Abstract: This detailed and thorough report is rapidly becoming the ‘must-read’ study on European Jews, taking the reader on an extraordinary journey through one thousand years of European Jewish history before arriving at the most comprehensive analysis of European Jewish demography today.
Written by leading Jewish demographers Professor Sergio DellaPergola and Dr Daniel Staetsky, the Chair and Director of JPR’s European Jewish Demography Unit respectively, it explores how the European Jewish population has ebbed and flowed over time. It begins as far back as the twelfth century, travelling through many years of population stability, until the tremendous growth of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, followed by the dramatic decline prompted by a combination of mass migration and the horrors of the Shoah. Extraordinarily, after all this time, the proportion of world Jewry living in Europe today is almost identical to the proportion living in Europe 900 years ago.
Using multiple definitions of Jewishness and a vast array of sources to determine the size of the contemporary population, the study proceeds to measure it in multiple ways, looking at the major blocs of the European Union and the European countries of the Former Soviet Union, as well as providing country-by-country analyses, ranging from major centres such as France, the UK, Germany and Hungary, to tiny territories such as Gibraltar, Monaco and even the Holy See.
The report also contains the most up-to-date analysis we have on the key mechanisms of demographic change in Europe, touching variously on patterns of migration in and out of Europe, fertility, intermarriage, conversion and age compositions. While the report itself is a fascinating and important read, the underlying data are essential tools for the JPR team to utilise as it supports Jewish organisations across the continent to plan for the future.
Abstract: Austria shows another interesting example of the Israeli Diaspora community -«Israeli Sephardi Russians». This group consists of three to four thousand former Soviet Jews that stayed in Austria which was a transit point for Jewish emigration from the USSR to the West in 1970s, or returned there from Israel, as well as of those FSU Jews that joined them in the 1990s. The overwhelming majority of this group is composed of representatives of «oriental» Jewish communities of the (former) Soviet Union - mostly Bukhara, as well as Georgian and, to lesser extent, Caucasian (Mounting) Jews. A significant number or even majority of the Austrian Jewish immigrants with roots in the former USSR spent a certain period of their life in Israel, and thus are Israeli passport holders. As a result «Israeli Sephardi Russians» together with a few hundred «Israeli Ashkenazi Russians» and some two thousands of Israeli passport holders that were born either in Israel or in the Diaspora beyond the FSU, now compose one third to 40% of the Austrian Jewish population (the latter is estimated between 10-12,000, or 15-20,000; according to other sources, 95% of them in the Austrian capital of Vienna, although only 7,014 of them are officially registered as Jewish community members).
Abstract: Written by the world’s leading Jewish demographer, Professor Sergio DellaPergola, and Dr Daniel Staetsky, Director of JPR’s European Jewish Demography Unit, this report shines a light on the demography of Jewish in Austria today, and presents in-depth analysis of fertility rates, age distribution data, patterns of Jewish identity, migration and intermarriage rates to predict Austrian Jewry’s future. It demonstrates, through careful and methodical analysis, that the population is projected to grow.
Whilst the Austrian Jewish population is small, its projected growth constitutes an important finding in European Jewish demography. The Jewish population of Europe has declined dramatically over the past century and a half, particularly as a result of mass migration and the Holocaust. Yet today, in several European countries, demographers are beginning to see signs of growth, driven particularly by high birth rates in the strictly Orthodox population. This study provides an important example of this phenomenon.
The report is a publication of JPR’s European Jewish Demography Unit, an initiative established in 2019 to produce new data to support Jewish community planning across Europe. Funded by the Rothschild Foundation Hanadiv Europe, the Unit is working to produce country-specific reports annually, and this study about Austria is the first of these.
The report draws on three major sources of data: the 2001 Austrian Census, comprehensive records of the Austrian Jewish community and a survey carried out by a JPR/Ipsos consortium in 2018 for the European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA).
Key findings include:
Today the core Jewish population of Austria is estimated to be just above 10,000. The ‘core Jewish population’ consists of people who would explicitly identify themselves as Jews. This is the highest number of Jews observed in Austria since the 1960.
According to the Israeli Law of Return – which uses a broader definition to determine who is entitled to migrate to Israel and immediately apply for Israeli citizenship – the eligible Jewish population in Austria is currently about 20,000.
The core Jewish population constitutes 0.1% of the total population of Austria. 64% of all Austrians are Roman Catholics, 17% are unaffiliated in religious terms, and 8% are Muslims.
The Jewish population of Austria is growing and may reach 11,000-12,000 by the mid-2030s.
About 86% of all Austrian Jews reside in Vienna. Only 19% of all Austrians live in Vienna
The average number of children that a Jewish woman in Austria is expected to have in her lifetime is 2.5; strictly Orthodox Jewish women have 6–7 children per woman, on average, while non-strictly Orthodox Jewish women typically have about 2. The average among Austrian women in general is 1.5.
Migration has been a powerful factor of growth in the Austrian Jewish population. Jews born in Israel constitute about 20% of Jews in Austria today.
About 78% of Jewish households in Austria are affiliated with the Jewish community through membership of its representative organisation. Compared to other communities around the world, this is a very high level of affiliation.
About 30% of Jews in Austria identify as ‘Orthodox’ or ‘Traditional’ and 19% as ‘strictly Orthodox.’ 15% identify as ‘Reform/Progressive’ and 19% as ‘just Jewish.’ Austrian Jewry has one of the highest proportions of strictly Orthodox Jews of all European Jewish communities.
Due to their high fertility, the strictly Orthodox represent the main engine of population growth for the Jewish community as a whole. For the same reason, their share in the Jewish population is expected to increase significantly in the medium term.
About two thirds (70%) of partnered Austrian Jews have a Jewish partner.
About 70% of all Jewish children of compulsory school age in Austria attend Jewish schools. While 100% of strictly Orthodox Jews attend Jewish schools, among the non-strictly Orthodox uptake is still significant – about 52%.
Abstract: This paper aims at providing a new systemic contribution to research about perceptions of antisemitism/Judeophobia by contemporary Jews in 12 European Union countries. The perspective – the viewpoint of the offended side – has been less prominent relatively in research literature on antisemitism. The data analysis demonstrates the potential power of Similarity Structure Analysis (SSA) as a better theoretical and empirical tool to describe and conceptualize the contents of chosen research issues. After a brief review of some methodological problems in the study of antisemitism, this paper will re-elaborate data first published in the report of the 2018 FRA study Experiences and Perceptions of Antisemitism – Second survey on Discrimination and Hate Crimes against Jews in the EU (FRA 2018a). Topics include the perceived importance of antisemitism as a societal issue, the contents of anti-Jewish prejudice and discrimination, channels of transmission, perpetrators of offenses, regional differences within Europe, and the role of antisemitism perceptions as a component of Jewish identification. Special attention is paid to the distinction between cognitive and experiential perceptions of antisemitism, and to the typology of practical, populist, political, and narrative antisemitism.
Abstract: Antisemitism can be expressed in the form of verbal and physical attacks, threats, harassment, discrimination and unequal treatment, property damage and graffiti or other forms of speech or text, including on the internet. Antisemitic incidents and hate crime violate fundamental rights, especially the right to human dignity, the right to equality of treatment and the freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
The present report provides an overview of data on antisemitism as recorded by international organisations and by official and unofficial sources in the 28 European Union (EU) Member States, based on their own definitions and categorisations. ‘Official data’ are understood here as those collected by law enforcement agencies, other authorities that are part of criminal justice systems and relevant state ministries at the national level. ‘Unofficial data’ refers to data collected by civil society organisations.
This is the 15th edition of FRA’s report on the situation of data collection on antisemitism in the EU (including reports published by FRA’s predecessor, the European Monitoring Centre on Racism and Xenophobia).
Abstract: This book illustrates the two clear trends in antisemitism today: “old” antisemitism, based in religious and racist prejudices, which has largely disappeared from public discourse in the West after the defeat of Nazi Germany, but has resurfaced in the last quarter-century in the face of right wing frustration of weakening nation states in a globalized world; and “new” antisemitism, or the antisemitic narrativization of Israel, which is most commonly found on the Left, in the Muslim world, and in the post-colonial discourse.
This collection of essays analyzes both old and new antisemitisms, in order to understand their place in the world of today and tomorrow. It is written by experts in the field of antisemitism working for, or connected with, the Kantor Center for the Study of Contemporary European Jewry at Tel Aviv University.
Table of Contents
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Continuity and Change of Antisemitism
Mikael Shainkman
Different Antisemitisms: On Three Distinct Forms of Antisemitism in Contemporary Europe, with a Special Focus on Sweden
Lars Dencik and Karl Marosi
Holocaust Memory and Holocaust Revisionism in Poland and Moldova: A Comparison
Natalia Sineaeva-Pankowska
Honoring the Collaborators: The Ukrainian Case
Irena Cantorovich
The Rise of the Radical Right in Europe and the Jews
Michael Whine
The Worrisome Defiance of the Golden Dawn
Michal Navoth
The Struggle over the International Working Definition of Antisemitism
Dina Porat
Discrimination against Muslims and Antisemitic Views among Young Muslims in Europe
Günther Jikeli
Debates on Islamized Antisemitism in Austria in the Wake of the Israel-Gaza Conflict, 2014
Julia Edthofer
Antisemitism and the Struggle for the “Good” Society: Ambivalent Responses to Antisemitic Attitudes and Ideas in the 2014 Swedish Electoral Race
Kristin Wagrell
Mohamed Omar and the Selective Detection of Non-Nazi Antisemitism
Mathan Ravid
After the Charlie Hebdo Attack: The Line between Freedom of Expression and Hate Speech
Andre Oboler
Online Antisemitic Propaganda and Negationism in the Islamic Republic of Iran: Ahmadinejad and His Enduring Legacy
Liora Hendelman-Baavur
The Nisman Case: Its Impact on the Jewish Community and on National Politics in Argentina
Adrian Gruszniewski and Lidia Lerner
Venezuela’s 2012 Presidential Elections: Introducing Antisemitism into Venezuelan Political Discourse
Lidia Lerner
Abstract: With contributions from a dozen American and European scholars, this volume presents an overview of Jewish writing in post–World War II Europe. Striking a balance between close readings of individual texts and general surveys of larger movements and underlying themes, the essays portray Jewish authors across Europe as writers and intellectuals of multiple affiliations and hybrid identities. Aimed at a general readership and guided by the idea of constructing bridges across national cultures, this book maps for English-speaking readers the productivity and diversity of Jewish writers and writing that has marked a revitalization of Jewish culture in France, Germany, Austria, Italy, Great Britain, the Netherlands, Hungary, Poland, and Russia.
Introduction Thomas Nolden and Vivian Liska
1. Secret Affinities: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Austria Vivian Liska
2. Writing against Reconciliation: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Germany Stephan Braese
3. Remembering or Inventing the Past: Second-Generation Jewish Writers in the Netherlands Elrud Ibsch
4. Bonds with a Vanished Past: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Scandinavia Eva Ekselius
5. Imagined Communities: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Great Britain Bryan Cheyette
6. A la recherche du Judaïsme perdu: Contemporary Jewish Writing in France Thomas Nolden
7. Ital'Yah Letteraria: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Italy Christoph Miething
8. Writing along Borders: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Hungary Péter Varga with Thomas Nolden
9. Making Up for Lost Time: Contemporary Jewish Writing in Poland Monika Adamczyk-Garbowska
10. De-Centered Writing: Aspects of Contemporary Jewish Writing in Russia Rainer Grübel and Vladimir Novikov
Abstract: ComRes surveyed 7,092 adults online in seven countries between 7th September – 20th September (Great Britain, 1010; France, 1006; Germany, 1012; Poland, 1020; Hungary, 1019; Sweden 1018; Austria, 1007). Data were weighted to be representative of each country based on age, gender and region.
Over a third of adults (36%) say they are not favourable towards Muslims in their country, compared with one in ten (10%) who say they are unfavourable towards Jews
Three in ten (28%) adults say Jewish people have too much influence in finance and business across the world, compared with other people
One in five (20%) adults say Jewish people have too much influence in media across the world compared to other people
More than two in five (44%) agree anti-Semitism is a growing problem in their country today
Two in five (40%) adults agree Jewish people are at risk of racist violence in their country
Over half (54%) of adults agree Israel has a right to exist as a Jewish state
One third (32%) of adults agree criticism of Israel tends to be motivated by anti-Semitism
Three in ten (31%) adults agree Jewish people use the Holocaust to advance their position or to achieve certain goals
Over half (56%) of adults say they are not aware of ever having socialised with a Jewish person
Abstract: This report presents the main findings of FRA’s second survey on Jewish people’s experiences and perceptions of hate crime, discrimination and antisemitism. It analyses data from the responses of 16,395 selfidentified Jewish people (aged 16 or over) in 12 EU Member States – Austria, Belgium, Denmark, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. These Member States are home to over 96 % of the EU’s estimated Jewish population. In addition to the 12 EU Member States mentioned above, FRA also carried out the survey in Latvia. Due to the low response level to the online dissemination campaign in Latvia, changes in recruitment methodology and data collection were applied. While the survey was able to reach more respondents in this way, the changes in the respondent recruitment and data collection methods limit the scope for comparisons between Latvia and the other survey countries.
Topics: Antisemitism, Fundraising and Philanthropy, Israel Attachment, Jewish Continuity, Religious Denominations, Security, Surveys, Jewish Leadership, Jewish Organisations, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Jewish Identity
Abstract: The Fourth Survey of European Jewish Community Leaders and Professionals, 2018 presents the results of an online survey offered in 10 languages and administered to 893 respondents in 29 countries. Conducted every three years using the same format, the survey seeks to identify trends and their evolution in time.
The survey asked Jewish lay leaders and community professionals questions regarding future community priorities, identifying the main threats to Jewish life, views on the safety and security situation in their cities, including emergency preparedness, and opinions on an array of internal community issues. Examples include conversions, membership criteria policies on intermarriage, and their vision of Europe and Israel.
The respondents were comprised of presidents and chairpersons of nationwide “umbrella organizations” or Federations; presidents and executive directors of private Jewish foundations, charities, and other privately funded initiatives; presidents and main representatives of Jewish communities that are organized at a city level; executive directors and programme coordinators, as well as current and former board members of Jewish organizations; among others.
The JDC International Centre for Community Development established the survey as a means to identify the priorities, sensibilities and concerns of Europe’s top Jewish leaders and professionals working in Jewish institutions, taking into account the changes that European Jewry has gone through since 1989, and the current political challenges and uncertainties in the continent. In a landscape with few mechanisms that can truly gauge these phenomena, the European Jewish Community Leaders Survey is an essential tool for analysis and applied research in the field of community development.
The Survey team was directed by Dr. Barry Kosmin (Trinity College), who has conducted several large national social surveys and opinion polls in Europe, Africa and the U.S., including the CJF 1990 US National Jewish Population Survey.
Abstract: Antisemitism can be expressed in the form of verbal and physical attacks, threats, harassment, property damage and graffiti or other forms of speech or text, including on the internet. Antisemitic incidents and hate crime violate fundamental rights, including the right to human dignity, the right to equality of treatment and the freedom of thought, conscience and religion.
This annual overview compiles the available evidence on antisemitic incidents collected by governmental and non-governmental sources, covering the period 1 January 2006– 31 December 2016, where data are available. In addition, it includes a section that presents evidence from international organisations. No official data on reported antisemitic incidents in 2016 were available for 11 Member States by the time this report was compiled in September 2017.
‘Official data’ are understood here as those collected by law enforcement agencies, other authorities that are part of criminal justice systems and relevant state ministries at the national level. ‘Unofficial data’ refers to data collected by civil society organisations.
Abstract: Im aktuellen Antisemitismusbericht dokumentiert das Forum gegen Antisemitismus (FgA) für das Jahr 2017 insgesamt 503 antisemitische Vorfälle – der höchste Wert seit Beginn der Aufzeichnungen!
Es handelt sich um gemeldete Fälle, die nach einer Überprüfung durch das FgA tatsächlich als antisemitisch eingestuft wurden. Es ist von einer höheren Dunkelziffer (nicht gemeldete Fälle) auszugehen. Die in den Bericht aufgenommenen Fälle werden vom FgA in sechs Kategorien eingeteilt.
Innerhalb eines Jahres stieg die Zahl von 477 auf 503 antisemitische Vorfälle. Über einen Zeitraum von drei Jahren hat sich die Gesamtzahl der gemeldeten Vorfälle sogar fast verdoppelt.
Betrachtet man jene Vorfälle, in denen die Betroffenen persönlich adressiert wurden (Beschimpfungen/Bedrohungen, Briefe/Anrufe, und Tätliche Angriffe), so ist ebenfalls eine Verdoppelung im gleichen Zeitraum erkennbar (s. Diagramm). Dieser Anstieg ist ein weiterer Hinweis darauf, dass es eine Enthemmung auf Seiten der Täter gibt, welche ihre Ressentiments in einer persönlich adressieren Form ausleben.
Fast zwei Drittel (62 %) der antisemitischen Handlungen können keinem ideologischen Hintergrund zugeordnet werden. Etwa 24 % aller zuordenbaren Fälle können auf einen rechten Hintergrund zurückgeführt werden, 10 % auf einen islamischen und 3 % auf einen linken Hintergrund. Wegen der hohen Zahl von ideologisch nicht zuordenbaren Fällen, kann keine Aussage darüber getroffen werden, welche Form von Antisemitismus die quantitativ größte ist: "Unsere Daten zeigen zwar nicht, von wo der meiste Antisemitismus kommt. Wenn wir uns jedoch darauf konzentrieren, was unsere Daten schon zeigen, dann erkennt man, dass Antisemitismus von überall kommt - und das ist nirgends zu akzeptieren!"
Abstract: Antisemitism can be expressed in the form of verbal and physical attacks, threats, harassment, property damage, graffiti or other forms of text, including on the internet. This report relates to manifestations of antisemitism as they are recorded by official and unofficial sources in the 28 European Union (EU) Member States.
‘Official data’ is understood here as that collected by law enforcement agencies, criminal justice systems and relevant state ministries at the national level. ‘Unofficial data’ refers to data collected by civil society organisations.
This report compiles available data on antisemitic incidents collected by international, governmental and non-governmental sources, covering the period 1 January 2004– 31 December 2014, where data are available. No official data on reported antisemitic incidents were available for seven Member States at the time this report was compiled: Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Italy, Lithuania, Malta and Portugal.
Topics: Antisemitism, Fundraising and Philanthropy, Israel Attachment, Jewish Continuity, Religious Denominations, Security, Surveys, Jewish Leadership, Jewish Organisations, Main Topic: Identity and Community, Jewish Identity
Abstract: Launched by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee’s International Centre for Community Development (JDC-ICCD), and conducted by a research team at Trinity College (Hartford, Connecticut, USA) between June and August 2015, the Third Survey of European Jewish Leaders and Opinion Formers presents the results of an online survey administered to 314 respondents in 29 countries. The survey was conducted online in five languages: English, French, Spanish, German and Hungarian. The Survey of European Jewish Leaders and Opinion Formers is conducted every three or four years using the same format, in order to identify trends and their evolution. Findings of the 2015 edition were assessed and evaluated based on the results of previous surveys (2008 and 2011). The survey posed Jewish leaders and opinion formers a range of questions about major challenges and issues that
concern European Jewish communities in 2015, and about their expectations of how communities will evolve over the next 5-10 years. The 45 questions (see Appendix) dealt
with topics that relate to internal community structures and their functions, as well as the external environment affecting communities. The questionnaire also included six open-ended questions in a choice of five languages. These answers form the basis of the qualitative analysis of the report. The questions were organized under the following headings:• Vision & Change (6 questions)
• Decision-Making & Control (1 question)
• Lay Leadership (1 question)
• Professional Leadership (2 questions)
• Status Issues & Intermarriage (5 questions)
• Organizational Frameworks (2 questions)
• Community Causes (2 questions)
• Jewish Education (1 question)
• Funding (3 questions)
• Communal Tensions (3 questions)
• Anti-Semitism/Security (5 questions)
• Europe (1 question)
• Israel (1 question)
• Future (2 questions)
• Personal Profile (9 questions)
Abstract: Porträts von 17 jüdischen Gemeinden in Europa.
Am Ende eines für Europa geschichtsträchtigen und vor allem für Juden tragischen Jahrhunderts entwerfen 18 Autoren individuell gestaltete, einander ergänzende Porträts jüdischer Gemeinden, die Auskunft geben über das Leben und Wirken der Gemeinschaften, über deren Gegenwart und Vergangenheit, ihre Strukturen und Voraussetzungen. Diese Bestandsaufnahmen des jüdischen Lebens führen quer durch Europa: nach Österreich, England, Frankreich und Deutschland. Es folgen Beiträge über die Türkei, einen jahrhundertealten Zufluchtsort für Juden, den jüdischen Nachwuchs in Osteuropa, über Thessaloniki, die Juden im Gebiet der ehemaligen Sowjetunion, deren Gemeinschaft durch anhaltende Emigration bedroht ist, und über die wirtschaftliche und soziale Not der ukrainischen Juden. Der Leser erfährt von der Entwicklung der kleinen aber dynamischen jüdischen Gemeinde von Litauen, von jener in Estland und von der unerwarteten Wiedergeburt des Judentums in Polen, dem einzigen Land in Europa mit einer wachsenden jüdischen Bevölkerung. Nach einem Beitrag über die neuerwachten Gemeinden Prag und Bratislava gibt der Band einen Überblick über die Geschichte des Judentums im Rumänien des 20. Jahrhunderts, erzählt von der »ungarischen Renaissance« und porträtiert die kroatische jüdische Gemeinde, die nun, nach beinahe 50 Jahren wieder einen Rabbiner hat. In einem abschließenden Essay fordert die französische Historikerin Diana Pinto das Wiederentstehen einer europäischen jüdischen Identität und gemahnt die Gemeinden an ihre Pflicht der Erinnerung.
