Masorti Europe Grundtvig Partnership

The history of the Jews in England goes back to the Norman Conquest. The first written records of Jewish settlement in England date from the time of William the Conqueror in 1066, although Jews may have lived there since Roman times. The Jewish presence continued until King Edward I's Edict of Expulsion in 1290.

Jews have lived in Germany since the 4th century. The community prospered under Charlemagne but suffered during the Crusades. Accusations of well poisoning during the Black Death led to mass slaughters of German Jews and their fleeing in large numbers to Poland. From the time of Moses Mendelssohn until the 20th century, the community gradually achieved emancipation and then prospered.

Jews have lived in France from the Roman period to the present day. The Jews were expelled from France several times starting from the 13th and 14th centuries. Renowned centres of Jewish learning existed in Champagne and Provence. Jews were first granted emancipation and full citizenship by Napoleon at the time of the French revolution.

The oldest Jewish sites in France are found in Provence. There is evidence of the existence of Jewish communities in the region since the 1 century c.e

Two historical events had far reaching consequences for the Jews of Provence. Due to infighting and schisms within the papacy in Rome, the official residence of the Pope was moved to Avignon from 1309 – 1377.

Spanish Jews once constituted one of the largest and most prosperous Jewish communities under Muslim and Christian rule in Spain. The majority of Spanish Jews were forced to convert, or were expelled or killed in 1492,

Hungarian Jews have existed since at least the 11th century. After struggling against discrimination throughout the Middle Ages, by the early 20th century the community grew to be 5% of Hungary's population

The area now known as The Netherlands was once part of the Spanish empire, but in 1581, the northern Dutch provinces declared independence.

Jewish populations have existed on the area even before the country was established, back to the Roman era, or even before - an attested Jewish presence in Portuguese territory, however, can only be documented since 482.

Throughout the last thousand years there have emerged over 600 Jewish communities in what is now the Czech Republic. According to the 1930 census, Czechoslovakia had a Jewish population of 356,830.