History events
1289 — (7 Adar 5049) The first specific mention of Jews in the German city of Göttingen: this is derived from a document in which Dukes Albrecht and Wilhelm permitted the city council to accept the Jew Moses and his lawful heirs, granting them citizenship rights
1349 — (10 of Adar-1, 5109) Riots broke out in Worms (Germany). Many Jews fled to Heidelberg. Others in desperation set fire to their homes or were murdered. An estimated 420 people died that day. Their property was seized by the town
1655 — (2 of Adar-1, 5415) The Sheriff of New Amsterdam as plaintiff filed suit against the defendant Abram de la Sina, a Jew, for the crime of keeping his store open during the hour the church gave a sermon.
1667 — (15 Adar 5427) In Austria, it was solemnly proclaimed that all Jews must leave Vienna, Upper Austria, and Lower Austria under threat of imprisonment and death. Community leaders made a futile attempt to appease the emperor by offering him 100,000 florins, along with an annual payment of 10,000 florins. By August 1, no Jews remained in Vienna; their homes became the property of the city, and a large new synagogue was converted into a church. Vienna soon regretted the expulsion of the Jews. The royal treasury reported a budget deficit of 40,000 florins per year. On September 26, 1673, the authorities of Vienna allowed 250 Jewish families to return to the city and occupy fifty trading places in the city center upon payment of 300,000 florins and the previous annual tax of 10,000 florins. Several Jews returned to Vienna in the first half of 1675
1670 — (19 of Adar-1, 5430) “A solemn proclamation was made in all public places that ‘for the glory of God’ all Jews should, on penalty of imprisonment and death, leave Vienna and Upper and Lower Austria before Corpus Christi Day, never to return. Hirz Koma and a physician named Leo Winkler, “made a last attempt to propitiate the emperor by offering him 100,000 florins and, in addition, 10,000 florins a year.”
1870 — (28 Adar 5630) The first issue of the weekly «Yidishe Tsaytung» was published in the United States, marking the first printed publication in America in the Yiddish language
1876 — (5 of Adar, 5636) In Savannah, GA, the cornerstone is laid for the new home of Mikveh Israel. The new structure was required because the congregation had outgrown the old building
1886 — (24 of Adar-1, 5646) First organized Arab attack on a Jewish settlement in what would become Eretz Yisrael. The attack was waged against Petak Tikvah, the first all Jewish village to be built in Palestine during modern times
1891 — (21 Adar 5651) In Russia, regulations were adopted concerning the requirements for theheder and melamed. According to these, the classroom was to be clean and well-lit. The melamed and his family were not allowed to reside in it. Classes were to be conducted from 9 AM to 5 PM with a two-hour break. A sign reading «heder» along with the name of the melamed was to be placed on the building
1907 — (15 of Adar, 5667) As of today 15,000, Jews have fled Odessa since the attacks by members of the Black Hundreds began and thousands more “have their passports in readiness to leave Odessa at the first sign of an anti-Jewish attack
1918 — (17 Adar 5678) The Petliura pogrom began in Kyiv
1919 — (29 of Adar-1, 56679) Emir Feisal, the son of Emir Hussein, Grand Sharif of Mecca and the leader of the Arabs of Hejaz sent a letter to Felix Frankfurter. According to Martin Gilbert he wrote, “We Arabs, especially the educated among us, look with the deepest sympathy on the Zionist movement. We will wish the Jews a most hearty welcome home.” “I hope the Arabs may soon be in a position to make the Jews some return for their kindness. We are working together for a reformed and derived Near East, and our two movements complete one another. The Jewish movement is notional and not imperialist: our movement is national and not imperialist, and there is room in Syria for both. Indeed I think that neither can be a real success with the other. I look forward, and the people with me look forward to a future in which we will help you and you will help us, so that the countries in which we are mutually interested may once against take their place in the comity of the civilized peoples of the world.”
1920 — (11th of Adar, 5680) Tel Hai, a Jewish village in the Galilee is attacked by Arabs. Joseph Trumpeldor, the one-armed Jewish military leader and one of the Zionist movement’s first military heroes was killed in the ensuing battled along with five men under his command
1934 — (14 of Adar, 5694) As of this date, according to a report prepared by Morris Rothenberg, President of the ZOA, there are a quarter of a million Jews living in Palestine which marks a significant increase from the total of 85,000 Jews living there in 1921
1940 — (21 Adar 5700) In the Yishuv. The second day of mass protests against the British land purchase law. Bloody clashes with the police occurred in Tel Aviv, Haifa, Jerusalem, and Rehovot.
1940 — (21 Adar 5700) Shoah. The pogrom in Łódź, which entered history as «Bloody Thursday.» The pogrom accelerated the relocation of Jews to the local ghetto established by the fascists in February.
1941 — (2 Adar 5701) The head of the Bulgarian government, B. Filov, signed documents in Vienna regarding Bulgaria’s accession to the Berlin Pact «Rome-Berlin-Tokyo.» On the same day, all Jewish men aged 20 to 40 were conscripted into labor battalions, which were essentially concentration camps. About 8,000 people were gathered in 15 camps.
1942 — (12 Adar 5702) Shoah. The mass extermination of Jews began in the Sobibor death camp.
1942 — (12 Adar 5702) Shoah. In Yevpatoria (Crimea), 15 Jews were shot; a ghetto was established in Kremenets (approximately 8,000 people) in the Ternopil region. The Jewish council in Lviv issued 96,000 food ration cards to the city’s Jews for the month of March
1943 — (24 of Adar-1, 5703) In a speech given before a crowd of 70,000 people at Madison Square Garden, Chaim Weizmann states, “Two million Jews have already been exterminated. The world can no longer plead that the ghastly facts are unknown or unconfirmed. This rally had been planned by the American Jewish Congress in an attempt to mobilize American public opinion in support of efforts to rescue Jews trapped in Hitler’s Europe
1948 — (20 Adar 5708) The Provisional Council (Council of Thirteen) was established, serving as the government of Israel during the transition period.
1953 — (14 Adar 5713) A special tax on luxury items was introduced in Israel, including shoes, refrigerators, and nylon stockings.
1959 — (21 Adar 5719) A special government commission ruled against the establishment of casinos in Israel, prohibiting this business in the future. The tourism commission raised the issue of allowing casinos, hoping to increase tourist influx
1974 — (7 of Adar, 5734) “Soviet police detained about 70 Jews from Moscow and other Soviet cities to prevent the transmission of a petition to the Central Committee of the CPSU with 200 signatures; “Radio Moscow reported demonstrations by Zionist elements during the wreath laying ceremony at the monument to the heroes of Plevna in Moscow”
1984 — (27 Adar 5744) The figures of Israeli army losses in the First Lebanon War were made public. Five hundred seventy-one soldiers were killed.
1994 — (18 Adar 5754) A terrorist attack in the United States. An Arab from Lebanon opened fire on a van containing teenage Hasidim near the Brooklyn Bridge in New York. Aaron Halberstam was killed, and three others were wounded.
2001 — (6 Adar 5761) The Knesset approved a law requiring a referendum on the issue of withdrawal from the Golan Heights.
2008 — (24 Adar 5768) From this day, an early warning signal for rocket attacks from Gaza was introduced in eight additional southern towns: Kfar Silver, Be’er Ya’akov, Beit Adar, Beit Shemesh, Mavki’im, Talmei Yafe, Ge’ah, and Mashene
2008 — (24 of Adar-1, 5678) On the second day of Operation Hot Winter which was aimed at disrupting terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip, Israeli forces “carried out airstrikes at ammo warehouses, rocket factories, rocket warehouses and launching cells, combined with small incursions close to the border
2013 — (19 of Adar, 5773) Some 20,000 runners took part this morning in the Jerusalem marathon, which was won by Abraham Kabeto Katale of Ethiopia. His final time of 2:16:29 was a record for the course
2013 — (19 Adar 5773) The Ohio state treasury purchased Israeli government bonds totaling 42 million dollars. This was the largest single government investment in Israeli government securities in U.S. history
People
1739 — P. Shafirov passed away—an associate of Peter the Great, diplomat, head of postal services, who concluded the peace treaty with Turkey in 1711 and participated in signing alliance treaties with Poland, Denmark, Prussia, and France. Under Catherine I, he was president of the Commerce Collegium, and under Peter II, he served as ambassador to Iran.
1806 — (11 Adar 5566) Rabbi Chaim-Yosef-David bar Yitzhak-Zrahya Azulai passed away in Livorno at the age of 82—a writer and bibliographer, author of numerous theological and Kabbalistic works, recognized during his lifetime as a major halakhic authority in the Jewish communities of the Ottoman Empire and Italy. His book «Memorial Records of Legends and Miracles» is likely the first systematically compiled collection of Jewish folktales in Hebrew literature.
1841 — In Venice, a rich Jewish family welcomed the birth of Luigi Luzzatti—an Italian statesman, Prime Minister of Italy (1910-1911), and Minister of Finance (1903-1904). He passed away on March 29, 1927.
1876 — (5 Adar 5636) Arthur Ruppin was born—one of the leading figures in Zionism. He died on January 1, 1943.
1880 — Isaac Schönberg was born—the inventor of one of the first high-definition television systems. He died on January 25, 1963.
1899 — (19 Adar 5659) Zalman Aran was born in Ukraine—public and state figure in Israel. A member of the first Knesset. Chairman of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee. From 1955 to 1969, he served as Minister of Education. During Aran’s tenure, educational television was established in Israel. He passed away on September 6, 1970
1904 — (14 of Adar, 5664) Israel Schochat, founder of Ha-shomer arrived in Palestine
1904 — Abraham Halfy was born in Łódź—an Israeli theater artist and writer. He died on June 8, 1980.
1908 — M. Mashkovsky was born—a pharmacologist. The reference book «Medicinal Products,» published under his supervision in 1954, has gone through 15 editions to date. He died on June 4, 2002.
1911 — S. M. Semyonov was born—a Soviet spy. He supplied information in the fields of nuclear physics, biochemistry, and cybernetics, notably obtaining penicillin strains, which enabled the Soviet medical industry to establish its own production. Due to a denunciation, he was recalled to the USSR, dismissed, and worked in a boiler room. Only 23 years after his dismissal was he awarded a republican pension of 120 rubles. He died in 1986.
1912 — B. Chertok was born—a specialist in the management of rocket and space systems. He died on December 14, 2011.
1920 — Howard Nemerov was born—an American poet. He died on July 5, 1991
1922 — (1 of Adar, 5682) Birthdate of Yitzhak Rabin (יצחק רבין). A Sabra, Rabin was a soldier-statesman who served as Prime Minister from 1974 until 1977
1983 — (16th of Adar, 5743) Author Arthur Koestler and his wife Cynthia took their own lives this evening
2008 — (24th of Adar I, 5768) St. Sgt. Doron Asulin, 20 of Beersheba and St. Sgt. Eran Dan-Gur, 20, of Jerusalem, were killed early Saturday as their Givati Brigade units operated against terrorists. Asulin served in the brigade’s anti-tank company and Dan-Gur served in the Shaked Battalion
2024 — (21 Adar 5784) War with Gaza. Day 147. Sergeant Dolev Malka, 19, from Shlomi; Sergeant Afik Teri, 19, from Rehovot; and Sergeant Inon Itzhak, 20, from Mitzpe Ramon were killed