Updated list of Tisha B’Av calamities

As riots rage in London today and Wall Street wakes up after two days of massive declines, the significance of this date on the Jewish calendar is not lost.

The Ninth of Av is a day that has taken on mythical and historical significance as a day on which calamity befalls the Jewish people. Jewish summer camps conduct programming reflecting on anti-semitism and other tragedies affecting the Jewish people such as the Holocaust and the Inquisition.

While the list below doesn’t necessarily represent the Zeitgeist of any particular year (or even day), it offers informal educators and other readers an updated sample of disheartening articles and news reports about Jewish people around the globe, as gleaned from the JTA Jewish News Archive:

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1927 Fire sweeps village in Nosowitch; Many Jews Roofless

1932 Continuation of bombing terror as Hitler and von Hindenberg prepare to discuss chancellorship

1933 Jews reported banned from various walks of life: sports, law and economics, medicine in Berlin and Vienna)

1936 3,000 Cuzist “shock Troopers” terrorize Black Sea resorts in Romania ; In Tiberias, anti-Jewish attacks resume

1937 Arab violence flares as Jews throng Wailing Wall to lament partition

1938 Anti-semitic boycott pressed in Poland

1939 Aden Jews seized in police raid during Tisha B’av services

1940 Over 100 Jews seized by Rumania since issuance of anti-semitic code

1941 Hungary confirms deportation of alien Jews to Nazi-held Poland

1942 Arrest of Jews in France for deportation to Poland continues

1943 Report: Nazis execute Jews deported from France to Poland; more executions feared

1944 Report: Many Jews in German camp try to commit suicide when exchange plan falls through

1946 Anti-jewish terror renewed in Bratislava; six Jews gravely injured in Nove Zamky

1947 Buenos Aires Police Chief Appeals to Population to Track Down Synagogue Blasters

1948 Arabs Launch “general Attack” in Jerusalem; Two Jewish Soldiers Killed, Three Wounded

1949 Arabs Bar Jews from Wailing Wall on Tisha B’av; Change Name of Jewish Quarter

1954 Jewish Groups Worried over Fate of Jews in Morocco, Tunisia

1957 Moscow Forbids Israel Delegation to Distribute Jewish Calendars

1960 Soviet Bloc Countries Not Cooperating with Israel on Eichmann

1961 Nasser Says He is Preparing for War on Israel; Will Use Rockets

1962 Rockwell Deported from England; Nazi Center Discovered in Ireland

1964 Auschwitz Trial Told 75% of Jewish Victims Met Death Immediately

1965 Rockwell Opens His Campaign As Candidate for Governor of Virginia

1966 Nazis Sentenced for Killing Tarnopol Jews Seek Revision of Verdict

1967 Bomb Explodes in Buenos Aires Near Theater Where Jewish Anti-soviet Meeting is Held

1968 Israel Mood Grim As Algeria Says Will Retain Hijacked Plane and Israelis

1969 Tisha B’av Observance Marred by Rush to Western Wall Excavation Site

1970 Israeli Jets Hit Guerrilla Bases in Lebanon; Terrorists Throw Grenades in Nablus, Hebron

1971 Former Soviet Jewish Prisoners Rally in Solidarity with Jews Still in USSR

1972 ‘Please Help My Husband’ Tearful Judy Shapiro Begs American UN Envoy

1973 USSR cuts back on Jewish emigration

1975 Thousands of Jews, Sympathizers Rally at Space Launch Center

1976 Anti-semitism in Arizona Gop Race

1977 Tisha B’av Prayer Service for Sharansky at Soviet UN Mission

1980 Jewish Cemetery in Geneva Desecrated

1981 Bomb Explodes at El Al’s Office at Rome’s Airport

1982 Israel Assailed by Arab, Communist and Third World Delegates at UNESCO Conference

1984 Violent Crimes Increasing in Israel

1986 Hatemonger Will Not Be Prosecuted


1989 Auschwitz Convent Staying Put As Jews Erupt with Anger / Hezbollah: We’re Holding Israelis, but Their Release is Impossible

1990 Israeli Security Uncovers Yet Another PLO Terror Cell

1991 Gaza Arab Confesses to Hit-and-run That Killed Hitchhiking IDF Soldier

1992 Vandals Deface Sachsenhausen Camp 

1993 In Kiryat Shmona, Flight and Hiding Are the Norm After Rain of Katyushas

1994 Palestinian Police Fire on Workers, Israelis As Melee Erupts at Checkpoint

1998 3 Teens Held on Suspicion of Vandalism at Buchenwald


2000 Violence that erupted in Jerusalem’s Old City during the Jewish observance of Tisha B’Av

2001 Neo-Nazi groups in the United States are posing a new threat, according to the Anti-Defamation League

2005 The Disengagement Summer: Settlers in Gaza Lament Withdrawal As They Mark a Holy Day of Mourning

2006 Eight Israelis were killed in Hezbollah rocket attacks on northern Israel

2007 Trying to Avert Pre-emptive Strike, Iran Seeks to Derail Peace Efforts

2008 Georgian Jews Flee for Capital, Some Stay to Protect Homes

Thanks to Miriam Grossman for research assistance.

Image by Jean Michel Etchecolonea/via Wikimedia Commons