eSefarad Noticias del Mundo Sefaradi
Today is the day that I had prepared for such a long time.The day that had kept me awake for many nights and the day that I would finally be able to recuperate a small piece of the Jewish History of one tiny village nestled in the enclave of the mountains overlooking the Duero River that separates Spain from Portugal. The Village of Fermoselle . Cradle of my Ancestors. For 550 years my family had lived there before emigrating to other parts of the world. First as Jews, then as Crypto Jews and finally for hundreds of years, as Roman Catholics.
For reasons we will never know for sure, I was chosen to be the descendent that returned to the traditions of the Fathers and made my way back again and again to the Village to uncover its’ Jewish Past. I had come here several times , to this Northwestern corner of Spain, in search of those roots and had walked its’ hauntingly familiar streets many times. On each and every occasion, the walls had spoken to me, quietly whispering and giving up its secrets one by one.
Slowly and through the years , I had found that my full maternal lineage was historically rich and deeply rooted in the history of this village. I had uncovered the occupations of my ancestors, their marriages, their last wills and testaments , the sales of their lands and properties and most importantly, I had unearthed their Judgments before the Catholic Kings from the 1400‘s in the form of Inquisition Documents because they had had the audacity to practice their Judaism and later the gravest of sins; they practiced in secret. For this, they had been tortured, hung and burned. I would never be able to bring them back , and I can only pray that they are watching me from afar today as I come to this village and pay tribute to them in a public way . Today is the day, that the walls will speak.
The mayor of Fermoselle, Don Alejandro Fermoselle Berdion had worked closely with us for many months to make certain that this event would be carried out flawlessly, and I take my hat off to him for venturing into these deep waters of the lost Juderias that so many others in Spainwill not acknowledge even to this day .I had gathered an important group of historians to share the day with me and together with Professors Anun Barriuso and Jose Manuel Laureiro from Madrid as well as Professor Jesus Jambrina from Veterbo University and myself from Tarbut Sefarad in Fermoselle, we planned an event at Casa Parque in Fermoselle , housed in an ancient monastery that is now a museum.
In this , the most perfect of surroundings ,with its’ stone walls, high slivers of windows, Roman Estellas and intricate stone carvings, we came , abound with historical documentation hoping to have an important turnout to our presentation. This would be a presentation that would fascinate many, surprise others and still, we hoped it would not be one that would be denied by some. We had no idea what would happen today, but it was the fervent wish and dream of all of us that had worked so hard , that the evidence we were presenting would be accepted and that it would be the beginning of ongoing investigations that could eventually put Fermoselle on the map as part of the Red of Juderias in Spain, a government organization that is dedicated to bring back the lost Juderias and Aljamas of Villages and cities throughout Spain.
We arrived early, all of us anxious and not knowing what to expect and as usual, my husband Michael , with only words of encouragement for this group of historians and researchers that had assembled today to shed light on the past of 550 years ago. As we set up our presentations, we could not believe the amount of people that were pouring into the building. There were hundreds of people milling about and hurrying to secure their seats. People presented themselves to me and after a while it became a sea of faces. Some had come from Madrid , others had made their way to Spain after driving many hours from Lisbon, from Oporto, and from Mogadouro. I met cousins from my family tree that I had never met before that live in Portugal. I had cousins that came from Oviedo and there were Professors, Heads of Cultural Agencies in Spain and most important of all, the residents of Fermoselle themselves had assembled to hear about their past history.
We began with some words of appreciation from the Mayor and then I followed by reading a poem written by my grandmother almost 50 years ago called “ A Fermoselle” where ironically enough, she had made several references to the secrets hidden in the walls of the Village and its’ many arches. She expressed a longing to hear the secrets being revealed. We were doing just that on this special day. Professor Jesus Jambrina delighted us with a 10 minute trailer of a longer documentary about Zamora Sefardi . Within a backdrop of splashes of lively Sephardic Music, Prof. Jambrina gave some historical facts about the Importance of the Jewish Community in the Zamoran region of Spain, of which Fermoselle is a part, and which is only now surfacing via our collective efforts. This was followed by a presentation from Professors Barriuso and Laureiro who explained the origins of the Jews in Spain and also presented the audience with the images of what we have been able to determine is the possible site of two synagogues, more than one mikveh, and a myriad of etchings and rock carvings that were known in other nearby villages to have been from the Crypto Jews.
I followed with the proof positive of my family tree and its roots deep in the Village and the Inquisition processes that showed my family from this Village to have lived, practiced their Judaism and died there. Physically seeing my direct maternal tree which is now over 15 feet long, led to a collective gasp from the audience.
Even after all of this, the best was yet to come. The Mayor stood up and we all stood up with him as he proclaimed to be making an Official Act and handed me the Symbolic Key to the Jewish Quarter of The village along with a Pergamino to serve as a Document of Historical Memory being given to a descendent of the Jews that had lived in this town of Fermoselle. The delight in the room was palpable. The clapping and roaring was overwhelming . This historical act, which Don Alejandro Fermoselle had accomplished today is a large step towards the recuperation in Spain of our lost memories.
In history this is only the second time that a Mayor in Spain has given a Symbolic Key to a descendent of the Spanish Jews.
I am so proud to be that Spanish Jew that has recuperated today that one day that was lost to our history.
We ended an amazing day with Sephardic Music being played by Jambrina and Madrid from Zamora who so graciously gave of their time and energy while the crowd milled around and tasted olives and cheeses made in Fermoselle.
With the deepest gratitude to the Mayor, Olga Gonzalez and Julia Sendin from Casa Parque in Fermoselle , Professors Anun Barriuso, Jose Manuel Laureiro, Professor Jesus Jambrina and my husband Michael Milgrom for making this event possible .
Genie Milgrom is the author of My 15 Grandmothers as well as a researcher of ancient juderias and inscriptions. As President of the Jewish Genealogical Society of Greater Miami as well as President of Tarbut Sefarad in Fermoselle, she spreads her knowledge through the world and encourages others to do the same. She can be contacted at Spanishancestry@aol.com and you can see her website at www.geniemilgrom.com
