The Secret Jews

Book excerpt: After discussing antisemitism in the Iberian peninsula in the medieval period, focusing on the Spanish Inquisition and expulsion, presents information about Converso communities and individuals in the Old and New Worlds. Praises the efforts of Joseph Nasi to protect or avenge persecuted Jews. Deals with complex problems of identity, including those of Uriel Acosta and Spinoza, who did not fit into new Jewish communities. As a rabbi who had been among the first to speak out against the Nazis when living in Berlin and had advocated an immediate mass emigration of Jews, Prinz laments the repeated failure of Jews in history to see the writing on the wall.