FACTSHEET: JEWS IN SCOTLAND
Immigrants in Scotland
Overview of Jewish immigration
Jews arrived in Scotland throughout the 19th century. From this time, there
were isolated individuals who settled in Scotland but communities were not
formed. Jews arrived in Edinburgh in 1816, in Glasgow in 1823, in Dundee
by the 1870s and in Aberdeen by 1893.
These early immigrant Jews tended to come from Russia, Lithuania, Estonia
and Latvia. Mostly, this movement of people can be attributed to the
pogroms (persecution instigated by the government against a minority group)
in Russia which began at this time. Many others arrive d in the 1930s as a
result of Adolf Hitler’s persecution across Germany and his desire to achieve
lebensraum (living space) for his master race.
Minutes from the synagogue in Glasgow show that the formation of a
community began around 1887. By 1879, there were 800 Jews affiliated to a
synagogue in the Garnethill area of Glasgow. This was one of the first
synagogues built in the Victorian era in Scotland and Europe. This set th e
precedent and by 1880 many others began to open.
In Glasgow, a strong Jewish community emerged in the Gorbals. In 1901
there were 5000 Jews. It is estimated that by 1939 this figure had doubled to
10,000. This community began to establish networks that were based around
religion, culture, charity, and education as well as a socialising. This is
documented by numerous leaflets that were produced in 1901 for the Gorbals
Jewish community.
These continued to be produced for many years, initially in Yiddis h but then
with some English words too. At this time, many of these Glasgow Jews were
poor and organisations were established for administering poor relief , which
continued well into the 1930s. The increased numbers of Jews led to the
production of the Jewish Times newspaper and then in 1927 the Jewish Echo.
Jews found a degree of difficulty in gaining employment. Jews were not
employed in banks or in government offices. This continued into the 1930s
and led to many Jews establishing their own businesses, such as travelling
sales. Their business model was based on the 1p repayment. This business
plan was significant as it did not put Jews in direct competition with other
immigrants in Scotland, namely the Irish. The Irish tended to work in the
shipyards or the mines.
In terms of assimilation Jews tended to stay in their own communities ,
namely the Gorbals in Glasgow with some in the more affluent area of
MIGRATION AND EMPIRE (H, HISTORY)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2009
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FACTSHEET: JEWS IN SCOTLAND
Garnethill in the West End of Glasgow. It is significant to highlight that even
among the Jewish communities there were some signs of division.
Eyewitnesses suggest that there was a ‘class’ division as the Russian
descendants tended to be poorly educated compared with their German
counterparts.
Teacher tips
This factsheet should be used with the eye -witness accounts of Jewish
immigrants and family testimonies.
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MIGRATION AND EMPIRE (H, HISTORY)
© Learning and Teaching Scotland 2009