Thehistory of the Jews in Liechtenstein goes back nearly a century, in particular to the time ofthe Holocaust.
The Jewish community ofLiechtenstein in 2022 is a population of 30 people who attend a synagogue in Switzerland.[1]
From 2001 to 2005, an international team of six historians (including Dan Michman andPeter Geiger) investigated the matter for theWorld Jewish Congress.[2] Their conclusions are following.
In its report, the commission concludes that the tiny state did not employ slave workers and no assets belonging to Jewish families were confiscated but the country's refugee policy was ambivalent.[3]
About 400Jewish refugees fled to Liechtenstein during theNazi era to find safety in the neutral Alpineprincipality duringWorld War II, 235 were accepted but 165 were turned back.[2] In addition, the principality allowed 144 Jews to becomecitizens "in return for high fees" during the Nazi era. Most of those new citizens (German:Neubürger) never lived in Liechtenstein but chose another country. The fact of being a Liechtensteiner made it easier for them to establish themselves in a Western country.
Even though it was sandwiched between neutral Switzerland andNazi-controlled Austria, Liechtenstein still had some room to maneuver. Liechtenstein accepted mainly rich Jews, who were expected to spend their money in the country or who created jobs by establishing companies in the principality. Like most other Western and overseas countries, Liechtenstein tightened its immigration laws in 1938. Liechtenstein's policy can therefore be compared to that of other countries.
The family of Liechtenstein's PrinceFranz Josef II bought 3 estatestaken from Jews inAustria andCzechoslovakia, where rented Jewish inmates from aNazi SS concentration camp near Vienna worked. No works of art plundered by the Nazis were traced to Liechtenstein collections.[2]
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