French Jews. Dagobert 1st, the French king, gave them the following choice : “Convert to Catholicism or leave the country”. So the majority of the Jewish population left the French kingdom. •
CHARLEMAGNE: a King very fond of Jews
Under Charlemagne’s reign, the Jews were very fortunate in France. King Charlemagne protected the Jewish population living on his territory, received them in his Court and gave them diplomatic jobs because of their skills in foreign languages and diplomatic networks. Under his royal protection, the Jews developed the French trade across the world. But the Jewish population still did not have any official status and their situation depended on King Charlemagne’s goodwill. In the 9th century, the Catholic Church took umbrage at the ruler’s complaisance towards the Jews and as a result, Agonbard, the bishop of Lyon, started a moral crusade against “the Jews’ insolence”. The weaker the King’s influence became, the stronger grew the Church’s power and with it anti-Jewish policies.
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The Expulsions of the French Jews
The French king Philip Augustus was the first king to expel Jews from the French kingdom in 1182. But in fact, this decision had little impact because most Jewish “French” communities at that time were living in areas that were not yet part of the French Kingdom. Only a thousand Jews were expelled from the territory of Paris. In 1306, the French king Philip the Fair decided to expel the Jews from his territories and to seize Jewish valuables and assets. As a consequence, several thousands of Jews had to leave the kingdom for peaceful territories that were not under the law of the French king. The Jews expelled in 1306 settled in independent states such as: Lorraine (French only since 1766), Alsace (French since 1648), Burgundy (French since the death of Duke Charles the Brave in 1477 before Nancy), the province of Dauphiné (French since 1349), Savoy (former Italian state turned French only since 1860), Provence (south eastern France – since 1481), the Comtat Venaissin (Pope territory close to Avignon – French since 1791) and Spain. In 1320, anti-Semitism were very severe in the French kingdom and the Jews had to pay heavy fines as a consequence of anti-Jewish riots. In 1359, King John the Good had to surrender and was captured by the King of England. Charles of Normandy, king on behalf of John the Good, admitted Jews in France so that they could develop trade and pay taxes to increase the national budget. France had to pay a ransom to England to have its king released. Thanks to their contribution, the Jews obtained several times a temporary permit of residence in the French kingdom until the end of 14th century. •
The great expulsion
Finally, by a royal decision on 17th September 1394, the French king Charles VI expelled the Jewish community from the royal territories again. The Jews had to find another peaceful haven. So they moved to the Rhineland, Northern Italy, Spain and North Africa. A century after the above mentioned great expulsion, the Jews had to leave Dauphiné (Grenoble area) and Provence, too (south-eastern provinces of the present French territory). As a consequence, around 1500, the remaining “French Jews” were living in the pope’s territories: Avignon and the Comtat Venaissin. They were the only non-catholic people allowed to live and to practise their faith in the pope’s territories. •
The French Jewish revival
In 1565, the French king Henry II authorized three Jewish families to resettle in Metz for economic and military reasons. Later, King Louis XIV confirmed Jewish settlement in this part of the French kingdom (only reunified since 1648). In the south-western part of France, close to the Spanish border, Jews were allowed to practise their faith in public in the 1660’s. Step by step, converted Jews were accepted in the kingdom if their religious traditions were not public. •
Henri Grégoire – The best lawyer for French Jews
The priest Henri Grégoire (1750-1831) was a deputy from the Nancy region in the “1789 General Estates” (Assembly of the three national orders: noblemen, church and the Third estate) convened by King Louis XVI in order to try to stop popular pre-revolutionary riots. He was in favour of the improvement of the Jewish status in France. He estimated that there were about 50,000 persons of Jewish faith living in France at the eve of the French Revolution (July 14th, 1789). In Alsace, Jews suffered from popular riots. Peasants looted not only castles but also destroyed Jewish houses, shops and accounting books. A lot of Jews decided to flee to Switzerland. The Jews took legal action before the New National Assembly. The priest Grégoire pleaded in favour of the Jewish community of France, asking for equality among all French citizens regardless their religious beliefs. Thanks to the priest Grégoire, the Jews eventually emancipated and became citizens of the same rights as any French citizen. For instance, they were free to practise their chosen profession. •
The EMPIRE
Napoleon was both fascinated and wary about the Jews. He did not understand them or found it rather hard to try to do so. Faced with complaints from anti-Jewish pressure groups from Alsace, Napoleon ordered on May 30th 1806 the creation of a “Jewish Assembly” constituted of 100 nobles designated by Napoleon’s local governors. On 29th July 1806, this Jewish Parliament answered questions about Jewish feelings and behaviours towards the French Nation. The Emperor was happy with their answers and decided to summon a large Jewish Assembly: The Grand Sanhédrin. Its purpose was to demonstrate its allegiance to Napoleon and to subject the Jews’ religious duties to the Empire’s laws. Despite those sound resolutions, on March 17th 1808, Napoleon published a decree controlling Jews in France. This decree will later be known as “décret infame” (infamous decree). The “Israelites”, as the Jews are now called, are also subjected to different restrictions concerning their trade and financial activities while their liberties acquired during the revolution are ignored. By a decree published on 20 July 1808, Napoleon made it compulsory to take a surname and not just the juxtaposition of first names from forefathers and/or hereditary nicknames. So state governors decided to organise a Jewish census in the cities were Jews were living. Registers for the Jewish census of 1808 were available in the city halls of villages or cities. In France, civil records have existed since 1792 and each citizen living in the country, regardless their religion, had to register in the civil register any birth, marriage or death. Through these legal measures, Napoleon probably intended to control the population, for instance with military or security purposes (During the numerous wars he engaged, Napoleon needed many men to form troops against other European empires). Thanks to these declarations of official Jewish names called in French “prise de noms patronymiques de 1808”, it is possible to estimate the importance of Jewish French populations in 1808 and to identify different Jewish families living in a certain place (if the documents survived the wars or the burning of archives or were not lost during the centuries). Thanks to these 1808 declarations and to death certificates written after 1793, French genealogists are able to establish a Jewish genealogy until roughly 1750. We have other archive sources available but they are much more complex and time-consuming to use e.g. notary records or fiscal declarations after death.
But as the Jewish people were rural and moved a lot before 1800, it is very difficult to follow them in that era of history without precise indications or clues about their residence. In France at that time, civil registers did not exist for each city or village. Catholic records, which in some big cities may be available from 1550, are not useful in the case of Jewish communities (we have the same problem for Protestants since King Louis XIV forbade Protestantism in 1685 and persecuted all the people refusing to give up their Protestant religion in favour of Catholic faith). Fortunately, after Napoleon’s defeat and the return to power of King Louis XVIII, the brother of Louis XVI beheaded by French Revolution, the infamous decree was cancelled in 1818. •
A new upper middle class
Before 1789, the Jewish population in France was mostly present in rural areas. After 1850, the Jews left the rural areas to settle in the cities. So the Jewish population became more visible because their concentration was increasing in a number of cities. The Jewish population was in favour of the Revolution of 1830. For the first time in French history, in 1842, three Jewish citizens became members of the Parliament: Adolphe Crémieux, Achille Fould and Max Théodore Cerf Berr. To become a member of the Parliament was a great evidence of a good integration into national community. Gradually, the Jews increased their presence in French economic, political, cultural and social life. Finally, in 1846, the French king Louis Philippe abolished the rule called “more judaico” which means the tradition for Jews to have to take the oath before French courts when they have to testify or to defend themselves. In 1848, with the arrival of the second French Republic, Jews were well integrated in administrative, economic and political life. Step by step, the Jews became “real” French citizens. The lower resistance of the Jewish men community to accomplish compulsory military service is a relevant clue for a good integration into the French nation. •
Quantitative estimation and transformation of the Jewish French population from 1808 to 2010
According to the 1808 census, the Jewish French community can be estimated to about 46,600 people, the major part (26,000) of them was living in Alsace (name of the French region situated east of Lorraine and whose capital cities are Strasbourg in the north and Mulhouse in the south. From a statistical point of view, the relative importance of the Jewish community within the general French population did not change that much between 1808 (0,16%) and 1886 (0,24%). But as a consequence of the migration of the French Jews from rural areas to cities, we may mention the fact that Jews are more visible to Catholics because their settlement density is more significant in the different places where they are living at the end of 19th century. In 1866, according to an official census, there were around 90,000 Jewish citizens living in France. Paris was becoming the major Jewish settlement in France and conversely the Jewish population was declining in the south eastern part and in the eastern side of France. Alsace’s peak Jewish population (40,000 people) was reached in about 1853. 70 % of the French Jews were living in Paris, about 25,000 or 30% of the national Jewish population in 1861 belonged to the French upper class. After 1872, 90% of the French Jews are living in the cities and no longer in rural areas as their ancestors did. This phenomenon of migration from rural areas to cities has been increasing since the first French military defeat against Germany (in 1871).
Between 1880 and 1925, around 200,000 Jews, mainly from central and eastern Europe, entered France to flee political persecution or very bad living conditions. These foreign Jews mostly settled in Paris where their traditions were not very well accepted by the native French Jewish community. Most of those Jewish immigrants had different cultural and religious habits; besides, their native language was Yiddish which was poorly considered because perceived as a dialect. The Jews who had lived in France for a long time considered themselves as ordinary French citizens; usually they had been integrated in French society for several generations and belonged to the upper class. So they did not want to be assimilated to eastern European Jews, especially while a “nationalist” feeling in politics was increasing. After the declaration of World War I, 16,000 Jewish men joined army forces, among them half enrolling in the Army. For them, it was an honour to defend their new country against Germany. 7,500 Jewish French citizens lost their life in this terrifying and bloody European conflict (out of an estimated French Jewish population of 180,000 at that time). In France, on the eve of the Second World War, the Jewish population was estimated to be roughly 300,000 people, among them 100,000 people who did not have the French nationality. This Jewish French population before WW II shows a multicultural face with a very well integrated upper class ancient local community, the recent arrival of mostly poor east European Jews and educated German Jews who had emigrated after Hitler‘s rise to power in 1933. After the racist and anti-Semitic laws of 1940 and 1941, the French pro-Nazi government contributed between 1942 and 1944 to the arrest and to the deportation of about 76,000 Jews from France (among them 11,000 children), mostly to Auschwitz-Birkenau. A further group of French Jews was killed as hostages or resistance fighters. It is estimated that one third of the French Jewish population had disappeared until 1945. This proportion is important but much less that what occurred for example in the Netherlands (90% of Dutch Jews killed) and in Poland (more than 90% of 3.3 millions Jews living in the country in 1939). According to historians’ opinions, the remaining Jewish French population survived thanks to French Catholics and Protestants. The French population helped to hide a lot of Jews, especially a lot of children. In many small cities, among them Verdun, the pre-war local Jewish community has been almost totally wiped out and for the survivors, it was very difficult to regenerate the community, there was even the problem that there were not enough men to constitute the minimum Minian to read the Torah. For the French remaining Ashkenazic communities, the most important tasks to do were to find “hidden children”, to give them back to their parents and to finance the education of Jewish orphans. The trauma caused by the Shoah is so important for the community that between 1947 and 1950 around 2,150 French Jews decided to change their Jewish name. Other Jews decided to convert to other religions and the number of “mixed marriages” increased during this period. Between 1956 and 1967, 235,000 Sephardic Jews from Morocco and Algeria arrived in the ports of Southern France and in Paris, as a result of the wars of independence in these countries. Thanks to this Jewish immigration, the French Jewish communities were literally reborn in the 1960’s and 1970’s. Indeed, the happiness and the specific mood of Mediterranean Jews are well known. Besides, Sephardic Jews came to France with a lot of children to educate and they brought their specific religious cultures.
Even if the French law does not permit to identify and select inhabitants by their religious beliefs (since the Law of separation of Church and the French State in 1905), the Jewish population was estimated in 2002 to about 575,000 people (about 0,65% of the total number of the French continental population). This is the second largest Jewish population in Europe after Russia, before Great Britain. At the same time, France is home to the largest Arabic and Muslim population in Europe (5 to 6 millions of Muslims are living in France) and the communities live together usually peacefully. •
Conclusion
In conclusion, the major characteristics of the French Jewish population in 2011 are the following: there are 70 % Sephardic Jews; 56 % of the population is living in Paris and its suburbs; the other French cities with major Jewish settlement are Marseille, Lyon, Toulouse, Nice, Mulhouse and Strasbourg. As far as Jewish traditions are concerned, 70% of French Jews are living with a Jewish partner; 42 % are respecting Casherout rules ; 51% are conservative or orthodox Jews ; 30% of French Jews do not respect Jewish traditions. •
Biography
Selections from the book « Les Juifs » de Daniel HOURES (2002) Histoire Magazine (special publication) – Jews in France – Judaïsm, Republic and Israël – Déc. 2000 Consistoire de France (official organisation of jews in France): statistics Michel WINOCK – the French Jews from 1789 to 2005 (Conference in Verdun Peace Center)
Annexe: example of 1808 names declaration for Bar-Le-Duc (Bar-sur-Ornain in 1808)
Major events in French Jewish history
70: destruction of Temple in Jerusalem 4th century: first evidence of Jewish settlement in Gaul (former name of France) 768 – 814: Empire of Charlemagne 843: Treaty of Verdun – Charlemagne’s Empire split between his three grandchildren 1070: foundation of the Rashi Talmudic school in Troyes 1182: King Philip Augustus expels Jews from French kingdom 1198: King Philip Augustus calls back Jews into his territories 1306: King Philip the Fair expels Jews (until 1315) 1320: anti-Semitism is increasing in French Kingdom 1348-1349: Black Plague in eastern Europe. Jews are accused to transport Black Plague and another time considered as scapegoat. 1359: French King John the Good is captured by English Army. Charles of Normandy, temporary manager of the kingdom, is opening French territory to Jews to try to finance national budget. 1394: King Charles VI again expels Jews from the Kingdom of France. The remaining French Jews are living in Alsace and around Avignon in the Pope state. 1552: French King Henry II enters in Verdun, Toul and Metz (free city member of Holy Roman German Empire) and authorises a small Jewish settlement in particular because he needs Jews to help him to finance his army (which needs barley, horses and temporary money lending to avoid soldier revolts). 1648: Peace treaties of Westphalia after the so called 30 years wars (1618-1648) in France and between German states. Elsaß (Alsace) becomes a French territory and King Louis the 14th confirms Jews’ rights in this area of France. 1788: The Catholic Priest Grégoire wins the competitive exam of Metz Royal Society for Sciences and Arts with his work on Jews revival. 1789: French Revolution - 14th July = assault of Bastille fortress / 26th August = Declaration of Human Rights and Citizenship. 1790 (28 January): Portuguese Jews from Bordeaux and the Pope State obtain French citizenship. 1791 (27th September): new French Parliament votes for French citizenship for Jews in all parts of the French territory. Feb. 1807: Grand Sanhédrin 1808: Napoleon’s rules on Jews – among several rules, Jews have to declare themselves at the city hall in the cities of more than 2000 inhabitants and choose fixed last names.
1818: King Louis XVIII (brother of Louis XVI condemned to death penalty and executed by French Revolution) cancels restrictive laws against Jewish populations published by Napoleon. 1842: For the first time in France three citizens (Adolphe Crémieux, Achille Fould et Max Théodore Cerf Berr) of Jewish religion are elected members of the French Parliament. 1870: Adolphe CREMIEUX Law which gives French citizenship to Jews living in Algeria (French colony). 1894: Captain Alfred DREYFUS, a Jewish army officer, is indicted and condemned for “High Treason” to be sent to deportation to French off shore criminal colony called “Cayenne” and situated on the west coast of south America. 1906: after several years of great public fight all over the country, Alfred DREYFUS officially recovers his honour and military position. 1914-1918: WWI which caused France a great number of injured and more than 1,300,000 dead. 1936: Léon BLUM is the first Jewish French citizen to become Prime Minister. 3rd October 1940: 1st anti Jewish law of the Vichy Regime (in favour of German occupation troops). 29th May 1942: Jewish population aged at least 6 years has to wear the yellow star in the street. 16th-17th July 1942: Arrest of 12,884 Jews by national-socialists and the French police in Paris (this is a national Shame for which the French President Jacques Chirac made national apologies on behalf of French State in 1995). This event is called “Raffle du Vélodrome d’Hiver” (Arrest of winter bicycle arena) because the Jewish population was arrested and put in very bad conditions in a place called “Vélodrome d’hiver”. The Jews arrested were sent to a prisoner camp in a Paris suburb called Drancy; after several days or weeks they were sent mostly to Auschwitz death camps. 25th August 1944: liberation of Paris thanks to General Leclerc’s armed division. 1956: Independence of Tunisia and Morocco and first part of Sephardic Jewish emigration to France. 1962 : Treaty of Evian and independence of Algeria – second massive wave of Jewish emigration to France. 04th July 1987: End of the Klaus Barbie Trial. This criminal, former Gestapo leader in Lyon, arrested in South America, has been condemned by Lyon Criminal Court to stay the rest of his life in prison (where he died several years after his condemnation).
