The archaeological excavations at the site of the mediaeval Jewish cemetery in the German city of Erfurt unearthed 47 graves; ancient DNA was recovered from the teeth of 33 individuals.Image credit: Thuringian State Office for Heritage Management and Archaeology/Ronny Krause
I have always heard that Jews from the Ashkenazi tribe are among the most intelligent people walking the earth, or they have been so. I think I recall radio talker Michael Savage saying he is descended from that lineage.
I would find that easy to believe. He’s vain and grouchy, but nevertheless, he’s very bright.
One explanation for increased genetic variation might be the horrible reality that small Jewish communities of that era might be more subject to assault and rape.
Prof. Henry Abramson has a 15 minute video tracing the genetic history of Ashkenaz Jews, noting a Founder Event and a Genetic Bottleneck, based on the Erfurt study.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=89D2RDgzLLE
Well, gee, wasn’t there something going on in 1933-45 that wound up killing more than half the Jews in Europe?
That wouldn’t have a bearing on today’s genes, now would it?
From https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/remaining-jewish-population-of-europe-in-1945
Quote:
Jewish Population of Europe
Approximately 9.5 million Jews lived in Europe in 1933, the year Hitler came to power. This number represented 1.7% of Europe’s total population and more than 60 percent of the world’s Jewish population. By 1945, most European Jews—2 out of every 3—had been killed.
The Jewish communities of eastern Europe were devastated. In 1933, Poland had the largest Jewish population in Europe, numbering over three million. By 1950, the Jewish population of Poland was reduced to about 45,000. The Soviet Union had the largest remaining Jewish population, with some two million Jews. Romania’s Jewish population was nearly 757,000 in 1930 and fell to approximately 280,000 (1950). Most of these demographic losses were due to the Holocaust, the rest to postwar emigration from Europe.
The Jewish population of central Europe was also devastated. Germany had a Jewish population of 525,000 in 1933 and just 37,000 in 1950. Hungary had 445,000 in 1933 and 190,000 in 1950. Czechoslovakia’s Jewish population was reduced from about 357,000 in 1933 to 17,000 in 1950 and Austria’s from about 191,000 to just 18,000.
In western Europe, the largest Jewish communities remained in Great Britain, with approximately 450,000 Jews (300,000 in 1933) and France, with 235,000 (250,000 in 1933). In southern Europe, the Jewish population fell dramatically: in Greece from about 73,000 in 1933 to just 7,000 in 1950; in Yugoslavia from about 70,000 to 3,500; in Italy from about 48,000 to 35,000; and in Bulgaria from 50,000 in 1933 to just 6,500 in 1950 (the reduction in the Bulgarian Jewish population resulted from postwar emigration). The demographic focus of European Jewry thus shifted from eastern to western Europe.
