14 January 3 • 2019
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a Jewish name that means “son of
Jacob.”
Still more surprises were to come.
An ancestry and genealogy enthusiast
posted a Y-DNA family tree on an
internet forum titled “The Levites
of Europe” (a Levite is a descendant
of Levi). Larcinese’
s ancestors were
grouped in the family tree.
During his last trip to Italy in
the spring, Larcinese brought
along 18 DNA kits to test people in
Gessopalena.
“When the results came in, I post-
ed them on the internet. The group
administrators came back and said,
‘
These guys are all Jewish,’
” Larcinese
says. “These 18 names parallel 18
names found in a Roman Jewish
ghetto.”
There is a long history of Jews
living in the region though the past
is not entirely understood. About 4
miles from Gessopalena is a town
called Roccascalegna, home to a
13th-century castle built by the
Lombards, a Germanic kingdom. By
the 14th century, they lost control of
the castle, and part of the structure
was rebuilt. During reconstruction,
the gate tower was built with two
stones depicting very rustic meno-
rahs. Larcinese calls this the “mystery
of Roccascalegna” because their ori-
gin cannot be fully explained.
“Fifteen miles from this town was
a Jewish ghetto populated by tax
collectors and money lenders. My

goal is to find these families
because I know they’
re still
there, and do a Y-DNA test
on them,” Larcinese says.
“Where is the synagogue?
Where did they worship?
That’
s our next step.”
Debra Katz, a Jewish
genealogy expert from
Pacific Beach, Calif., has
two decades of experience
with genetic genealogical
research and has
corre-
sponded with Larcinese
regarding his projects. Katz
isn’
t surprised by his find-
ings.
“Not only have there been Jews in
Italy since pre-Christian times, but
there was an especially substantial
flow from ancient Judea to Italy
during the early centuries [common
era],” Katz says.
It is not uncommon for Jews to
find their lineage traces back to Italy,
she says. “This is because the his-
torical flow of most Jews was from
Judea to Spain and Italy, up to pres-
ent-day Germany. Then, in the 15th
and 16th centuries, following waves
of Germanic anti-Semitism, a flow
eastward into the Polish-Lithuanian
commonwealth, which welcomed
them at the time,” Katz says.
Katz used her father’
s DNA to
track her lineage and found she had
ancestors living in Italy in the mid-
1600s.
Larcinese doesn’
t shy away from
where his research leads him.
“I embrace anything that comes my
way. A lot of people do, and I’
m find-
ing that out right now. I’
m talking
with some Americans who have
ancestry in Gessopalena and they’
re
excited as well,” Larcinese says.
He even purchased land in
Gessopalena where his family lived
and kept orchards of olive trees.
During his next trip, he plans on
researching the area.
“I own some of the old ruins
and homes that my family built,”
Larcinese says. “They are marked by
the patina of a bygone era.” ■

continued from page 12

jews d
in
the

Larcinese purchased the land

where his Jewish ancestors

kept olive tree orchards.