Nightmares of the Holocaust–Memories of the Inquisition

–What’s the difference–


Everybody knows what “holocaust” is but no one knows what an “Inquisition” is.
Of course, I’m generalizing a bit. In a nutshell, an Inquisition is a type of holocaust such as the one Spain perpetrated on Jews a few hundred years ago. An Inquisition is also a holocaust that Mexico followed up on after that Jews fled from Spain and Portugal to Mexico.

On April 19th all Jews and Zionists will celebrate Memorial Day, remembering the horrific tragedy of Hitler’s Holocaust. Then the 20th, we will celebrate Israel’s Independence Day.

With profound respect and heaviness of heart I want to say that while I was a young boy, I remember the horrific travesties of the Holocaust that took place during World War II. Some of my extended family members fought in this gruesome war. But what lies even more heavily in my soul is the fact that we’ve either forgotten–or we never knew about an earlier Holocaust that affected tens of thousands of our Spanish forefathers that fled the literal flames of the Inquisition in Spain and then Portugal and then Mexico and other nations in Latin America.

My point is this: there is no difference between a people that suffered at the hand of their perpetrators one year ago as opposed to one decade ago. Pain and suffering was present in both cases. The presence of such trauma did not go away–it remains there as a memorial.

A people that suffered in Hitler’s Holocaust 50 years ago is no less and no more than the people that suffered in the Spanish Inquisition 500 years ago. Hitler’s fiery ovens were no more and no less than the burnings at the stake of the Inquisitions. The confiscation of goods and property were the same in both cases. The raping of women and girls and even young boys were the same. The kidnappings of their children were no different–a kidnapped child is the same whether it was 50 years ago or 500 years ago. The collective unconscious in both cases is quite similar if not the same. The outcry of the human soul is the same. The demand for justice is exactly the same.

Hitler used Ghettos and Spain used Barrios to hold the Jews under siege. Hitler enforced their wearing a Star of David to distinguish them from all others. Spain used the San Benito which was the vesture filled with insane emblems to demonstrate who was a Spanish (Sephardic) Jew.

It is nothing short of a miracle we have children of the Holocaust survivors today. It is just as much a miracle, and more so, that we have survivors of the Inquisitions that besieged Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Peru, Columbia, Venezuela, Puerto Rico, Cuba and most Latin American nations including the State of New Mexico in the United States of America.

I wish to God that someone would build a museum of all the atrocities caused upon the Jews of Spain–the Sephardim, the Anusim. There is a major museum of the Holocaust in Jerusalem. In fact, there are more than 20 small and large museums in foreign countries and at least two others in Israel. In our nation there are approximately 25 such museums, the largest one being in Washington, DC. But they have little if any information about the Spanish Inquisition with its tentacles in Iberia and throughout Latin America, and as stated previously also in New Mexico.

I happen to have two dear colleagues that deals with the Holocaust survivors in Israel. I personally know a couple of Jewish individuals who are children of Holocaust survivors. I’m glad to report that despite their parent’s traumas, they have managed to grow up and make something very special of themselves. But as a mental health professional, I do not need a Sherlock Holmes magnifying glass to detect the effects of their parent’s trauma.

On the other hand, I happen to know hundreds and thousands of descendants of the survivors of one or more Inquisitions but their stories are not known. In many cases, they are seen with suspicion and cynicism when they tell a small portion of their forefathers’ plight. I am however glad to report that the extended Jewish family is slowly coming around to believe their reports as they become knowledgeable of what actually took place in their histories. But something of a miraculous dimension needs to take place in the halls of the Israeli government in order that these Sephardic Anusim souls are reckoned with in a just and merciful manner.

I am not advocating that any system become gullible to believe anything without proper evidence or due process. But I am declaring that it is high-time that new case law begins to be written along with new policies and procedures that can best deal with such cases. After all, God has given us an amazing tool that is called the brain in order to accurately process intelligence in a wise and prudent manner. But this is going to demand a major amount of change. This means that those that are in positions of power will need to get out of their presumptive boxes in order to hear, see and perceive what is taking place all across the Americas including Iberia and other foreign nations where there are yet Sephardic Jews in virtual hiding.

It is time for the secular as well as the religious Jews to come together in order to create new pathways that begin to open up, perhaps, small gateways for bona fide cases of Sephardic Anusim. It is time that Israeli politics and religious extremism be put on the shelf until this issue of the awakening of the sleeping giant of Sephardic-Anusim is compatibly dealt with.

In closing, I am convinced we need each other. Sephardic Anusim needs to reconnect with the people as well as the land of their Jewish forefathers. But on the other hand, I’m convinced that Israel needs to stretch out her arms to embrace their “orphaned” brothers and sisters as they cry out for a little help. Frankly, I shall go out on the limb to declare something very dear to my own heart.

Israel needs the Sephardic Anusim more than the Anusim needs Israel. Most all of the Sephardic Anusim in America that I know, that are longing to make Aliyah are quite resourceful, industrious, loyal and committed Zionists. They may not know half as much about the rudiments and the thousands of years of the Jewish experience. They may not even know what terms such as “halacha” means neither by definition nor by religious expression, but one thing I do know–they are very teachable. They are pliable and changeable.

The first Prime Minister of Israel, David Ben Gurion stated that if anyone wants to be a Jew, let him. I am sure he wasn’t referring to “come one, come all.” But I am convinced, after studying his memoirs in the Ben Gurion Heritage Institute in the Negev one summer, I discovered that Ben Gurion knew Israel would need my people, the Sephardic Anusim for such a time as this. I have read many of his speeches and public statements and I happen to know that Ben Gurion was a strong believer in the Prophets of the Bible, the Tanakh. His young assistant was once asked by a journalist if Ben Gurion ever sought advice from other; and the young aide said: “Yes, only after he has sought the Prophets.”

I therefore, appeal to the “powers that be” in Israel and the Jewish leaders throughout the globe to take a second and more cautious look at what the holy Prophets have to say about the people I am here advocating for. And…and, I’m also appealing to nuestra gente (our people) to learn to love one another, to bear one another’s differences, to unite under a common-cause banner and to never forget the past of our forefathers’ history lest it repeats itself in our day.

Shalom!

Dell F. Sanchez

PS, what you have just read is a statement which I make in my new book that’s about to be published this summer. In it I deal with the hard facts and evidences of Sephardic Anusim roots among many Hispanic/Latinos. I refer to DNA, material evidences, onomastics, history and oral histories. If you're interested in my coming your way to give a lecture or set of seminars, contact me at: negevdell@hotmail.com