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.