Anusim Communities

Throughout United States, the Caribbean, Latin America, Spain, Portugal, and around the world there are individuals with Jewish ancestry. The descendants of Spanish and Portuguese Jewry may number in the tens of millions today. Growing numbers want to explore their Jewish roots and to reclaim their Judaism.

The period of persecution began around the middle of the 1200's and lasted into the end of the 1700s. Jews were forced to adopt the Christian religion under threat of torture and death. After these forced conversions, many were known as "New Christians." Throughout the period they sought many routes towards freedom. Many went to far away communities, first to Portugal. Then the Inquisition laws began there, then to Livorno, Italy, Ibiza, Majorca, and Minorca (where they were called Chuetas), as well as the Canary Islands. Later as the Spanish and Portuguese colonies opened up in the New World, they became the first "explorers" and colonists. Once they reached the relative safety of the New World, many began to openly practice Judaism. As a result, the Spanish and Portuguese authorities created regional Inquisitional tribunals to persecute them. Torture chambers and Inquisitional courts were set up in Lima, Peru, and in Mexico. The accused were brought from all over the colonies, including such far away places as the Philippines. All of the accused were tortured to extract confessions and then burned at the stake.

Large communities of Anusim were established in Mexico, the American Southwest, the Caribbean, including Cuba, Puerto Rico, Dominican Republic, and the West Indies. The five colonies in Central America that later became Honduras, El Salvador, Costa Rica, Guatemala and Panama also had Anusim populations. Other smaller communities were established in Peru, Colombia, Ecuador and Chile.