The Ottoman Empire, which gained prominence and world power in the 14th and 15th centuries and on, had a significant effect on the Jews of the era, and for many centuries served as a relative safe haven for its Jews. Jews lived in the area prior to the arrival of the Muslims, while still under Christian control. At its height, in the 16th century, the Ottoman Empire held the largest population of Jews in the world, an estimated 150,000 people, compared to the 75,000 estimated to be in Poland and Ukraine in this era.
While Jews were being exiled from numerous localities in Christian Europe in the 15th and 16th centuries, including from Austria in 1420, Bavaria in 1442, Spain in 1492, Portugal in 1496, Naples in 1510, Regensburg in 1519, Pressburg in 1526, etc., the Ottoman Empire was relatively safe for Jews during this period. Jews escaping Christian Europe, both Ashkenazim and Sephardim, settled in the Ottoman empire, with the major Jewish settlements, such as the ones in Izmir (Smyrna) and Istanbul (Constantinople), having parallel communities for the native community, alongside Ashkenazi and Sephardic ones, each with their own synagogues and customs. The Jews were treated like the other minorities in the kingdom as second-class citizens, but were allowed autonomy on their own community affairs.
Ottoman Jews were obliged to pay special taxes to the Ottoman authorities. These taxes included the jizya (a tax historically levied on dhimmis), the ispençe (a land tax levied on non-Muslims), the haraç (an additional land tax), and the rav akçesi (rabbi tax). Jews and Christians paid a separate tax in addition to regular taxes as an exemption from military service. In return for these additional taxes and fees, the empire recognized Jewish and Christian communities as independent and capable of managing their own affairs.
Recently, I was able to acquire 2 documents that detail some of these special taxes that the Jews had to put up with. One is a series of receipts from the Jewish community in Izmir, dated 1882. Written in Ladino, they confirm the payment of the special tax the Jews had to pay for army exception, with three separate receipts for members of the community.
The second item is a postcard sent by a jailed Jew in 1941, during WWII, for his failure to pay an additional tax, that was imposed after the Ottoman empire joined the war. This special tax had a base start of 5%, but for Jews, and other non-Muslims, the percentage rose sharply, leaving many Jews without the ability to pay. This postcard, written by a Jew jailed in Camp Adapazarı, where he was forced to work off his tax debt, was sent to family in Istanbul. He writes that he is in good health, and gets off 3 days a month. As often seen on prisoner mail, the postcard bears no postage stamp.
