Bayramic, Turkey

BAYRAMIÇ, town near *Çanakkale in Turkey in an area where many important ancient cities like Skamandros, Skepsis, called Israillü in the Ottoman Era, and Kebrene developed. Ottoman rule in this region started in the mid-14^th century. Due to Jewish overpopulation in Çanakkale, some Jewish families emigrated to Bayramiç where they established a small quarter composed of 30 households in 1884 and 60 Jews in 1894. By 1910 the number of Jewish households had increased to 50. There were 800 Muslims, 190 Greeks, and 200 Armenians in the district in the 1890s. From time to time there were conflicts, as in the case of a Christian blood libel against the Jews in 1884. During the Gallipoli Campaign, the Jewish population in Bayramiç temporarily increased due to mass flight from the battlefields in Çanakkale. The Jews in Bayramiç had their own cemetery after the Gallipoli Campaign, whereas they had previously buried their dead in Çanakkale. The Jewish community was well organized in the sense that it had a synagogue, talmud torah, rabbis, and charitable institutions to provide relief for the needy. Economic activities like exporting cereal and bonito, small-scale manufacturing, and ironmongery were common among the Bayramiç Jews. According to the census of 1927, 93 Jews remained in the district. The Jewish presence in Bayramiç ended in the 1960s.

Source: Encyclopaedia Judaica. © 2008 The Gale Group. All Rights Reserved.