The Mezuzah in the Madonna's Foot: Marranos and Other Secret Jews--a Woman Discovers Her Spiritual Heritage

Plot

From the Publisher
Named among the "Best Reading of 1993" by the Progressive, this thrilling account offers an insider's history of the Marranos of Spain and other secret Jews and explains the mystery surrounding them.

During World War II Spain gave safety to nearly one million Jews. Franco, the Fascist dictator, gave the order to the Spanish diplomatic corps, "Bring our Jews home." As a result Jews, stateless for lack of papers, who could not speak a word of Ladino, were given transit visas to Spain until the Nazi's stopped honoring papers of any kind. Then the boarder guards simply looked the other way when Jews ran their border crossings.

Today, there is still a Marano community in the Catholic church. These are the descendants of "conversos," Jews forced into baptism by Ferdinand and Isabella's zeal to unite Spain, who have retained a jewish identity.

This introspective on one young Jewish girl who survived the holocaust is well worth the reading. It is positive, even inspirational and always interesting.