About Jewishness

History of the Jews in Denmark
The Jewish community of Denmark constitutes a small minority with a known history back to the 17th century.

Origins
Medieval Danish art contains depictions of Jews – visibly wearing pointed hats – but there is no evidence any Jews actually lived in Denmark during that time. With the conclusion of the Danish Reformation in 1536, Jews alongside with Catholics were prohibited entry into Denmark.
The first known settlement on Danish territory was based on a royal dispensation. When the industrious Christian IV founded on the river Elbe in today's Schleswig-Holstein, he allowed one Jewish merchant, Albert Dionis, to settle in the city. This dispensation was extended to a few other Jews, and in 1628 their status was formalized by being promised protection, the right to hold private religious services, and maintain their own cemetery. Albert Dionis rose to special status within the Danish royal court, apparently being a source of credit for ambitious projects. Gabriel Gomez, who also attained this status, persuaded Frederik III to give general leave for Jews to reside in Denmark for purposes of conducting trade. Although this was limited to Sephardim, a number of Ashkenazim were granted letters of safe passage and settled in the kingdom in the coming years.
Of special note is perhaps the story of Gabriel Milan, who converted to Christianity and became governor of the Danish West Indies in 1684, only to be executed in 1689 for corruption and abuse of office.

Establishment of permanent communities
Following the Thirty Years'War, which cost Denmark many of its possessions and created a fiscal crisis for the Danish crown, Frederik III proclaimed an absolute monarchy in Denmark. To improve trade, the king opened the door to greater immigration. The first Jewish community was founded in the newly established town of Fredericia in 1682, and in 1684 an Ashkenazi community was founded in Copenhagen.
By 1780, there were approximately 1600 Jews in Denmark, though all were admitted by special permission granted only on the basis of personal wealth. They were subject to a number of discriminatory restrictions of both social and economic character, and for a brief period in 1782 they were forced to attend Lutheran services. But they were not required to live in ghettos and had a significant degree of self-governance. Judging from art and writings from the time (particularly by the Danish-Norwegian playwright Ludvig Holberg), these early communities set themselves apart.

Integration into Danish life
As the Jewish enlightenment reached Denmark in the late 18th century, the king instituted a number of reforms to facilitate integration of Danish subjects into the larger Danish society. Jews were allowed to join guilds, study at the university, buy real estate, and establish schools.
The Napoleonic Wars and the disastrous Gunboat War brought about a complete emancipation of Danish Jews (while, in contrast, events in Norway resulted in a constitutional ban on Jews entering Norway). Still, there were severe antisemitic riots in Denmark in 1819 that were allowed to run their course for several months, though without any known fatalities.
On the other hand, the early 19th century saw a flourishing of Danish-Jewish cultural life. The Great Synagogue of Copenhagen is a landmark building, designed by the architect G. F. Hetch. A number of Jewish cultural personalities, among them the art benefactor and editor Mendel Levin Nathanson, the writer Meir Aron Goldschmidt, and founder of Politiken, Edvard Brandes; his brother literary critic Georg Brandes (who had a strong influence on Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen), Henri Nathansen, and others rose to prominence in the Danish cultural landscape.

Growth and 20th century crises
As in many other societies, increasing integration also accelerated assimilation of Jews into mainstream Danish society, including higher rates of . At the same time, events such as the Kishinev pogrom in 1903, the in 1904, the series of Russian revolutions, led to an influx of several thousand Jewish refugees into Denmark, of whom approximately 3,000 settled in Denmark.
The new arrivals changed the character of Danish Jewry significantly. More likely to be socialist Bundists than religious, they founded a Yiddish theater and several Yiddish newspapers. These proved to be short-lived, however, and Denmark closed its door to further immigration in the early 1920s.

The Nazi era
In April 1933, Christian X was scheduled to appear at the central synagogue in Copenhagen to celebrate its centennial anniversary. When Adolf Hitler came to power in Germany in January 1933, the community leaders suggested that the king postpone his visit. The king insisted, however, and became the first Nordic monarch to visit a synagogue.
A period of tension ensued, for the Danish population in general and its Jewish citizens in particular. Danish policy sought to ensure its independence and neutrality by placating the neighboring Nazi regime. When Denmark was put under Germany military occupation as a result of Operation Weserübung on April 9 1940, the situation became increasingly precarious.
During the early years of the occupation, Danish officials repeatedly insisted to the German occupation authorities that there was no "Jewish problem" in Denmark. The Germans recognized that discussion of the Jewish question in Denmark was a possibly explosive issue, which had the potential to destroy the "model" relationship between Denmark and Germany and, in turn, cause political and economic consequences for Germany. In addition, the German Reich relied substantially upon Danish agriculture, which supplied meat and butter to 3.6 million Germans in 1942 alone. As a result, when officials in recommended instituting anti-Jewish measures in Denmark, even ideologically committed Nazis, such as Reich Plenipotentiary Werner Best, followed a strategy of avoiding and deferring any discussion of Denmark's Jews.
In 1943, the situation came to a head when Werner Best, the German plenipotentiary in Denmark ordered the arrest and deportation of all Danish Jews, scheduled to commence on October 1, which coincided with Rosh Hashanah. However, the Jewish community was given advance warning, and only 202 were arrested initially. As it turned out, 7,550 fled to Sweden, ferried across the Oresund strait. 450 Jews were deported to the Theresienstadt concentration camp. In the course of their incarceration, Danish authorities often interceded on their behalf (as they did for other Danes in German custody), sending food.
Of the 450 Jews who were deported, 52 died.

Rescue of the Danish Jews
On September 28, 1943, Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz, a German diplomat, after secretly making sure Sweden would receive Jewish refugees, leaked word of the plans for the operation against Denmark's Jews to Hans Hedtoft, chairman of the Danish Social Democratic Party. Hedtoft contacted the Danish Resistance Movement and the head of the Jewish community, C.B. Henriques, who in turn alerted the acting chief rabbi, Dr. Marcus Melchior. (The official chief rabbi, Dr. Max Friediger, had already been detained as a "hostage" on the night of August 29, 1943, along with some 100 prominent Danes, including a dozen Jews, in a camp near Copenhagen.) At the early morning services, on September 29, the day prior to the Rosh Hashanah services, Jews were promptly warned by Rabbi Melchior of the German action and urged to go into hiding immediately and to spread the word to all their Jewish friends and relatives.
The improvisational nature of the early phases of the rescue was particularly notable. When Danish civil servants at several levels in different ministries learnt of the German plan to round up all Danish Jews, they independently pursued various measures to find the Jews and hide them. Some simply phoned friends and asked them to go through telephone books and warn those with Jewish-sounding names to go into hiding. Most Jews hid for several days or weeks before being smuggled to Sweden, which offered asylum to all Danish Jews who reached its shores.
The Jews were smuggled out of Denmark by transporting them by sea over the Oresund from Zealand to Sweden—a passage of varying time depending on the specific route and the weather, but averaging under an hour on the choppy winter sea, as noted by Preben Munch-Nielsen in an interview with the USHMM. Some were transported in large fishing boats of up to 20 tons, but others were carried to freedom in rowboats or kayaks. The ketch Albatros was one of the ships used to smuggle Jews to Sweden. Some refugees were smuggled inside freight cars on the regular ferries between Denmark and Sweden, this route being suited for the very young or old who were too weak to endure a rough sea passage. The underground had broken into empty freight cars sealed by the Germans after inspection, helped refugees onto the cars, and then resealed the cars with forged or stolen German seals to forestall further inspection.
Some of the fishermen assisting in the rescue charged money to transport Jews to Sweden, while others took payments only from those who could afford passage. Certainly there were also some profiteers who took advantage of the confusion and fear during the early days of the escape, but as time passed, the Danish underground movement ousted them and took an active role in organizing the rescue and providing financing, mostly from wealthy Danes who donated large sums of money for the rescue.
During the first days of the rescue action, Jews moved into the many fishing harbours on the Danish coast for rescue, but the Gestapo became suspicious of activity around harbours (and on the night of October 6, about 80 Jews were caught hiding in the loft of the church at Gilleleje, their hiding place betrayed by a Danish girl in love with a German soldier). Subsequent rescues had to take place from isolated points along the coast. While waiting their turn, the Jews took refuge in the woods and in cottages away from the coast, out of sight of the Gestapo.
Some of the refugees never made it to Sweden; a few chose to commit suicide, some were captured by the Gestapo en route to their point of embarkation, others were lost at sea when vessels of poor seaworthiness capsized, and still others were intercepted at sea by German patrol boats. However, the Danish harbour police and civil police generally cooperated with the rescue operations. During the early stages, the Gestapo was undermanned and the German army and navy were called in to reinforce the Gestapo in its effort to prevent transportation taking place; but by and large they proved less than enthusiastic in the operation and frequently turned a blind eye to escapees.

Arrests and deportations
In Copenhagen the deportation order was carried out on the Jewish New Year, the night of October 1–2, when the Germans assumed all Jews would be gathered at home. The roundup was organized by the SS who used two police battalions and about 50 Danish volunteer members of the Waffen SS chosen for their familiarity with Copenhagen and northern Zealand. The SS organized themselves in five-man teams, each with a Dane, a vehicle and a list of addresses to check. Most teams found no one, but one team found four Jews on the fifth address checked. There a bribe of 15,000 kroner was rejected and the cash destroyed. The arrested Jews were allowed to bring two blankets, food for 3–4 days, and a small suitcase. They were transported to the harbour, Langelinie, where a couple of large ships awaited them. One of the Danish members believed the Jews were being sent to Danzig.
On October 2, some arrested Danish communists witnessed the deportation of about 200 Jews from Langelinie via the ship Wartheland. Of these, a young married couple were able to convince the Germans that they were not Jewish, and set free. The remainder included mothers with infants, the sick and elderly, and also chief rabbi Max Friediger and the other Jewish hostages mentioned above, who had been placed in the Danish internment camp, Horseroed, on August 28–29. They were driven below deck without their luggage while being screamed at, kicked and beaten. The Germans then took anything of value from the luggage. Their unloading the next day in Swinemunde was even more inhumane, though without fatalities. There the Jews were driven into two cattle cars, about one hundred per car. During the night, while still locked in the cattle cars, a Jewish mother cried that her child had died. For comparison the Danish communists were packed into cars with "only" fifty people in each; nevertheless, they quickly began to suffer from heat, thirst and lack of ventilation; furthermore, on October 5, shortly before being unloaded in Danzig, they received (filthy) water for the first time since they had left Copenhagen.
Only around 450 Danish Jews were captured by the Germans, and most of these were sent to the Theresienstadt concentration camp in occupied Czechoslovakia. After these Jews' deportation, leading Danish civil servants persuaded the Germans to accept packages of food and medicine for the prisoners; furthermore, Denmark persuaded the Germans not to deport the Danish Jews to extermination camps. This was achieved by Danish political pressure, using the Danish Red Cross to monitor frequently the condition of the Danish Jews at Theresienstadt. Some 51 Danish Jews—mostly elderly—died of disease at Theresienstadt, but in April 1945, as the war drew to a close, the 400 or so surviving Danish Jews were turned over by the Germans to Count Folke Bernadotte of Wisborg of the Swedish Red Cross. The casualties among Danish Jews during the Holocaust were smaller than any other country in occupied Europe.

The myth of the Danes and the yellow star
It has been popularly reported that the Nazis ordered Danish Jews to wear an identifying yellow star, as elsewhere in Nazi controlled territories. In some versions of the myth, King Christian X opted to wear such a star himself and the Danish people followed his example, thus making the order unenforceable.
The order was, in fact, never issued (although the yellow star was imposed on Dutch Jews).
The myth may have originated in a contemporary cartoon, published in a Swedish daily paper, depicting the King asserting to a former prime minister that, if the order to wear the star was imposed on Denmark's Jews, "We'll all have to wear yellow stars."
A recent study shows that the assumption that a cartoon initiated the perception that King Christian X threatened to wear a yellow star is incorrect. The story about the King and the Star and other similar myths originated in the offices of NADA, The National Denmark America Association, where a handful of Danish nationals opened a propaganda unit called "Friends of Danish Freedom and Democracy", which published a bulletin called The Danish Listening Post. This group hired Edward L. Berneys, "The father of Public Relation and Spin” as a consultant. Whether Bernays was the inventor of the story about the King and the yellow star, is not known.
The facts differ from the story. Although the Danish authorities cooperated with the German occupation forces, they and most Danes strongly opposed the isolation of any group within the population, especially the well-integrated Jewish community. The German action to deport Danish Jews prompted the Danish state church and all political parties except the pro-Nazi National Socialist Workers’ Party of Denmark (DNSAP) immediately to renounce the action and to pledge solidarity with the Jewish fellow citizens. For the first time, they openly opposed the occupation. At once the Danish bishops issued a hyrdebrev—a pastoral letter to all citizens. The letter was distributed to all Danish priests, to be read out in every church on the following Sunday. This was in itself very controversial since the Danish church is decentralized, apolitical, and without a central leadership.
The unsuccessful German deportation attempt and the actions to save the Jews were important steps in linking the resistance movement to broader anti-Nazi sentiments in Denmark. In many ways October 1943 and the rescuing of the Jews marked a change in most people's perception of the war and the occupation thereby giving a "subjective-psychological" foundation for the myth.
A few days after the roundup, a small news item in the New York Daily News reported the myth about the wearing of the Star of David. Later, the story gained its popularity in Leon Uris' novel Exodus and in its movie adaptation. It persists to the present, but it is unfounded.

Righteous among the nations
The Danish resistance movement as a collective effort, rather than as individuals, has been honoured at Yad Vashem in Israel as being part of the "Righteous among the Nations". Also honoured are a handful of Danes who were not members of the official resistance movement, and Georg Ferdinand Duckwitz.

Post-war era
By all accounts, Danish society has maintained a safe and friendly environment for its Jewish minority. There are two active synagogues in Denmark today, both in Copenhagen. The larger congregation in Krystalgade is inclusive of its members, though follows a traditional liturgy. The Machsike Hadas Synagogue is a small Orthodox synagogue, and Chabad has a presence in Copenhagen.
In addition, there are two Jewish periodicals published in Danish: Rambam, published by Selskabet for Dansk-Jødisk Historie; and Alef, a journal of Jewish culture.

History of the Jews in Sweden

The history of Jews in Sweden can be traced back to the seventeenth century, as vouched for by church records at Stockholm, from which it appears that several Jews had been baptised into the Lutheran Church, a condition at that time imposed upon any Jew who desired to settle in Sweden. In 1681, for example, two Jews of Stockholm, Israel Mandel and Moses Jacob, together with their families, twenty-eight persons in all, were baptized in the German church of that city in the presence of King Charles XI of Sweden, the dowager queen Hedwig Eleonora of Holstein-Gottorp, and several high state officials.

Early history
In 1680 the Jews of Stockholm petitioned the king that they be permitted to reside there without abandoning their creed, but the application was denied because the local consistory had refused to endorse it. On December 3, 1685, Charles XI ordered the governor-general of the capital to see that no Jews were permitted to settle in Stockholm, or in any other part of the country, "on account of the danger of the eventual influence of the Jewish religion on the pure evangelical faith." In case Jews were found in any Swedish community, they were to be notified to leave within fourteen days.

Permission to settle
In the seventeenth century, the Jewish question was viewed in religious terms in Sweden, and had not yet begun to be seen in terms of race. Through court patronage Jewish merchants were occasionally appointed royal purveyors; and during the warlike reign of Charles XII (1697–1718) the king usually had one or more wealthy Jews with him in the field, to take care of the paymaster's department of his army. Through their influence permission was obtained (1718) for Jews to settle in the kingdom without the necessity of abjuring their religion.
Charles XII had spent five years in Bender, Bessarabia, at the time a part of the Ottoman Empire, with his army and incurred tremendous debts with Jewish and Muslim merchants who supplied the army with equipment and provisions. On his return a large number of Muslim and Jewish creditors arrived in Sweden, and the Swedish law was altered so as to allow these immigrants to hold Jewish and Muslim services and to circumcise their sons.
After the death of Charles XII (1718) the Swedish government was financially embarrassed for a long time, and the royal household was often relieved from pecuniary difficulties by the Jewish merchants of Stockholm, who, as a reward for their accommodations, insisted on the granting of additional privileges to themselves and their coreligionists. As a consequence the concession of 1718 was renewed, and supplemented by royal edicts of 1727, 1746, and 1748, but the permission had reference only to settlement in the smaller cities and rural communities. One of the most prominent Jews in Sweden at this time was the convert Lovisa Augusti, who became one of the most popular singers on the Swedish stage in Stockholm.
In 1782 an ordinance was issued by which the Jews were permitted, on certain conditions, to settle anywhere in the kingdom, and to practise freely the tenets of their religion. It was, however, specified that Jews were ineligible for government positions and for election to the legislative assembly; they were, moreover, forbidden to establish schools for the propagation of their creed, and to combine with their religious services such ceremonies as might possibly cause disquietude in the minds of the general population.

Restricted to three cities
The government was desirous of attracting wealthy Jews to the country, but it was equally careful to keep out itinerant door-to-door sellers of trinkets, quite a number of whom had in previous years entered Sweden from Germany. Any foreign Jew who landed in Sweden was accordingly required to report, within eight days of his arrival, to the local authorities, and to produce his passport and a certificate of character, as well as a statement of his purpose in coming to the country. These certificates were issued by the elders of the congregation to which the immigrant belonged in his native country, and had to be verified by the municipal authorities of the place in which the immigrant had last resided. If the certificates were unsatisfactory, the authorities were at liberty to expel the holder; but in case he was admitted he was directed to Stockholm, Gothenburg, or Norrköping. Jews who were residents of the country prior to the promulgation of this ordinance were called upon to present their certificates of character to the proper authorities, together with a statement setting forth in which city they desired to settle and make their living. The ordinance enumerated the different trades the Jews were permitted to follow, and it stipulated also that they should apprentice their sons to Swedish tradesmen in one of the three cities mentioned above. In order to prevent the overcrowding of the mercantile field it was prescribed that no foreign-born Jew should be allowed to start in business unless he possessed at least 2,000 Swedish riksdaler in cash or negotiable securities; a native-born Jew need have only 1,000 riksdaler.
As to the retail business, the Jews were prohibited from selling victuals, liquor, and drugs, and they were permitted to retail their special articles of food, wine, kosher meat, matzot, etc., among themselves only. Furthermore, the Jewish retail dealer was not permitted to offer his goods for sale in markets outside the city in which he was located, and he was compelled to conduct his business in open shops and was forbidden to peddle from house to house or in the streets.
The Jews were allowed to establish synagogues in the above-mentioned three cities, and to keep rabbis and other clerical officials. Intermarriages between Jews and Christians were forbidden. For every Jewish marriage celebrated a fee of six riksdaler was to be paid to the orphanage of the royal guards, this stipulation being intended as a compensation to the army for the exemption of the Jews from military service. In order to protect the interests of descendants of immigrant Jews the state ordered that, on the death of a Jew, the elders of the congregation should make an inventory of his estate and submit an account thereof, either to the orphans' court or to the municipal authorities. The Jews, however, had the right to appoint guardians of minors; and a rabbinical court had jurisdiction in inheritance cases. In litigations between Jews and Christians where the facts could not be established except under oath, the Jew might be ordered to take the customary Jewish oath in the synagogue in the presence of the judge. A Jew convicted of perjury became liable to expulsion from the country.
The ordinance of 1782 contained a separate clause referring to "particularly wealthy Jews, or such as are proficient in some trade almost, or quite, unknown in the country". Such persons could, through the Department of Commerce, petition the king for privileges and concessions other than those granted in the general ordinance.

Reactionary decree of 1838 and afterwards
After 1782 Jews gradually secured more rights from the government, but many Jews, particularly those living in Stockholm, desired even greater opportunity and desired to not be disadvantaged due to their religion. A feeling of indignation arose among the general population against the ambitious Jews of Stockholm, many of whom were prosperous financiers; the population witnessed a different, small, and disadvantaged community of Jews prosper to a greater extent than the general population despite laws that were designed to subjugate the Jewish population relative to the general population. Anger grew at the gap in wealth between Jews and others; such anger reached a height in 1838. After a new ordinance was promulgated which abolished nearly all restrictions upon Jews' civic rights (in this ordinance the Jews were, for the first time, designated Mosaiter, i.e., adherents of the Mosaic faith), a serious uprising took place in the capital; and numerous complaints were presented to the government, denouncing the alleged 'undue preference' shown Jews. On September 21 of the same year the government was compelled to revoke the new ordinance.
During the following years the book-market was deluged by brochures for and against the Mosaiter. This controversy between sympathizers and antagonists of the Jews continued until 1840, when the Commons in the Riksdag petitioned the government to re-establish the ordinance of 1782 in its original form. The friends of the Jews tried to show that the petitioners were actuated by religious intolerance, but their adversaries openly declared the question to be one not of religion, but of race. The anti-Semites in the Riksdag endeavoured to prove that the Jews had greatly abused the rights and privileges granted them in 1782, and that they had done so at the expense and to the detriment of the native Lutheran merchants and tradesmen. The efforts to create anti-Jewish sentiment in the Riksdag were, however, unavailing, and at a later session of that body (1853), when public opinion had turned more in favour of the Jews, they were accorded additional privileges.
During the latter half of the nineteenth century the few remaining disabilities of the Jews were removed. Under the law of October 26, 1860, they were granted the right to acquire real estate in rural communities, whereas they had previously been permitted to own property in the cities only. On January 20, 1863, another ordinance removed the prohibition against intermarriages between Jews and Christians, which were declared to be legal provided they had been attended by due ceremonies. A later ordinance (October 31, 1873) stipulated that the issue of marriages between members of the Swedish state church and Jews should be brought up in the Lutheran faith. If, however, a pact concerning the religion of their future children had been made in writing by the parents before their marriage, and submitted to the clergyman or other authority that performed the marriage ceremony, such agreement should remain valid.
There were, of course, various privileges which the Jews, like any other non-Lutherans, could still not obtain as long as the then current constitution of the Swedish kingdom remained in force. Thus, they could not become members of the cabinet; nor could they, as judges or as members of committees, take part in discussions concerning religious questions. Otherwise they enjoyed the same rights and were subject to the same duties as the Swedish citizens of the Lutheran faith.
During the reign of Gustavus III (1771–1792) the Jews of Stockholm invited Levi Hirsch from Alt-Strelitz, Mecklenburg, to officiate as their rabbi. The first Swedish synagogue was located at Köpmantorget (Merchants' Square), Stockholm, in the Sjöberg house. After a few years this place was found to be too small, and the Jews in the capital selected the old auction chamber at Tyska Brunn (German Well), where they worshiped until 1870, when the large Stockholm Synagogue was inaugurated at Wahrendorfsgatan (Wahrendorf street). In 1905, the reported that there were synagogues in all of the larger Swedish cities in which Jews had settled in any considerable number.
According to the statistics of 1890 there were in the entire kingdom of Sweden 3,402 Jews. Since then, however, their number has been considerably augmented, and in 1905 the Jewish Encyclopedia placed the Jewish population by a "conservative estimate" at 4,000.

20th century
An Act that granted Jews equality before the law was passed in the Swedish riksdag in 1910.
Between 1850 and 1920, there was a large wave of immigration to Sweden from Russia and Poland, and by 1920, the Jewish population of Sweden had grown to 6,500. After the First World War, Jewish immigration was regulated, though small groups of German, Czech, and Austrian Jews were allowed to come to Sweden.

Holocaust
During the pre-war years of Hitler's power (1933 to 1939), some 3,000 Jews immigrated to Sweden to escape Nazi persecution. Although Sweden was neutral during World War Two, it helped facilitate the rescue of many Jews from nearby countries: in 1942, 900 Norwegian Jews were given asylum from Nazi persecution in their home country, and, most importantly of all, almost the entire Danish Jewish community, some 8,000 people, was transported to Sweden in October 1943 (see Rescue of the Danish Jews). Swedish diplomat also saved thousands of Hungarian Jews in Budapest as part of official Swedish policy. In the post-war period, many Jewish refugees from the Baltic Countries, Romania and Poland made their homes in Sweden (including Vladek Spiegelman, father of famous American cartoonist Art Spiegelman, who was born in Stockholm). More waves of refugees came from Hungary in 1956 and 1968 who had fled the Communist government. More refugees came then from Poland between 1968-1970. Between 1945 and 1970, the Jewish population of Sweden doubled.

Today
There is no ethnic registration in Sweden, so the Jewish population can only be roughly estimated. The Official Council of Swedish Jewish Communities estimation is that about 20,000 pass the halakha criteria. Of those about 7,000 is a member of any congregation. Stockholm has the largest community and boasts a primary school, kindergarten, library, a bi-monthly publication (Judisk Krönika) and a weekly Jewish radio program, but Malmö, Gothenburg, Borås, Helsingborg, Lund, and Uppsala all have Jewish communities as well. Synagogues can be found in Stockholm (which has 2 Orthodox and 1 Conservative temple), Göteborg (an Orthodox and a Conservative synagogue), Malmö (an Orthodox synagogue) and in Norrköping (although the Norrköping community is too small to perform regular services).
In 2010, the international media reported on increasing levels of anti-semitic hate-crime in Malmo, the reports cited desecrations, the burning of a chapel and worshippers being taunted with 'Hitler' chants. 79 anti-semitic incidents were reported to the police in 2009, twice as many as the previous year. The Israeli media has criticised the city's mayor, Ilmar Reepalu for equating Zionism to anti-semitism.

History of the Jews in Norway

The Jews in Norway are one of the country's smallest ethnic and religious minorities. The largest synagogue is in Oslo, and a smaller synagogue in Trondheim (63° 25' N) is often claimed, erroneously, to be the world's northernmost . Trondheim's is fifth on the list; the northernmost synagogue is located in Murmansk, Russia.

History
In 1000, all non-Christians were banned from Norway in an effort to establish Christianity as the national religion. Although the ban was presumably targeted at pagans, it also put Norway out of bounds for Jews for over 800 years.
Although there likely were Jewish merchants, sailors and others who entered Norway during the next several hundred years, no efforts were made to establish a Jewish community. Ruled by a series of Norwegian, Swedish, and Danish kings in combination with either Denmark or Sweden, public policy against non-Christians was in large part dictated by royal edict.
The first known mention of Jews in public documents relates to the admissibility of so-called “Portuguese Jews” (Sephardim) that had been from Spain and Portugal in 1492 and 1497. Some of these were given special dispensation to enter Norway. Christian IV of Denmark-Norway gave Jews limited rights to travel within the kingdom, and in 1641, Ashkenazi Jews were given equivalent rights.
Christian V rescinded these privileges in 1687, specifically banning Jews from Norway, unless they were given a special dispensation. Jews found in the kingdom were jailed and expelled, and this ban persisted until 1851.
In 1814, Norway formulated its first constitution that included in the second paragraph a general ban against Jews and entering the country. Portuguese Jews were exempt from this ban, but it appears that few applied for a letter of free passage. When Norway entered into the personal union of Sweden-Norway, the ban against Jews was upheld, though Sweden at that point had several Jewish communities.
In 1844 (4 November), the Norwegian Ministry of Justice declared: "... it is assumed that the so-called Portuguese Jews are, regardless of the ’s §2, entitled to dwell in this country, which is also, to [our] knowledge, what has hitherto been assumed."
After tireless efforts by the poet Henrik Wergeland, politician Peder Jensen Fauchald, school principal and others, the Norwegian parliament lifted the ban against Jews in 1851 and they were awarded religious rights on par with Christian "dissenters."
In 1852, the first Jew landed in Norway to settle, but it wasn't until 1892 that there were enough Jews to form a synagogue in Oslo.
The Jewish community grew slowly until World War II and bolstered by refugees in the late 1930s, peaked at about 2,100. During the Nazi rule under the Nazi occupation of Norway, nearly all Jews were either deported to death camps or fled to Sweden and beyond. The Jews fleeing to Sweden were most often given help by non-Jewish Norwegians, although a number of the border guards only agreed to assist after receiving large payments from the refugees.

The Holocaust
During the war, civilian Norwegian police (politiet) in many cases helped the German occupiers in the apprehension of those Jews who failed to escape in time. Records show that during the Holocaust, 758 Norwegian Jews were murdered by the Nazis—mostly in Auschwitz. Many of the Jews who fled during the war did not return, and in 1946, there were only 559 Jews in Norway.

The 1990s World War II restitution
In March 1996, the Norwegian government appointed a Committee whose mandate was "to establish what happened to Jewish property during World War II ... and to determine to what extent seized assets/property was restored after the war."
In June 1997 the Committee delivered a divided report, split into a majority and a minority view.
Majority view of uncovered losses was estimated to be 108 million NOK, (based on the value of the NOK in May 1997), (15 mil. USD)
Minority view of uncovered losses was estimated to be 330 million NOK, (based on the value of the NOK in May 1997),
On the 15 May 1998, the Prime Minister of Norway, Kjell Magne Bondevik, proposed 450 mill. NOK, covering both a "collective" and an "individual" restitution.
On 11 March 1999 the Norwegian Parliament (Stortinget) voted to accept the proposition for 450 mill. NOK. The award was divided into two parts; one collective and one individual. The collective part, totalling NOK 250 million, was subdivided in three:
Funds to sustain the Jewish community in Norway (NOK 150 million);
Support for development, outside of Norway, of the traditions and culture which the Nazis wished to exterminate. The money is to be distributed by a foundation, where the executive committee members is to be appointed one each by the Norwegian Government, the Norwegian Parliament, the Jewish community in Norway, and the World Jewish Congress/World Jewish Restitution Organization. Eli Wiesel was suggested to lead the executive committee. (NOK 60 million).
The formation of a national museum for tolerance, established as Norwegian Center for Studies of Holocaust and Religious Minorities (NOK 40 million);
The individual part was estimated to total not more than NOK 200 million:
Compensation to individuals and their survivors, a maximum of NOK 200,000 each.
31 November 1999 was the last date to apply for compensation from individuals, and the result was that 980 persons got 200,000 NOK each.

Today
There are about 1,500 Jews in Norway today, of whom the largest portion live in Oslo. There is a small community and synagogue in Trondheim, and others living around the country.
In June 2004 Chabad-Lubavitch established a permanent presence in Oslo, serving Jews throughout the country.
There is also a Society for Progressive Judaism located in Oslo. The Society for Progressive Judaism in Norway (PJN) arranges monthly Pot Luck Shabbat celebrations, and weekly parasha studies.
Norwegian Jews are well integrated into Norwegian society. Prominent Norwegian Jews include former president of Stortinget (the parliament), Jo Benkow; Leo Eitinger and Berthold Grünfeld, who were noted psychiatrists; Robert Levin, the musician; theatre critic Mona Levin and Bente Kahan, an actress and vocalist.

History of the Jews in Finland

Finnish Jews are Jews who are citizens of Finland. The country is home to approximately 1,300 Jews. The history of the Jews in Finland began in the 18th century. The Finnish Jews are overwhelmingly the descendents of Russian soldiers, who remained in Finland after the end of their service in the 19th century.

Pre-Finnish Independence
The first Jew said to have settled on Finnish soil was Jacob Weikam, later Veikkanen, in 1782, in the town of Hamina which was at that point under Russian rule. Prior to Finnish independence, Jews were allowed to reside in a few towns in the Kingdom of Sweden-Finland, outside the territory that is now modern-day Finland. In 1809 Finland became part of the Russian Empire, as an autonomous Grand Duchy but Swedish laws remained in force, meaning Jews were still unable to settle in Finnish territory.
During the period of Finnish autonomy (1809–1917) more Russian Jews established themselves in Finland as tradesmen and craftsmen. As Jews were in principle prohibited from dwelling in Finland, almost all these Jews were retired soldiers from the Imperial Russian army. Being cantonists, forced into the Russian army in childhood, they were required to serve at least 25 years. After their term expired, they had, however, the right to remain in Finland regardless of Finnish ban on Jewish settlement, a right forcefully defended by the Russian military authorities. It was only after Finland declared its independance, in 1917, that Jews were granted full rights as Finnish citizens.

Finnish army Jewish field synagogue

World War Two
During the Continuation War (1941–1944), in which Finland fought alongside Nazi Germany, Finnish Jews were not persecuted, and even among extremists of the Finnish Right they were tolerated, as many leaders of the movement came from the clergy. Ca. 300 Finnish Jews fought in the War alongside the German Army. The field synagogue operated by the Finnish army was probably a unique phenomenon in Europe.
Approximately five hundred Jewish refugees arrived in Finland, though about three hundred and fifty moved on to other countries. About 40 of the remaining Jewish refugees were sent for work service in Salla in Lapland in March 1942. The refugees were moved to Kemijärvi in June and eventually to Suursaari island in the Gulf of Finland. It was believed that there they would not be able to have easy contact with influential Finnish Jews.
In November 1942, eight foreign Jewish refugees were handed over to Nazi Germany, a fact for which Finnish prime minister Paavo Lipponen issued an official apology in 2000. No further Jews were deported from Finland after protests by the Lutheran ministers, the Archbishop, Social Democratic Party.
Approximately 2600-2800 prisoners of war were exchanged for 2100 Finnish prisoners of war with Germany. About 2000 of them joined the Wehrmacht, but among the rest there were about 500 political officers or politically dangerous persons, who most likely perished in concentration camps. Based on the a list of names, there were about 70 Jews among the extradited, though they were not extradited based on religion.
Yad Vashem records that 22 Jews of Finland died in the Shoah, although all of them died fighting in the Finnish army.

The current Jewish community in Finland
The number of Jews in Finland in 2006 is approximately 1,300. The Jews are well integrated into Finnish society and are represented in nearly all sectors of it. Most Finnish Jews speak Swedish or Finnish as their mother tongue. Yiddish, , Russian and Hebrew are also spoken in the community.
The Jews, just like Finland's other traditional minorities, as well as immigrant groups, are represented on the Advisory Board for Ethnic Relations (ETNO).
There are two synagogues: one in Helsinki and one in Turku as well as a rabbi based in Helsinki.