VENICE

Jewish Venice

Life in Venice's Ghetto	Ethnic rivalries and synagogues	Freed by Napoleon, persecuted by Hitler
Visiting the Ghetto today	Reaching the Ghetto

Freed by Napoleon, persecuted by Hitler
As Venice went into economic and political decline in the 1700s, the Ghetto sank with it and was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1737. Sixty years later, Napoleon's troops brought an end to the Republic of Venice. The Ghetto's gates were torn down, and Jews were given the same freedoms as other citizens of Venice. Many Jews chose to continue living in the Ghetto, however, and the Ghetto remained a focal point for the Venetian Jewish community until the German occupation during World War II, when some 200 Jews were deported and killed between 1943 and 1945.