Exploring Jewish Population In Austria: Trends And Insights

The Jewish community in Austria is primarily made up of Holocaust survivors and their families, returning Austrian expatriates, refugees from the former Soviet Union and other parts of Eastern Europe, and Iranian Jews. In the mid-1930s, the Jewish population numbered some 200,000 (180,000 in Vienna). By 1910, there were 1,313,698 Jews living in the Austrian half of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (4.68% of the total population). In 1880, there were 72,588 Jews living in Vienna; this number grew to 175,318 in 1910. Today, there are approximately 12,000 Jews living in Vienna, with nearly 8,000 members of the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde (IKG).

The Jewish population in Vienna grew from 1,600 in 1830 to 175,318 in 1910

In the decades leading up to the First World War, the sources of Jewish immigration to Vienna changed considerably. The Jewish community in Austria today is primarily made up of Holocaust survivors and their families, returning Austrian expatriates, refugees from the former Soviet Union and other parts of Eastern Europe, and Iranian Jews. Vienna is home to the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde (IKG), which has nearly 8,000 members out of approximately 12,000 Jews living in the city. There are also smaller Jewish communities in Baden, Bad Gastein, Graz, Innsbruck, Linz, and Salzburg.

In 1939, about 100,000 of the 166,000 Jews in Vienna emigrated before the war

However, the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany in the 1930s brought about a change in the situation for Jews in the country. The introduction of the Nuremberg Racial Laws led to the classification of 34,500 people as "racial Jews", even though they had not been identified as such in the 1934 census. This change in status put these individuals at risk, and many sought to emigrate before the outbreak of war.

The emigration of Jews from Vienna before the war was part of a larger trend of Jewish emigration from Austria at the time. In total, about 100,000 Jews emigrated from Austria before the war, out of a total Jewish population of around 200,000. This included those who left Vienna as well as smaller Jewish communities in other Austrian cities, such as Baden, Bad Gastein, Graz, Innsbruck, Linz, and Salzburg.

The Holocaust had a devastating impact on the Jewish community in Austria, and today, the community is primarily made up of Holocaust survivors and their families, returning Austrian expatriates, refugees from the former Soviet Union and other parts of Eastern Europe, and Iranian Jews. The Israelitische Kultusgemeinde (IKG) in Vienna, which has nearly 8,000 members, is the main representative body of the Jewish community in Austria today.

The Austrian Jewish community is represented by the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde (IKG) in Vienna, which has 8,000 members

The Austrian Jewish community is represented by the Israelitische Kultusgemeinde (IKG) in Vienna, which has nearly 8,000 members out of approximately 12,000 Jews living in the city. Vienna is also home to the independent Sephardi Federation, the Caucasian Jewish Center, and branches of international Jewish organisations such as B'nai B'rith and WIZO.

The Austrian Jewish community has a long history. In 1830, Vienna's Jewish population numbered about 1,600. It grew to approximately 4,000 in 1846 and to 6,217 in 1857. Thereafter, Jews migrated to the Austrian capital in unprecedented numbers. By 1880, there were 72,588 Jews living in Vienna; 118,495 resided there in 1890; 146,926 in 1900; and 175,318 in 1910. The percentage of Jews living in Vienna skyrocketed from 2.16% in 1857 to 10.06% in 1880; the growth of Vienna's Jewish population was unmatched anywhere else in Europe except Budapest. By 1910, there were 1,313,698 Jews living in the Austrian half of the Austro-Hungarian Monarchy (4.68% of the total population), of them 175,000 in Vienna, a number that increased to 201,513 in 1932.

Following the introduction of the Nuremberg Racial Laws after Austria's annexation to Nazi Germany, 34,500 persons who had not been identified as Jews in the census of 1934 were classified as "racial Jews". About 100,000 of the 166,000 Jews who still remained in Vienna in 1939 (about 10% of the city's population) managed to emigrate before the outbreak of the war. An estimated number of 800 Viennese Jews survived by working for the Jewish Council, protected by a marriage with a non-Jew or by hiding in the underground after the dissolution of the Jewish community in November 1942.

The present-day Austrian Jewish community is primarily made up of Holocaust survivors and their families, returning Austrian expatriates, refugees from the former Soviet Union and other parts of Eastern Europe, and Iranian Jews.

The growth of Vienna's Jewish population was unmatched in Europe, except for Budapest

Vienna was not the only Austrian city with a Jewish population. Smaller communities existed in Baden, Bad Gastein, Graz, Innsbruck, Linz, and Salzburg. Today, the Austrian Jewish community is primarily made up of Holocaust survivors and their families, returning Austrian expatriates, refugees from the former Soviet Union and other parts of Eastern Europe, and Iranian Jews. The Israelitische Kultusgemeinde (IKG) in Vienna has nearly 8,000 members out of approximately 12,000 Jews living in the city.

In 1934, 34,500 people were classified as racial Jews after the introduction of the Nuremberg Racial Laws

In 1934, 34,500 people were classified as 'racial Jews' after the introduction of the Nuremberg Racial Laws. These laws were a crucial step in Nazi racial laws that led to the marginalisation of German Jews and ultimately their segregation, confinement, and extermination. The Nuremberg Laws were first announced at a Nazi Party rally in Nuremberg, Germany, in September 1935. They made Jews legally distinct from their non-Jewish neighbours and were the foundation for future antisemitic measures.

The laws specifically mentioned Jews, but they also applied to Black people and Roma (Gypsies) living in Germany. The laws defined these groups as racial aliens, facilitating their persecution. The second Nuremberg Law, the Law for the Protection of German Blood and German Honour, banned marriage and criminalised sexual relations between Jews and non-Jewish Germans. It also forbade Jews from employing female German maids under the age of 45.

The introduction of the Nuremberg Laws had a significant impact on the Jewish population in Austria, which had been growing steadily in the preceding decades. By 1932, there were 201,513 Jews in Vienna, and the total Jewish population in Austria numbered around 200,000 in the mid-1930s. However, following the introduction of the Nuremberg Laws and the annexation of Austria to Nazi Germany, the Jewish population in Vienna decreased to 166,000 in 1939, with about 100,000 managing to emigrate before the outbreak of World War II.

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