OCTOBER 5th 2017

The guided visit at the Jewish museum and ghetto in Bologna was useful to better understand the topics explained by professor Mauro Perani during his lesson on October 5th 2017 in Ravenna.

With his help we recalled the ancient history of Jewish people, which is almost three thousand years-old. Jews started settling down in the Palestinian area in 1250 b.C. but they have never had their own state. Over time, this population has been controlled by Assyro-Babylonian, Persians, Greeks and Romans (this submission was often seen as divine punishment). Jews have wandered in search of a land promised to them by God (JHVH).

Over centuries, the Jewish population has been persecuted for different reasons: a religion in which the Messiah is not considered as God or God’s son, but as he who promised independence from Romans. Moreover, the tendency to look for a scapegoat, often in a minority, to blame a society difficulties and disadvantages on.

In Bologna, the guide showed us the Jewish history of the town first. Here they arrived in 1300 A.D. and founded communities guided by a “minian”. They included at least ten males who had their Bar Mitzvah at 13. These communities also had their own cemetery and at least one synagogue, a gathering place of worship.

At first, in Bologna there were no clashes between Christians and Jews, who had an important job: they had to manage the loan shops, which was forbidden to Christians, and were also doctors and artisans.

This coexistence was interrupted by Pope Paolo IV in 1555: a papal bull forced Jews inside ghettos, delimited by gates. In Bologna the ghetto was situated in the city centre, to better control them. That’s why citizens were evicted from their homes, occupied by the Jewish population, who could not own any properties.

Jews had to wear an identification symbol and could only get out of the ghetto during the day. Lastly, in 1593 Jews were kicked out of Bologna and Christians could go back to their homes in the city centre.

The second part of the visit was about the diaspora in Europe, with a distinction between two different Jewish diasporas: the ancient one was a voluntary dispersion all over the world, but the one that started in 70 b.C. was forced by the Roman Empire.

In Europe, the diaspora started with two big groups: the Sephardis, who spoke Ladino, were kicked out of Spain, while the Ashkenazis, who spoke Yiddish, moved from Germany to Poland and Russia, where they formed the middle class. In Turkey, Greece, and Northern Africa, areas dominated by the Ottoman Empire, Jews had freedom of religion and were free to exercise their professions.

In Italy, after 1861, Jews had equal rights as Italians, but the situation changed dramatically with the adoption of racial laws in 1938. From that moment on, Jewish people no longer had any right and started to be persecuted, up until their deportation.

Link: Bologna Jewish Museum