The account I propose below is extracted from my book: “THE SACRED MANUSCRIPT”. It seeks to pay tribute to those Jews taken by force to Spain in 1543, this land of fire and blood, even though they had escaped the clutches of the Inquisition. This account is also intended to tell certain Spaniards who practice denial or selective memory that they will never again be able to repeat the crimes of their ancestors. Shame on them. Enough!
In Tlemcen: “They are going to massacre us”
In April 1543, the Spaniards took Oran, then the Zianid sultan of Tlemcen, Abu Abdallah V, betrayed by his advisor Manzor, capitulated and offered up all the Jews of the city as prey. The looting was terrible. “They are going to massacre us!” could be heard everywhere. People prayed, they spoke of their loved ones they hoped to find in the other world. Some chose to kill themselves, without waiting for the sword of the Spanish mercenaries. One saw men in chains, rabbis being led away in long lines of slaves. They were taken back to Spain, where they were forcibly converted, they became Christians, and nothing was ever heard of them again. From then on, only the wind turned the blood-stained pages of sacred books scattered among the ruins.
But a few years later, Tlemcen once again fell under Turkish rule; it was a lesser evil for the Jews who had managed to escape the Spaniards.
Do you realize! Jews who had fled Spain to remain faithful to the Law of Moses and who were caught, a few decades later, by that relentless Spain and forced to convert. All of this is accurate. Even today, some Spanish leaders allow themselves to lecture Jews. This Machiavellian cynicism is unbearable.
Listen to the following, both fictional and cruel, it is in the sacred manuscript:
“One day, Brother Pablo was sent to investigate suspects. ‘During the Jewish Passover,’ Don Tinto, the chief inquisitor, explained to him, ‘the Marranos always betray themselves. They manage to carry out their secret rites throughout the year, but on that day they cannot help but let their guard down. The Melkis are recent converts, those families from Tlemcen who were brought back to Spain about thirty years ago after the city was occupied. We baptized these people for their salvation. They lived like savages over there, and their souls are not easy to cleanse. The devil is certainly still within them.’ Brother Pablo nodded, and Don Tinto watched him leave with satisfaction.
Brother Pablo did not want to denounce them. Arriving at the Marranos’ house, he knocked, and a man in his forties opened the door, his face pale.
‘Do not fear,’ he said, ‘but everyone from Tlemcen is suspicious, they will come to arrest you. One day or another. The stake. It must not happen. I will say nothing, of course, but for the love of God, leave and depart from this cursed country as soon as possible. Watch every word you speak, every gesture you make. Do not make any more mistakes. Don Tinto is formidable.’ Then he stood up and left.
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