If you have a German heritage does that mean you are Jewish, or have a Jewish background?

Question

I am working on my Genealogy with a professional Genealogist and discovered lots of German relatives, the lady I was working with said they were probably all Jewish. I told her I didn't think so, because I never heard that. I know my ancestors came in to Pa, but I never heard a word about them being Jewish.

So were are all Germans Jewish when they came to the U.S.?

Answer 1

Umm, no.

I'm German, and I have no Jewish blood in me.

I think Jewish people are cool, though.

Answer 2

If all Germans were Jewish, wouldn't Hitler have had to eliminate his entire country?

Seriously, there had been a LOT of Jews in Germany leading up to World War II. The chances of you having Jewish blood in you are fairly high, but the likelihood of you ever proving it is actually fairly low. Jews were not looked upon well for centuries, and many people with Jewish ancestors would have hidden that fact, and rightfully so considering the Holocaust. It is likely many Germans now have Jewish ancestors and do not even know it. That said, all Germans do not necessarily have Jewish "blood." The Germanic people of today go back long before Jews migrated there.

Answer 3

If If read correctly your ancestors emigrated to Pa. Pennsylvania?
If the arrived prior to 1820 or even up to the Civil War they would be considered Pa. Dutch(German). They came probably from the Rhine River Valley(SW and Central Germany, NE France (Alsace) or Switzerland. There were some Jews that emigrated with the Protestant Germans and established a small Jewish community in Lancaster County at a fairly early date. Many surnames that are common to Pa. Dutch are also in the German Jewish community, Swartz, Roth, Kauffman, Baum, Engel, Snyder, Stein,etc. It is also true later that German Christians and Jews immigrants lived together in New York in the Yorkville and Lower Eastside sections in the late 19th and early 20th century. There was not that much inter-marriage among the two groups.
She may have noted these particular surnames and assumed they were Jewish. If I told some one my surname was Swartz in New York(where I live now) or another city with a large Jewish population people would think I'm Jewish. If I said that in Pa. where grew up people would think its German

Answer 4

Less than 1% of the German population in 1933 was Jewish: 560000 in a population of 67 million. An average of 2000 German Jews converted to Christianity yearly between 1820 and 1930. Thousands left for the New World. These changes probably halved the numbers of Jews in Germany. 350,000 Jews escaped by1939.

About 8% of the population of the USA in 1790 was from German-speaking Europe, i.e. 320000 in a population of 4 million. About 150000 had entered the colonies from 1725 to 1775. Fewer than 1% were Jews. Several thousand came from other European countries. Sephardic Jews from Natal Brazil arrived in Rhode Island to found the first synagogue in Newport in the early 17th century. It's still there.

Answer 5

Not at all. It is true that many Jewish German's fled to America and other destinations in order to escape the German persecution of Jews. That does not mean that all German's are Jewish. There are certain surnames that were common in the Jewish community that might give a hint as to their ethnicity but don't go rushing to generalities. My wife has German ancestry and they were all Protestants by faith and Caucasian by ethnicity. That is misleading as well because the Hebrew people were all Caucasian as well as opposed to Oriental or *******.
Anyway, many Germans immigrated to America along with many other Europeans in order to get a new start in life. America was the land of opportunity and many Europeans from diverse countries came here. There is every reason to believe that you are non Jewish Germanic. You will need more research into your European roots to verify that.

Answer 6

Ask her why she said that. There are some surnames that are common among Jewish people, but Jews are and have been minorities in every country they lived in, save Israel. If she based her guess on surname, she may be right. If she based it on the country, she is probably wrong. Saying "If they are from Germany they must be Jewish" is like saying "If they are from the USA they must be Cherokee".

Something like 40% of the immigrants to the USA before the revolution were from "Germany" - which was a loose group of duchies, principalities and kingdoms, not a country, back then. People from what we now call the Netherlands were often lumped in with them. "Pennsylvania Dutch" really means "Pennsylvania Deutch". Most of them were Protestants.

If these ancestors were named Cohen and came into PA in the 1920's - 1930's, they may have been Jewish. If they were coming in 1690, they were probably Lutherans or Mennonites.

Answer 7

No. Your professional Genealogist should know better than to make a statement like that.

I have researched my family history back to 1735 in Germany and am a direct descendant from the House of Hollenzoren. This house is a true bloodline of Germans.

But don't forget, Germany did not become a unified country until 1871 and prior to that other countries claimed their stakes in this area. There are German-Russians (Mecklenbergs); Huguenots (Baden-Wurttenburg) and Prussians (this is a mixture of Polish, German and Russians).

My family came from the Baden-Baden and Wurttenburg countries that merged in the early to mid 1800s.

Answer 8

No this is not true. If you remember, when Hilter was in power, he ordered stuff against all Jewish people. Anne Frank, was all the way in Amsterdam hiding out and there were Nazi's there too, on Hilter's side. There are people who are Jewish that are from all over the place. Even Jesus was Jewish, and he is from Jerusalem. I'd tell the geneologist you're working with to go over her facts, because what she said can't be true.

Also to, my fiance's family is all from Germany, and he has no trace of anyone being Jewish.

Hopes this helps! And good luck finding your ancestors!

Answer 9

It's hard to tell how she came to that conclusion from the information you've given. You don't tell us their names, when they came or the area they left.

No, not all Germans were Jewish...but many were. If the names she found "sounded" Jewish to her, then she probably threw that out for you. It's also possible that she's come across other information that leads her to believe they were Jewish based on where they settled when they got here. Many Jews, just like many Poles or many Swiss or many Italians, lived in tightly knit neighborhoods when they first arrived. It made their transition easier.

I'm sorry her statement wasn't explained to you better. The next time you chat, ask her to tell you more about the people she researched and what she found about their personal lives, etc. You've paid her generously for her research, it's only fair that you get the full benefit of everything that she found.

Answer 10

Jewish people were a minority group in Germany (and all of Europe). Most of Germany was Protestant Christian during the period of large immigration to the U.S. (Martin Luther was a German.)

The genealogist may have thought the names she saw were likely to have been Jewish, but that is not real proof. You need records from religious organizations or other proof to really know.

But by the numbers, most Germans were Christian. (My family was Lutheran.)

Good Luck

Answer 11

However, pre-WW2, a lot of jews did leave Germany, and if your german ancestors moved to the USA at that time, it is possible they were jewish.

But, in any case, it shows that the lady you work with has a... limited... understanding of history, so I may recommend getting a more qualified genealogist.