TRETS

TRETS (Heb. טְריץ), town in the department of Bouchesdu-Rhone, S. France. Jewish sources indicate that a Jewish community, which included some scholars, existed there at least from 1269. The non-Jewish sources mention the protection given by the lords of Trets to local Jews in the 14th and 15th centuries, granting them equality with Christian inhabitants. However, in 1413, the Jewish community was obliged to request an order, which they obtained, placing them under the protection of the lord and imposing a heavy fine of 50 silver marks "for any injury or offense to them." The community continued to exist until the expulsion of the Jews from Provence in 1501. -BIBLIOGRAPHY: Gross, Gal Jud, 244ff.; H. de Gerin-Ricard, in: Répertoire des travaux de la Société de statistique de Marseille, 48 (1911–20), 41–45; B. Blumenkranz, in: Bulletin philologique et historique (1965), 611. (Bernhard Blumenkranz)