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52-693: The Fiscus Judaicus ( Latin : "Jewish tax") or "Temple Tax" was a tax collecting agency instituted to collect the tax imposed on Jews in the Roman Empire after the destruction of the Temple of Jerusalem in 70 CE in favor of the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus in Rome . The tax was initially imposed by Roman Emperor Vespasian as one of the measures against Jews as a result of the First Jewish-Roman War of 66–73 CE. Vespasian imposed

104-463: A Jewish family consisted of approximately 6 persons, 6 Reichstaler corresponded to 1 Reichstaler for each individual Jew. On top of this 1 Reichstaler, also paid by the other residents, had to be paid. The tax burden on the members of the Jewish community was twice as heavy as that on the other residents. The influence of this on business practice constituted an obstacle to the granting of civil rights. In

156-605: A cemetery and a synagogue, thus providing the basis for the existence of a Jewish community. Subsequently, the Danish kings promised the Jews personal security, the freedom to practice trade and religious liberties. Some of the Jews living in neighbouring independent Hamburg therefore tried to secure the legal protection of the Danish crown in case of any attempt to expel them. In Altona the conditions of residence were favorable, in Hamburg

208-442: A special procurator known as procurator ad capitularia Iudaeorum was responsible for the collection of the tax. Only those who had abandoned Judaism were exempt from paying it. The Jewish populations of Europe were politically insecure and could be easily exploited for the levying of heavy taxes in exchange for official protection. The high interest rates charged by Jews became an illimitable source of tax revenue and Jewish wealth

260-485: A transfer point for Jews deported to Łódź , and Nazi officials, including Heinrich Himmler , visited the town. Under German occupation, the town was renamed to Wartbrücken in 1940, and then to Warthbrücken in 1941 (which translates to "bridge on Warta river"). From 1975 to 1998, it was administratively part of the Konin Voivodship . The climate is oceanic ( Köppen : Cfb ), but using older data and

312-471: A very crowded court, to see whether he was circumcised. [ c. 90] Domitian's ruling opened the door to possibilities of blackmail in Rome and in all Italy . Charges of following Judaism were easily made, but difficult to disprove, not least because the practices of certain philosophical sects resembled some Jewish customs. As a result, many people chose to settle with the accusers out of court rather than risk

364-624: Is situated in the Greater Poland Voivodship and it is the capital of Koło County . Koło is one of the oldest towns in Poland. It was granted town status in 1362 by King Casimir III . It was situated in a safe place near the royal castle, on the island in the branches of the Warta River; the town had no walls but only two gates. It was a royal city and the seat of a land county ( starostwo niegrodowe ). In 1410 Koło

416-514: The Christians considered their religion to be separate from Judaism. If anything they would have considered themselves as a Jewish sect . Jewish and non-Jewish Christians would therefore be liable to the tax, Marius Heemstra argues. However, in 96 AD, Domitian's successor Nerva reformed the administration of fiscus Iudaicus and redefined Judaism as a religion, furthering the distinction between Judaism and Christianity. This paved

468-584: The Greater Poland region, comprising the Poznań Voivodship , Kalisz , Sieradz , Łęczyca , Brześć Kujawski and Inowrocław Voivodeships . The town evolved into a regional hub of trade and crafts especially in metals and textiles, and as a centre of pottery. In 1571 a contract was drafted with regard to the status of the Jews in Koło, in which the city's Christians have undertaken to provide protection to

520-602: The Holy Roman Emperors . The Opferpfennig (originally Guldenpfennig ) tax was introduced in 1342 by Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian , who ordered all Jews above the age of 12 and possessing 20 gulden to pay one gulden annually for protection. The practice was justified on the grounds that the emperor, as the legal successor of the Roman emperors, was the rightful recipient of the Temple tax which Jews paid to

572-668: The Danish King Christian IV acquired part of the County of Pinneberg including Altona. Altona was subsequently granted the rights and status of a town on 23 August 1664. The community was founded principally by Portuguese merchants and was known as the Portuguese-Jewish Community , although many of its members were of Spanish-Jewish descent. These Sephardic Jews , who initially pretended to be persecuted Catholics , first came to Hamburg at

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624-639: The European states in the Middle Ages and up to the beginning of the nineteenth century. Tolerance tax (Toleranzgebührer) was a tax that was levied against Jews of Hungary , then part of the Austrian Empire , beginning in 1747. The tax was based on the German statute that a Jew was obliged to pay a certain tax to be "tolerated". In 1571 a contract was drafted with regard to the status of

676-584: The Four Emperors . The redirection of these funds represented a significant humiliation for the Jewish population of the Empire. The tax continued even after the Capitoline Temple was rebuilt, contributing to Roman finances and also serving as a deterrent against proselytism and conversion to Judaism . Under Domitian , the enforcement of the tax became stringent. Suetonius recounts that

728-798: The Germans expelled 514 Poles, merchants and craftsmen with entire families, mostly to the General Government , while some were deported to forced labour to Germany, and their houses, workshops and shops were handed over to German colonists in accordance to the Nazi Lebensraum policy. In December 1940, the Jews were rounded up in a ghetto, which was liquidated the following year, in December 1941. The remaining Jews were deported to Chełmno extermination camp , where they were killed in gas vans and buried in mass graves. Koło remained

780-409: The Jews (6 Reichstaler plus the payments made by the Jewish butchers), were replaced by lump-sum payments by the Jewish community. From the year 1712 onwards it is possible to calculate the amount of the lump-sum payments made by the Jews. During the period 1712–1818 this amounted to 6 Reichstaler for each Jewish family; 6 Reichstaler was the level that had already been set in 1584. Assuming that

832-613: The Jews in Koło , in which the city's Christians have undertaken to provide protection to the Jews, in return for which the Jews were required to pay a special annual municipal tax. In 1729 the Jewish community was required to pay 150 gold coins as an annual poll tax, and in 1738 this sum was increased to 300 gold coins. In 1775 the Polish parliament imposed a special duty on books written in Hebrew and Yiddish , requiring each book to be stamped by

884-717: The Jews, in return for which the Jews were required pay a special annual municipal tax. Koło was destroyed twice, once in 1622 by the Lisowski forces , and in 1655 by the Swedes ; the economy managed to revive only at the end of the 17th century. Until 1793 Koło belonged to Konin County of the Kalisz Voivodeship of the Greater Poland Province . The 1st Polish National Cavalry Brigade was stationed in

936-623: The Roman Empire after the destruction of Jerusalem and its Temple in AD ;70 . The fiscus Iudaicus replaced the traditional half-shekel Temple tax which had been paid annually by Jews for the maintenance of the Temple in Jerusalem . The new tax redirected those funds to the reconstruction of the Temple of Jupiter Optimus Maximus in Rome , which had been destroyed during the Year of

988-683: The Romans after the destruction of the Second Temple . The Opferpfennig was collected on Christmas Day . Emperor Charles IV later ordered the income of the Opferpfennig tax to be delivered to the archbishop of Trier . This tax was at some places replaced by an overall communal tax. Ko%C5%82o Koło ( pronounced [ˈkɔwɔ] ) is a town on the Warta River in central Poland with 23,101 inhabitants (2006). It

1040-571: The Second Temple in AD 70 in place of the levy (or tithe ) payable by Jews towards the upkeep of the Temple. The amount levied was two denarii , equivalent to the one-half of a shekel that observant Jews had previously paid for the upkeep of the Temple of Jerusalem. The tax was to go instead to the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter , the major center of ancient Roman religion . The fiscus Iudaicus

1092-585: The Sephardim and their contacts among their co-religionaries they controlled a large sector of the German market in provisions. The Sephardim differed culturally and socially from the Jews who came to Altona, and subsequently also to Hamburg, from the east. These were Yiddish Language speaking Ashkenazim . The permanent settlement of the Ashkenazim was opposed by both the Senate of Hamburg (town council) and

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1144-641: The age of 14 were rounded up and sent to forced labour . The Jewish synagogue was set on fire the following day. Many Poles were arrested and imprisoned in the local prison, and afterwards murdered in Rzuchów . On November 11, 1939, the German police murdered there 80 people, who were previously imprisoned in Koło. In November 1939, Poles from Koło were also murdered in other places, including Bugaj , Chełmno nad Nerem , Konin . The first Aktion, conducted by Wehrmacht soldiers and gendarmes, took place in December 1939, in which 100 Jews were executed. In June 1940

1196-648: The citizens, supported by the Sephardim, who did not wish to see the establishment of a second community in Hamburg. As servants, referred to as tudescos, the Ashkenazi Jews were, de facto, under the protection of the Sephardic Jews. On 1 August 1641 the Danish king had formally granted the Ashkenazi Jews the privilege of having in Altona , as hitherto already granted by the counts of Holstein-Pinneberg (whose county had been integrated into then Denmark ),

1248-503: The completion of the reconstruction of the Capitoline temple for its upkeep. Domitian , who ruled between 81 and 96 AD, expanded the fiscus Iudaicus to include not only born Jews and converts to Judaism , but also those who concealed the fact that they were Jews or observed Jewish customs. Suetonius relates that when he was young, an old man of 90 was examined to see whether he was circumcised , which shows that during this period

1300-524: The conditions for trading. These were the reasons for the genesis of the Altona community of Ashkenazi Jews from Hamburg and Altona. Thanks to immigration from the east, Altona became a center of research and scholarship in Jewish teaching, attracting hundreds of students. The officially recognized Jewish court of justice had a reputation as one of the most distinguished in the whole Jewish world. The Jews did not acquire these privileges freely, but in return for

1352-590: The contributions reached the central administration. In contrast, it is clear from the Register that the payments made by the Jews reached the Exchequer in their entirety. The taxes on the Jews were first described as the ’’Jewish Tax’’ in 1330. The Opferfennig (originally Guldenpfennig) tax was introduced in 1342 by Emperor Louis IV the Bavarian , who ordered all Jews above the age of 12 and possessing 20 gulden to pay one gulden annually for protection. This taxation

1404-420: The documentary evidence (in the form of receipts) confirms the payment of the tax by women and children. The oldest person known from these receipts to have paid the fiscus Iudaicus was a 61-year-old woman, which led Sherman LeRoy Wallace to conjecture that the tax was levied only until the age of 62, as was the regular Roman poll tax paid by individuals throughout the Empire. The tax was continued even after

1456-528: The end of the 16th century. They were mostly Portuguese- or Spanish-speaking merchants. In 1621, when the armistice between Spain and the Netherlands came to an end, many of the Portuguese Jews moved to Hamburg. They were made welcome, even after the actual situation had become clear; however they were not permitted to establish a cemetery within the city walls. Thanks to the linguistic skills of

1508-474: The fiscus Judaicus is found in four primary sources : The tax was initially imposed by Roman emperor Vespasian as one of the measures against Jews as a result of the First Roman-Jewish War , or first Jewish revolt of AD 66–73. The tax was imposed on all Jews throughout the empire, not just on those who took part in the revolt against Rome. The tax was imposed after the destruction of

1560-406: The half of a shekel that observant Jews had previously paid for the upkeep of the Temple of Jerusalem. ( Exodus 30:13 ). A Tyrian shekel contained 13.1g of pure silver; at a spot valuation of USD$ 28/ozt in 2021 worth about $ 12. The tax was to go instead to the Temple of Capitoline Jupiter , the major center of ancient Roman religion . The fiscus Judaicus was a humiliation for the Jews. In Rome,

1612-492: The municipality. Despite heavy penalties imposed on owners of unstamped books, many books were concealed and unstamped. The Russian Kosher tax , known as the korobka , was a tax paid only by Jews for each animal slaughtered in accordance with the kashrut rules and for each pound of this meat sold. It was part of the Russian Jewish "basket tax" or "box tax". Though it was used to refer to a tax on meat or slaughtering,

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1664-508: The obligation of each Jew to pay the crupca, an indirect tax on kosher meat similar to the Russian korobka . During the period 1641–1842, the Jews of Altona (then a town close to Hamburg) paid specifically Jewish taxes as well as the same taxes as other residents of Altona. The tax burden on the members of the Jewish community was twice as heavy as that on the other residents. In 1640

1716-480: The payment of taxes. From 1584 to 1639, as in the Middle Ages, the Jews of Altona paid taxes specific to the Jews, but no further taxes. Each Jewish family was required to pay 6 Reichstaler per year. Under Danish rule this changed: the Jews continued to pay the specifically Jewish taxes plus the same taxes as all other residents. From 1641 every Jewish family was required to pay 5 Reichstaler in Jewish taxes; in

1768-467: The tax in the aftermath of the Jewish revolt (Josephus BJ 7. 218; Dio Cassius 65.7.2). The tax was imposed on all Jews throughout the empire, not just on those who took part in the revolt against Rome. The tax was imposed after the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE in place of the levy (or Tithe ) payable by Jews towards the upkeep of the Temple. The amount levied was two denarii , equivalent to

1820-404: The tax was levied even on those above the age of 62. Louis Feldman argues that the increased harshness was caused by the success of the Jewish (and possibly Christian ) proselytism . Domitian applied the tax even to those who merely " lived like Jews ": Besides other taxes, that on the Jews [A tax of two drachmas a head, imposed by Vespasian; see Josephus, Bell. Jud. 7.218] was levied with

1872-486: The tax was then applied to those who denied their Jewish origin or practiced Jewish customs without identifying as Jewish, and describes an incident where a 90-year-old man was examined to confirm if he was circumcised . Tax receipts found in Egypt indicate that even children were liable for this tax. Later, Nerva introduced reforms that eased some of the tax's burdens but did not abolish it entirely. Modern knowledge of

1924-401: The taxes on the Jews would be incompatible with the granting of civil rights.’’ This marks the beginning of the struggle of the Jewish community for emancipation. The Jewish community secured the abolition of taxes on the Jews in the year 1842. Fiscus Judaicus The fiscus Iudaicus or fiscus Judaicus ( Latin for 'Jewish tax') was a tax imposed on Jews in

1976-611: The town. After the return of Poland's sovereignty at the end of World War I , Koło was assigned to Łódź Voivodeship . A new railway line opened in 1921 from Kutno to Strzałkowo via Koło. In the early 20th century, the Jewish population of Koło made up almost 50 percent of the total population. On September 2, 1939, during Nazi Germany 's invasion of Poland , the Luftwaffe bombed a civilian evacuation train from Krotoszyn , killing almost 250 civilians. The Germans captured Koło on September 18, 1939. On September 19, Jewish males over

2028-605: The town. Following the Second Partition of Poland , in the years 1793-1806 it was occupied by Prussia , but during the Kościuszko Uprising in 1794 it was temporarily liberated by the insurgents. After the successful Greater Poland uprising of 1806 , it was regained by Poles and included within the short-lived Duchy of Warsaw . After the duchy's dissolution in 1815, it formed part of Russian-controlled Congress Poland . In 1826, Fryderyk Chopin travelled through

2080-400: The uncertainties of judicial hearings, thus effectively encouraging the blackmailers. Titus Flavius Clemens was put to death for "living a Jewish life" or "drifting into Jewish ways" in the year AD 95, which may well have been related to the administration of the fiscus Judaicus under Domitian. The fiscus Iudaicus was originally imposed on Jews. At the time likely neither the Romans nor

2132-401: The utmost rigor, and those were prosecuted who, without publicly acknowledging that faith, yet lived as Jews, as well as those who concealed their origin and did not pay the tribute levied upon their people [These may have been Christians, whom the Romans commonly assumed were Jews]. I recall being present in my youth when the person of a man ninety years old was examined before the procurator and

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2184-508: The way for the Roman persecution of Christians that began a few years later and continued until the Edict of Milan in 313 AD. The coins of Nerva bear the legend fisci Iudaici calumnia sublata "abolition of malicious prosecution in connection with the Jewish tax", in reference to his reform of the harsh policies of Domitian . It remains unclear when exactly the fiscus Iudaicus

2236-414: The word korobka (Russian: коробка) actually means "box" in Russian. The tax came to be called that because Jews paying had to deposit a coin in a box at the kosher slaughterer. According to Herman Rosenthal and Jacob Goodale Lipman , the tax was "the most burdensome and annoying of the special taxes imposed upon the Jews of Russia by the government". The burden of taxes, and the korobka in particular,

2288-482: The year 1818 the Jewish Elders declared to the community of Altona that they could not, ’’on the one hand, levy specifically Jewish taxes on the members of their community and, on the other hand, encourage our co-religionaries, especially the younger ones, to pursue useful activity. In short: so to improve our condition that we might not seem unworthy to acquire civil rights. The extension – against our wishes - of

2340-490: The year when Altona became a town the contribution rose to 6 Reichstaler. With the ordinance of 1641 the Danish king had permitted the Jews shechita . This privilege too was not cost-free. For the years 1667–1669 we have records of taxes paid by Jewish butchers. According to these the rates were 1 Mark and 8 Schillinge for an ox, 4 Schillinge for a calf and 2 Schillinge for a lamb. These taxes were twice as high as those paid by Christian butchers. From 1681 Individual taxes on

2392-436: Was 1 florin for every Jew and included assets worth more than 20 florins. Widows were not exempted. King Wenceslas removed the taxable minimum but an exemption for Jews dependent on alms was made later by Sigsmund, who himself levied heavy taxation. Sigsmund taxed a third of the value of Jewish properties. It was represented as a coronation tax as part of Sigsmund's attempts to ascend the throne. Isenmann disagrees and believes it

2444-886: Was a gathering place of the Greater Poland nobility, which called for a war with the Teutonic Order (see Battle of Grunwald ). In 1452 the Royal Castle in Koło was the place of meeting between King Casimir the Jagiellonian and the representatives of the Prussian Union (see: the Thirteen Years' War ). From the early 15th century until 1716, Koło was the meeting place of the Provincial Parliament called Sejmik Generalny for

2496-458: Was a humiliation for the Jews. In Rome, a special procurator known as procurator ad capitularia Iudaeorum was responsible for the collection of the tax. Only those who had abandoned Judaism were exempt from paying it. While the tax paid for the Temple of Jerusalem was payable only by adult men between the ages of 20 and 50, the fiscus Iudaicus was imposed on all Jews, including women, children, and elderly —and even Jewish slaves. In Egypt ,

2548-452: Was abolished. Documentary evidence confirms the collection of the tax in the middle of the 2nd century , and literary sources indicate that the tax was still in existence in the early 3rd century . It is not known when the tax was formally abolished. Some historians credit the emperor Julian with its abolition in about 361 or 362. The tax was revived in the Middle Ages in 1342 under the name of Opferpfennig ['sacrifice penny'] by

2600-547: Was an innovation sprouted by Archchamberlain Konrad von Weinsberg. By 1433-4 the tax collectors were collecting tax that was worth a half of Jewish properties. Emperor Charles IV later ordered the income of the Opferfennig tax to be delivered to the archbishop of Triers . This tax was at some places replaced by an overall communal tax. The Leibzoll or Judengeleit was a special toll which Jews had to pay in most of

2652-462: Was one of the factors which drove many Jews to abandon the towns and settle in villages or on noblemen estates. Between 1777 and 1784, the Jews of Horodenka , a region on the southeast corner of Galicia , paid a number of special taxes, including the "protection and tolerance tax ", and the "property and occupation tax". In 1784, the property and occupation tax was replaced with the kosher meat tax. In 1741, Moldavian prince Grigore Ghica confirmed

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2704-453: Was technically easy to gauge because Jews typically stored their assets in the form of cash or promissory notes. The Imperial Tax Register of 1241 was the first register to include taxes on the Jews. The total of the taxes on the Jews listed in the Register amounted to 857 silver marks; the total contribution of all the cities together amounted to 4.290 silver marks. These local taxes served wholly or in part to finance town-building. Not all of

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