The Austrian-Hungarian Jews: Spanish Origins?

The history of Jews in Austria and Hungary dates back to the Roman Empire, when Jews first arrived in the region with the Roman legions. In the 10th century, there is evidence of Jewish merchants in Austria, and by the 13th century, Jews held important governmental positions in Hungary. Over the centuries, the Jewish communities in both countries experienced periods of prosperity and persecution, with the political status of Jews rising and falling. In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Jews in Austria-Hungary were increasingly assimilated and played a significant role in economic and cultural life, with many prominent figures in science, arts, business, and politics. However, the rise of nationalism and anti-Semitism in the lead-up to World War II led to increasing discrimination and violence against Jews in both countries. During the Holocaust, the Jewish communities in Austria and Hungary were targeted for deportation and extermination, resulting in the death of a significant portion of the Jewish population. In recent years, both Austria and Hungary have taken steps towards acknowledging and compensating for their role in the Holocaust, but anti-Semitic incidents and far-right political movements continue to be a concern.

Austrian Jews were present since the 3rd century CE

Austrian Jews have a long history in the country, with evidence of their presence dating back to the 3rd century CE. The history of the Jews in Austria began after the exodus of Jews from Judea under Roman occupation. In 2008, archaeologists discovered a third-century CE amulet in the grave of a Jewish infant in Halbturn, which is considered the earliest surviving evidence of a Jewish presence in what is now Austria.

Over the centuries, the political status of the Jewish community in Austria rose and fell. During certain periods, they enjoyed prosperity, religious freedom, and political equality. However, there were also times of persecution, deportations, and mass murder.

The Jewish community in Austria began to flourish in the 13th century, particularly under the rule of Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II. He declared that Jews were a separate ethnic and religious group and granted them certain rights, including protection and autonomy. This encouraged the immigration of more Jews to the area, and they became involved in various aspects of life in Austria, including commerce, tax collection, and money lending.

However, this prosperity also led to increased tensions with the Christian population and hostility from the Catholic Church. The position of Austrian Jews became increasingly precarious in the following centuries, with massacres, expulsions, and confiscations occurring. Despite brief periods of peace and tolerance, they continued to face discrimination and persecution.

During World War II, the Holocaust drastically reduced the Jewish community in Austria, and only a small number remained after the war. Today, Austria has a small Jewish population, and efforts have been made to acknowledge and compensate for the country's role in the crimes of the Third Reich.

They were granted certain rights by the Duke of Austria in 1244

In 1244, the Duke of Austria, Emperor Frederick II, granted Jews certain rights. This document is important because it was soon adopted, with some changes, by most East European countries to which the masses of Jews finally drifted: Hungary, Bohemia, Poland, Silesia, and Lithuania. This charter—a very favorable one—was issued to encourage money-lending among the Austrian Jews and probably also to attract moneyed Jews to migrate to this outlying German state, which was in need of ready credit. Every effort is therefore made in this Latin constitution to grant the Jews ample opportunity to sell their wares and, above all, to lend money. They were given adequate protection: they were subject to the direct jurisdiction of the Duke, who guaranteed them safety of life and limb. The right of the Jews to govern themselves in communal and religious matters was not specified by the Duke, but this was taken for granted.

The charter contained ten sections, and stated first that the Jews shall be under the emperor's protection ("servi cameræ nostræ"). They are exempt from the duty to furnish vehicles and horses for the royal retinue ("hospites"). If stolen property is found in their possession, they have merely to swear how much they have paid for it in order to receive that sum from the lawful owner. The baptism of Jewish children without the consent of their parents is expressly prohibited; and a heavy fine is imposed on transgressors of this law. Baptism of the slaves of Jews is similarly prohibited. Converts shall be given three days during which the sincerity of their desire to embrace Christianity shall be tested. In civil law Jews and Christians are treated as equals; but a Jew cannot be forced to the ordeal and can free himself by oath from any accusation. Jews cannot be condemned on the testimony of Christians alone. Their lives are under the protection of the law, and for killing or assaulting a Jew a fine is imposed, which, according to the views of the time, is the reparation for such a crime. In their internal affairs, they have perfect autonomy and shall be judged by their rabbis and communal officers ("coram eo qui preest eis"); only in important matters is jurisdiction reserved to the emperor. In connection with the commercial activity of the Jews, dealing in wines, paints, and antidotes is especially mentioned; some of them must, therefore, have been physicians.

Austrian Jews were subjected to anti-Jewish laws and deportations during WWII

Austrian Jews were subjected to anti-Jewish laws and deportations during World War II. The persecution of Austrian Jews began with the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany on March 13, 1938, known as the Anschluss. At the time, there were approximately 200,000 people living in Austria who were classified as Jewish according to the Nuremberg Laws of Nazi Germany.

The Nazi regime immediately perpetrated acts of violence and terror against the Jewish community throughout Austria. Systematic terrorization occurred, particularly against property-owning Jews and the intelligentsia. Street attacks and brutal persecution became daily occurrences. In May 1938, the Viennese Jewish community was permitted by the Nazis to organize mass emigration movements. Between July and September 1938, emigration reached a monthly average of 8,600.

In October 1938, Nazi riots broke out, and Hitler ordered the deportation of 27,000 Viennese Jews. During the November pogroms, including Kristallnacht, approximately 8,000 Jews were arrested, and 5,000 of them were sent to the Dachau concentration camp. In Vienna alone, forty-two synagogues were burned, and 4,038 Jewish shops were looted.

During the first four months of the war, 11,240 Jews succeeded in immigrating to neutral countries. After the official prohibition on emigration in 1941, about 40,000 Austrian Jews remained. Of the 128,500 who had emigrated, 30,800 went to England, 24,600 to other European countries, 28,600 to the United States, 9,200 to Palestine, and 39,300 to fifty-four other countries.

At the end of 1941, 3,000 Austrian Jews were deported to the ghettos of Riga, Minsk, and Kovno. Between June and October 1942, 13,900 people were deported to Theresienstadt. The Viennese Jewish community was officially dissolved on November 1, 1942.

In the summer of 1943, there were approximately 800 Jews left in Vienna, but they had gone underground and were secretly hidden by members of the community. One of the largest and most terrible concentration camps, Mauthausen, was situated in Austria. Mauthausen was the central camp for all of Austria, with forty-nine permanent subcamps, as well as some temporary ones, administered from there.

Of the approximately 50,000 Jews deported from Austria to ghettos and camps, only 1,747 returned to Austria at the end of the war. Another 20,000 Austrian Jews were killed after immigrating to other European countries, which eventually fell under Nazi rule. The number of Austrian Jews who perished in the Holocaust is estimated at 70,000.

There are approximately 9,000-15,000 Jews in Austria today

The Jewish population in Austria today is approximately 9,000 to 15,000 people. This is a significant decrease from the 1938 population of 200,000, which was reduced to 8,140 by the end of World War II.

Austria's Jewish population has been present since the 3rd century CE, with the earliest surviving evidence of their presence being a 3rd-century amulet discovered in a Jewish infant's grave in 2008. The population grew and prospered during the 12th and 13th centuries, with the Jewish community gaining key positions in commerce and tax collection. However, the community also faced persecution and violence throughout the centuries, including deportations, pogroms, and mass murder.

In the 19th and early 20th centuries, Jews in Austria gained greater rights and freedoms, including the right to attend public schools and universities, work in certain professions, and own land. During this period, many Jewish families in Vienna acquired significant wealth and politically influential positions. However, anti-Semitic sentiments and actions also increased, culminating in the persecution and violence perpetrated by the Nazis during World War II.

Following the war, the Jewish community in Austria rebuilt itself, and today, most of the Jewish population lives in Vienna, Graz, and Salzburg. The community includes Holocaust survivors who lived in Austria before 1938, as well as immigrants from countries that were once part of the Soviet Union. While neo-Nazism and anti-Semitism persist in Austria, the government has taken steps to address these issues and improve relations with the Jewish community.

Jews constituted 10% of the Viennese population before WWII

The history of Jews in Vienna, Austria, goes back over eight hundred years. There is evidence of a Jewish presence in the city from the 12th century onwards. By the 1920s, about one in every nine Viennese was Jewish, and Vienna had the sixth-largest Jewish population in the world, with over 200,000 inhabitants who were declared to be Jews. 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.

In 1938, some 170,000 Jews lived in the city, as well as approximately 80,000 people of mixed Jewish-Christian background. Including converts from Judaism, the Viennese Jewish population may have been as high as 200,000, more than 10% of the city's inhabitants. Vienna was an important centre of Jewish culture and education, and many Viennese Jews were well-integrated into urban society and culture. Jews made up significant percentages of the city's doctors, lawyers, businessmen, bankers, artists, and journalists.

After the Anschluss in March 1938, the estimated 200,000 population of Jews in Vienna faced severe harassment. They were driven through the streets, their homes and shops were plundered, and the process of Aryanisation began. These events culminated in the Kristallnacht pogrom of 9-10 November 1938. All synagogues and prayer houses in Vienna were destroyed except one – the Stadttempel was the sole survivor because its location in a residential area prevented it from being burned down. Most Jewish shops were plundered and then closed down, and over 6,000 Jews were arrested in one night, the majority deported to concentration camps in the following days.

The Nazis dissolved Jewish organisations and institutions, hoping to force Jews to emigrate. Their plans succeeded – by the end of 1941, 130,000 Jews had left Vienna, 30,000 of whom went to the USA. They left behind all of their property but were forced to pay the Reich Flight Tax, a tax on all émigrés from the Third Reich. Following the Wannsee Conference in January 1942, where the Nazis resolved to completely annihilate the Jewish population, the majority of the Jews who had stayed in Vienna became victims of the Holocaust. Of the more than 65,000 Viennese Jews who were deported to concentration camps, only a few more than 2,000 survived.

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