The Exodus - Tales from London’s Jewish History

By Jorge Sturt

 

Jewish people have always been part of England’s heritage. But where did the Jews come from and what was their stay here like in our history?

 

In 1066 William the Conqueror brought Jewish people with him when he came to England. The Jews were not allowed to trade, instead they all became bankers for William. At this time there were only about one hundred Jews.

 

William’s son William II was an atheist. He liked to torment the religions, so he made a Christian and a Jew stand in front of him and argue which religion he should choose. In reality, he was just winding them up so he could see them argue.

 

Later in the 11th century, Jews were made to wear the badge of shame. When you see a street in London with the word Jew in it, it indicates where a medieval Jewish ghetto used to be.

There are many stories about Jews accused of doing things they did not do. For instance, when Richard I was in power, the Jews gave a present to the king. However, at the time, there were many vicious rumours circulating that accused the Jews of treason. The people were angry about this, and therefore, Jews were dragged into the alleys of London and forced to convert.

 

In 1155 in Norwich and in 1244 in London, Christian boys were found dead. The people said that Jews killed them for the bread of the Passover. As you can see, Jewish discrimination was at an all time high.

 

Shortly after this time, the Jews were expelled from the country. In 1290 Edward I chose the day of tish ba harve (a Jewish special day) to force the Jews to leave the country. But although the Jews were sent away, the law clearly stated that if a Jew died he had to be buried in London. Despite these laws, it wasn’t until the 17th century, that Oliver Cromwell allowed the Jews to come back to England.

 

In the 19th century, a whole new population of Jews arrived in the East End from Russia and Eastern Europe. The Jews came to the East End in their thousands escaping from the harsh programs of Russia and Eastern Europe. The Jews left Russia and Eastern Europe during 1881-1914. They settled in the area of the East End called Spitalfields and many of the Jews found work in the rag trade. 

 

Then in 1888 a series of grisly murders took place which we know as the Jack the Ripper murders.  Many Jews were held to blame for the killings and two of the four suspects were Jewish.

This relates to earlier stories about Jews being used as scapegoats for crimes and other reasons. Something that was to turn to tragedy in Europe in the 20th century.

 

On October 2nd 1930, in the East End community, there were a lot of fascists, also known as Black Shirts, who liked what Hitler was doing in Germany so they wanted to do it here. The leader of the fascists was called Oswald Mosley

 

On this day, the fascists gathered together at Tower Hill. The community of the East End had blocked off Commercial Road and Whitechapel High Street. The fascists met the barricade at Cable Street.

People from all over the country came to protect the Jews of the East End. There was a massive fight between the fascists and the community. Police also tried to help the fascists. They came on horses but the children of the community threw their marbles in the way of the horses and that brought them to a stop. By the end of the fight, the fascists were turned away from the East End.

 

Then the Jews were suddenly the target of the Nazis and transported to their concentration camps throughout Germany, in what is known as the Holocaust. Some of the most horrible and inhuman acts were done to the Jews. This included being gassed, starved to death and made to work in the most unfit and unhealthy manner. Their children were taken from them and executed at gun point. Around six million Jews were killed in the Holocaust.

 

Like the Jews who fled Russia and Eastern Europe in the 19th century, many Jews fled Europe before World War II to London so they could be safe from the hate crimes put upon them. And as Britain was never invaded, they survived the war.

 

I believe that the Jewish community have had good and bad times in Britain, but all in all they have stuck together to achieve what was rightfully theirs; a community.

 

LINKS

For more stories on World War II and how the Nazis, who murdered more six million Jews and over a million other victims in concentration camps, came to Barrow during the Blitz, read ‘The Fortunes of War’ in the Cumbria section.