A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | CH | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9
 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 10,300 to 18,000[1] | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| Languages | |
| Austrian German, Yiddish, Hebrew | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism | |
| Related ethnic groups | |
| Other Jews (Ashkenazi, Sephardic, Mizrahi), German Jews, Czech Jews, Polish Jews, Hungarian Jews, Russian Jews, Ukrainian Jews |
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| Jews and Judaism |
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The history of the Jews in Austria probably begins with the exodus of Jews from Judea under Roman occupation.[2][3][4][5][6] There have been Jews in Austria since the 3rd century CE. Over the course of many centuries, the political status of the community rose and fell many times: during certain periods, the Jewish community prospered and enjoyed political equality, and during other periods it suffered pogroms, deportations to concentration camps and mass murder, and antisemitism. The Holocaust drastically reduced the Jewish community in Austria and only 8,140 Jews remained in Austria according to the 2001 census. Today, Austria has a Jewish population of 10,300 which extends to 33,000 if Law of Return is accounted for, meaning having at least one Jewish grandparent.[1]
Antiquity
Jews have been in Austria since at least the 3rd century CE. In 2008 a team of archeologists discovered a third-century CE amulet in the form of a gold scroll with the words of the Jewish prayer Shema Yisrael (Hear, O Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one) inscribed on it in the grave of a Jewish infant in Halbturn.[7] It is considered to be the earliest surviving evidence of a Jewish presence in what is now Austria.[8] It is hypothesized that the first Jews immigrated to Austria following the Roman legions after the Roman occupation of Israel. It is theorized that the Roman legions who participated in the occupation and came back after the First Jewish–Roman War brought back Jewish prisoners.[9]
The Middle Ages
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A document from the 10th century that determined equal rights between the Jewish and Christian merchants in the Danube implies a Jewish population in Vienna at this point, though again, there is no concrete proof. The existence of a Jewish community in the area is only known for sure after the start of the 12th century when two synagogues existed. In the same century, the Jewish settlement in Vienna increased with the absorption of Jewish settlers from Bavaria and from the Rhineland.
At the start of the 13th century, the Jewish community began to flourish. One of the main reasons for the prosperity was the declaration by Holy Roman Emperor Frederick II that the Jews were a separate ethnic and religious group, and were not bound to the laws that targeted the Christian population. Following this declaration, in July 1244, the emperor published a bill of rights for Jews, which barred them from many jobs, businesses, and educational opportunities, but allowed for rights to sales, thus encouraging them to work in the money lending business, encouraged the immigration of additional Jews to the area, and promised protection and autonomous rights, such as the right to judge themselves and the right to collect taxes. This bill of rights affected other kingdoms in Europe such as Hungary, Poland, Lithuania, Silesia and Bohemia, which had high concentrations of Jews.
During this period, the Jewish population mainly dealt with commerce and the collection of taxes and also gained key positions in many other aspects of life in Austria. In 1204, the first documented synagogue in Austria was constructed. In addition, Jews went through a period of religious freedom and relative prosperity; a group of families headed by notable rabbis settled in Vienna — these learned men were later referred to as "the wise men of Vienna". The group established a beit midrash that was considered to be the most prominent school of Talmudic studies in Europe at the time.
The insularity and assumed prosperity of the Jewish community caused increased tensions and jealousy from the Christian population along with hostility from the Catholic Church. In 1282, when the area became controlled by the Catholic House of Habsburg, Austria's prominence decreased as far as being a religious center for Jewish scholarly endeavors due to the highly anti-Semitic atmosphere.
Some Jewish business enterprises focused on civic finance, private interest-free loans, and government accounting work enforcing tax collection and handling moneylending for Christian landowners. The earliest evidence of Jewish officials tasked with the unpleasant role of collecting unpaid taxes appears in a document from 1320. During the same time, riots occurred scapegoating all Jews who resided in the area. The entire Jewish population was unfairly targeted by some angry non-Jewish neighbors and the animosity made daily life unbearable — the population continued to decline in the middle of the 14th century. At the start of the 15th century, during the regime of Albert III and Leopold III, the period was characterized by the formal cancellations of many outstanding debts that were owed to Jewish financiers, and those that would have been enforced by debt collection activity by Jews were left purposely outstanding so as to impoverish the Jewish creditor; there were then mass official confiscation of all Jewish assets, and the creation of policies demanding economic limitations against all Jewish people.
Deportation from Austria
In the middle of the 15th century, following the establishment of the anti-Catholic movement of Jan Hus in Bohemia, the condition of Jews worsened as a result of unfounded accusations that the movement was associated with the Jewish community.
In 1420, the status of the Jewish community hit a low point when a Jewish man from Upper Austria was falsely accused and charged with the crime of desecration of the sacramental bread. This led Albert V to order the imprisonment of all of the Jews in Austria. 210 Jewish men, women, and children were forcibly taken from their homes and burnt alive in the public town square, while the remaining families were rounded up and deported from Austria, forced to leave all their belongings behind. In 1469, the deportation order was cancelled by Frederick III, who became known for his fairness and strong relationship by allowing Jews to live relatively free from scapegoating and hate crimes — he was even referred to at times as the "King of the Jews". He allowed Jews to return and settle in all the cities of Styria and Carinthia. Under his regime, Jews gained a short period of peace (between 1440 and 1493).
In 1496, Maximilian I ordered a decree which expelled all Jews from Styria.[10] In 1509, he passed the "Imperial Confiscation Mandate" which foresaw the destruction of all Jewish books, apart from one exception, the Bible.[11]
The rise of religious fanaticism of the Society of Jesus
The period of relative peace did not last long. Ferdinand I, whose regime began in 1556, opposed the persecution of the Jews, but levied excessive taxes and ordered them to wear a mark of disgrace. Between 1564 and 1619, during the reigns of Maximilian II, Rudolf II and Matthias, the fanaticism of the Jesuits prevailed and the condition of the Jews worsened even more. Later, Ferdinand II theoretically opposed the persecution of the Jews, as had his grandfather, and even permitted the construction of a synagogue. Nevertheless, huge taxes were imposed upon the Jewish population.
The nadir of the Jewish community in Austria arrived during the reign of Leopold I, a period in which Jews were persecuted frequently and deported from many areas, including Vienna in 1670, though they gradually returned after several years. Jews were also subject to different laws—one of which permitted only first-born children to marry—in order to stop the increase of the Jewish population. Although Leopold treated the Jewish population severely, he did have a Jewish economic advisor, Samson Wertheimer.
A Sabbatean movement, which was established in the same period, also reached the Jewish community in Austria, largely due to the difficult condition of the Jews there. Many followed in the footsteps of Sabbatai Zevi by immigrating to the land of Israel.
Modern period
| This section needs additional citations for verification. (June 2024) |
| Jewish population of Vienna[12][13][14][15] according to census and particular area | |||||||
| Year | total pop. | Jews | % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1857 | 476,220 | 2,617 | 1.3 | ||||
| 1869 | 607,510 | 40,277 | 6.6 | ||||
| 1880 | 726,105 | 73,222 | 10.1 | ||||
| 1890 | 817,300 | 99,444 | 12.1 | ||||
| 1890* | 1,341,190 | 118,495 | 8.8 | ||||
| 1900 | 1,674,957 | 146,926 | 8.7 | ||||
| 1910 | 2,031,420 | 175,294 | 8.6 | ||||
| 1923 | 1,865,780 | 201,513 | 10.8 | ||||
| 1934 | 1,935,881 | 176,034 | 9.1 | ||||
| 1951 | 1,616,125 | 9,000 | 0.6 | ||||
| 1961 | 1,627,566 | 8,354 | 0.5 | ||||
| 1971 | 1,619,855 | 7,747 | 0.5 | ||||
| 1981 | 1,531,346 | 6,527 | 0.4 | ||||
| 1991 | 1,539,848 | 6,554 | Zdroj:https://en.wikipedia.org?pojem=Austrian_Jews|||||