Bergheim

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BERGHEIM

BERGHEIM , village N. of Colmar in Alsace, E. France. Jews are first mentioned there in connection with the persecutions in the 14th century by the *Armleder gangs and following the *Black Death. During the Burgundian wars (1476–78) they again suffered severely. By the beginning of the 16th century, however, Bergheim had the largest Jewish community in Alsace. The Jewish settlement was pillaged by rebel peasants in 1525, and an anti-Jewish outbreak in 1784 followed the abolition of the "body tax" on Jews. The Jewish population declined from 327 in 1784 to 40 in 1926. In 1968 there were no Jews living in Bergheim.

bibliography:

M. Ginsburger, Les Juifs à Ribeauvillé et à Bergheim (1939).

[Zvi Avneri]

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Bergheim

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