The Jews have lived in Yemen for thousands of years. Despite continuing persecution and discrimination from the Arab majority around them, the Jews maintained culture and tradition, while living in tight-knit communities.
One important center of Jewish life in Yemen was the city of Aden. The Jewish community of Aden goes back to at least 200CE. Throughout the centuries, Aden developed into an important Jewish cultural center and at times was the heart of Jewish life in Yemen.
By 1947, the Jewish community of Aden stood at around 8,550.
On December 2, 1947, three days after the UN voted to partition The British Mandate of Palestine, a violent pogrom broke out against Aden's Jews.
The mobs murdered 82 Jews and wounded a further 76. Out of the 170 Jewish-run shops in Aden, 114 were looted and by the end of the pogrom and 106 had nothing left inside. Four synagogues were burnt down, Jewish schools were demolished and 220 Jewish homes were destroyed and looted.
The local authorities did nothing to stop the violence. In fact, members of the Aden Protectorate Levies, a militia responsible for the town's security, joined the killing and fired their guns at the Jewish civilians.
Following the devastating violence, most of Aden's ancient Jewish community fled to Israel. In 1958 and 1967, the remaining Jews of Aden faced further pogroms. After the latter pogrom, what was left of the Jewish community fled Aden with the help of the British. The flight came right as the Arabs were planning to kill every remaining Jew in Aden.
