Jewish quota

Jewish quota was a percentage that limited the number of Jews in various establishments. In particular, in 19th and 20th centuries some countries had Jewish quotas for higher education, a special case of Numerus clausus. These were an attempt to limit the influence of ethnic and/or religious Jews.

Related Topics:
Jew - Higher education - Numerus clausus

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Jewish quotas for education could be state-wide law or adopted only in certain institutions, often unofficially.

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The limitation took the form of total prohibition of Jewish students, or of limiting the number of Jewish students so that their share in the students' population would not be larger than their share in the general population. It was motivated by contemporary view of the balancing chances for education for ethnic groups. In some establishments, the Jewish quota placed a limit on growth rather than set a fixed level of participation to be achieved.

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The Numerus Clausus policies affected a limited number of people, since the number of university students before WWII was very small.

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Jews who wanted education used various ways to handle this obstacle: bribing the authorities, changing their religion, or traveling to countries without such limitations. In Hungary, for example, 5,000 Jewish youngsters (including Edward Teller) left the country after the introduction of Numerus Clausus.

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