This Month in Jewish History: August
By:
Eli Birnbaum
What happened in the month of August throughout Jewish history?
See our short explanation on the Jewish calendar
August 1906
August Von Wasserman instituted the Wasserman test for the diagnosis of
syphilis.
August 1919
General Denikin, Commander of the White Russian army, supported by the
United States, attempted to overthrow the Bolsheviks. He temporarily succeeded in stopping
both Petlura and the Bolsheviks. Like Petlura, he identified the Jews with communism and
proceeded in carrying out his own pogrom, allowing his troops to perpetrate over 213
progroms in which over 5000 Jews were killed.
August 1922
The Chamber of Commerce of Sharon, Connecticut urged land owners not to sell to
Jews.
388: The synagogue located on the Euphrates in Callinicum was looted and
burned by Church officials. St. Ambrose (one of the four Latin doctors of the Catholic
church) defended the action. He reprimanded Theodosius the Great for ordering the local
Bishop to pay restitution, even though expropriation was illegal under Roman law. St.
Ambrose offered to burn the synagogue in Milan on his own.
1919 Hungary limits the number of Jews in commerce, law, medicine, and
banking. The new definition of a Jew is someone who converted after August 1, 1919. An
estimated 5,000 Jews converted to Christianity during the weeks before the law went into
effect.
1934: Von Hindenberg died, leaving Hitler as Germany's sole leader.
1943 Led by a small group of prisoners using primitive weapons and pistols,
inmates at Treblinka attacked the guards and burned down the barracks. Between 300
and 500 prisoners escaped although most of them were either captured or turned over by
Polish peasants. Though the revolt did not stop all activities, the German government
decided to liquidate the camp, which it did in October.
1603: Fra Diogo da Assungao, a partly Jewish Franciscan friar became attracted
to Judaism. He was burnt at the stake for refuting the Inquisition, at age twenty-five.
August 3-16 1937: The 20th Zionist Congress under Weizmann and Ben Gurion
decided to accept the partition plan in light of the Peel Report. Berl Katznelson,
Menachem Ushishkin from Mapai (Labor) as well as the Revisionists and the Orthodox
fiercely argued against it.
1578: This date is considered a Moroccan Purim, when Jews there faced
near disaster when the opposition led by King Sebastian of Portugal nearly succeeded in
conquering the country.
1944: Anne Frank is arrested with her parents and sister. Anne, 15 years
old, was sent to Bergen Belsen where she died in March 1945.
In Barcelona, Spain, more than 400 Jews were killed in attacks though the city
Fathers and Artisans tried to protect them. The attachs were instigated for the most part
by Castilians, who had taken part in the massacres in Seville and Valencia.
After a ritual murder accusation in Kitzingen, Bavaria (Germany), fifteen Jews
were tortured to death. Their corpses lay in the street for a fortnight before they were
allowed to be buried.
Nahum Shtif established YIVO (Yiddish Scientific Institute - Yidisher
Visenshaftlikher Institut) as a Yiddish academic institute with its center in Vilna.
Its goal was to promote scholarly research in Yiddish, especially on Jewish life and
history in Eastern Europe. In addition, it standardized Yiddish spelling and gathered
thousands of documents on Jewish culture and folklore from over much of Europe.
1654: The first Jews sailed for New Amsterdam from Holland aboard the Peartree
and landed on August 22. Jacob Barsimson was considered the first Jewish immigrant.
1655: The Russians captured Vilna. As part of the peace settlement
between Chmielnicki and Czar Alexis, the east bank of the Dnieper became part of the
kingdom of Moscow. Jews were once again subject to expulsion and murder.
1670: After Leopold I evicted the Jews from Vienna, he sold the Jewish
quarter for 100,000 florins which was then renamed Leopoldstadt in his honor. The
Synagogue and the Bet Midrash (study hall) were turned into St. Margaret's Church.
1915: Leo Frank, accused of murdering Mary Phagan, was taken out of
prison and hanged by a lynch mob. In 1925, Jim Conlay, a Negro who perjured himself in
court, was found guilty of the same murder.
1936: The World Jewish Congress was convened in Geneva. It was founded by
Stephen Wise and Nahum Goldman. Although they organized a boycott of German goods, they
felt that a more direct approach would prompt the Nazis "to even harsher
policies."
Prince Yaroslavitch established the community of Pinsk. At the same time,
he reconfirmed the rights given to the Jews by King Alexander Jagello, King of Lithuania.
All foreign Jews were prohibited from settling in Russia. Alexander I, after an
initial period of liberalism, reverted to the anti-Jewish proclamation of his
predecessors. It began with forbidding Jews to have Christian servants. After came the
prohibition of settlement. His policies culminated just before his death by banishing all
Jews from larger villages in the Mohilev and Vitbesk districts.
1840: England – Lord Palmerston the foreign Secretary in a
letter to the ambassador in Constantinople writes “There exists…among the
Jews…a strong notion that the time is approaching when their nation is to return to
Palestine…. I instruct … to strongly recommend to the Turkish Government …
to encourage the Jews of Europe to return to Palestine.
1929: The Jewish Agency was created at the 16th Zionist Congress in
Zurich to include non-Zionists in the creation of the State. Among them were Louis
Marshall, Leon Blum and Felix Warburg.
A charter was granted to the Jews of Germany despite the protests of Martin Luther.
Josel of Rosheim, the famous "shtadlan" (interceder) was instrumental in its
passing.
For the first time, Swiss police hand over to the Germans Jewish refugees who
had entered Switzerland "illegally."
Following a fire in Posen (Poland) where the original charter granting the Jews
"privileges" was written, (by Casimir the Great), Casimir IV renewed all
of their rights, making his charter one of the most liberal in Europe. This charter lasted
less than a decade before it was revoked.
The last inmates of Bergen-Belsen leave the camp on the way to the United States.
Bergen- Belsen was originally set up in 1943. Many of its inmates were Jewish prisoners
who had dual citizenship with Latin American countries or entry permits to Palestine. A
few hundred were used by the Germans for prisoner exchanges. Though not a death camp per
se, over 51,000 people died there including Anne Frank.
Although warned by the Zionist Executive that the Arabs were preparing to attack the
Jews of Jerusalem in massive riots, High Commissioner Sir John Chancelor refused to
cut his vacation short, declaring that relations between the sides were improving. After
Friday prayers the day after the ninth of Av, two thousand Arabs attacked Jews praying at
the Western Wall. One Jewish youth was stabbed in the back. The British Government refused
to condemn the attack leading the Arabs again to believe that the British supported their
riots (see August 23).
The small colony of Surinam recently occupied by the English gives full rights
to the Jews (mostly Spanish and Portuguese refugees) to practice Judaism and run their own
affairs. This remarkably liberal charter was transferred over to the Dutch when they
conquered the colony. They used it as a means of encouraging the Jews to remain.
1393: King John I, in an effort to prevent "backsliding " by
converted Jews, prohibited them from living in the same quarter or even eating together.
1846: The Jewish Oath, originally established by Charlemagne, is
abolished in Austria. Until then, a Jew who took oath in a Christian court against a
Christian was forced to stand on the skin of a dead animal or be surrounded by thorns and
call down the curses of Korach or Naaman if he were not telling the truth. In Romania it
was only repealed in the 20th century.
1338: Host desecration riots destroy the Jewish community of Wolfsberg,
Austria. The Jews were accused of having stolen the Eucharist, making it bleed, and
trying to burn it. Over 70 Jews were burned at the stake and the community destroyed. The
community was never revived.
1509: The Battle of the Books took place in Frankfurt (Germany): Johann
Pfefferkorn, an apostate Jew, convinced Maximillan I to destroy all Jewish books,
especially the Talmud. The books were defended by a gentile, Johann von Reuchlin, a noted
humanist, scholar and student of the Zohar. The battle was decided in his favor, and the
decree was rescinded. Such challenging of the Church by Christian scholars - on its own
ground - helped bring about the Reformation and the revolt against the Church.
This date became known as Purim Buda: During the war between Venice and Turkey,
the Jews were accused of praying for the Turks in their attack on Budapest. In actuality,
it was the 9th of Av and all the Jews were in the synagogue mourning the destruction of
the temple. Soon after, the attack on the Jewish ghetto began. When the gates were opened
to allow for an emissary to the duke to leave, the crowd of attackers rushed in. As soon
as the authorities heard about the disturbances, an order to forcibly curb them was given.
That day of the order became a day of thanksgiving.
1321: Jews in France were accused of encouraging lepers to poison
Christian wells. This directly led to the graver accusations of the same kind during the
Black Plague. This time, five thousand Jews were killed. At Chinon, 160 Jews were burned
in a pit on an island outside of town. Eventually the King, Philip the Tall, admitted that
the Jews were innocent. The island is still known as Ile de Juifs.
1940: Leon Trotsky (Bronstein, born 1879) was assassinated. Trotsky was
the son of a Jewish Odessian farmer. Believing there was no future for the Jewish people
as a people, he became a contemporary of Lenin's, helping him with his publication of
Iskra (Spark). He was exiled and arrested many times before the revolution. Trotsky played
an important role in the Communist government and only after Lenin's death did Stalin
expel him from the party. He was exiled in 1928 first to Turkey, then Norway, and finally
Mexico. A "friend" assassinated Trotsky, most likely on orders from Stalin.
1614: Vincent Fettmilch of Frankfurt, a former pastry cook and leader of
the Guilds, calling himself the "new Haman of the Jews" attacked the synagogue
while the community was at prayer. Although many tried to organize a defense, they were
soon overpowered and many took shelter in the cemetery while the community was destroyed.
He and his accomplices were hanged and quartered for it 2 years later.
1930: Hope-Simpson Report: Sir John Hope-Simpson was sent by the British
to look into Arab economic complaints. He decided that Palestine had no industrial
prospects. He recommended the cessation of all Jewish Immigration and a settlement freeze.
His report was the basis for the infamous Passfield White Paper.
1903 (August 23-28): At the Sixth Zionist Congress, Herzl proposed using
territory offered by Britain, specifically Uganda, as a temporary shelter for Jews fleeing
Eastern Europe and Russia. The Russian delegates, after a riotous debate, walked out and
refused to return for the next congress unless the plan was stopped.
1917: The Jewish Legion of the British Army is established. It was long
championed by Zev Jabotinsky, and was based on the Zion Mule Corps . The 38th Battalion
was commanded by Colonel Henry Patterson. A second battalion commanded by Colonel Eleazar
Margolin was also formed. Although initially against the idea, most of the leadership of
the Yishuv including Ben Gurion and Ben Zvi joined after the Balfour Declaration. Over
2,700 men volunteered for the Legion. Many of them saw action in Transjordan in the fall
of 1918.
1929: Arabs begin to riot throughout pre-state Israel after Moslem Friday
prayers. The next day, the riots spread to Hebron where over 60 Jews were killed and over
50 injured. During this week (August 23-29) 113 Jews were killed and 339 wounded. As a
result, Sir Walter Shaw headed a commission which urged the banning of Jewish immigration
and absolved the Arabs and the Mufti of guilt. Another commission led by Sir John Simpson
declared that the entire Zionist operation was unsound and undesirable. Both of these
commissions were under the auspices of Lord Passfield, the British Colonial Secretary.
1349: Some ten thousand Jews were massacred during riots in two of the largest
communities of Germany - Mainz and Breslau.
1613: The Jews of Frankfurt, Germany who were waiting for almost a year
for their fate to be decided, were allowed to leave but without any property. One thousand
three hundred and eighty left.
Two Jews are publicly hanged in Iraq after being accused of spying for Israel.
The public rejoiced at the execution.
1280: King James I of Aragon, under the influence of the Dominican Friar
Raymond Martini, ordered all disparaging statements regarding Jesus and Mary erased from
the Talmud. In addition, the Mishneh Torah of Maimonides was condemned to be burned
due to references to Jesus in the chapter on the laws of kingship.
1952: Stalin ordered the arrest of Jewish Artists and closed all Yiddish
institutions. They were accused of "Jewish Nationalism" and spying for the West.
Twenty-six of the members of the Jewish Anti-Fascist Committee were immediately executed.
1703 The Alenu prayer is prohibited in Brandenberg, Germany. Alenu,
composed by Rav (one of the great Talmudist (d. 247)) had been part of the ritual prayer
for almost 1500 years. It served as a focal point for anti-Jewish attacks. Although the
wording "For they bow down to emptiness and vanity and to a God that cannot
save" which was taken from Isaiah (45:20) referred to idol-worshipers, some Christian
leaders claimed it was an attack on Christianity. The prayer was eventually eradicated
from the Ashkenazic siddur (prayerbook) entirely and only reprinted recently.
1797 Four months after the entry of the French army into Padua Italy, the
provisional government decreed that "Jews are able to live in every part of the
city." Jews enlisted in the national guard and the main street in the ghetto was
changed to Via Libera. Unfortunately as in most parts of Italy, the newly won freedom only
lasted until the arrival of Austrian troops 8 months later.
1255: Little Saint Hugh of Lincoln (England) was the subject of an
infamous ritual murder libel. It was alleged that Jews enticed the boy and while starving
him, invited Jews of Lincoln to murder him ritually. (Jews did come to Lincoln at that
time to attend a wedding.) His body was cast into a well and a month later,
"miracles" followed the discovery of his corpse. On the basis of the alleged
"confession" by Jopin (Jacob), the secular authorities (for the first time) and
the Church sent 91 Jews to the Tower of London. 18 were executed before Richard and the
friars stopped the killings. This incident provided Chaucer with the idea for his Prioress
Tale and the hero of the popular ballad, "Little Sir Hugh."
1897: The First Zionist Congress (Basle, Switzerland) was convened by Theodore
Herzl. It was represented by one hundred and ninety-seven delegates.
The Jewish Commissariat Yevsektsiya of Russia proclaimed Hebrew a "reactionary
language." As such the teaching of Hebrew was prohibited in all educational
institutions and books in Hebrew removed from libraries.
38 CE: Riots broke out in Alexandria, Egypt after the Jews spurned an
order by the Roman Prefect Flaccus to place a statue of Emperor Caligula in the local
synagogue.
1919: Thirty five members of the Jewish Defense Organization were disarmed and
shot after the Ukrainian National Army recaptured Kiev from the Bolsheviks. As an
organized unit, the Jews had played an important role in the defense of Kiev.
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