HAVRE, LE

HAVRE, LE , major port, N. France. From about the beginning of the 18^th century, Jews, especially from *Bordeaux and its environs, wished to settle in Le Havre. In 1714, *Louisxiv ordered the town to expel all foreign Jews except "those who call themselves 'Portuguese.'" Around 1725, however, two Jewish families of German origin, the Hombergs (who were converted after a while) and the Lallemends, settled in Le Havre and obtained letters of naturalization. In 1776 the town once more refused several Jews permission to reside there in spite of their "royal passports" (actually valid for Paris). An organized community was founded in the mid-19^th century. A new community, reconstituted after World War ii, had a population of about 1,000 in 1969 and possessed a synagogue and community center.

bibliography:

A.-E. Borely, Histoire de la ville du Havre…, 3 (1881), 441ff.

[Bernhard Blumenkranz]

Le Havre City and seaport in n France, at the mouth of the River Seine, on the English Channel. Founded in the 16th century on the site of a fishing village, it is now France's second-largest port. It was briefly the base of the Belgian government in World War II. The city was rebuilt after being almost completely destroyed during the war. It is the principal export point for Paris and a transatlantic and cross-Channel passenger port. Industries: chemicals, fertilizers, timber, food processing, oil-refining, shipbuilding. Pop. (1999) 193,259.