jilt 'Mimi; ID+ isn OiRailat PAGE TWO The Secret Jews Of Portugal Eldorado. In this way they acquired not only immense wealth but also u great political influence, and thus, when in the early 'thirties proposals) By LUCIEN WOLF were made to Rome for the establish-; ment of the Portuguese Inquisition, substantial contribution towards the 1 they were well equipped to fight the, In January, 1925. much public in- expenses was received from an anon) , I scheme. They showed wonderful re- terest was aroused by an appeal from mous reader of the Jewish Guardian.; sources both in money and diplomacy the Lisbon Jewish community for I left London for Lisbon on Jan. 5, I and it was indeed only through an funds wherewith to build a Jewish 1926, and spent four weeks in Portu- accident that in 1537 the tight went school for the education of the chil- gal, in the course of which I visited ' against them. Even then it was three j dren of the Marranos or secret Jews some of the towns in which remnants ! years before the Lisbon Inquisition I of Portugal, of whom a large number of the old Marrano communities are was able to hold its first Auto. From were said to be still living and prac- ticing a form of Judaism in the to be found. These included Guarda, that time money and political mil a- northern province,. The appeal Bel monte, Caine, Covilhao, Coimbra •nce were of little avail. , 'he Inquisition developed a fel evoked historic memories to which no and Oporto. • In Lisbon I discussed Jew could be insensible. It was all the question not only with all the • rarity which had few parallels even the more impressive because few leading members of the localiJewish ; in the Spanish tribunals. Between Jews outside Portugal and Spain were community but also with a number1 1540 and 17gti it held more than 600 aware that any descendants of the of prominent politicians and literary I .Autos, and it is calculated that up to who are neither Jews nor Mar- : 1732 it condemned 24.522 hapless :Stamen., who played so conspicuous ! men and romantic a part in the Jewish his- ' roams. The latter included the presi- !heretics, nvistly Marranos, of whom tory of the sixteenth and seventeenth' dent of the republic and the prime 1,454 were burnt at the stake. This• centuries, had survived. The fact, ; minister. • however, is a very low estimate, for A short survey of the history of ' at the present moment t he national however, was not entirely unknown i A for, apart from occasional ceunfi- ! Marranism in Portugal is necessary , archives at Lisbon contain over 40,- myst•riousi in order to understand the present' 000 reports of Inquisition cases cum. elences obtained from visitors to the synagogue in Lisbon I condition of the Marranos, the prob- I ins; down to 1780. The Marranos in and the fleeting suspicions of observ- I Bin they present and the peculiar I the north suffered terribly, and in ant travelers, M. Cardoso de Bethen- claims they have on the sympathy 1 the wake of their ruin followed the court in 1903 published an account ! and the interest of the great body of I ruin of Portugal itself. The famous of the modern Portuguese Marranos1 their co-religionists in other coon- statesman, Louis da Cunha, in his po-i which, although founded on second- , tries. These claims appeal with cope- I litical testament, single•, out the de- hand materials, anticipated the brolly'' dal force to the Sephardi communi-lcay of the Marramu towns Braganza,' a° an y c ov ui_ lines of recent discoveries and even' ties of Western Europe and America u L arnega , G uar d, F on d 1lisllittg gall a Tifiappti :tub Vrosprrous YOURS FOR SERVICE Peerless Cement It has taken many years to estab- lish the enviable reputation of PEERLESS cement because only time and use can prove the funda- mentally good qualities in which PEERLESS excels. Peerless Portland Cement Co. embodied an appeal for an effort to ' and also to some„of the Sephardi . hat as illustrations of havoc wrought GENERAL OFFICES: FIRST NATIONAL BANK BLDG. bring them back to authentic Judo- j congregations in Italy, : by the Inquisition. At no time, how- PLANTS: DETROIT AND UNION CITY The name Marrano is applied, with ever, did the Inquisition succeed in , ism. The appeal of the Lisbon Jewish' very doubtful accuracy, by Jewish !rooting up Marranisin. We have al- community arose out of a new laves.; historians to the Spanish and Peru. i ready seen that in its early days be- ligation which had been conducted on I guese Jews who, at the time of theltween 1567 and 1595 the Coimbra the spud by a Polish-Jewish mining !colossal expulsion from Spain in 1492 I Tribunal, dealing with the northern engineer, M. Samuel Schwarz, who ' and the terrible persecutions in 1 provinces alone, sent 95x Marrarws had milling properties in the heart Portugal in 1496, accepted the al- I tu, long terms at the galleys and in of the Marrano country. M. Schwarz ! ternatIve of baptism and ever after-! the pestiferous marshes of the cob:- 1•1 in obtainin • avowal+ ; wards continued to practice their an- nies, to life sentences in the secret non . • • Judaism from quite a number of cestral Judaism in secret. There cells of the lily Office or to the the inhabitants f the ,mill towns in • was, however, a distinction between stake. This scale of persecutions was the Mammies of Spain and those of continued for many years and yet, the mining region of the Serra ula l Estrella, chiefly Belneonte, Guarda • Portugal. With the Spanish Mar- between 1637 and 1653, the same and Covilhao, he had in some casesiranos the acceptance of Christianity', provinces still yielded 226 martyrs. been admitted to their secret care- I was a voluntary act. Moreover, the ; I have not the remaining Processes monies and he had been fortunate Inquisition was already in existence for Coimbra, but I find that in 1746 enough to obtain from them a collee- I in Spain at the time of the expulsion,Isix Marranos from Guarda, 16 from lection of their Portuguese prayers I and consequently the unhappy New 'Fonda°, 21 from Covilhao and severe in manuscript to which he was ableIChristians, as they were called, found from Monsanto were condemned by to add others which still remain only themselves pitilessly dogged and con- the Lisbon Tribunal and that between an oral tradition. The result of M. trolled from the beginning. Their I 17-19 and 1752 the same tribunal (MI- to prove crypto-Judaism was in the course of damned 55 •Marranos from Braganza,: Schwarz's investigations was beyond doubt that Marranism ex-: years so ruthlessly tracked down that while 12 more from the same town isted, though in a somewhat degene• !by 1560 it was almost completely ex- were condemned by thy Evora Tri- rate form. The Lisbon Jewish corn-Itirpatml, and when we read of Span-Ibunal between 1753 and 1755. munity felt that it was their duty to !ish Marranos at a later date we find,uTwenty years later the Inquisition closely examining the available l wa: practicaly extinct. The figures I do something to arrest the decay of ; MI Inquisition processesc that they were, have quoted show how undauntedly GLENDALE 1025 this interesting survival and, if pus-' I sible, to restore it to the position of i for the most part, Portuguese immi- these valliant Marranos — though ARCHITECTS BLDG. a regular Portuguese Jewish com- grants or their descendants. The ; ...rely maimed and decimated--kept munity, in a form worthy of its glori-lfate of the Portuguese Marranos was ; the flag of Judaism flying to the end. ...................... ...0 II I 1 ous history. It was in these circuits- !quite different. They consisted part•INuropean and American Jewry owe stances that they resolved to appeal , ly of the descendants of the ancient much to their gallant example. this Allnallnimaniumnisimmo of There is one other aspect to the Jew's of the world to aid them Portuguese Jewish community which in establishing a school for the Mar- previously to 1496 had led a rela- great struggle which must be referred I • rano children, that being, in their I tively happy life and partly of some I to here, as it illustrates very directly j m a i m m iu mo• .. .. ... .. ... .. ... .. .. 1 11 111 11 11 to- view, the most practical step that 100,000 Spanish Jewish exiles who the claim which the Marranos could be taken for the achievement I had found a negotiated refuge in I day have on all the most important , Portugal in 1492. In 1496 the Portu-; Sephardi congregations of Western; of their purpose. The proposal was received sympa- guese king, acting under Spanish in- Europe and America. Not all the I thetically by the leading Jewish or- ! fluence, decreed t he expulsion of his :gamines in the northern provinces ganizations to whom it had been ad- Jew's in his turn, and by way of a ; who disappeared between 1540 and 1 ed, and it was agreed by the • refinement of cruelty, of which Fer• 1780 passed through the Inquisition u Tress Alliance Israelite. and the Anglo•Jew- Amami and Isabella had never Autos. A large number fell off from ish Association that, at any rate, a' dreamt, ordered all their children un- their Jewish allegiance and became ease for inquiry had been made out.. der 14 years of age to be torn from quite orthodox Catholics. They form ! The question involved many them and baptised. The next step today the bulk of the population of Traz-os-Muntez and Beira, and in I - irate considerations oth- was to force the adults also into the spite of their unimpeachable Chris- I t an ..,•.. er than the simple issue raised by the Christian fold. On various excuses Lisbon community and these, it was the operation of the expulsion decree , tianity are still known as New brie- felt, ought to be inquired into on the was delayed until the time limit haditians sometimes even as Jews. spot by someone who was acquainted expired, and then the whole body of There are towns, like I'inhel, for ex- with the point of view and the re-, Jewswas forced into baptism. Un- ample, where today there is not a! sponsibilities of Jewish societies en- I like the Spanish Jew's, they haul tin single Marrano, which are still gaged in the establishment of schools alternative except slavery. Happily spoken of as Jewish towns. But this • tempered was not the only influence at work in foreign countries. Accordingly , this barbarous measure Wits kin,. ,whichmade for the gradual shrink- , the Alliance Israelite. and the Anglo- by a merciful concession. The ing of the Nlierrano community. Emi- 1,1ewish Association, supported by the !Dom Manuel, realized that it was t r e e , Spanish and Portuguese-Jewish con- ! reasonable to expect that these bap-Igration also played a large part. In; gregation of London, did me the tisms could produce at once sincere 1499 the New Christians were forbid ' honor of entrusting me with this mis- 'Christians and, in the hope that the len to leave the country, but the rich I sion. It should be mentioned that a Christian habit would grow on them, and even many of the poor found he issued a decree providing that for means of evading the law. On the 20 years the converts should not be •ve of the establishment of the In- prosecuted uin account of religion. luisition in 1540 several boat loads . Later on this decree was renewed of Marranos traveled by way of Ma- and the Marranos enjoyed their int- de ira to Antwerp. Another circui- ' munity until the introduction of the sus journey made by the fugitives Inquisition in 1537. The result was it the period was by way of Antwerp not quite what the king expected. In- u Salonika. For a lung time Italy 131 WEST WOODBRIDGE STREET stead of Christianity growing on the was the objective of the refugees and ?"- converts, crypto -Judaism became heir coming was encourag,ed by the Phone Randolph 0631 and the Italian princes, who roper strengthened and consolidated. It was during these years that the Ivor- very anxious to avail themselves of tuguese Marranus laid the founda- heir wealth and their commercial 1 tions for the steadfast secret Juda- abilities. Many reports on the Portu- ism, which afterwards enabled them uguese Marrone communities estab- for two and a half centuries to sus- ; fished at Ferrara. Venice, Turin and Eiiiiiiii111111111111 0 tain an unparalleled struggle with ;ono& are still to be found in the Ilere we have the the Inquisition. main secret of the interesting our ' • viva! which is the subject of this re- • port, and of which there is no coun- terpart in Spain. It was during this period, too, that the Marranos consolidated their set- , tlement in those northern provinces' I of Traz-os-Montez, Beira and Entre ; Minho•e-Douro, where their &vend.; ants are most numerously found to.; day. Jewish communities had always 'I existed in this region, but they be- I came much more numerous after 1492. When the Spanish exiles en-1 tercel Portugal in that year they did' so through prescribed frontier towns. I Of these, three, Braganza, Miranda ; and Villar Formes°, were the gate-' ways to Traz-os-Montez and Meira, and through them no fewer than 68,-, 000 out of the total of 100,000 exiles passed into the hinterland and spread to the sea at Oporto. After the Lis- bon massacre of 1506 these cony! tingents were reinforced from the south, and than the three northern provinces became virtually a Mar- rano Land. This may be shown by 'an examination of the statistics ! I u_ mopii i i i111111111111111111111 1 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 1 111111111111 1 111111111111111111111111 1111 iimigiumn=- . 100, W. GRAND BOULEVARD John H. Freeman East Side: 7520 RUSSELL Downtoww: SARGENT 511 BREWSTER North Yard: BUILDERS HARDWARE 14400 WYOMING A. C. BELANGER and SONS (Incorporated) Established 1887. Carpentry — Building — Repairs Alterations — Appraisals 1221 TWENTY-SECOND STREET Lafayette 0554 Elliiiiiiiiiiimitoilliiiii1111 1111 11111111 ■ 11111111 1 11111111111111111 1 111111111111 1 1 1 1 111111iiiiiiiiiiongioninnimmii M gi linitinigillilli 1 1 1 i i i i gigi1111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111111 1111111111111111111111111111111111111111 BOCKSTANZ BROS. 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I have not, of course, been able to examine all these records, but I find that for the 29 years between 1567 and 1595 the number of Mar. ranos who figured in the Autos of the Coimbra Tribunal, which had ju- risdiction over the northern prov- inces. was 958. drawn from 98 dif- ferent towns and villages of Traz-os• Montez and Beira alone. In addition L this the Lisbon and Evora Tri- bunals tried Marrano prisoners who had been arrested in 28 further towns and villages situated in the eastern department I Braganza I of Traz.os-Montez. Thus at the end of the sixtenth century we may take it that there were at least 126 com- munities of Marranes fighting for their faith and their lives in thew. •provinces. The war with the Inquisition be- ' gin in 1540, when, under various Papal bull. and briefs. the Holy Of lice for the first time obtained full powers in Portugal. There was an earlier war of ■ very remarkable character which filled the previous 10 years. During the period of their immunity from religious prosecution, the Marranos had prospered exceed- ingly. They made the northern prov- inces a hive of fruitful industry, while at Lisbon they supplied the king with the capital he needed for realizing the wealth of the Indies, , and at the same time they undertook !the distribution all over Europe of the bullion. the diamonds and the .spices which the Portuguese n he new gators brought home from the n Fire Brick, Face Brick, Sewer Pipe, Hollow Tile, Building Materials, Coal and Coke Now located at 14290 MEYERS ROAD Private Exchange Garfield 1175 Plants at Oak Hill, Ohio; Black Fork, Ohio; Wellsville, Mo.; New Florence, Mo.; Mecca, Indiana; - Brazil, Indiana.