48 Friday, December 30, 1983
THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Romantic Decade of Portuguese Marrano Renaissance
By ELAINE and
ROBERT ROSENTHAL
WASHINGTON — The
most romantic period in
modern Jewish history —
the short-lived Marrano
Renaissance in the 1920s
and 1930s — has been all
but forgotten. The rise of
Nazism, World War II, the
Holocaust and the state of
Israel now dominate the
minds and resources of con-
temporary Jewry.
Yet, for a little over a de-
cade, from 1926 to 1938, the
discovery of the existence of
"secret Jews," or Marranos,
in northern Portugal
aroused the imagination of
world Jewry and produced a
brief euphoria never before
or since experienced.
The story of the Marranos
begins with the Spanish In-
quisition. In 1492 the Jews
of Spain were given the
choice of converting to
Catholicism or leaving.
Thousands chose to leave,
the largest single group,
about 100,000, crossed the
border into relatively
tolerant Portugal. The
great majority settled in the
isolated northern provinces.
The status of. Portug-
al's Jews was also im-
periled a few years later
when King Manuel I de-
cided to follow the
Spanish example and
proceeded to convert his
Jews to Catholicism, for-
cibly when necessary.
The prominence and eco-
nomic success of the "con-
versos" or "New Christians"
produced envy, and in some
cases, their continued
adherence to their Jewish
past aroused distrust. Fi-
nally, in 1547 the dreaded
Inquisition which had been
functioning in Spain for
several decades was estab-
lished.
The Inquisition apt.ar
ently did its job well. By the
end of the 18th Century
"Secret Judaism" was con-
sidered to have ended in the
Iberian Peninsula.
Indeed, in the early 19th
Century Portugal found it
necessary to import Jews to
CAPT. BASTO
improve the country's eco-
nomic decline. Jewish mer-
chants living in British
Gibraltar were encouraged
to enter business in Lisbon.
Later, Jews from North Af-
rica also settled in Portugal.
However, it was not
until 1902 that the Lisbon
community built a
synagogue, Shaare Tik-
vah (Gates of Hope), then
and now Portugal's only
active synagogue.
A few years before and
after the synagogue was
dedicated, events occurred
which were to dispel the se-
renity of the Lisbon com-
munity. In 1897 Barros
Basto, a young lad of 10, a
member of a prosperous
Catholic family, was told by
his "New Christian"
grandfather, "We are
Jews."
Barros Basto was born in
Amarante, a small to wn
near Oporto, in northern
Portugal. His parents sepa-
rated when he was young
and he lived with his devout
"Old Christian" mother in
Oporto. But his summers
were spent with his "New
Christian" father's family
in Amarante in contact with
many "New Christians," all
openly Catholic, but pri-
vately, and largely- in their
memories, Jewish.
For generations, together
with their adherence to
Catholicism, they had
maintained Jewish rites,
always in secret from their
"Old Christian" neighbors.
Shown is the Kadoorie synagogue women's gal-
lery and, at left, the unusual azulejo tiled bima.
Unlike his grandfather and
the other Marranos, young
Basto had a deep curiosity
about his Jewish roots.
After experiencing the
typical education of
Catholic children of the
middle class, Basto
sought a career in the
army, becoming a profes-
sional soldier. However,
his interest in Judaism
remained strong. This, in
part, motivated him to
become a leader in the
overthrow of the monar-
chy under which
Catholicism had been the
state religion, and to be-
come a founder of the
1910 Republic in which
freedom of all religious
worship was guaranteed.
During the war of 1914-
1918 Basto served with the
Portuguese Expeditionary
Army, was decorated by
both Great Britain and Por-
tugal for his valor, and was
promoted to the rank of cap-
tain.
After the death of his
mother in 1918, Capt. Basto
decided to take the secretly
long-desired step of convert-
ing to the religion of his an-
cestors. He went to. Lisbon
where Portugal's only rabbi
was located. After a Sab-
bath service he met with the
rabbi and the elders of the
synagogue, told them of his
background, and sought
conversion to Judaism. But
the timorous leaders who
still considered themselves
citizens by suffrage refused
his request.
Basto was not so easily
discouraged. He devoted
himself to the study of He-
brew and Jewish ritual, and
after he mastered both,
applied for conversion to the
Chief Rabbi in Spanish
Morocco. The circumcision
and conversion took place in
Tangiers in 1920 when he
was 33.
The captain returned
to Lisbon, resumed his
military career, courted
and subsequently mar-
ried Leak Levy Azancot,
a member of a prominent
family of the community.
Thereafter, he was, ap-
pointed director of mili-
tary prisons in Oporto
where he organized a
Jewish congregation,
Mekor Haim, composed
of 17 families of emi-
grants from Poland and
Germany. Here he was
described by a contem-
porary as "President, Ka-
zan, treasurer, secretary,
and general fairy god-
mother."
Around the time that
Capt. Basto was seeking to
convert to Judaism, M.
Samuel Schwarz, a mining
engineer from Poland, and a
devout Jew, settled in Lis-
bon and became an active
member of its Jewish com-
munity. In 1917, while on a
mining expedition near.
Belmonte, an isolated hill
town in northern Portugal,
a local merchant warned
him against buying
supplies from a business
competitor.
"It is enough for me to tell
you," he cautioned him,
"that the man is judeu — a
Jew." Schwarz, himself a
victim of such discrimina-
tion throughout his life, was
stunned. He, of course,
sought out the man and
through him gained access
to Marranos long thought to
have disappeared.
For
several
years
Schwarz studied the Mar-
rano communities. In all
ways they observed the
practices of formal Catholi-
cism. But, side by side with
their Catholicism, they
maintained secret Jewish
traditions among them-
selves, in most cases not
knowing why.
Schwarz published his
findings and urged that
the Lisbon community
take steps to bring back
the Marranos to
mainstream Judaism.
The Lisbon community
revealed Schwarz's find-
ings to the Anglo-Jewish
press who received the
revelations with high
enthusiasm. A study
group was sponsored by
Sephardic English Jews
to explore the pos-
sibilities.
After several weeks of
visiting Marrano com-
munities the conclusions
reached were that as many
as 10,000 families of Mar-
ranos still existed, and that
world Jewry had a mission
to bring them back to
Judaism. It was further
recommended that the
"Jewish Mission" be located
in Oporto, and that the task
be assigned to Capt. Barros
Basto, "the one Marrano
who in the last 150 years
publicly converted to
Judaism, and who knew and
understood the Marrano
psychology better than any
other Portuguese."
Basto, with foreign finan-
cial support, began his mis-
sionary forays in 1926 into
the isolated Marrano cen-
ters where, through his urg-
ings, scores of Marranos ac-
cepted Judaism. At the
height of his activity Basto
was in touch with 34 Mar-
rano centers.
Baron Edmond de
Rothschild of Paris donated
money for Basto to buy a
lot on the outskirts of
Oporto to build a grand
synagogue to accommodate
the several hundred Mar-
ranos expected to return to
Judaism. The cornerstone
was laid in 1929, but the
congregation soon ran out of
construction money.
In Braganza, a moun-
tain town near the
Spanish border, a
synagogue was estab-
lished and a rabbi was
hired from money
supplied by the Central
Conference of American
Rabbis from funds estab-
lished by the late Lucius
The exterior of the Kadoorie synagogue.
N. Littauer. In 1929, Basto
received funds to estab-
lish a yeshiva in Oporto
which in a period of nine
years educated 90 young
Marrano men in the ele-
ments of Judaism.
In 1933, Elly Kadoorie of
Hong Kong and Shanghai, a
member of a family which
because of its great wealth
is known as "the
Rothschilds of the East,"
came to Oporto to see for
himself the events de-
scribed in the Jewish press.
Kadoorie was so impressed
that he agreed to under-
write the cost of completing
the Oporto synagogue.
The dedication of the
synagogue for 1938 was the
high point of the Marrano
Renaissance. Jewish dig-
nitaries from around the
world were among the 300
people who filled the
sanctuary for the impres-
sive ceremony. But only a
few Marranos were in
attendance. Thereafter,
only on rare occasions
would the monumental
synagogue even be able to
obtain a minyan.
The statement is often
made that the Marrano Re-
naissance ended almost as
soon as it began. In actual
fact, there had never been a
viable Marrano Renais-
sance. A year after it offi-
cially began, in 1926 the re-
public was overthrown by
the military and Antonio
de Oliveira Salazar was in-
stalled as the country's dic-
tator. Under Salazar, Basto,
a Jewish army officer, a re-
publican, and a political lib-
eral, was viewed with dis-
favor. The practical Mar-
rano population, for the
most part, instinctively
knew that in such a political
climate their secret way
was the only way and
avoided Capt. Basto's fer-
vor.
The backlash from the
local Catholics began
from the start. Catholic
priests delivered ser-
mons against Basto's at-
tempt to capture Catholic
souls; Marranos who
converted were shunned
and could not obtain
work; the Portuguese
press made no secret of
its disapproval; many of
the former yeshiva stu-
dents married Catholic
women; and some of the
more dedicated students
were political liberals
and migrated to Brazil to
escape Salazar.
In 1937 an event occurred
which should have alerted
world Jewry to the realities.
Through the urging§ of the
powerful Catholic laity
Basto was court-martialed
on the basis of unproven al-
legations that the Oporto
yeshiva harbored homosex-
uals. Basto was found guilty
by a military court of im-
morality charges, dismissed
from the army and the
yeshiva was ordered closed..
Basto's trial, reminiscent of
the Dreyfus trial, went ap-
parently unnoticed by world
Jewry.
Basto's, activities, after
1937, were restricted to the
dwindling Jewish commu-
nity. Until his death in 1961
he continued to sing the
Shema, most times alone, in
the Kadoorie synagogue.
The state of Israel offered to
bury him in an honored
place among the greats of
the Diaspora, but Basto re-
mained ever the Marrano.
He willed to be buried in his
uniform in the public
cemetery in Amarante near
his beloved grandfather and
other Marranos.
* * *
To attempt to fill in the
gaps in the chronicle of this
almost forgotten footnote to
the history of Jews in the
Diaspora, we decided to
visit Portugal. In its capital,
Lisbon, live its few remain-
ing Jews. The community
consists of only 130 families
and 300 members. Over half
of the Jewish population is
over 60 years old. Add to
this high emigration and in-
- termarriage, and the uncer-
tain survival of the Jewish
community in Portugal is
apparent.
Except for additional
seats and a second bal-
cony which were added
in 1948-1949 to accom-
modate the influx of ref-
ugees who passed
through Portugal after
World War II, the Lisbon
synagogue has changed
little since Barros Basto
sought conversion.
Rabbi Abraham Assor
has been with the
synagogue since 1942 and
is the chief, and only
rabbi, in Portugal.
The synagogue is proud of
its president, Dr. Ruah, the
mohel and a distinguished
surgeon, and its 14 other
medical doctors. The only
Jewish lawyer in Portugal,
Dr. Max Azancot, is among
its members.
We were excited to learn
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