A report by two Jewish groups shows that around 1.5 million European Jews hide their religion.
"About 40 percent of European Jews choose to hide their Jewishness and about 75 percent of European Jewish children do not attend Jewish schools,’’ reveals the report released by the European Jewish Association (EJA) and the Rabbinical Center of Europe (RCE).
The two groups said that the data they received came from over 800 rabbis and members of their organization across Europe.
According to EJA Director General Rabbi Menachem Margolin, the number of Jews who attend synagogue on Yom Kippur is double that of regular Saturday attendees, however, "About 70 percent of European Jews will choose not to attend synagogue on Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur."
Margolin says that some 500,000 Jews will take part in services for the Jewish New Year at the 1,353 synagogues in Europe this year.
The report also stated that the Jewish intermarriage rate in Europe stands at 80 percent.
A survey published last year by the European Union’s Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA) showed 25 percent of European Jews were afraid to wear Jewish symbols in public.