The history of the Jews in Alsace is one of the oldest in Europe. It was first attested to in 1165 by Benjamin of Tudela, who wrote about a "large number of learned men" in "Astransbourg"; and it is assumed that it dates back to around the year 1000. Although Jewish life in Alsace was often disrupted by outbreaks of pogroms, at least during the Middle Ages, and reined in by harsh restrictions on business and movement, it has had a continuous existence ever since it was first recorded. At its peak, in 1870, the Jewish community of Alsace numbered 35,000 people.
A stone plaque commemorating a donation to a synagogue in Strasbourg in the 12th century
A kettle full of Jews (with white, pointed hats) burning in hell, an illustration from the 12th century Hortus deliciarum
Degradation of Alfred Dreyfus, January 5, 1895
Synagogue du Quai Kléber, Strasbourg, inaugurated in 1898, burnt and razed by the Nazis in 1940–1941
Strasbourg massacre
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The Strasbourg massacre occurred on 14 February 1349, when the entire Jewish community of several thousand Jews were publicly burnt to death as part of the Black Death persecutions.
Pogrom of Strasbourg by Emile Schweitzer
Contemporary drawing of Jews being burned to death during the Black Death persecutions. Antiquitates Flandriae (Royal Library of Belgium manuscript 1376/77).