Sept. 26, 1826

Decree, issued by the Danish Chancellery to the Magistrate at Copenhagen [Present-day Denmark]: “Regarding under which conditions indigent Mosaic believers may be admitted to a workhouse, the representatives of their community petitioned that Jews who require support, as their congregation has no work facility, be referred to the city’s regular social services, so that the able-bodied among them may find support and work, notwithstanding the fact that, by the Treasurer of their congregation, a small allowance is already paid to each of these indigent persons individually.

The paupers in question could not be referred to the city’s social services, but the Commission for the Employment of the Poor in the Workhouses is willing to receive them for the purpose of subsistence and work, if there is room in a workhouse, subject to the following conditions: (a) That they shall be subject to all provisions generally applicable to the poor, with the exception of provisional admission to the Workhouse of Our Savior at Christianshavn. (b) That they are subject to the same coercion and penalties as have been or will be determined for this institution. (c) That the Mosaic faith community reimburses the city’s regular social services for the difference between what such paupers cost to employ in the workhouse (all the costs of rent, heating, master’s wages, interest, taxes, and tertiary expenses) and their earnings. (d) That the Mosaic community hand over the persons, provided with the necessary garments, or, if they are not so delivered, reimburse social services for the cost of their first issue of clothing. The Mosaic representatives must negotiate with the Commission what remuneration, for the missing of their work on Jewish holidays, should be paid to the city.”