This article covers one of Europe's oldest Jewish communities, documented in Cologne since the 4th century. Through 2020 the opening said the community "has suffered persecutions, many expulsions, massacres and destruction." Today the opening says the Crusades "put an end to peaceful coexistence" but does not name massacres; the word survives twice in the body. A reader today learns coexistence ended, and not that the community's history is defined in part by massacres.
Read line by line and written up by hand.
Machine-checked against the full current article on 2026-08-01. “massacre” appeared 1 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 2.
We saved snapshots of this article over twenty years; you are reading the 2015 one. Red dashes: removed from Wikipedia since.Pale dots: rewritten; the numbered note shows what it says now.Red text: written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot.1 tap a number or a side note to jump between them
The opening as it read in 2015
The history of the Jews in Cologne is documented from the year 321 AD, almost as long as the history of Cologne .1Over its history, the Jewish community of Cologne has suffered persecutions, many expulsions, massacres and destruction. The community numbered about 19,500 people before its dispersal, murders and destruction in the 1930s by the Nazis before and during World War II. The community has re-established itself and now numbers about 4,500 members. Because of its historical continuity, today’s Jewish synagogue calls itself the "oldest Jewish congregation north of the Alps".2
This is Wikipedia's own text, saved in our repository. Their copy of it is revision 656458595.
The opening as it stood in 2020 1 passage from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The history of the Jews in Cologne is conjectured to date back possibly as far as the late Roman Empire, and is officially documented from the period of the High Middle Ages. Over its history, the Jewish community of Cologne has suffered persecutions, many expulsions, massacres and destruction. The community numbered about 19,500 people before its dispersal, murders and destruction in the 1930s by the Nazis before and during World War II. The community has re-established itself and now numbers about 4,500 members. Because of its historical continuity, today's Jewish synagogue calls itself the "oldest Jewish congregation north of the Alps".
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 962191188.
The opening as it stood on October 6, 2023 5 passages from the previous snapshot no longer appear
The history of the Jews in Cologne dates to 321 C.E., when it was recorded in a census decreed by the Emperor Constantine I .As such, it is the oldest European Jewish community north of the Alps.The community quickly established itself in what came to be known as Cologne's Jewish quarter, building its first synagogue by 1040 C.E.The Crusades put an end to peaceful coexistence with Christians in 1096 C.E.Despite the Archbishop's protection many Jews were killed and their synagogue destroyed.The community regained its economic and religious life until about 1300 C.E., when the Christian majority again applied pressure.The community's fortunes improved and worsened a number of times into the 20th century.Before the 1930s, it consisted of 19,500 people.After the end of World War II it had been almost entirely extinguished due to Nazi destruction, expulsion and murder.Currently it numbers approximately 5,000.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1171101348.
The opening as it stood in 2025
The history of the Jews in Cologne dates to 321 C.E., when they were first recorded in a census decreed by Emperor Constantine I . As such, it is the oldest European Jewish community north of the Alps. The community quickly established itself in what came to be known as Cologne's Jewish quarter, building its first synagogue by 1040 C.E. The Crusades put an end to peaceful coexistence with Christians in 1096 C.E. Despite the Archbishop's protection many Jews were killed and their synagogue destroyed. The community regained its economic and religious life until about 1300 C.E., when the Christian majority again applied pressure. The community's fortunes improved and worsened a number of times into the 20th century. Before the 1930s, it consisted of 19,500 people. After the end of World War II it had been almost entirely extinguished due to Nazi destruction, expulsion and murder. Currently it numbers approximately 5,000.
Red text was written in or rewritten since the previous snapshot. Their copy is revision 1276426185. This is our newest snapshot; the live article may have moved again since.
Today
“massacre” appeared 1 times in this article's opening at its peak. Today the opening has none; the body has 2. Read the current article and compare.
2015
2020
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2025
massacre
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Counts in the opening at each snapshot. Green: the word gained ground. Red: it was cut. Grey: no change.
Struck red text is no longer in the article; dotted amber text was rewritten. Every revision id links to Wikipedia's copy; the text shown is our own saved copy. Data: /data. Wikipedia text is CC BY-SA; quoted for the record; not affiliated with Wikipedia.
