The Jews of San Nicandro / John A. Davis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Davis, John A. (John Anthony)

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Jewish converts from Christianity--Italy--Sannicandro Garganico.

Jewish converts from Christianity.

Jews--Italy--Sannicandro Garganico--History--20th century.

Jews.

Conversion--Judaism--History--20th century.

Conversion.

Sannicandro Garganico (Italy)--Religion.

Sannicandro Garganico (Italy).

Sannicandro Garganico (Italy)--Ethnic relations.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (256 p.)

Place of Publication:

New Haven : Yale University Press, c2010.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Not many people know of the utterly extraordinary events that took place in a humble southern Italian town in the first half of the twentieth century-and those who do have struggled to explain them. In the late 1920's, a crippled shoemaker had a vision where God called upon him to bring the Jewish faith to this "dark corner" in the Catholic heartlands, despite his having had no prior contact with Judaism itself. By 1938, about a dozen families had converted at one of the most troubled times for Italy's Jews. The peasant community came under the watchful eyes of Mussolini's regime and the Catholic Church, but persisted in their new belief, eventually securing approval of their conversion from the rabbinical authorities, and emigrating to the newly founded State of Israel, where a community still exists today. In this first fully documented examination of the San Nicandro story, John A. Davis explains how and why these incredible events unfolded as they did. Using the converts' own accounts and a wide range of hitherto unknown sources, Davis uncovers the everyday trials and tribulations within this community, and shows how they intersected with many key contemporary issues, including national identity and popular devotional cults, Fascist and Catholic persecution, Zionist networks and postwar Jewish refugees, and the mass exodus that would bring the Mediterranean peasant world to an end. Vivid and poignant, this book draws fresh and intriguing links between the astonishing San Nicandro affair and the wider transformation of twentieth-century Europe.

Contents:

Front matter

Contents

Illustrations and Maps

Acknowledgements

Introduction: The Prophet of San Nicandro

1. Manduzio's Story

2. Jewish Encounters

3. The Duce and the Pope

4. The Man from Milan

5. Persecution

6. Falling into the Net

7. A Hero Comes to Visit

8. A Difficult Conversion

9. What Next?

10. After Manduzio

11. The Promised Land

12. The Story's End

Notes

Sources

Index

Notes:

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0-300-16036-4

OCLC:

961583652