I have seen a lot of people pushing the narrative that Magneto being Jewish was only confirmed in 2008 in the Magneto Testament comic and that he was actually ambiguously Romani before that point. That is blatantly untrue. While there wasn't a scene where he straight up said "I am a Jewish man", it was made very clear in the 80s by Claremont in the Uncanny X-Men run, long before any insinuation was made of him being Romani (which to begin with was a result of racist biases held by Marvel editors):
Uncanny X-Men #150 (1981)
This is the first moment where Magneto was officially retconned into a Holocaust survivor. While Romani prisoners were also murdered in the gas chambers, what immediately makes this moment stand out to me as a Jewish experience is the focus on Magneto's faith. This loss of faith in God was extremely common for Jewish Holocaust survivors and was a well documented phenomenon. While it is certainly not a sentiment that can only be expressed by Jewish survivors, it was very likely a sentiment Chris Claremont often heard in the 70s from the many Jewish survivors he knew at the kibbutz he lived in in Israel.
Uncanny X-Men #161 (1982)
A few issues after the initial reveal, we learn what Magneto was up to following his liberation/escape from Auschwitz and the loss of his wife and child. He went to Israel and volunteered at a hospital for Holocaust survivors. It was common for Jewish survivors to immigrate to Israel because there was a large Jewish community there (as the Jewish homeland) and because of the limitations put on Jewish immigration to other countries, though admittedly I'm not sure if Romani survivors would have also chosen to do so. This is also the first time we see Magneto's number tattoo. It is worth noting that Romani prisoners were tattooed with a "Z" before the numbers in order to distinguish them from Jewish prisoners. While the 2 at the start of Magneto's number looks a bit like a Z, it is unlikely given the other elements of his experience that at this point in time are explicitly Jewish.
Uncanny X-Men #199 (1985)
This scene where Magneto attends a memorial service for Holocaust survivors with Kitty makes his Jewish identity, frankly, undeniable. A lesser known fact about Jews and Romani people in Auschwitz is that they were kept separate. While they cohabitated in the ghettos, where it would later be confirmed that Magneto met his Romani wife Magda, after deportation to Auschwitz Romani prisoners would be kept in the Gypsy Family Camp on the outskirts of Auschwitz. The fact that Magneto was being recognized by explicitly Jewish survivors whom he met in the camps and not in the ghettos confirmed that he was in the Jewish sector of Auschwitz.
X-Men Unlimited #2 (1993) and X-Men #72 (1997)
While it is certainly not historically implausible, claims that Magneto was actually Romani held little weight in these early comics. Magneto was briefly stated to be Romani in the 90s comics during a time where the writers were ramping up his villainy again following his redemption arc (via the Trial of Magneto and his time as the New Mutants headmaster). The Romani identity was created in response to fears that vilifying a Jewish character would be seen as antisemitic, which was just trading off one potentially racist interpretation for another. It was discarded just four years later, with the writers explicitly confirming that Magneto had fabricated the Romani identity in order to find his wife. I am not meaning to disregard the value of representation for Romani Holocaust survivors or diminish their experiences, and I am sorry if this post comes across that way. I just feel that in a fandom like this where many people do not read the comics, it is important to correct misinformation when I see it.
The claim that Magneto was actually not Jewish at all and that his confirmation as a Jew was a later development rather than a core tenet of his character is blatant misinformation. I suspect it is connected to a larger trend of mainstream Jew hatred and antisemitic fans wanting to distance Magneto from his Jewish identity. The same has been done in official media for other Jewish characters like Legion, whose Jewish identity is ignored in modern marvel comics and was completely erased in the live action Legion TV series. I fear the same will happen to Magneto.
