Norsk-jødisk historie før 1851
Norwegian-Jewish history before 1851

Under 19 Jan. 1657 tillod en ny Forordning de "portugisiske" Jøder frit og uhindret at reise og ernære sig i Kongens Riger, til hvilken Begunstigelse Grunden rimeligviis blot var financiel. Men af Udtrykket Kongens "Riger" synes det, klart at Tilladelsen ogsaa har været udstrakt til Norge, og af en Politianordning fra 1710 sees det, at der var Jøder, som dengang havde Lov til at "opholde sig, bo og bygge" i Bergen, saa Ordet "fremdeles" i Gl. § 2 sidste Passus er uden Hjemmel og denne det første positive Lovbud, som udelukker Jøderne fra Norge.

(A new decret of January 19, 1657 granted the "Portuguese" Jews the right of travelling and doing business freely and unhindered in the [Danish] King's countries, a privilege that of all likelihood had purely financial reasons. But from the expression "the King's countries", it seems clear that the permission also was extended to Norway [which was ruled by the Danish king], and from a police proclamation from 1710, it can be seen that there were indeed Jews at the time that were granted the right of "staying, living, and building" in (the city of) Bergen, so that the word "still" in the last clause of §2 of the (Norwegian) Constitution is without bearing, this being the first positive legal prohibition which excludes the Jews from Norway.)

30. juli 1684: Fr. [=Forordning] Om Portugiser af den Hebr. Nation; (som bekræfter deres Privil. 19 Jan. 1657, som d. 14 Dec. 1670 ere confirmerede, saa at Fr. 16 Apr. 1681 ikke paa dem skal hentydes. See Pl. 23 Jan. 1750). p. 138.

[July 30, 1684: Decret concerning Portuguese of the Hebrew nation; (which confirms their privileges of January 19, 1657, that are confirmed on December 14, 1670, so that the Decret of April 16, 1681 is not to be aimed towards them. See Pl. of January 23, 1750.]

Christian Vs Norske Lov - Tredie Bog. Om Verdslig- og Huus-Stand.

22 Cap. Om Jøder og Tatere.

1 Art.  Ingen Jøde maa sig her i Riget indbegive, eller sig finde lade, uden Kongens særdelis Lejdebrev under tusinde Rixdalers Straf af hver Person, som uden forskrefven Lejdebrev betrædis.
2. Hvo, som nogen Jøde angiver og Kongens Amptmand anviser, skal have derfor et halvt hudrede Rixdaler.

3. Tatere, som omløbe og besvige Folk med deris Bedrægeri, Løgn, Tyveri og Troldom skulle af Stædets Øvrighed paagribis, hvor de kunde befindis, og de, som af Almuen paa Landet ertappis, skulle leveris til næste Bonde Lænsmand, som ved Bøndernis Hielp skal føre dem til Fogden og alt hvis de have med at fare dennem fratagis, og deris Anførere paa Livet straffis, og de andre inden vis Tid at rømme Riget fra næste Stæder de kunde udkomme; Og hvis de efter den Tid spørgis, eller overkommis kunde her i Riget, da som deris Anførere at straffis paa Livet, og hvo dennem huser, eller herberger, bøde til sit Herskab for hver Nat, og for hver Person, som den der huser fredløse.

Christian V's Norwegian Law, Third Book: Concerning Secular and Domestic Law.

Chapter 22: About Jews and Gypsies.

§1. No Jew must be enter the country or be found therein without the King's specific Travel Pass at the penalty of 1,000 Rix Dollars from each person who is found to be without the proscribed Travel Pass.

§2. Whoever informs on a Jew and leads the King's men thereto, shall have therefore a half hundred Rix Dollars.

§3. Gypsies who run around betray people with their fraud, lies, theft and sourcery should be seized by the local authorities whereever they may be found, and those that are captured by the rural public, should be submitted to the local peasant sheriff, who with the peasants' help shall lead them to the squire, and all property which accompany them on their journeys shall be taken from them, and their leaders shall be punished with their lives, and the others shall within a given period of time leave the country from the nearest places where they can get out; and if they are reported seen or can be encountered here in this country, then they shall be punished with their lives like their leaders; and whoever lets them live or stay, shall be fined unto his landlord for each night and for each person the same way as whoever houses outlaws.

(...) af en Politianordning fra 1710 sees det, at der var Jøder, som dengang havde Lov til at "opholde sig, bo og bygge" i Bergen, saa Ordet "fremdeles" i Gl. § 2 sidste Passus er uden Hjemmel og denne det første positive Lovbud, som udelukker Jøderne fra Norge.

(...) from a police decret of 1710 it can be seen that there were Jews that at that time were granted the right to "dwell, live, and build" in Bergen, so the word "still" in the last clause of §2 of the (Norwegian) Constitution is without bearing, this being the first positive legal prohibition which excludes the Jews from Norway.)

Three Dutch "Portuguese" Jews were arrested on their arrival in the country and spent two months in prison.

(Tre nederlandske «portugisiske» jødar vart arresterte når dei kom inn i landet og vart sitjande to månader i fengsel.)

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"Norway" < Encyclopaedia Judaica

« ... de Jøder, som paa den Tid, Grundloven udkom, havde Adgang til Riget; hvilket efter en Placat af 23de Januar 1750, der er yngre end nogen af de Anordninger, som udelukke Jøder fra Norge, var Tilfældet med de saakaldte Portugisjøder. ... Christiania, i Høiesteret den 19de Marts 1842.»

«... the Jews that were permitted entrance to the country at the time when the Constitution was issued, which, according to a decret of January 23, 1750 — being more recent than any of the regulations that prohibit Jews from entering Norway, was the case for the so-called Portuguese-Jews. ... Christiania [Oslo], the Supreme Court, March 19, 1842.»

Tre menn var registrerte under førenamnet «Baruch» i folketeljinga i 1801.

Three males were registered under the first name “Baruch” in the National Census of 1801.

Kongeriget Norges Constitution

§2. Den evangelisk-lutherske Religion forbliver Statens offentlige Religion. De Indvaanere, der bekjende sig til den, ere forpligtede til at oppdrage sine Børn i samme. Jesuitter og Munkeordener maae ikke taales. Jøder ere fremdeles udelukkede fra Adgang til Riget.

Translation of §2 of the Norwegian Constitution:
The Evangelical-Lutheran religion remains the state's official religion. The citizens who confess to it are obliged to raise their children in the same. Jesuits and Monastic orders must not be tolerated. Jews are still excluded from entrance to the country.

Situasjonen er dermed at den tidlegare begrensa adgangen til Norge for sefardiske jødar er erstatta med eit totalforbod mot jødar, uansett opphav. Dei fleste av dei få sefardiske jødane som var seg i landet flytte ut eller lét seg døpe. Henrik Wergeland fører ein mangeårig kamp mot dette forbodet, men døyr i 1845 utan å få sjå forbodet oppheva.

After 1814, the situation is that the previous politics of at least periodically granting Sephardi (and occasionally also Ashkenazi) Jews rights to visit and/or settle in Norway is replaced by a total ban against Jews on Norwegian soil — regardless of their background. Most of the few Sephardim who were in Norway emigrated or were baptised. The Norwegian poet Henrik Wergeland leads a long battle against the ban, but dies in 1845 without succeeding in his lifetime.

Erklæring fra Politimesteren i Bergen, hvoraf erfares, at der ikke siden 17de Mai 1814 har været meer end 2 Jøder, nemlig:  1) polsk Jøde, Michael Jonas, dertil ankommet den 30te December 1817 som Passageer med et havareret Skib bestemt til London, forsynet med Pas fra Kønigsberg af 29de Oktober næstforhen, og den 5te Januar næstefter afsendt til Kristiania under Geleide af Politiadjutant Schønberg.

Declaration from the Head of the Bergen Police, wherein is stated that since May 17, 1814, there has been no more than 2 Jews there, namely: 1) Polish Jew, Michael Jonas, arrival date December 30, 1817, as a passenger with a wrecked ship destined for London, equipped with a Travel Pass from Künigsberg [in East Prussia] issued on October 29 earlier [the same year], and on January 5 the following [year] sent to Kristiania [=Oslo] under the surveillance of Police Officer [?] Schønberg.

2) Optikus og Instrumentmager Martin Blumenbach, ankommet den 5te Juni 1828 med Pas fra Gothenborg til Trondhjem af 5te Mai samme Aar, men paa Betydning om nøiere Undersøgelse, hvis han forblev, samme Dag afreist til Gothenborg.

2) Optician and instrument maker Martin Blumenbach, arrived June 5, 1828, with a Travel Pass for Gothenburg [Sweden]-Trondheim dating from May 5 the same year, but on the warning of further investigation if he stayed, he returned to Gothenburg on the same day.

Kongelig Resolution af 3die April 1833, hvorved naadigst er bifaldt den Norske Regjerings Foranstaltning under 5te Marts næstforhen, at den Jøden Henri Leia efter Christiania Bythingsdom af 31te Januar samme Aar (ovenfor No. 25) for uden Leidebrev at have indfundet sig i Riget, ilagte Mulkt 800 Spd. afsones med Fængsel paa Vand og Brød i 28 Dage.

Royal resolution of April 3, 1833, containing the approval of the Norwegian Government's decision of March 5 earlier [the same year] that the Jew Henri Leia that was sentenced by the Christiania [=Oslo] City Court to pay a fine of 800 Specie Dollars because of his being found in the country without a Travel Pass, will instead be imprisoned on bread and water for 28 days.

Justisdep.: «... det antages at de saakaldte Portugis-Jøder maa uanset Grundlovens § 2, være berettigede til at opholde sig her i Riget, hvilket ogsaa, saavidt vides, hidtil har været almindelig antaget – – –»

The Norwegian Ministry of Justice declares: "... it is assumed that the so-called Portuguese Jews are, regardless of the Constitution’s §2, entitled to dwell in this country, which is also, to [our] knowledge, what has hitherto been assumed."

St.F. 1845 9 D, s. 264 (Skullerud 1971)

GRUNNLOVENS §2 BLIR ENDRA
Wergeland sitt arbeid for endring av §2 fører endeleg fram, og i september 1851, seks år etter at Wergeland døydde, blir endeleg siste leddet av §2 fjerna, og både sefardiske og aškenaziske jødar får adgang til Norge med fulle borgarrettar.

§2 OF THE CONSTITUTION IS CHANGED
Wergeland's battle for changing the Constitution succeeds at last, and in September 1851 -- six years after Wergeland's death, the last clause of §2 is finally removed, and both Sephardi and Ashkenazi Jews are granted full civil rights in Norway.

Dei første aškenaziske jødane busett seg i Norge med løfte om religionsfridom.

The first Ashkenazi Jews settle in Norway, with promise of full religious freedom.