The presence of Limoges Jews seems to date back at least to the 10th century, when persecutions are mentioned in texts from that period, including those of the author Adhémar de Chabannes. Among the Jewish personalities of the Middle Ages, Rabbi Isaac of Limoges.

Many Alsatian Jews found refuge in Limoges during the war. The contemporary Jewish community was formed after the war and reached a number of more than 600 people at the turn of the 1970s, but gradually saw the departure of many young people.

Due to the large number of antisemitic attacks since the beginning of the 21st century, the Jewish community in Limoges, which consisted of few families, attracted the settlement of Jews from the region of Ile-de-France living in areas where they felt threatened. Today, the Limousin Jews have a synagogue and represent a little less than one hundred families.

In August 2024, the Résistance Museum in Limoges received an exceptional donation from the family of Szaja Szarfsztejn, the last Jew to be murdered just before the city’s Liberation. The donation consisted of documents that make it possible to retrace his life, including his wallet, photographs and personal letters. These items were initially found hidden in the courtyard of the Gestapo headquarters in Limoges. Born in Poland, Szaja Szarfsztejn came to France in 1929 at the age of 24. Hiding with his wife during the Holocaust, after his daughter had been taken into hiding in a convent, he was arrested in Brive in June 1944 and transferred to Limoges, where he was tortured and murdered.

Sources: France 3 and France Bleue