By Daniel Nardini
We all know the year 1492 was the year that Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain to the Americas. Less known is the fact that the Spanish Crown expelled all of the Jews from Spain in the same year. Ninety percent of all the Spanish Jews (also called the Sephardic Jews) went to the Turkish Empire. The Turkish Empire greatly benefited from the influx of the Spanish Jews—Turkey became one of the greatest empires for the next 200 years in part because of the wealth and knowledge of the Spanish Jews. From 1492 until now, the Spanish Jews were never allowed to return. This has changed. The Spanish government has announced that the descendents of the Sephardic Jews who were expelled will now not only be allowed to return but also be given automatic Spanish citizenship and Spanish passports.
What this means is that they can now only be Spanish citizens again but also be allowed to live in Spain if they so choose, own land, work legally in Spain, and receive legal protection under Spanish law. Of course, one might ask how after over 500 years can someone prove that they are among the original descendents of those 300,000 Spanish Jews who were expelled in 1492? Good question, and it will not be an easy thing to do. A lot of the records from that period in Spain have not survived. However, a lot of Sephardic Jewish families have left family records of their ancestors that easily go back 500 years, and even further to as far as Roman times. Just as equally important is the fact that Turkey has the records of those Sephardic Jews who fled to the Turkish Empire and thus their link to Spain can be proven.
One could ask why of all times is the Spanish government trying to right a long held historic injustice now? Part of the answer lies with the fact that Spain’s economy is in bad shape, and this might be one way to bring in some capital. Of course, this process is selective. Spain is certainly not inviting the descendents of all those Muslims who were also expelled from Spain in 1492 back (probably because there are far, far more of them than the Jews). Nevertheless, it is an important step in trying to rectify an historical injustice committed against the Jews who might have greatly contributed to Spain had they not been expelled.
Righting an Historic Injustice
By Daniel Nardini
We all know the year 1492 was the year that Christopher Columbus sailed from Spain to the Americas. Less known is the fact that the Spanish Crown expelled all of the Jews from Spain in the same year. Ninety percent of all the Spanish Jews (also called the Sephardic Jews) went to the Turkish Empire. The Turkish Empire greatly benefited from the influx of the Spanish Jews—Turkey became one of the greatest empires for the next 200 years in part because of the wealth and knowledge of the Spanish Jews. From 1492 until now, the Spanish Jews were never allowed to return. This has changed. The Spanish government has announced that the descendents of the Sephardic Jews who were expelled will now not only be allowed to return but also be given automatic Spanish citizenship and Spanish passports.
What this means is that they can now only be Spanish citizens again but also be allowed to live in Spain if they so choose, own land, work legally in Spain, and receive legal protection under Spanish law. Of course, one might ask how after over 500 years can someone prove that they are among the original descendents of those 300,000 Spanish Jews who were expelled in 1492? Good question, and it will not be an easy thing to do. A lot of the records from that period in Spain have not survived. However, a lot of Sephardic Jewish families have left family records of their ancestors that easily go back 500 years, and even further to as far as Roman times. Just as equally important is the fact that Turkey has the records of those Sephardic Jews who fled to the Turkish Empire and thus their link to Spain can be proven.
One could ask why of all times is the Spanish government trying to right a long held historic injustice now? Part of the answer lies with the fact that Spain’s economy is in bad shape, and this might be one way to bring in some capital. Of course, this process is selective. Spain is certainly not inviting the descendents of all those Muslims who were also expelled from Spain in 1492 back (probably because there are far, far more of them than the Jews). Nevertheless, it is an important step in trying to rectify an historical injustice committed against the Jews who might have greatly contributed to Spain had they not been expelled.