The history of the Jews in the Democratic Republic of the Congo can be traced back to 1907, when the first Jewish immigrants began to arrive in the country. Current Jewish Congolese population is mostly of Sephardi background.

History

The territory which is now the Democratic Republic of the Congo was first annexed and colonised by Europeans after 1885 within what was then the

Congo Free State ''(Work and Progress) , national_anthem = Vers l'avenir , capital = Vivi Boma , currency = Congo Free State franc , religion = Catholicism (''de facto'') , leader1 = Leopo ...

. In 1908, the Free State got annexed by Belgium, becoming the Belgian Congo. The first Jews in the Congo were Eastern European immigrants from Romania and Poland. Within the next few years, more Jewish immigrants arrived from South Africa. In 1911, Sephardi Jews came from the Island of Rhodes in what is now Greece (then part of the Ottoman Empire) settled in the Congo. That same year, a Jewish community center was established named the ''Communauté du Congo Belge et du Ruanda-Urundi''. A synagogue was built in Lubumbashi in 1930. Rabbi Moses Levy acted as the Jewish community leader throughout the Congo and

Ruanda-Urundi Ruanda-Urundi (), later Rwanda-Burundi, was a colonial territory, once part of German East Africa, which was occupied by troops from the Belgian Congo during the East African campaign in World War I and was administered by Belgium under militar ...

(present day

Rwanda Rwanda (; rw, u Rwanda ), officially the Republic of Rwanda, is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley of Central Africa, where the African Great Lakes region and Southeast Africa converge. Located a few degrees south of the Equator ...

and

Burundi Burundi (, ), officially the Republic of Burundi ( rn, Repuburika y’Uburundi ; Swahili language, Swahili: ''Jamuhuri ya Burundi''; French language, French: ''République du Burundi'' ), is a landlocked country in the Great Rift Valley at the ...

). Due to an economic crisis during the 1930s, most of the Eastern European Jews left the Congo. However, after the crisis had passed more Jews immigrated from Eastern Europe and were joined by Southern European Jews. Prior to the establishment of the

State of Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

in 1948 the Congo was home to numerous Zionist organizations, led by the ''Association Sioniste du Congo Belge''. After the independence of Congo from Belgium in 1960 the majority of Congolese Jews left the country, with most of them settling in Israel or South Africa. At the time of independence, Congo was home to 2,500 Jewish people. 50% of the Jewish population lived in Lubumbashi, while 70 Jewish families lived in Congo's capital

Kinshasa Kinshasa (; ; ln, Kinsásá), formerly Léopoldville ( nl, Leopoldstad), is the capital and largest city of the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Once a site of fishing and trading villages situated along the Congo River, Kinshasa is now one o ...

. Jewish children at the time were taught classes in Hebrew and Judaism in public schools. In 2013, the Jewish population was around 320 and was settled mostly in Lubumbashi. Most are Sephardi and speak

Ladino Ladino, derived from Latin, may refer to: * The register of Judaeo-Spanish used in the translation of religious texts, such as the Ferrara Bible *Ladino people, a socio-ethnic category of Mestizo or Hispanicized people in Central America especi ...

, a Spanish-Jewish language. There is a synagogue in Lubumbashi that is served by a rabbi. There is also small Jewish community living in Kinshasa that is known as the ''Congregation Israélite''. Chabad also has operations in the country, and their Central African headquarters in Kinshasa. Chabad has a synagogue and a Hebrew school, and groups of their rabbinical students come to study for a year there while also being sent to other places in

sub-Saharan Africa Sub-Saharan Africa is, geographically, the area and regions of the continent of Africa that lies south of the Sahara. These include West Africa, East Africa, Central Africa, and Southern Africa. Geopolitically, in addition to the List of sov ...

to provide Jewish communities with programs.

References

External links

Jewish community in Congo
at the World Jewish Congress
Indépendance : Les Juifs du Congo se souviennent
at the Centre Communautaire Laïc Juif. {{Africa in topic, History of the Jews in Congo, Democratic Republic Jews Congo, Democratic Republic History Congo, Democratic Republic Congo, Democratic Republic