In the Jewish diaspora, a Jewish quarter (also known as jewry, juiverie, Judengasse, Jewynstreet, Jewtown, Judería or proto-ghetto) is the area of a city traditionally inhabited by Jews. Jewish quarters, like the Jewish ghettos in Europe, were often the outgrowths of segregated ghettos instituted by the surrounding Christian or Muslim authorities. A Yiddish term for a Jewish quarter or neighborhood is "Di yiddishe gas" (), or "The Jewish quarter." While in Ladino, they are known as maalé yahudí, meaning "The Jewish quarter".
Many European and Near Eastern cities once had a historical Jewish quarter and some still have it. The history of the Jews in Iraq is documented from the time of the Babylonian captivity c. 586 BC. Iraqi Jews constitute one of the world's oldest and most historically significant Jewish communities.
Arab world
From the late medieval and early modern period onwards Jews, the only remaining dhimmi, were increasingly confined to ghettolike quarters, such as the mellah in Morocco, the hara in Algeria and Tunisia and the qa'a in Yemen. The mellah of Fez, founded in the fifteenth century, became the prototype of the Moroccan ghetto. Though it was probably founded in order to protect and not to punish the Jews, they resented the transfer and viewed it as bitter exile and manifestation of a painful segregation.
Later foundation were founded with the explicit intent of ostracism rather than protection. As such, Jews often had to wear distinguishing clothes and were not allowed to wear shoes outside the mellah. In cities, a mellah was surrounded by a wall with a fortified gateway, often close to kasbah of the king or governor, whereas rural mellahs were separate villages inhabited solely by the Jews.
Europe
Jewish quarters in Europe existed for a number of reasons. In some cases, Christian authorities wished to segregate Jews from the Christian population so that Christians would not be "contaminated" by them or so as to put psychological pressure on Jews to convert to Christianity. From the Jewish point of view, concentration of Jews within a limited area offered a level of protection from outside influences or mob violence. In many cases, residents had their own justice system.
When political authorities designated an area where Jews were required by law to live, such areas were commonly referred to as ghettos, and were usually coupled with many other disabilities and indignities. The areas chosen usually consisted of the most undesirable areas of a city.
In the English city of Norwich, the Jewish quarter was close to the castle, as a source of protection in times of local pogroms. This pattern was seen in other English towns, where Jews were under the protection of the Normans.Carole Rawcliffe, Richard George Wilson, Medieval Norwich, Continuum International, 2006, p. 18.
In the 19th century, Jewish ghettos were progressively abolished, and their walls taken down, though some areas of Jewish concentration continued and continue to exist. In some cities, Jewish quarters refer to areas which historically had concentrations of Jews. For example, many maps of Spanish towns mark a "Jewish Quarter", though Spain hasn't had a significant Jewish population for over 500 years.
In Eastern Europe there were no Jewish quarters or ghettos. Jews lived in small towns known as shtetls.
Over the course of World War II, Nazi Germany reestablished Jewish ghettos in Nazi-occupied Europe (which they called Jewish quarters) for the purpose of segregation, persecution, terror, and exploitation of Jews, mostly in Eastern Europe. According to USHMM archives, "The Germans established at least 1,000 ghettos in German-occupied and annexed Poland and the Soviet Union alone."
Austria Hohenems: Salzburg: Vienna: Judenplatz (1280-1421); Leopoldstadt
Belgium Antwerp: Joods Antwerpen (35,000 Jews before 1940, 15,000 nowadays)
Czech Republic Kolín: Prague: Josefov Třebíč: Jewish Quarter of Třebíč
France Bordeaux: Saint-Seurin Draguignan: Lyon: La Juiverie de Fourvière (rue Juiverie) and Marseille: La Carrière-des-Juifs and Mont-Juif or Montjusieu Paris: the Pletzl in Le Marais district Les Josiols is a former Jewish quarter situated north of Mirabel-aux-Baronnies
Germany
Berlin: and the Cologne: Frankfurt: Judengasse Hamburg: New Town, , and Eimsbüttel (History of the Jews in Hamburg) Hanau: Koblenz: Leipzig: Brühl) Speyer: Jewish community of Speyer Stuttgart: Trier: Worms
Greece Rhodes: La Juderia
Hungary Budapest: Erzsébetváros
Ireland Cork: "Jewtown" around Albert Road Dublin: Portobello
Italy Caltagirone: Iudeca (Giudecca) Catania: Judeca Suprana, Judeca Suttana and Piano di Giacobbe Enna: Iudeca (Giudecca) Florence: Florentine Ghetto Mantua: Mantuan Ghetto Messina: Tirone and Paraporto Naples: Giudecca Padua: Paduan Ghetto Palermo: Meschita and Guzzetta Reggio Calabria: La Judeca (Giudecca) Rome: Roman Ghetto Syracuse — La Jureca (Giudecca) Venice: Venetian Ghetto Ferrara: Ghetto di Ferrara
Netherlands Amsterdam: Jodenbuurt; Jodenbreestraat (until World War II); Buitenveldert (contemporary) The Hague:
Poland Kraków: Kazimierz Warsaw: Muranów (during World War II, the Warsaw Ghetto)
Portugal Belmonte: Judiaria Braga: Judiaria Velha (Rua do Poço) and Judiaria Nova (Rua de Sto. António das Travessas) Castelo de Vide: Judiaria Coimbra: Judiaria Velha and Judiaria Nova (Fonte dos Judeus) Lisbon: Alfama and Judiaria Porto: Judiaria Velha, Judiaria Nova do Olival and Bairro de Monchique Tomar: Judiaria
Romania Bucharest: Văcăreşti/Dudeşti
Spain Ávila — Judería Barcelona — El Call Bellpuig — Call Besalú — Call Caceres — Judería Calahorra — Judería Córdoba — Judería Estella-Lizarra — Judería Girona — Call Jueu de Girona Hervás — Judería Jaén — Judería León — Judería Monforte de Lemos — Judería Oviedo — Judería Palma de Mallorca — Call Mallorca – Call Jueu d'Inca Plasencia — Judería Ribadavia — Judería Segovia — Aljama Sevilla — Judería Sos del Rey Católico — Judería Tarazona — Aljama Toledo Tortosa — Call Tudela — Judería Valladolid — Aljama
Turkey European Istanbul: Balat
United Kingdom City of London: Old Jewry Winchester: Jewry Street
Africa
Algeria Algiers — Hara Béjaïa — Karamane Constantine — Hara Ghardaia — Mellah Oran — Tlemcen — Derb Lihoud
Egypt Cairo — Harat Al-Yahud Al-Qara’In and Harat Al-Yahud
Libya Tripoli — Hara Kabira, Hara Sghira, Hara al Wastia
Morocco Azemmour — Mellah of Azemmour Casablanca — Mellah of Casablanca Chefchaouen — Mellah of Chefchaouen Essaouira — Mellah of Essaouira Fez — Mellah of Fez Larache — Mellah of Larache Marrakesh — Mellah of Marrakesh Meknes — Old Mellah, New Mellah Rabat — Mellah of Rabat Sefrou — Mellah of Sefrou Tangier Tetouan - Mellah of Tetouan
Tunisia Djerba island — Hara Kebira, Hara Sghira El Kef — Hara Tunis — Hara Zarzis — Hara
Asia China Shanghai — Shanghai Ghetto, a temporary Jewish refuge during World War II.
India Kochi – Jew Town, traditional Cochin Jewish district and location of the spice market.
Lebanon Beirut — Wadi Abu Jamil, formerly known as Wadi al-Yahoud (meaning "Valley of the Jews").
Turkey Bursa — Kuruçeşme Asian Istanbul — Kuzguncuk İzmir — Karataş
Iran Isfahan — Jouybareh Shiraz — Mahalleh Tehran — Sarchal or Oudlajan
Iraq Baghdad — History of the Jews in Baghdad, Bataween, Shorja There are several places called "Jewlakan" (literally meaning "the Jews" in Kurdish),, End of Story? Remnants of Kurdistan’s Jews in the 21st Century, p. 244 e.g., in Sulaymaniyah or Erbil.Kurdistan Chronicle, March 2023
Syria Aleppo – Bahsita and Jamiliyya Damascus – Ḥārat al-Yahūd, a recently restored tourist destination popular among Europeans before the outbreak of the Syrian civil war where vacationers can stay in the neighborhood and beautified former homes of the completely vanished ancient Jewish community.
Uzbekistan Bukhara – Jewish Quarter or Jewish Mahalla Samarkand – Old Jewish Quarter or Jewish Mahalla
Yemen
Sanaa – Qa' Al-Yahud
Americas Argentina Buenos Aires — Once
Brazil São Paulo — Bom Retiro, Higienópolis United States Boca Raton, Florida – There are over 175,000 Jewish people in southern Palm Beach County. New York City – Williamsburg and Crown Heights in Brooklyn, (historically) the Lower East Side and parts of The Bronx. Northern New Jersey, Long Island, and Rockland County have been home to large Jewish populations since the 1940s and 1950s. Pinch District, Memphis, Tennessee — From the 1890s to the 1930s, it was the center of Memphis' Jewish community, with many synagogues and Jewish-owned businesses. Pittsburgh – Squirrel Hill, with some spillover into bordering Greenfield, Regent Square, and Shadyside. Uruguay Montevideo — Villa Muñoz Canada Montréal, Québec – Mile-End/Outremont and Côte-des-Neiges/Hampstead/Snowdon, Côte-Saint-Luc, Saint-Laurent Boulevard Toronto – The Ward was the original Jewish district in the 19th century followed by Kensington Market in the early to mid 20th century.
References
External links A walk in the old Jewish Quarter of Pest