How many European Jews are there? It depends on who you ask

People are progressively growing more and more aware of the increasing level of anti-Semitism facing European Jewry and while the extent of the problem is a matter of debate it is generally agreed that a solution must be found. The number of people affected, however, remains a matter of dispute with wildly different population numbers being cited by various parties.

 

“I think out of three million Jews that are living in Europe at least one million, very active part or young part, self-sufficient part are going to leave and it will be a disaster,” European Jewish Congress President Dr. Moshe Kantor told Reuters last month, indicating the presence of a much larger Jewish population than believed to exist by demographers.

 

Building on research by Hebrew University demographer Professor Sergio DellaPergola, the Pew Research Center recently asserted that while there are still over a million European Jews “that number has dropped significantly over the last several decades – most dramatically in Eastern Europe and the countries that make up the former Soviet Union.”

 

While there were 3.2 million Jews there in 1960 and 2 million in 1991, there are currently only 1.4 million Jews left, DellaPergola and Pew asserted. That’s 1,600,000 Jews less than the figures provided by Kantor, a significant discrepancy.

 

Read More: How many European Jews are there? It depends on who you ask – Diaspora – Jerusalem Post