Portal:Gibraltar/Selected article/6

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There has been a Jewish presence in Gibraltar for more than 650 years. There have been periods of persecution, but for the most part the Jews of Gibraltar have prospered and been one of the largest religious minorities in the city, as well as making contributions to the culture, defense, and government of Gibraltar.

The first record of Jews in Gibraltar comes from the year 1356, when the community issued an appeal asking for the ransom of a group of Jews taken captive by pirates. Another document indicates that a number of Jews fleeing Cordoba sought refuge in Gibraltar in 1473. Jews were expelled from the entire Iberian Peninsula under the Alhambra decree in 1492, effectively ending all Jewish activity there, except in the cases of Conversos or possible Crypto-Jews.(more...)