Baltimore; A Major Port of Entry For the City's Jewish Immigrant Community

Growing up in Baltimore I never thought it to be strange that significant representations were made by immigrants of many European countries. I remember going to the German heritage festivals, the Greek friends i went to school with that lived in Greektown, the Italians in Little Italy, but some of my closest friends growing up were Jewish. Many of them lived along the west side of the beltway from Glyndon (north) to Pikesville and Randallstown. The Jewish people I encountered were not orthodox, however they had a great sense of tradition, community, and pride in their heritage. I would occasionally join my friends in synagogue and enjoyed the belief system they used in every day life.

I came across some information on the migration of Jewish people to Baltimore and am taking an opportunity to enlighten myself and others about some of their historical journey. While much of the immigrant population arrived in Baltimore around the turn of the twentieth century, the first wave of Jewish immigrants began to arrive in Baltimore during the mid 1800's. The impetus of this migration was predominately due to persecution of the Jewish people in Bavaria, which is the southern part of present day Germany. There were also anti-Semitic riots throughout Europe in 1819 and 1848. However, not all European Jews were escaping persecution, but rather looking to benefit from economic opportunities in Baltimore.

Early Jewish settlements were primarily in Eastern Baltimore near the Inner Harbor, this came as a surprise to me as I stated earlier my experience with Jewish communities was entirely on the west side.

Approximately 50 years later around the turn of the twentieth century, a wave of Eastern European and Russian Jews migrated to Baltimore. They also settled into neighborhoods in East Baltimore, but during this time the German Jews previously settled in East Baltimore began to move into Northwest Baltimore. By 1903, all German Jewish synagogues had moved uptown and into the northwest part of Baltimore. Additionally, it is said that German Jewish religious practice became more liberal in comparison to that of the Russian and Eastern European Jewish religious practices.

Today, the predominant groups of Jewish immigrants coming into Baltimore are primarily of Iranian and Russian descent. (The Immigrant Experience. The Jewish Museum of Maryland. 2005. pages 4-5)