EMIGRATION / IMMIGRATION of JEWS






<PRE>
          General Historical Information prior to 1900
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    Of the three names Hebrew, Israelite, Jew, the first is properly applied
to the period when Hebrews constituted in the full sense of the word a
nation;  the second has acquired an almost exclusive religious force; while
the third is the proper designation to cover the twofold aspect of Hebrews
as a people and a religious body. Applying this distinction, the period
before the Babylonian exile (B.C. 586) may be designated as Hebrew History
and the post-exilic period as Jewish History.

JEWISH HISTORY  (circa 1550-1900)

A)    Holland was one of the first countries in modern times to rise out of
the barbarism of the Middle Ages. As early as 1593 it permitted Jews to
settle and trade, though they did not acquire the rights of citizenship till
1796. Holland, therefore, became a refuge in the seventeenth century; of
which the Spanish Maranos availed themselves; and by the middle of that
century Amsterdam had a considerable Jewish population renowned for its
learning and enterprise. Nor has there been any instance of persecution of
Jews in Holland from the time of their entrance to the present day, except
such as orthodox Jews themselves indulged in against " heretics," e.g. the
cases of Gabriel Acosta and Spinoza (qq.v).

B)    In England, the edict of Edward I. remained in force for more than 300
years, though Jews are known to have lived secretly in London, and to have
had a synagogue there during the whole of this period. The first attempt
made by the Jews to obtain a legal recognition in England was during the
Protectorate of Cromwell in 1655. (see Manasseh  Beth  Israel).

Volume: XII                                                  Page:  778

                      MANASSEH  BETH  ISRAEL
                                     (1604-57)

   " A Hebrew scholar and Cabbalist. He was born at Lisbon and educated at
Amsterdam, where his father had removed to escape persecution. At the age of
eighteen he took the place of his former instructor, Rabbi Isaac Uzziel, in
the Amsterdam synagogue. In 1656 Manasseh came to England to obtain
permission from Parliament for the re-establishment of the Jews in England,
banished from that country since the time of Edward I. (1290). Parliament
refused to pass the measure, but Cromwell favored it, and unofficially
permitted a large number of Jews to settle in London."

    Cromwell himself was favorable to their admission; so were the lawyers;
but the nation generally, and particularly the emphatically religious
portion of it, were strongly hostile to such a proceeding; and the
wearisome, controversial jangling of the divines appointed to consider the
question prevented anything from being done till the reign of Charles II.,
who, standing much and frequently in need of their services, permitted them
quietly to settle in the land. In 1723 they were permitted to give evidence
in courts of justice; in 1753 they obtained the right of naturalization.
Since 1830 civic corporation, since 1833 the profession of advocate, and
since 1845 the offices of Alderman and of Lord Mayor have been opened to
them. The last triumph of the principle of toleration was achieved in 1858
by the admission of Jews in Parliament. In the year 1885 Lord Rothschild
took his seat as a member of the House of Lords.

C)    Some of the exiles from Spain and Portugal found their way into
France, where they long lingered in a miserable condition. In 1550 they were
received into Bayonne and Bordeaux; they were also to be found in
considerable numbers in Avignon, Lorraine, and Alsace. In 1784 the
capitation tax was abolished. In 1790, in the early period of the French
Revolution, the Jews presented a petition to the national representatives,
claiming full rights as citizens. Mirabeau was among their advocates, and
their cause was not unsuccessful. From this time their technical designation
in France has been ' Israelites.' In 1806 the Emperor Napoleon summoned a
"Sanhedrin" of Jews to meet in Paris, to whom a variety of questions were
put, mainly with a view to test their fitness for citizenship. Their answers
were satisfactory, and they were allowed to reorganize their religious
institutions in the most elaborate manner. No material change has, since
taken place in the laws regarding them, though since 1895 Anti-Semitism has
been very virulent in France, and has been especially noteworthy in
connection with the case of Alfred Dreyfus (q.v.).

Volume: VI                                              Pages: 462-463

                          ALFRED DREYFUS
                                   (1859---)

    A French artillery officer, who was brought into prominence as the
central figure in one of the most celebrated cases of modern political
history. He was born in Mulhausen, Upper Alsace, of  Jewish parentage,
removed to Paris in 1874, studied at the Chaptal College and at
Sainte-Barbe, entered the Ecole Polytechnique in 1878, and later attended
the Ecole d' Application (School of Applied Gunnery). After serving as
second lieutenant in the Thirty-first Regiment of artillery at Le Mans
(1882-83), and in the Fourth Mounted Battery at Paris, he was appointed
captain in the Twenty-first Regiment of artillery, September 12, 1889. On
April 21, 1890, he entered the Ecole de Guerre, where he ranked among the
leading ten of his class. Within a year after leaving this institution, he
received an appointment on the general staff. On October 15, 1894, Dreyfus
was arrested on a charge of having sold military secrets to a foreign Power.
The utmost secrecy was observed by the War Office in regard to the whole
affair. Dreyfus was isolated in prison and treated with great harshness.
When he was tried, although he was allowed counsel, the court was a secret
one, and he was sentenced to military degradation and solitary confinement
on the Ile du Diable, off the coast of French Guiana. On January 4, 1895, he
was conducted by a military escort to the court-yard of the Ecole Militaire
in Paris, and, in the presence of a great assembly of spectators, the
stripes were torn from his uniform, and his sword was broken. On March 10th
he was transported to the Ile du Diable, where he was treated with severity,
on one occasion being chained to his pallet for two months. He persistently
denied his guilt, and this fact, together with the secrecy of the
proceedings and the bitterness of the anti-Semitic agitation, led  to a
growing conviction in the minds of many that the real culprit had been
shielded, and that it had been found convenient to put Dreyfus forward as a
scapegoat.
    The evidence used against Dreyfus was a memorandum, known as the '
bordereau,' and the prosecution simply attempted to show that it was in the
Captain's handwriting. It began, "Without news indicating that you wish to
see me, I send you nevertheless, monsieur, some important information." Then
followed a numbered list of documents relating to the frontier forts,
artillery instructions to the general staff, etc. Naturally it was never
made known how this document was obtained by the War Office, as it would
have caused complications with a friendly Power; but it was supposed to have
come through an Alsatian porter in the service of Colonel von Schwarzkoppen,
military attache of the German Embassy. In May, 1896, another paper was
brought to the War Office, and fell into the hands of Commandant Picquart.
It bore the signature of Major Esterhazy, an officer of doubtful character,
and the handwriting corresponded exactly with that of the Dreyfus '
bordereau,' while that of Dreyfus did not. Then began a remarkable series of
attempts to bring to light and to suppress the truth. The most prominent
defenders of  Dreyfus were his brother Matthieu Dreyfus, the novelist Emile
Zola, and M. Scheurer-Kestner, a member of the French Senate. A large part
of the Liberal press also sided with the accused captain, and, during the
later phases of the affair, his cause was adopted by the Socialists as a
party issue for the time. Arrayed against him were the anti-Semitic elements
of France and the powerful Nationalist influence, meaning by the latter all
those who regarded the condemnation of Dreyfus as necessary for the
vindication of the honor of the army, always dear to the hearts of
Frenchmen. The War Office met the attacks of the friends of Dreyfus simply
by asserting that the proceedings against him had been regular in every
respect. There was a fixed purpose to prevent any discussion of the nature
of the evidence or the facts of the case. Commandant Picquart, who showed an
honest desire to bring out the truth, was made a lieutenant-colonel, and
sent away on special service. Attempts were then made to compromise him by
means of false dispatches, and he was finally removed from the active list
of the army. On July 7,1898, the agitation having risen high, a new
declaration was made in the Chamber of  Deputies by M. Cavaignac, Minister
of War. He positively asserted that Dreyfus had been justly found guilty,
and referred to certain documents not hitherto mentioned in the case.
Colonel Picquart challenged these proofs and declared that of the three
documents upon which  M. Cavaignac based his belief in the guilt of Dreyfus,
two were irrelevant, and the third, the only one in which Dreyfus's name
occurred, was a forgery. Six weeks later, Colonel Henry, who had been
connected with the intelligence department of the War Office, confessed to
having  committed this forgery, and committed suicide. This led to a general
readjustment in the organization of the general staff. General de
Boisdeffre, chief of staff, resigned; Major Esterhazy and Colonel Paty du
Clam were removed from the active list, but still the War Office proclaimed
its belief in the guilt of Captain Dreyfus, Colonel Picquart was imprisoned
on a charge of communicating secret documents, late in November. On the 29th
of the previous month, however, the Court of Cassation, the highest tribunal
in France, had taken up the matter of revision, and, after several months'
deliberation, ordered (June 3, 1899), a retrial by a court-martial. The
proceedings against Picquart were subsequently quashed. The court-martial
sat at Rennes from August 7 to September 9, 1899, and rendered a decision
that Dreyfus was guilty, with extenuating circumstances. He was sentenced to
imprisonment for ten years, from which the period of his previous
confinement was to be deducted. The evidence at the trial was of the
flimsiest character, as it had been from the beginning, but the
determination to protect the officers of the army at the expense of Dreyfus
was maintained. The members of the court-martial united in a recommendation
of mercy, and on September 19th the prisoner was pardoned by President
Loubet.
    The Dreyfus case was far-reaching in its effect upon French affairs. It
divided and wrecked the Brisson Ministry of 1898; it seemed for a time
likely to furnish a rallying point for monarchist agitation; it exposed a
state of gross corruption in the French army; and it presented grave
possibilities of trouble with Germany and Italy, which were the countries
naturally suspected of the bribery of a French officer. In 1896, both the
German and Italian Governments had denied, through diplomatic channels, in
the most emphatic manner, having had any dealings with Dreyfus.  M. Zola was
condemned to a year's imprisonment July 18, 1898, for his protest against
the travesty of justice involved in the whole management of the case, and
went into exile to escape imprisonment. Esterhazy, after he was dismissed
from the service, went to London, and made a confession through the London
Chronicle, June 2, 1899, that he wrote the ' bordereau ' by order of Colonel
Sandherr, assistant chief of the intelligence department. This confession
was ascribed by the anti-Dreyfus party to bribery by the friends of
Dreyfus. The impression has generally prevailed among unprejudiced persons
and in other countries than France, that Dreyfus was unfairly tried,
unjustly convicted on manufactured evidence, and that justice was refused
him by officers high in authority for personal and political reasons. In
December, 1900, in order that the matter might be finally disposed of, an
amnesty bill was passed by the Government relieving every one concerned of
any further liability to criminal prosecution. This was opposed by the
friends of Dreyfus, Picquart, and Zola, who demanded a full vindication. It
was declared on behalf of the Government that the army had been so
embittered by the affair that no court-martial could be depended on to give
an unprejudiced verdict, and that, for the safety of France, all further
agitation of the question must cease.

BIBLIOGRAPHY:  An excellent review of the case up to that date appeared in
the London Times for October 13, 1898.  Guyon, The Dreyfus Case (London,
1898).
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CAUSES OF EMIGRATION / IMMIGRATION   (Circa 1550-1900)

D)    Jews appeared in Russia at an early date; in the eighth century the
ruler of the Khazars and part of his people were converted to Judaism.
During the Middle Ages, as in most countries  of Christendom, they were
received, persecuted, and banished. Admitted into Russia proper by Peter the
Great, they were expelled---to the number of 35,000---by the Empress
Elizabeth in 1742. The partition of Poland (1772-95) brought a large Jewish
population under Russian sway. Readmitted by Catharine II. into Russia
proper, they were further protected by Alexander I., who in 1805 and 1809
issued decrees insuring them full liberty of trade and commerce; but of the
liberties which he conferred upon them they were deprived by the Emperor
Nicholas. After 1835 a scheme of gradual emancipation was entertained by the
Government, and was partially carried out by Nicholas I. and Alexander II.
But the reaction under Alexander III., due to the influence of
Pobiedonostseff, procurator of the Holy Synod, was of the direst
consequences to the Jews. From the year 1881 and the promulgation of the
Ignatieff law of 1882, the most restrictive measures have been piled up
against them. They have been confined to one huge ghetto---the Pale of
Settlement----and since 1891 the laws have been applied with the utmost
severity.  The Jews have been forced out of all offices of trust and from
nearly all the professions; restricted in the use of schools and
universities, and have been forced to live in  the direst poverty and
neglect.  Their only hope lies in conversion to the Orthodox faith or in
emigration. Fully 800,000 have sought safety in flight, and have settled in
various parts of Europe and America. Many have benefited by the munificence
of Baron Maurice de Hirsch, from whom the Jewish Colonization Association
received many millions of dollars. The Jews are more numerous in Russia than
in any other part of the world, being found mainly in those portions of the
Empire which formed part of the ancient Kingdom of Poland, and the
governments nearest to these territories.

Volume: XVII                                           Page: 380

                                   RUSSIA

   " The anti-Semitic agitation which began to affect Europe about 1880
started in Russia a legal and extra-legal persecution of the Jews, which has
been continued, and modified only when its severity has brought forth
protests from the other civilized peoples that could not be ignored. The
Jews are confined by law to the Pale of Settlement, a belt extending from
the Baltic to the Black Sea, chiefly through the Polish and adjoining
provinces. Successive acts have expelled them from other parts of the
empire, and they can only live outside the Pale by special privilege.
Prohibited from acquiring real property, and thus prevented from becoming
farmers, the Jews were forced to crowd into the towns, where they became
artisans or engaged in mercantile pursuits. Great masses of them, unable to
do anything in any of the fields left open to them, sank into poverty. With
legal restrictions have come physical persecutions, at different times
taking the form of riot and massacre. The most notable instance of this kind
occurred in May, 1903, at Kishinev, the capital of the Government of
Bessarabia, when more than fifty Jews were killed and the hospitals were
filled with the wounded."

    During the seventeenth century and the greater part of the eighteenth,
however, they were much persecuted and sank into a state of great ignorance
and poverty; but education---in spite of the severity and barbarism of
Russian intolerance ---has, since the French Revolution, made great progress
among them.

E)    Frederick the Great of Prussia showed himself singularly harsh toward
the Jews.  All manner of taxes were laid upon them, only a certain number
were allowed to reside in the country, and these were excluded both from the
most honorable and the most lucrative employments. This condition was ended
by the Prussian edict of  toleration (1812), by which the Jews were placed
almost in an equal position as citizens with other Prussians. Thereafter the
tendency was to enlarge their "liberties," and the Revolution of 1848
finally gained them full emancipation, although owing to the subsequent
reaction, it was slowly carried out. But a few years after the formation of
the German Empire, a new kind of anti-Jewish persecution took its rise,
under the name of Anti-Semitism (q.v.), and from Germany it spread to
Austria, Belgium, Switzerland, and France.

Volume: I                                                  Page:  625

                      ANTI-SEMITISM

  "  A movement based on race hatred of the Jew, due to social and economic
causes, in Germany, Austria and France, and partly also to political causes
in Russia. The movement has crystallized in some countries into an
anti-Semitic political party. A political party organized in Berlin in 1879
sought to place Jews under political disabilities. The leaders of the party
were Stocker, court preacher of Prussia and a so-called Christian Socialist;
Professor Treitschke, of the University of Berlin, an historian and deputy
in the Reichstag; and Dr. Duhring, author of treatises on history and
philosophy. Throughout 1879 and 1880 these men, through the press, in
speeches, and in various ways, deplored the presence in Germany of an
active, wealthy, and powerful people, incapable of assimilation, who are
opposed to Christian civilization in all its phases. The matter was brought
to a vote in the Reichstag in 1880; but that body declared itself in favor
of economic and religious liberty by a decisive vote. The Anti-Semitic Party
became a strong one in the Reichstag, however, in the early nineties. In
France the Anti-Semitic propaganda was begun by Edward Drumont, editor of '
La Libre Parole,' about 1882, and was carried on until the movement reached
a climax in the "Affaire Dreyfus." See DREYFUS.
    Since its organization in Germany the Anti-Semitic Party has been
organized in Russia, Austria, Greece, and Holland. As the Jews in Russia are
to a great extent kept out of the ordinary trades, many of them have
resorted
to the business of money lending, and by means of mortgages placed to secure
loans they have obtained  control of small landed properties.  This fact,
coupled with religious prejudice, caused the Anti-Semitic movement in
Russia, about twenty years ago, to assume a most violent form. Laws
preventing them from entering professions and from living in places other
than towns and hamlets were vigorously enforced. In some cities, where a
majority of the people were Jews, they were expelled without warning. The
fierce persecution to which the Jews have been subjected in Russia and
Rumania has caused an emigration on a vast scale to the United States."

    It was started as a political move, the promoters desiring to discredit
the Liberals and Socialists through the Jews. The old blood accusation has
often been revived, and the Jews have been gradually forced out of all
offices of public trust and of Government appointment. In the smaller German
States full rights were likewise legally conceded to the Jews. The first
German national assembly, held in Frankfort in 1848, contained many
prominent Jewish members. In Austria, the Emperor Joseph II. distinguished
himself by passing an act of toleration (1782). This act was extraordinarily
liberal in its provisions for the Jews. Not till 1867, however, did they
acquire the right to possess land. The anti-Semitic agitation has been
exceedingly strong in Austria; and attempts have been made (1890-96) to
reenact former restrictive measures, especially in Vienna, where an
anti-Semitic Board of Aldermen existed for many years. In Hungary the Jews,
who had long enjoyed important privileges, and who had been protected by the
nobility, were emancipated at the time of the Revolution of 1848, in which
they were patriotic to a man. In that kingdom they are on an absolute
equality with the Christians. The Jews have lived in Rumania (Moldavia,
Wallachia) since the thirteenth century. They have not fared better there
than in other parts of Europe. The severest persecution came over them
during the last quarter of the nineteenth century. In spite of the Treaty of
Berlin (1878), the Government refused to naturalize the Jews, and has
gradually forced them out of all but a few employments and driven them
altogether from the schools. The financial and economic crisis of 1899 and
1900 made the lot of Rumanian Jews unbearable and they have been forced to
leave the country in large numbers. Spain began to tolerate the Jews again
in 1837, and they can follow trade or agriculture like other Spaniards; but
few Jews have as yet cared to venture back to a land that is filled with
mournful recollections.
                              ___________

F)    Portugal has about 400 Jews, and the Jewish religion is legally
tolerated there. Switzerland long treated them harshly, but while they now
enjoy full personal liberty in all cantons, popular ill-will has interfered
with the exercise of some of their religious observances. In Denmark, since
1814, they have been on a footing of equality as citizens with native Danes.
In Sweden they did not obtain admission till 1776, and then only into
Stockholm and three other towns. Citizenship is still conferred as a favor.
Norway forbade them to touch its soil till 1860.

G)    In Turkey they are very numerous. The communities in Constantinople,
Adrianople, Smyrna, Aleppo, and Damascus are considerable. Saloniki is
almost a Jewish city. In Palestine, their ancient home, they are rapidly
increasing. The city of Jerusalem had in 1900 a Jewish population estimated
at 41,000, and agricultural colonies have been established in various parts
of the land. But, in spite of the efforts on the part of their European
brothers to ameliorate their condition, most of them are very poor. Their
numbers in Arabia are not very large, yet they enjoy some independence.
Those in Persia have sunk into ignorance through oppression and the general
sluggishness prevailing in that country. They are found in Afghanistan, and
carry on trade between Kabul and China; in various parts of India, where
they are both agriculturists and artisans; in Bokhara, where they possess
equal rights with the other inhabitants, and are skilled in the manufacture
of silks and metals; in Tartary and China, where, however, they are very
insignificant, both in numbers and position.  There are flourishing
communities in the English and Dutch settlements in the south of Africa.
They are also found all along the North African coast where, indeed, they
have had communities for perhaps more than a thousand years, which were
largely reinforced in consequence of the great Spanish persecutions. They
are especially numerous in Fez and Morocco, though they are not always free
from the perils of Mohammedan fanaticism.

H)    Jews at an early date settled on the American continent, exiled from
Spain and Portugal, or taking part in the Dutch and English enterprises in
the New World. In the sixteenth century we find some in Brazil, whither they
had been sent in company with convicts. In 1642 a large number of Portuguese
Jews came from Amsterdam and settled in Pernambuco and Surinam. From here
they spread to Guadeloupe, Cayenne, and Curacao. The strong arm of the
Inquisition was also felt in Brazil, and many were compelled to comport
themselves as Christians (Maranos), or to emigrate to the West Indies. There
were Jews in New Amsterdam as early as 1652; others came from Brazil in
1654. They were not heartily welcomed, and therefore betook themselves to
Newport and Providence. The Newport congregation was strengthened by fresh
arrivals from Lisbon (1755) and Curacao.  At the end of the seventeenth
century there were some Jews in Maryland. Pennsylvania, Georgia, and the
Carolinas were the next places of settlement.  This was during the first
half of the eighteenth century. During the struggle for independence, the
Jews attached themselves to the nation under whose wing they had thus found
protection.  There were nine Jewish signers of the Non-Importation
resolution drawn up in Philadelphia in 1768. Jews were in the Charlestown
regiment of militia, and three Jews served on the staff of De Kalb. Haym
Solomon enjoyed an enviable reputation as one who aided the Continental Cong
ress with his money. Forty-four Jews figured in the War of 1812, fifty-eight
in the Mexican War, and in the War of the Rebellion they were to be found in
large numbers both on the Northern and Southern sides.
    During the nineteenth century the Jews spread over the whole extent of
the United States, and important congregations have also grown up in the
larger cities of Canada. From 1830 to 1870 the immigration came largely from
the Southern States of Germany and Hungary. The riots and persecutions in
Russia have driven hundreds of thousands of Jews to the United States. To
these have been added large numbers from Galicia and Rumania, who have for
the most part settled in the large business centres; though efforts have
been made to found agricultural colonies for them in Delaware, New Jersey,
the Dakotas, Pennsylvania, Connecticut, and also in Argentina.

I)    The arrival of large numbers of Jews from Russia and Rumania has made
necessary the founding of manual training and technical schools, in which
the rising generation may be taught handicrafts, from which they have
largely been excluded by legislation in Eastern Europe. Such schools exist
in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, and other cities, and have been fostered
especially by the Baron de Hirsch Fund.
    A remarkable development in modern Jewish life is that of the Zionist
movement. In a measure it is the continuation of the old Jewish hope of
restoration to the land of Palestine. It is also the Jewish answer to
anti-Semitism. Its object is to found a secure and legal home for the
oppressed Jews in Palestine.

J)    About the middle of the nineteenth century, when Jews were scattered
in out-of-the-way places, a number of orders similar to that of the Free
Masons were called into being. The "B'nai B'rith (Sons of the Covenant'),
founded in the United States in 1843, in 1901 had 315 lodges in America and
a few in Germany, Rumania, Austria, Algeria, Bulgaria and Egypt. Other
similar societies are the Sons of Benjamin, the Free Sons of Israel, and the
Free Sons of Judah. As the number of Jews in the United States increased,
extensive calls were made upon the Jews already domiciled here to provide
adequately for their more unfortunate brethren. There were in 1902 fifteen
homes for orphans in the United States, twelve homes for the aged, and nine
hospitals. In 1889 Rabbi Gustav Gottheil organized the first Sisterhood for
Personal Service, in connection with the Temple Emanu-El, in New York City.
Since then such societies, in which the work is done by the women of the
congregation, have become attached to nearly every important synagogue in
the land. In most of the cities the work of the Jewish charities has been
organized, so that one central body directs it in a large measure--the
United Hebrew Charities of the City of New York.

K)    No account of Jewish charitable endeavor during the nineteenth century
would be complete without the particular mention of Baron and Baroness de
Hirsch, who bequeathed three hundred million francs for the purpose of
aiding the oppressed Jews of Eastern Europe. This fund is in the hands of a
private corporation composed of a few trustees, and has its seat in Paris.
It has spent vast sums in colonizing some five thousand Jews in the
Argentine Republic;  it assists colonization in Canada, and has recently
taken over the Jewish colonies established by Edmund de Rothschild in
Palestine; it also maintains schools and homes in several American cities to
which the Russian Jews have emigrated.
                ______________________________
  This concludes the article under the title of "Jews".

The abovementioned article of historical facts in its exact word by word
entirety was taken from:

Source:     The New International Encyclopaedia
Publisher:  Dodd, Mead and Company.......New York
Copyright:  1902-1905       Total of 21 Volumes.
_______________________________________________

      Researched, prepared and Transcribed
 
                 by Miriam Medina

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