| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 1,200[1] | |
| Languages | |
| Luxembourgish,French,German,Hebrew,Yiddish | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| otherAshkenazi Jews |
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Thehistory of theJews inLuxembourg dates back to the 1200s. There are roughly 1,200Jews in Luxembourg,[1] andJews form one of the largest and most important religious and ethnic minority communities inLuxembourg historically.
Judaism is the fifth-largestreligious denomination in Luxembourg, behindRoman Catholicism,Protestantism,Orthodox Christianity, andIslam. By absolute size, Luxembourg'scommunity is one of the smallest in theEuropean Union; relative to totalpopulation, it is the sixth largest.[2] Judaism is recognised and supported by the government as one of the major state-mandated religions (see:Religion in Luxembourg).
The first record of a Jewish community in Luxembourg was made in 1276,[3] and, over the next fifty years, the population grew as a result of immigration fromTrier. During theBlack Death, the Jews were made scapegoats, and were murdered or expelled from the towns ofLuxembourg City andEchternach. A few remained, protected by the intervention ofEmperor Charles IV. After the death of Charles, the newEmperor,Wenceslaus, took little interest in affairs in Luxembourg. Deprived of Imperial protection, in 1391, Luxembourg's Jewish population wasexpelled.
After the initialexpulsion, the ban was not thoroughly enforced, and a few Jewish families began to return to Luxembourg from 1405 onwards. During an uprising in 1478, Jewish homes were torched. Only two families remained, but this number had grown to fifteen by 1515.[4] In 1530, Jews were again expelled. This ban was enforced stringently, and Jews did not return to Luxembourg until the late 18th century.
After theNapoleonic conquest of theAustrian Netherlands in 1794, Jews were allowed back into Luxembourg, and the community flourished. By 1810, the number of Jewish families had reached 20. The first synagogue was opened in Luxembourg City in 1823, andSamuel Hirsch was appointed the firstchief rabbi in 1843. By 1880, there were 150 Jewish families in Luxembourg, mostly in theGutland. The firstGreat Synagogue was built in Luxembourg City in 1894, and the first provincial synagogue in Luxembourg was opened inEttelbruck in 1870, the second one inEchternach in 1899. By 1927, the Jewish community had grown to 1,171, most of whom had fled theRussianpogroms, and, by the outbreak of theSecond World War, the population had grown to about 4,200, fuelled by the arrival of 3,200refugees fromNazi Germany andCentral Europe.[5]
Luxembourg was invaded by Germany on 10 May 1940; before and during the invasion, 50,000 Luxembourgers managed to flee the country, amongst which were 1,650 Jews, who escaped intoFrance andBelgium.[5] Other Jews managed to escape thanks to clandestine rescues, carried out by both theresistance and individuals; the most famous of these individuals wasVictor Bodson, a cabinet minister andRighteous Among the Nations. On 5 September,Gustav Simon announced the extension of theNuremberg Laws to Luxembourg.[5] From October 1940, theGestapo adopted a policy of encouraging Jews to emigrate westwards; in the following year, nearly, 1,000 took this opportunity, although it would not be enough to escape the Nazis' persecution.[5]
On 22 October 1940 the synagogue of Esch was destroyed. In May 1941 the synagogue of Luxembourg City was closed by the Gestapo, vandalised and then razed, which took until autumn of 1943. On 3 June 1941 the synagogue in Esch was also destroyed.
From 7 February 1941 a law mandated the confiscation of all property of those who had emigrated up until 1940. From 18 April 1941 this was extended to Jews remaining in Luxembourg. The confiscated property was either sold off or used by various Nazi organisations. The money was intended to be used towards funding the germanisation policy in Luxembourg, the so-calledAufbaufonds Moselland. In November 1941 all Jewish organisations were dissolved and more than 35,000 Reichsmark were confiscated.
Most Jews that remained in the Grand Duchy were interned atFünfbrunnen, aninternment camp nearTroisvierges. From here, 696 Jewish prisoners were deported toghettos,labour camps, andextermination camps, of whom, 56 survived. More than 500 Luxembourgish Jews that had fled to France or Belgium were also deported to camps, of whom 16 survived.[5] Altogether, 1,945 of the 3,500 pre-war Luxembourgish Jews died, whilst 1,555 survived theHolocaust by fleeing, hiding, or surviving in detention.[3]
At the end of the war, out of six Jewish congregations (Luxembourg City, Esch-Alzette, Ettelbruck, Mondorf, Medernach and Grevenmacher) only two remained, in Luxembourg and in Esch.
Luxembourg government's 2015 report:The "Jewish Question" in Luxembourg (1933-1941): The Luxembourg State in the Face of Nazi Anti-Semitic Persecution.[6] was unanimously adopted in the government and it apologized to the Jewish community.[7]
After the war, about 1,500 Jews who had fled Luxembourg returned, mostly merchants.[8] Communities were re-established across Luxembourg, particularly in Luxembourg City andEsch-sur-Alzette. Synagogues were built in both of these cities; whilst the capital's Great Synagogue had been demolished by the Nazis. Over the second half of the twentieth century, Luxembourg's Jewish population gradually shrank, as families emigrated to other countries. In recent years, a wave of immigration by young Jews, mainly fromFrance, attracted by good working conditions, has compensated somewhat the shrinking of the Jewish population.
Unlike many other countries in Europe, including some of Luxembourg's closest neighbours, there is a very low level ofantisemitic behaviour and attitude in Luxembourg. In the first half of 2002, there were no reports of antisemitic attacks in the Grand Duchy.[1]Hate speech and verbal aggression towards Jews are also almost unheard of.
No antisemitic political parties exist in Luxembourg. In the late 1980s and early 1990s, theNational Movement, afar-right and openlyxenophobic political party, achieved moderate success by the ballot box. Despite its attraction toneo-Nazis and its opposition toethnic andreligious minorities, most of its rhetoric was aimed atguest workers from southern Europe, and not at the Jewish population. The National Movement folded in the mid-1990s, and no far-right organisation has taken its place.
According to theEuropean Jewish Congress, the Jewish community in Luxembourg has been faced with an "explosion" of antisemitism since October 7th, 2023, and theGaza war.[9]
