In prewar central Europe, the largest Jewish community was in Germany, with about 525,000 members. This was followed by Hungary with 445,000, Czechoslovakia with 357,000, and Austria with 250,000. In western Europe the largest Jewish communities were in Great Britain, with 300,000 Jews; France, with 220,000; and the Netherlands, with 160,000. In southern Europe, Greece had the largest Jewish population, with about 73,000 Jews. There were also significant Jewish communities in Yugoslavia (70,000), Italy (48,000), and Bulgaria (50,000).

Before the Nazis seized power in 1933, Europe had a dynamic and highly developed Jewish culture. In little more than a decade, most of Europe would be conquered, occupied, or annexed by Nazi Germany and the majority European Jews--two out of every three--would be dead.