History of the Jews in Belgium History of the Jews in Belgium Judaism has a long history in Belgium, from the 1st century CE until today. The Jewish community numbered 66,000 on the eve of the Second World War but, after the war and the Holocaust, is now less than half that number. Today, Belgium is home to more than 30,000 Jews, of whom two-thirds live in Antwerp. The first Jews to arrive in the present-day territory of Belgium arrived with the Romans between the years 50 and 60 AD Jews were mentioned as early as 1200 in Brabant (and in 1261, Duke Henry III ordered
City status in Belgium City status in Belgium City status in Belgium is granted to a select group of municipalities by a royal decree or by an act of law. During the Middle Ages, towns had defined privileges over surrounding villages. As the nobility strengthened their power over regions in feudal Europe, they bestowed on towns the rights to organize annual fairs, levy tolls or build walls and other defense works. Under the French occupation of Belgian provinces, these privileges were abolished and replaced by an honorific title of "city" (, ). This was imposed upon the Belgian provinces by order of the French