Taxation of the Jews in Europe refers to taxes imposed specifically on
Jewish
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...
people in
Europe
Europe is a large peninsula conventionally considered a continent in its own right because of its great physical size and the weight of its history and traditions. Europe is also considered a subcontinent of Eurasia and it is located enti ...
, in addition to the taxes levied on the general population. Special taxation imposed on the Jews by the state or ruler of the territory in which they were living has played an important part in Jewish history.
[Taxation. Encyclopaedia Judaica.](_blank)
Reproduced by Jewish Virtual Library. The abolition of special taxes on the Jews followed their admission to civil rights in France and elsewhere in Europe at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries.
In the Roman Empire
The
Fiscus Judaicus
The or (Latin for "Jewish tax") was a tax imposed on Jews in the Roman Empire after the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in AD 70. Revenues were directed to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in Rome.
The tax measure improved Ro ...
(
Latin
Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...
: "Jewish tax") or "Temple Tax" was a
tax collecting agency instituted to collect the tax imposed on
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
in the
Roman Empire
The Roman Empire ( la, Imperium Romanum ; grc-gre, Βασιλεία τῶν Ῥωμαίων, Basileía tôn Rhōmaíōn) was the post- Republican period of ancient Rome. As a polity, it included large territorial holdings around the Medite ...
after the destruction of the
Temple of Jerusalem
The Temple in Jerusalem, or alternatively the Holy Temple (; , ), refers to the two now-destroyed religious structures that served as the central places of worship for Israelites and Jews on the modern-day Temple Mount in the Old City of Jerus ...
in 70 CE in favor of the temple of
Jupiter Capitolinus in
Rome
, established_title = Founded
, established_date = 753 BC
, founder = King Romulus ( legendary)
, image_map = Map of comune of Rome (metropolitan city of Capital Rome, region Lazio, Italy).svg
, map_caption ...
.
The tax was initially imposed by
Roman Emperor Vespasian
Vespasian (; la, Vespasianus ; 17 November AD 9 – 23/24 June 79) was a Roman emperor who reigned from AD 69 to 79. The fourth and last emperor who reigned in the Year of the Four Emperors, he founded the Flavian dynasty that ruled the Em ...
as one of the
measures against Jews as a result of the
First Jewish-Roman War
First or 1st is the ordinal form of the number one (#1).
First or 1st may also refer to:
*World record, specifically the first instance of a particular achievement
Arts and media Music
* 1$T, American rapper, singer-songwriter, DJ, and reco ...
of 66–73 CE. Vespasian imposed the tax in the aftermath of the
Jewish revolt (Josephus ''BJ'' 7. 218; Dio Cassius 65.7.2). The tax was imposed on all Jews throughout the empire, not just on those who took part in the revolt against Rome. The tax was imposed after the
destruction of the Second Temple
The siege of Jerusalem of 70 CE was the decisive event of the First Jewish–Roman War (66–73 CE), in which the Roman army led by future emperor Titus besieged Jerusalem, the center of Jewish rebel resistance in the Roman province o ...
in 70 CE in place of the levy (or
Tithe
A tithe (; from Old English: ''teogoþa'' "tenth") is a one-tenth part of something, paid as a contribution to a religious organization or compulsory tax to government. Today, tithes are normally voluntary and paid in cash or cheques or more ...
) payable by Jews towards the upkeep of the Temple. The amount levied was two
denarii
The denarius (, dēnāriī ) was the standard Roman silver coin from its introduction in the Second Punic War to the reign of Gordian III (AD 238–244), when it was gradually replaced by the antoninianus. It continued to be minted in very sm ...
, equivalent to the half of a
shekel
Shekel or sheqel ( akk, 𒅆𒅗𒇻 ''šiqlu'' or ''siqlu,'' he, שקל, plural he, שקלים or shekels, Phoenician: ) is an ancient Mesopotamian coin, usually of silver. A shekel was first a unit of weight—very roughly —and became c ...
that observant Jews had previously paid for the upkeep of the Temple of Jerusalem. (). A Tyrian shekel contained 13.1g of pure silver; at a spot valuation of USD$28/ozt in 2021 worth about $12. The tax was to go instead to the
Temple of Capitoline Jupiter, the major center of
ancient Roman religion
Religion in ancient Rome consisted of varying imperial and provincial religious practices, which were followed both by the people of Rome as well as those who were brought under its rule.
The Romans thought of themselves as highly religious, ...
. The ''fiscus Judaicus'' was a humiliation for the Jews. In Rome, a special
procurator
Procurator (with procuracy or procuratorate referring to the office itself) may refer to:
* Procurator, one engaged in procuration, the action of taking care of, hence management, stewardship, agency
* ''Procurator'' (Ancient Rome), the title o ...
known as ''procurator ad capitularia Iudaeorum'' was responsible for the collection of the tax.
["Fiscus Judaicus", ''Encyclopedia Judaica''] Only those who had abandoned Judaism were exempt from paying it.
In the Holy Roman Empire
The Jewish populations of Europe were politically insecure and could be easily exploited for the levying of heavy taxes in exchange for official protection. The high interest rates charged by Jews became an illimitable source of tax revenue and Jewish wealth was technically easy to gauge because Jews typically stored their assets in the form of cash or promissory notes.
The Imperial Tax Register of 1241 was the first register to include taxes on the Jews. The total of the taxes on the Jews listed in the Register amounted to 857 silver marks; the total contribution of all the cities together amounted to 4.290 silver marks. These local taxes served wholly or in part to finance town-building. Not all of the contributions reached the central administration. In contrast, it is clear from the Register that the payments made by the Jews reached the Exchequer in their entirety. The taxes on the Jews were first described as the ’’Jewish Tax’’ in 1330.
The Opferfennig (originally Guldenpfennig) tax was introduced in 1342 by Emperor
Louis IV the Bavarian, who ordered all Jews above the age of 12 and possessing 20 gulden to pay one gulden annually for protection. This taxation was 1 florin for every Jew and included assets worth more than 20 florins. Widows were not exempted. King Wenceslas removed the taxable minimum but an exemption for Jews dependent on alms was made later by Sigsmund, who himself levied heavy taxation. Sigsmund taxed a third of the value of Jewish properties. It was represented as a coronation tax as part of Sigsmund's attempts to ascend the throne. Isenmann disagrees and believes it was an innovation sprouted by Archchamberlain Konrad von Weinsberg. By 1433-4 the tax collectors were collecting tax worth a half of Jewish properties.
Emperor
Charles IV later ordered the income of the Opferfennig tax to be delivered to the archbishop of
Triers. This tax was at some places replaced by an overall communal tax.
Leibzoll
The ''
Leibzoll'' or ''Judengeleit'' was a special
toll which Jews had to pay in most of the European states in the
Middle Ages
In the history of Europe, the Middle Ages or medieval period lasted approximately from the late 5th to the late 15th centuries, similar to the post-classical period of global history. It began with the fall of the Western Roman Empire ...
and up to the beginning of the nineteenth century.
In Hungary
Tolerance tax (Toleranzgebührer) was a
tax that was levied against
Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
of
Hungary
Hungary ( hu, Magyarország ) is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning of the Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croa ...
, then part of the
Austrian Empire
The Austrian Empire (german: link=no, Kaiserthum Oesterreich, modern spelling , ) was a Central- Eastern European multinational great power from 1804 to 1867, created by proclamation out of the realms of the Habsburgs. During its existence ...
, beginning in 1747.
[JewishGen. Hungary: Assorted Census Records, 1781-1850 atabase on-line Provo, UT, USA: The Generations Network, Inc., 2008.]
The tax was based on the German statute that a Jew was obliged to pay a certain tax to be "tolerated".
In Poland
Koło
In 1571 a contract was drafted with regard to the status of the Jews in
Koło
Koło (; during the German occupation called ''Wartbrücken'' in 1940–41, ''Warthbrücken'' in 1941–45) is a town on the Warta River in central Poland with 23,101 inhabitants (2006). It is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodship (since 1 ...
, in which the city's Christians have undertaken to provide protection to the Jews, in return for which the Jews were required to pay a special annual municipal tax.
[ Mahler, Rafael]
"From the near and far past". Some information about the history of the Jews of Koło.
/ref>
In 1729 the Jewish community was required to pay 150 gold coins as an annual poll tax, and in 1738 this sum was increased to 300 gold coins.
In 1775 the Polish parliament imposed a special duty on books written in Hebrew
Hebrew (; ; ) is a Northwest Semitic language of the Afroasiatic language family. Historically, it is one of the spoken languages of the Israelites and their longest-surviving descendants, the Jews and Samaritans. It was largely preserved ...
and Yiddish, requiring each book to be stamped by the municipality. Despite heavy penalties imposed on owners of unstamped books, many books were concealed and unstamped.
In Russia
The Russian Kosher tax, known as the ''korobka'', was a tax paid only by Jews for each animal slaughtered in accordance with the kashrut rules and for each pound of this meat sold. It was part of the Russian Jewish "basket tax" or "box tax". Though it was used to refer to a tax on meat or slaughtering, the word ''korobka'' (Russian: коробка) actually means "box" in Russian. The tax came to be called that because Jews paying had to deposit a coin in a box at the kosher slaughterer.[ Diner, Hasia R. ''Hungering for America: Italian, Irish, and Jewish Foodways in the Age of Migration'', ]Harvard University Press
Harvard University Press (HUP) is a publishing house established on January 13, 1913, as a division of Harvard University, and focused on academic publishing. It is a member of the Association of American University Presses. After the reti ...
, 2001,
p. 164.
/ref>
According to Herman Rosenthal and Jacob Goodale Lipman, the tax was "the most burdensome and annoying of the special taxes imposed upon the Jews of Russia by the government".[ Rosenthal, Herman; Lipman, J.G.br>"Basket-Tax"]
''Jewish Encyclopedia
''The Jewish Encyclopedia: A Descriptive Record of the History, Religion, Literature, and Customs of the Jewish People from the Earliest Times to the Present Day'' is an English-language encyclopedia containing over 15,000 articles on th ...
''.[Leonid Vasilʹevich Belovinskiĭ. ''Энциклопедический словарь российской жизни и истории: XVIII-начало XX в'', Olma Media Group, 2003,]
p. 357.
/ref> The burden of taxes, and the ''korobka'' in particular, was one of the factors which drove many Jews to abandon the towns and settle in villages or on noblemen estates.
In Galicia
Between 1777 and 1784, the Jews of Horodenka, a region on the southeast corner of Galicia
Galicia may refer to:
Geographic regions
* Galicia (Spain), a region and autonomous community of northwestern Spain
** Gallaecia, a Roman province
** The post-Roman Kingdom of the Suebi, also called the Kingdom of Gallaecia
** The medieval King ...
, paid a number of special taxes, including the "protection and tolerance tax", and the "property and occupation tax". In 1784, the property and occupation tax was replaced with the kosher meat tax.
In Moldavia
In 1741, Moldavian prince Grigore Ghica confirmed the obligation of each Jew to pay the crupca, an indirect tax on kosher meat similar to the Russian ''korobka''.
In Altona and Hamburg
During the period 1641–1842, the Jews
Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""T ...
of Altona (then a town close to Hamburg) paid specifically Jewish taxes as well as the same taxes as other residents of Altona. The tax burden on the members of the Jewish community was twice as heavy as that on the other residents.
In 1640 the Danish King Christian IV
Christian IV (12 April 1577 – 28 February 1648) was King of Denmark and Norway and Duke of Holstein and Schleswig from 1588 until his death in 1648. His reign of 59 years, 330 days is the longest of Danish monarchs and Scandinavian mona ...
acquired part of the County of Pinneberg including Altona. Altona was subsequently granted the rights and status of a town on 23 August 1664.
Jews in Hamburg
The community was founded principally by Portuguese merchants and was known as the Portuguese-Jewish Community, although many of its members were of Spanish-Jewish descent.
These Sephardic Jews
Sephardic (or Sephardi) Jews (, ; lad, Djudíos Sefardíes), also ''Sepharadim'' , Modern Hebrew: ''Sfaradim'', Tiberian: Səp̄āraddîm, also , ''Ye'hude Sepharad'', lit. "The Jews of Spain", es, Judíos sefardíes (or ), pt, Judeus sefa ...
, who initially pretended to be persecuted Catholic
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwide . It is am ...
s, first came to Hamburg
Hamburg (, ; nds, label=Hamburg German, Low Saxon, Hamborg ), officially the Free and Hanseatic City of Hamburg (german: Freie und Hansestadt Hamburg; nds, label=Low Saxon, Friee un Hansestadt Hamborg),. is the List of cities in Germany by popul ...
at the end of the 16th century. They were mostly Portuguese- or Spanish-speaking merchants. In 1621, when the armistice between Spain
, image_flag = Bandera de España.svg
, image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg
, national_motto = '' Plus ultra'' ( Latin)(English: "Further Beyond")
, national_anthem = (English: "Royal March")
, ...
and the Netherlands
)
, anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau")
, image_map =
, map_caption =
, subdivision_type = Sovereign state
, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
, established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
came to an end, many of the Portuguese Jews moved to Hamburg. They were made welcome, even after the actual situation had become clear; however they were not permitted to establish a cemetery within the city walls. Thanks to the linguistic skills of the Sephardim and their contacts among their co-religionaries they controlled a large sector of the German market in provisions. The Sephardim differed culturally and socially from the Jews who came to Altona, and subsequently also to Hamburg, from the east. These were Yiddish Language
Yiddish (, or , ''yidish'' or ''idish'', , ; , ''Yidish-Taytsh'', ) is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated during the 9th century in Central Europe, providing the nascent Ashkenazi community with a ver ...
speaking Ashkenazim
Ashkenazi Jews ( ; he, יְהוּדֵי אַשְׁכְּנַז, translit=Yehudei Ashkenaz, ; yi, אַשכּנזישע ייִדן, Ashkenazishe Yidn), also known as Ashkenazic Jews or ''Ashkenazim'',, Ashkenazi Hebrew pronunciation: , singu ...
.
The permanent settlement of the Ashkenazim was opposed by both the Senate of Hamburg (town council) and the citizens, supported by the Sephardim, who did not wish to see the establishment of a second community in Hamburg. As servants, referred to as tudescos, the Ashkenazi Jews were, de facto, under the protection of the Sephardic Jews.
Jews in Altona
On 1 August 1641 the Danish king had formally granted the Ashkenazi Jews the privilege of having in Altona, as hitherto already granted by the counts of Holstein-Pinneberg (whose county had been integrated into then Denmark), a cemetery and a synagogue, thus providing the basis for the existence of a Jewish community. Subsequently, the Danish kings promised the Jews personal security, the freedom to practice trade and religious liberties. Some of the Jews living in neighbouring independent Hamburg therefore tried to secure the legal protection of the Danish crown in case of any attempt to expel them. In Altona the conditions of residence were favorable, in Hamburg the conditions for trading. These were the reasons for the genesis of the Altona community of Ashkenazi Jews from Hamburg and Altona. Thanks to immigration from the east, Altona became a center of research and scholarship in Jewish teaching, attracting hundreds of students. The officially recognized Jewish court of justice had a reputation as one of the most distinguished in the whole Jewish world. The Jews did not acquire these privileges freely, but in return for the payment of taxes.
Levies on Jews
From 1584 to 1639, as in the Middle Ages, the Jews of Altona paid taxes specific to the Jews, but no further taxes. Each Jewish family was required to pay 6 Reichstaler per year. Under Danish rule this changed: the Jews continued to pay the specifically Jewish taxes plus the same taxes as all other residents. From 1641 every Jewish family was required to pay 5 Reichstaler in Jewish taxes; in the year when Altona became a town the contribution rose to 6 Reichstaler. With the ordinance of 1641 the Danish king had permitted the Jews shechita
In Judaism, ''shechita'' (anglicized: ; he, ; ; also transliterated ''shehitah, shechitah, shehita'') is slaughtering of certain mammals and birds for food according to '' kashrut''.
Sources
states that sheep and cattle should be slaughter ...
. This privilege too was not cost-free. For the years 1667–1669 we have records of taxes paid by Jewish butchers. According to these the rates were 1 Mark and 8 Schillinge for an ox, 4 Schillinge for a calf and 2 Schillinge for a lamb. These taxes were twice as high as those paid by Christian butchers. From 1681 Individual taxes on the Jews (6 Reichstaler plus the payments made by the Jewish butchers), were replaced by lump-sum payments by the Jewish community.
From the year 1712 onwards it is possible to calculate the amount of the lump-sum payments made by the Jews. During the period 1712–1818 this amounted to 6 Reichstaler for each Jewish family; 6 Reichstaler was the level that had already been set in 1584. Assuming that a Jewish family consisted of approximately 6 persons, 6 Reichstaler corresponded to 1 Reichstaler for each individual Jew. On top of this 1 Reichstaler, also paid by the other residents, had to be paid. The tax burden on the members of the Jewish community was twice as heavy as that on the other residents. The influence of this on business practice constituted an obstacle to the granting of civil rights. In the year 1818 the Jewish Elders declared to the community of Altona that they could not, ’’on the one hand, levy specifically Jewish taxes on the members of their community and, on the other hand, encourage our co-religionaries, especially the younger ones, to pursue useful activity. In short: so to improve our condition that we might not seem unworthy to acquire civil rights. The extension – against our wishes - of the taxes on the Jews would be incompatible with the granting of civil rights.’’ This marks the beginning of the struggle of the Jewish community for emancipation. The Jewish community secured the abolition of taxes on the Jews in the year 1842.[Judenschutzsteuern, p. 199]
See also
*List of taxes mainly or exclusively targeting Jews:
** Beard tax
** Diploma tax The diploma tax is an informal reference to the one-time payment imposed in the Soviet Union on would-be emigrants who received a higher education there. It was introduced in August 1972.Указ Президиума Верховного Совет ...
, in the Soviet Union, est. 1972
** ''Fiscus Judaicus
The or (Latin for "Jewish tax") was a tax imposed on Jews in the Roman Empire after the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in AD 70. Revenues were directed to the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in Rome.
The tax measure improved Ro ...
'' (litt. "Jewish tax"), in the Roman Empire
** Jewish poll tax The Jewish poll tax ( pl, poglówne żydowskie) was a poll tax imposed on the Jews in Polish–Lithuanian Commonwealth. It was later absorbed into the ''hiberna'' tax. ''Scepter of Judah: The Jewish Autonomy in the Eighteenth-Century Crown Poland''p ...
, in the Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth
** '' Judenvermögensabgabe'', a Nazi-era wealth tax
** Kosher tax, in the Russian Empire
** '' Leibzoll'' (litt. "body tax")
** '' Rav akçesi'' (litt. "Rabbi tax"), in the Ottoman Empire
** Temple tax
The Temple tax (lit. מחצית השקל the half shekel) was a tax paid by Israelites and Levites which went towards the upkeep of the Jewish Temple, as reported in the New Testament. Traditionally, Kohanim (Jewish priests) were exempt from the t ...
, in Ancient Judea
** Tolerance tax, in Hungary (1747-1797)
** '' Varlık Vergisi'' (litt. "wealth tax"), in 1942 in Turkey
* Jizya
Jizya ( ar, جِزْيَة / ) is a per capita yearly taxation historically levied in the form of financial charge on dhimmis, that is, permanent non-Muslim subjects of a state governed by Islamic law. The jizya tax has been understood in Isla ...
, in historic Muslim states
* Protection racket
A protection racket is a type of racket and a scheme of organized crime perpetrated by a potentially hazardous organized crime group that generally guarantees protection outside the sanction of the law to another entity or individual from viole ...
References
{{reflist, 33em
;General
* Pathe, Hermann (2007
’’Judenschutzsteuern in Altona (1641-1842)’’
Hamburg. Further references can be found there.
External links
’’Judensteuern’’
History of the Jews in Europe
Disabilities (Jewish) in Europe
History of taxation
Taxation of foreigners