The Sephardi Perspective: The irony of Spain's Holocaust record

Up until the Shoa, the largest destruction in the history of world Jewry happened on the Iberian Peninsular. The Inquisition and the Expulsion of Jews in Portugal and Spain left an indelible mark on Jews up until this very day. At the beginning of the 15th century, not a single Jew officially resided in Sepharad. Where once nearly 90% of world Jewry lived, not one openly Jewish soul remained.

This devastating period affects current world Jewry and Judaism more than we think and some have suggested that its effects rival even the Shoa for its after-currents. There was even a ban on visiting Spain for 500 years which was only revoked after King Juan Carlos apologized for his nations past conduct towards the Jews.

While Spain was remembered very bitterly for many generations it became an unlikely haven for Jews escaping the Nazi destruction.

In June 1940, Spain adopted a pro-Axis non-belligerency stance (for example, he offered Spanish naval facilities to German ships). Adolf Hitler met Generalisimo Francisco Franco in Hendaye, France in October of that year to discuss the Spanish entry in the war joining the Axis.

Spain had very little to offer the Nazis apart from access to their mines which had become a source of disagreement. Spain had made many demands of Germany which seemed unreasonable to the Nazis, so the two became 'allies' in little more than name only.

However, a volunteer unit, named Division Azul (blue division), was assembled to fight with the Nazis on the eastern front against the Soviets. Franco gave clear instruction that this unit was only to fight against the hated communists and not against the Western Allies. Franco, like Mussolini, shared a similar love of fascism and hatred of communism as did Hitler, but little else.

Franco certainly did not share Hitler's pathological hatred for Jews and his desire to rid Europe of them.

The remarkable story of Spain becoming a safe haven for Jews in Europe quickly spread to the surrounding countries. Between 20,000 and 35,000 Jews made the arduous trip across the Pyrenees to Spain where they remained relatively unharmed by the local authorities.

When the Nazis became aware of this situation, they contacted the Franco government to assist in deporting these Jews back to the European interior. Franco did little to nothing to accede to these requests.

The assistance provided by Spanish officials was even greater than turning a blind eye to Jews who illegally entered Spain, especially in lieu of the still existing Edict of Expulsion.

Many diplomats issued passports and exit visas to Jews under the very noses of the Nazis. Earlier this year, Eduardo Propper de Callejon, Helena Bonham Carter's grandfather, was posthumously awarded the title "Righteous Among the Nations," the highest honor granted to non-Jews who risked their lives to save Jews during the Shoa.

Angel Sanz Briz, a Spanish diplomat in Budapest, managed to receive permission to supply travel documents to "Spanish" Jews. Sanz Briz wandered through the ghettos of Hungary looking for Sephardi Jews who he could claim were Spanish citizens and rescue them from under the noses of Adolph Eichmann.

"I restricted myself to accomplish the orders of my Government and of Gen. Franco" declared Sanz Briz 30 years ago.

There are those who feel that Franco assisted Jews during the Shoa because of financial benefit. The verdict of three historians, Antonio Marquina and Gloria Ospina, and Bernd Rother that have undertaken the most detailed research on the topic was that Franco was more objectionist than has been made out and much of his decision-making was purely to make a profit.

According to Jose Maria Doussinague, then general director for foreign policy and as such one of the highest-ranked officials in the Spanish Ministry for Foreign Affairs, the regime could not leave Spanish Jews abroad at the mercy of Germany's anti-semitic legislation because the Allies, in particular the US, would then become more hostile to the Spanish government and because the regime had to make sure that Spain, not Germany was to profit from the assets of Spanish Jews.

There is however another tantalizing opinion, or merely a rumor, which will probably never be proven one way or another. This is that Franco was a Marrano or Converso, and was thus the descendant of Jews forcibly converted to Christianity during the 14th and 15th centuries.

Some speculate that even Franco thought he was Jewish and many claim that Franco and Bahamonde (his mother's maiden name) are both Jewish names. This theory is espoused by Franco biographer, Paul Preston.

Could it be that as a result of the then worst calamity to befall the Jewish people since the fall of the Second Temple made it possible for tens of thousands of Jews to survive the most recent calamity? This is one answer we will probably never receive but one which has an interesting irony in the annals of Jewish history and persecution