History
To understand why Jews live in the Diamond District, we must first look at where they came from—specifically, how they were constantly forced to relocate under persecution throughout Europe, how they sought safety in Antwerp, were later driven out due to persecution, and yet today feel at home in this city.
Jewish people originally come from Israel. Around 4,000 years ago, their patriarch Abraham settled there (Genesis 13:14–18).
After many exiles over the centuries and domination by empires such as the Roman Empire, the first Jewish settlements in Belgium were established in the 4th century, specifically in Tournai and Tongeren.
In the 13th century, a wave of immigration from Central and Eastern Europe brought the Ashkenazi Jews. Around 1348, during the outbreak of the plague in Europe, Jews—including those in Antwerp—were accused and murdered. Many fled.
In the 16th century, a second major wave of immigration arrived in Antwerp from Spain and Portugal—the Sephardic Jews. Due to the Inquisition and persecution by the Catholic Church, especially the Marranos (Jews forcibly converted to Christianity) fled the south. When Spain conquered Antwerp in 1585, they fled northward, including to Amsterdam.
Under Napoleon (around 1790), Jews became full citizens. They were no longer considered second-class citizens. Because of this equal treatment—and the tradition of Jewish families passing on literacy through generations, while much of the population remained illiterate—Antwerp experienced significant economic growth.
Professions Jews commonly held included doctor, lawyer, banker, diamond dealer, and merchant. They were “forced” into such liberal professions because the Catholic Church prohibited them from joining guilds such as those of bakers or butchers.
In 1815, Napoleon was defeated at Waterloo. A notable detail is that two years earlier, in 1813, the European monarchies formed an alliance against Napoleon. The Jewish banking family Rothschild in England lent money to Wellington (the victor at Waterloo) to finance the military operation.
After Napoleon’s fall, laws were rolled back across Europe and Jews were once again persecuted as second-class citizens. These laws did not apply in the Netherlands due to Calvinism, so many Jews from Antwerp fled to Amsterdam.
In 1830, the Kingdom of Belgium was founded, and in 1831, Judaism was officially recognized, prompting many Jews to return to their beloved Antwerp.
Many Jewish bankers were involved in the founding of Belgium in 1830, investing and believing in the country's future. For example, in 1848, King Leopold entrusted 1.5 million francs to his Jewish private banker. When the king died in 1865, this capital had grown to 20 million in just 17 years.
In 1880, a large wave of Hasidic Jewish immigrants arrived in Antwerp from Eastern Europe, fleeing pogroms and persecution. Anti-Jewish sentiments also surfaced in the media, such as in the newspaper “Gazet van Antwerpen,” and were now openly expressed in intellectual circles. Figures like Prof. Fries, Prof. Friedrich Rühs, Richard Wagner, and hotelier Conrad Hilton were among them.
You may wonder, what kinds of ideas were being expressed? Was it not simply freedom of speech? Words can't do much harm, can they? At that time, in Austria, a customs officer named Alois Schicklgruber—who changed his family name to Hitler in 1877—had a son, Adolf, who would later put these ideas into action. The eve of World War II had begun.
In the spring of 1941, Jews in Antwerp fled to Brussels due to extreme right-wing groups looting and setting synagogues on fire. In 1942, the Gestapo carried out the first deportation. Between early August and late October, a total of 17,000 Jews were deported. Only after the introduction of the yellow star did many Belgians truly realize what was happening and began helping more than 25,000 Jews go into hiding. Sadly, around the same number of Jews were also captured and murdered by the Nazis.
After World War II, a large number of Hasidic Jews who had survived the Holocaust settled in Antwerp. Most came from Poland and Hungary.
The Jewish population has never had it easy over the centuries (even as recently as 75 years ago). They have always been the target of violence, persecution, and prejudice. This is why many Jews in Antwerp chose to live near the train station—so they could escape more quickly if needed.
Despite the persecution, Jews have remained loyal to the Belgian government throughout the centuries. Even when treated as second-class citizens, they maintained a patriotic spirit. The tyrants who sought to destroy them are now history—but the Jewish people are still full of life.