Many Ashkenazi Jews assume their ancestors moved directly from ancient Israel to Germany and Eastern Europe. But historians and geneticists point to an important missing chapter: nearly a thousand years in Italy.

After Rome’s conquest of Judea in the 1st century BCE, tens of thousands of Jews were brought to Italy as slaves or migrated to escape famine. Studies show that Ashkenazi DNA is roughly half Levantine and half Southern European, with evidence suggesting the admixture happened in Italy. Over time, freed Jews became artisans, doctors, and traders, blending into Roman society while maintaining religious practices.

In pagan Rome, Jews were seen as a Mediterranean ethnic group. But when Christianity became dominant, laws restricted Jewish life and redefined Jews as a religious community rather than an ethnicity. This shift shaped how Jews were perceived in Europe for centuries.

By around 1000 C.E., Jewish families from Italy moved north to the Rhineland and later to Eastern Europe, where they became the Ashkenazi communities known today. Unlike in Rome, Jews in medieval Europe were often excluded, confined to ghettos, and restricted in work, leaving only a faint genetic mark from their German and Russian surroundings.

The story reveals that much of Ashkenazi heritage runs through Italy, from Roman slavery to cultural resilience, before Jewish life took root in Central and Eastern Europe.

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Read the full article from the original source:
The Forward – Ashkenazi Jews, your DNA is actually largely Italian. Here’s why.
Source: The Forward, September 25, 2025