During the Holocaust, approximately six million Jews were killed. In France, the Jewish population had decreased by ******* individuals between 1939 and 1945. It then increased between the end of World War II and the 1970s, reaching ******* individuals in 1970. However, according to the source, the number of Jews in France has declined by more than 15 percent between that period and 2020, and is now estimated to be *******.

This statistic represents the distribution of people of Jewish religion or Jewish origin living in France in 2015, by age group. Thus, more than half of the practicing Jews in France were under 35 years of age.

The two countries with the greatest shares of the world's Jewish population are the United States and Israel. The United States had been a hub of Jewish immigration since the nineteenth century, as Jewish people sought to escape persecution in Europe by emigrating across the Atlantic. The Jewish population in the U.S. is largely congregated in major urban areas, such as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago, with the New York metropolitan area being the city with the second largest Jewish population worldwide, after Tel Aviv, Israel. Israel is the world's only officially Jewish state, having been founded in 1948 following the first Arab-Israeli War. While Jews had been emigrating to the holy lands since the nineteenth century, when they were controlled by the Ottoman Empire, immigration increased rapidly following the establishment of the state of Israel. Jewish communities in Eastern Europe who had survived the Holocaust saw Israel as a haven from persecution, while the state encouraged immigration from Jewish communities in other regions, notably the Middle East & North Africa. Smaller Jewish communities remain in Europe in countries such as France, the UK, and Germany, and in other countries which were hotspots for Jewish migration in the twentieth century, such as Canada and Argentina.

Throughout history, the displacement and migration of Jewish populations has been a repeating theme. In ancient times, the worlds Jewish population was concentrated in the Middle East, especially around Judaism's spiritual homeland in present-day Israel. However, the population distribution of the world's Jewry began to shift in the Middle Ages, with an increasing share living in Europe. Initially, Western Europe (particularly France, Italy, and Spain) had the largest Jewish populations, before they then migrated eastward in later centuries. Between the 18th and mid-20th centuries, over half of the worl'd Jews lived in Europe, with over 80 percent of these living in Eastern Europe.

Poland had become a refuge for Jews fleeing persecution in the Middle Ages, although shifting borders and foreign influence meant that long-term security was never fully attained, and a series of pogroms in the Russian Empire in the 1800s, and rising anti-Semitism in Central Europe in the early-1900s contributred to waves of migration to the United States and Israel during this time. After the Holocaust saw the genocide of up to six million Jews (over one third of the world's Jewish population), the share of Jews living in Europe dropped drastically, and emmigration outside of Europe increased. Today, the United States has the world's largest Jewish population in the world at around 7.3 million people, just ahead of Israel with 7.1 million.

The world's Jewish population has had a complex and tumultuous history over the past millennia, regularly dealing with persecution, pogroms, and even genocide. The legacy of expulsion and persecution of Jews, including bans on land ownership, meant that Jewish communities disproportionately lived in urban areas, working as artisans or traders, and often lived in their own settlements separate to the rest of the urban population. This separation contributed to the impression that events such as pandemics, famines, or economic shocks did not affect Jews as much as other populations, and such factors came to form the basis of the mistrust and stereotypes of wealth (characterized as greed) that have made up anti-Semitic rhetoric for centuries. Development since the Middle Ages The concentration of Jewish populations across the world has shifted across different centuries. In the Middle Ages, the largest Jewish populations were found in Palestine and the wider Levant region, with other sizeable populations in present-day France, Italy, and Spain. Later, however, the Jewish disapora became increasingly concentrated in Eastern Europe after waves of pogroms in the west saw Jewish communities move eastward. Poland in particular was often considered a refuge for Jews from the late-Middle Ages until the 18th century, when it was then partitioned between Austria, Prussia, and Russia, and persecution increased. Push factors such as major pogroms in the Russian Empire in the 19th century and growing oppression in the west during the interwar period then saw many Jews migrate to the United States in search of opportunity.

In 2021, almost half (percent) of people of Jewish faith or culture had already considered leaving France. The most frequently mentioned reason was concern about the future of Jews in France (percent). The second most common reason was a fear about the future of the country (***percent). ******percent of Jews had also considered leaving France for economic reasons, and ***percent because they were attracted to other countries for religious or cultural reasons.

The Holocaust was the systematic extermination of Europe's Jewish population in the Second World War, during which time, up to six million Jews were murdered as part of Nazi Germany's "Final Solution to the Jewish Question". In the context of the Second World War, the term "Holocaust" is traditionally used to reference the genocide of Europe's Jews, although this coincided with the Nazi regime's genocide and ethnic cleansing of an additional eleven million people deemed "undesirable" due to their ethnicity, beliefs, disability or sexuality (among others). During the Holocaust, Poland's Jewish population suffered the largest number of fatalities, with approximately three million deaths. Additionally, at least one million Jews were murdered in the Soviet Union, while Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, the Netherlands and Yugoslavia also lost the majority of their respective pre-war Jewish populations. The Holocaust in Poland In the interwar period, Europe's Jewish population was concentrated in the east, with roughly one third living in Poland; this can be traced back to the Middle Ages, when thousands of Jews flocked to Eastern Europe to escape persecution. At the outbreak of the Second World War, it is estimated that there were 3.4 million Jews living in Poland, which was approximately ten percent of the total population. Following the German invasion of Poland, Nazi authorities then segregated Jews in ghettos across most large towns and cities, and expanded their network of concentration camps throughout the country. In the ghettos, civilians were deprived of food, and hundreds of thousands died due to disease and starvation; while prison labor was implemented under extreme conditions in concentration camps to fuel the German war effort. In Poland, six extermination camps were also operational between December 1941 and January 1945, which saw the mass extermination of approximately 2.7 million people over the next three years (including many non-Poles, imported from other regions of Europe). While concentration camps housed prisoners of all backgrounds, extermination camps were purpose-built for the elimination of the Jewish race, and over 90% of their victims were Jewish. The majority of the victims in these extermination camps were executed by poison gas, although disease, starvation and overworking were also common causes of death. In addition to the camps and ghettos, SS death squads (Einsatzgruppen) and local collaborators also committed widespread atrocities across Eastern Europe. While the majority of these atrocities took place in the Balkan, Baltic and Soviet regions, they were still prevalent in Poland (particularly during the liquidation of the ghettos), and the Einsatzgruppen alone are estimated to have killed up to 1.3 million Jews throughout the Holocaust. By early 1945, Soviet forces had largely expelled the German armies from Poland and liberated the concentration and extermination camps; by this time, Poland had lost roughly ninety percent of its pre-war Jewish population, and suffered approximately three million further civilian and military deaths. By 1991, Poland's Jewish population was estimated to be just 15 thousand people, while there were fewer than two thousand Jews recorded as living in Poland in 2018.

The Freikorps Grün Loudon started as a German mercenary formation raised in spring 1790 to provide the Habsburg army with a light infantry force against the short-lived Brabant Republic. The Freikorps continued to serve during the First Coalition War against Revolutionary France (1792-97). As the conflict dragged on, the Rhineland, which served as its primary recruitment area was occupied by the enemy. As a result, the Freikorps shifted its main recruitment efforts to the Habsburg province of Galicia where a large Jewish population lived. The first Jews volunteers were enlisted in spring 1796. Within a year, Jewish soldiers comprised more than one per cent of the unit's strength. This proportion was kept until the Freikorps was disbanded in summer 1798.

With a total number of 27 individual entries, this dataset covers every single Jewish soldier who served in the unit. In addition to basic bibliographical information, the dataset includes reconstructions of complete service itineraries. Some of these are so detailed that the whereabouts and doings of individual soldiers could be traced month after months. After Freikorps Grün Loudon was disbanded, 22 surviving Jewish veterans were transferred to the 3rd and 4th Light Infantry Battalions. Their subsequent service and eventual fates are covered as well. In the dataset includes partial information about three spouses and two children, whose their existence can be discerned from soldiers' personal records.

In terms of their service experiences, the Jewish members of the Freikorps Grün Loudon did not differ much from other mercenary soldiers of that period. As implied by their name, Freikorps units did not form part of the standing army. Manned by foreign renegades and local volunteers, their soldiers were considered more expandable, and Freikorps used to suffer high combat losses. Tactically, Freikorps were often divided into small raiding detachments, which meant their soldiers often remained outside of the direct supervision of their officers. This resulted in high desertion rates. At the same time, the Freikorps also had a committed core of highly-dedicated professional soldiers. Among the veterans of the Freikorps Grün Loudon was Samuel Prager – one of the first documented Jewish soldiers in modern history to rise to the rank of Company Sergeant Major.

For more information on the Freikorps Grün Loudon, see:

Alfons von Wrede, Geschichte der k. und k. Wehrmacht, 5 Vols., (Vienna: Seidel, 1898–1905), Vol. 2, pp. 445-6.

For more information how to identify Jewish soldiers in Habsburg military records, see:

Ilya Berkovich, 'Nachweis von Konfession und Religion in habsburgischen Militärmatriken', Die Habsburgermonarchie: Fragen, Quellen und Ergebnisee zur Geschichte der Neuzeit (Blog), (10 January 2020).

In 1995, Israel had a Jewish population of approximately 4.5 million people, of whom approximately 1.75 million were born abroad. Over one million of these immigrants were born in Europe, with over 650,000 of these born in the former Soviet Union. Despite Poland having the largest Jewish population in the world in the pre-WWII years, the number of Polish Jewish migrants and descendents in Israel was relatively small in 1995 when compared to the USSR due to the impact of the Holocaust.

Outside of Europe, Morocco had the largest number of Jewish immigrants and descendents in Israel by 1995. Morocco had the largest Jewish population in the Muslim world when Israel was founded in 1948, with over 250,000 people. Many Moroccan Jews sought to emigrate to Israel at this time, but often faced resistance from authorities and local populations who believed the Jews would join in the fight against the Arab forces seeking to establish a Muslim state in Palestine. The government of Morocco then officially prohibited emigration to Israel after gaining independence from France in 1956, however this policy was reversed in 1961 whereby the Moroccan government began facilitating Jewish emigration to Israel in return for payments from Jewish organizations in the U.S. and Israel. By the 1970s, Morocco's Jewish population had fallen to less than 15 percent of its size in 1948.

Financial overview and grant giving statistics of Ccf New York Jewish French Community Center of Ny Inc.

The European Union Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) survey on Jewish people’s experiences and perceptions of discrimination, hate crime and antisemitism collected responses from 5,847 self-identified Jewish people in eight EU Member States – Belgium, France, Germany, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Sweden and the United Kingdom. The survey provides for the first time comparable data on the perceived extent and nature of anti-Semitism across a number of EU Member States, whether it is manifested as hate crime, hate speech, discrimination or in any other form that undermines Jewish people’s feelings of safety and security. The survey asked respondents’ opinions about trends in anti-Semitism, anti-Semitism as a problem in everyday life, witnessing anti-Semitic incidents and worries about becoming a victim of an anti-Semitic attack (personal safety, safety of children, other family members and friends). The survey also provides data on the extent to which respondents consider anti-Semitic acts against the Jewish community, such as vandalism of Jewish sites or anti-Semitic messages in the broadcast media or on the internet, to be a problem in their countries. Furthermore, respondents were asked about their personal experiences of anti-Semitic incidents – harassment, violence and vandalism of property which the respondents felt took place because of them being Jewish. They could also describe their experiences of discrimination – in general and specifically linked to being Jewish – and their awareness of laws that exist to protect Jewish people from discrimination and hate crime. The survey data can also be explored online using the FRA's Data Explorer. Further information and publications can be found on the FRA website.

This statistic displays the breakdown the population of Jewish faith or of Jewish origin living in France in 2015 ,by level of religious observance. Thus, more than 40 percent of French Jews were not observant of their religion at all.

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Kosher Foods Market Size 2025-2029

The kosher foods market size is forecast to increase by USD 16.5 billion, at a CAGR of 7.2% between 2024 and 2029.

The market is experiencing significant growth due to several key factors. The rise in Jewish and Muslim populations worldwide is driving demand for kosher-certified food products. Additionally, the increasing popularity of private labels and ethical labels is attracting consumers seeking transparency and authenticity. Meat substitutes, such as tofu and meat alternatives, are gaining traction as consumers look for more sustainable and ethical food options. Seafood, another major category in the market, is benefiting from the growing trend of consumers preferring healthier food choices. Furthermore, the demand for gluten-free food and energy drinks with kosher certification is on the rise. Intense competition from halal foods, however, poses a challenge to the market growth. Overall, the market is expected to witness steady growth in the coming years, with a focus on innovation, sustainability, and consumer preferences.

What will be the Size of the Kosher Foods Market During the Forecast Period?

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The market encompasses a diverse range of food products adhering to Jewish dietary regulations. This market caters to consumers seeking healthier options, with a growing emphasis on allergen-free food and ethical sourcing. The demand for vegan kosher foods is also on the rise, aligning with broader trends in plant-based diets. Kosher foods are produced under strict supervision, ensuring the separation of milk and animal products. Hypermarkets, grocery stores, online platforms, and specialty stores serve as key distribution channels for this market. Major product categories include seafood, meat, dairy products, beverages, dietary supplements, and a wide array of packaged goods such as pasta, bread, cereals, juices, frozen meals, and packaged snacks. Buckwheat and other alternative grains have gained popularity due to their inclusion in kosher diets. Overall, the market exhibits strong growth, driven by increasing consumer awareness and adherence to dietary preferences and ethical considerations.

How is this Kosher Foods Industry segmented and which is the largest segment?

The kosher foods industry research report provides comprehensive data (region-wise segment analysis), with forecasts and estimates in 'USD billion' for the period 2025-2029, as well as historical data from 2019-2023 for the following segments.

Product

  Kosher pareve
  Kosher meat
  Kosher dairy


Distribution Channel

  Supermarkets and hypermarkets
  Grocery stores
  Online stores


End-user

  Household consumers
  Food service industry
  Food processing industry


Geography

  North America

    Canada
    US


  Europe

    Germany
    UK
    France
    Italy


  Middle East and Africa



  South America

    Brazil


  APAC

By Product Insights

The kosher pareve segment is estimated to witness significant growth during the forecast period.

The kosher pareve market encompasses a range of food products that adhere to Jewish dietary regulations, excluding meat and dairy. These neutral foods, which can be consumed with meat and dairy, include fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, grains, tofu, plant proteins, confectionery products, beverages, and dietary supplements. Strict adherence to kosher standards mandates careful inspection of fruits, vegetables, grains, and nuts for bugs, insects, or larvae. Eggs, too, must be free of blood spots to be considered kosher. Pareve products cater to various consumer groups, such as health-conscious individuals, vegetarians, and those with celiac disorders or lactose intolerance. This segment also includes snacks, savory dishes, bakery items, and culinary products. The pareve market serves both the Jewish and non-Jewish communities, with offerings available at grocery stores, hypermarkets, and online platforms. Examples of pareve foods are buckwheat, seafood, lamb, pulses, juices, frozen meals, packaged snacks, and baked goods.

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The kosher pareve segment was valued at USD 13.80 billion in 2019 and showed a gradual increase during the forecast period.

Regional Analysis

North America is estimated to contribute 39% to the growth of the global market during the forecast period.

Technavio's analysts have elaborately explained the regional trends and drivers that shape the market during the forecast period.

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The North American market holds the largest share in the global consumption of kosher foods, with the US and Canada being the key contributors. While the Jewish community is the primary consumer base, the Muslim population in the US also favors ko

This graphic shows the forecasted number of Christians, Muslims, Jews, Hindus, Buddhists, religiously unaffiliated people, believers in folk religions and in other religions in France in 2022. With almost ** million people identifying themselves as Christians, Christianity was the most represented religion in France. Furthermore, about **** million people considered themselves religiously unaffiliated.

In 2021, only **** of the people of Jewish faith or culture living in France were optimistic regarding their future. More than a ******of respondents felt somewhat pessimistic, while ****percent reported being very pessimistic. Furthermore, it seems interesting to note that almost *****of French Jews had already considered leaving France in the course of their lives.

With the heightened threat to Germany's Jewish population following the Nazi Party's ascent to power in 1933, many German Jews chose to flee or emigrate. In 1933, Germany's Jewish population was approximately 500,000 people; by the end of the war, it is estimated that 300,000 fled the country, and 165,000 were murdered in the Holocaust. In order to flee, most Jewish emigrants from Germany had to give up the majority of their wealth to the German state, whose emigration tax and seizure of property stripped Jews of their financial assets. Destination and transit For Germany's Jewish refugees, the most common destination country was the United States, and almost half of all these refugees would arrive in the U.S. over this 12 year period. As the United States had a strict quota of 27,000 German migrants per year, many refugees were forced to enter via other countries. France was the second most common destination country, receiving 100,000 refugees. However, France was also used as a transit country for German Jews wishing to travel further afield, especially after it was annexed by Germany in 1940. This was also true for several other European countries, such as the Netherlands, which had provided protection for German Jews in the mid-1930s, before rapidly becoming very unsafe following the outbreak of war in 1939. The Frank family Possibly the most famous example of this was the story of Anne Frank and her family. Anne had been born in Frankfurt, Germany in 1929, but her family moved to the Netherlands in 1934 after Hitler came to power. The family then led a relatively comfortable and successful life in Amsterdam, with her father, Otto, founding his own businesses. When the Netherlands was invaded by the Germans in 1940, the family tried to emigrate once more; Otto had been granted a single Cuban visa in 1942, but the family was forced to go into hiding as the restrictions tightened. For the next two years, with the help of non-Jewish friends, they lived in secret in the upper floor of Otto's business premises with several other Jewish refugees, in a small space concealed behind a bookcase. In August 1944, through unknown means, the group was betrayed and then arrested by Dutch authorities, and the Frank family was sent to Auschwitz-Birkenau thereafter. Anne's mother, Edith, died of starvation in Auschwitz within five months of her capture, while Anne and her sister, Margot, died one month later after being transferred to the Bergen-Belsen camp in Germany. Otto was the sole survivor of the group. Otto's secretary, Miep Gies, had saved Anne's diary the day after the group was arrested, which she then gave to Otto; he then devoted much of the remainder of his life to the publication and promotion of his daughter's diary, which has now become one of the most famous and widely-read books in recent history. Additionally, the hiding space is now open to the public, and has become one of the Netherlands' most popular tourist museums.

As early as 1319, allegations of well-poisoning had been levelled at leper communities in Europe, in an attempt to demonize and ostracize this group in society. In France and Spain in 1321, the "leper's plot" developed into a widespread conspiracy, claiming that leper communities were acting on the orders of the Jews or Spanish Moors, poisoning water supplies in an attempt to spread disease among Christians. Under royal decrees, many lepers were then tortured into confessing to these acts, and were subsequently burnt at the stake (although this was often carried out by vigilante mobs before it could be done by the courts). After the initial hysteria in 1321, the involvement of lepers was quickly dismissed, and a papal bull was introduced to grant protection to leper communities in France; this however did not dispel the myths surrounding the Jews' involvement in the conspiracy, and the issue emerged again a few decades later. Why the Jews were blamed When the bubonic plague made its way to Europe, many were eager to find a scapegoat on whom they could blame their misfortune. The "well-poisoning" accusations were quickly raised again against Jewish communities in France and Spain, and also across the German states. Historians point to several reasons why Jews were blamed for the Black Death; many Jews lived in separate communities and did not use the same common wells, and Jewish religious practices promote bathing and hand-washing; both of these factors meant that the plague spread differently and at a different rate among Jews than it did among the general population. Modern historians also point to the fact that Jews were often moneylenders, and their debtors often used the plague as an opportunity to expunge their debts; Holy Roman Emperor Charles IV also forfeited the property of Jews who were killed in the pogroms, giving further impetus to these mobs. Anti-Jewish pogroms The first reported pogroms took place in Toulon in 1348, before the violence then spread across the rest of Western Europe. Over the next three years, hundreds of Jewish communities were attacked and exterminated, with the majority taking place in the German states. A number of larger communities, such as those in Cologne and Mainz, were destroyed completely, resulting in the deaths and forced conversions of thousands of Jews. Pope Clement VI introduced two papal bulls in 1348, which granted the church's protection to Europe's Jews. He also urged the clergy and nobility to take measures that protected Jews in their local areas, although most sources show that authorities were apathetic or complicit in the actions of the mobs. There is even evidence that authorities orchestrated several of the pogroms, such as in Strasbourg, where authorities led the city's Jewish community to a newly-built house outside the city, but when they arrived, any Jews who refused to convert to Christianity were then burned alive inside the house. Legacy Many of the sources present different versions of events, with death tolls ranging from one hundred to several thousand in some cases, while some sources also claim that Jews set fire to their own homes rather than convert. It is now impossible to confirm the exact sequence of events, or the actual number of deaths resulting from these pogroms, however, the limited sources available do provide a brief foundation for the modern understanding of medieval anti-Semitism and the destruction inflicted upon the Jews during the plague. It is also important to note that these pogroms were not unique to the Black Death's outbreak, and there is evidence of numerous massacres of Jewish communities in the centuries that followed. The demographic impact of the massacres was that there was a mass exodus of Jews from west to Eastern Europe, to countries such as Poland (where they were actually welcomed by authorities). The consequences of this demographic shift would be most felt six centuries later, when millions of Jews across Eastern Europe were exterminated at the hands of the Nazi regime during the Holocaust.

In 2021, more than *****of the anti-religious acts identified by the Ministry of the Interior concerned the Christian community. According to the source, these were mainly attacks on religious property. The second most affected community was the Jewish community in France (*****percent of anti-religious acts).

This statistic displays public perceptions and awareness of holocaust denial, in the European Union in 2018. As findings show, the majority of the respondents thought that denying the genocide of the Jewish people is a problem in their country, with Sweden and France having the highest share, at ** percent and ** percent of respondents respectively.