ITALY: LOMBARDY:
MILAN: COMMUNAL HISTORY
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MILANO - COMMUNAL HISTORY
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A city in Lombardy, N. Italy. The presence of Jews in Milan in the Roman
period is attested by three Jewish inscriptions, two of which refer to the
"father of the community." The community presumably continued in
existence, though there is little evidence in succeeding centuries except
for vague references to Jewish merchants and farmers in the tenth century.
With the spread of Jewish communities through northern Italy in the 13th
century that of Milan was also revived, but in 1320 the podesta
issued a decree expelling the Jews. When in 1452 Pope Nicholas V approved
the Jewish right of residence in the duchy, he specifically authorized the
construction of a synagogue in Milan. In 1489, under Ludovico il Moro, the
Jews were expelled from the entire Duchy. They were soon readmitted, except
to Milan itself where a Jews could only stay for three days. In 1714, when
Lombardy came under Austrian rule, Jews began to return to Milan, and by the
middle of the 19th century the numbered approximately 500; a synagogue was
built in 1840. In 1848 some were active in the rising against Austrian rule.
In 1859 Milan became a part of the new Italian kingdom and the Jews received
full rights.
Because of the great commercial and industrial development around Milan
which now followed, the city became a center of attraction for new
immigrants. In 1900, 2,000 Jews resided there and in 1931, 6,490.
Holocaust Period
After Hitler
assumed power many refugees arrived from Central and Eastern European
countries; this flow continued illegally during the first years of the war.
About 800 Jews were deported from Milan during the war. Many were captured
and killed by the Germans in the towns and villages where they had taken
refuge.
During the autumn of 1943, the Germans carried out an anti - Jewish raid, in
the course of which the community synagogue was destroyed.
Contemporary Period
At the end of the war, 4,484 Jews were living in Milan and were joined
temporarily by many refugees from camps in Lombardy. A number of Jewish
immigrants came to Italy after 1949 from Egypt and, to a lesser degree, from
other Arab countries; 4ame from Israel.
After the Six - Day War (1967), some 3,000 Jews, who fled persecution in
Egypt, and above all in Libya,
sought temporary refuge in Italy.
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