Spanish ‘Kill Jews’ village officially changes name

[yankeedoodle]

A car passes by the road sign at the entrance of the small Spanish town of Castrillo Matajudios, which means Castrillo Kill Jews in English, near Burgos on April 21, 2014

Spanish 'Kill Jews' village officially changes name
http://rt.com/news/269284-kill-jews-town-changes-name/?utm_source=browser&utm_medium=aplication_chrome&utm_campaign=chrome

A minuscule Spanish town that for half a millennium bore the name 'Kill Jews' has finally shed the shadow of the inquisition and officially changed its name to the 'Hill of Jews'.

Starting this week, the town of Castrillo Matajudíos, or 'Kill Jews,' will be called Castrillo Mota de Judíos, 'Hill of Jews", after changing its name in the official state bulletin.

The rebranding comes a year after the town of 56 people voted on the title change on the suggestion of the mayor. Mota de Judíos was allegedly the town's original name, a reference to the Jewish pioneers who settled there.

But life for the Jews in the village took turn for the worse when a massacre came to the town's population in 1109. It is believed that the name 'Jew Killer' was first mentioned in 1627, and derives from intense anti-Semitism witnessed during the Spanish Inquisition which lasted roughly between 1478 and 1834.

Some local historians believe that the anti-Semitic name originated earlier, when a 1492 royal order banished Jews from the Spanish lands if they failed to convert to Catholicism. Those who did convert changed the town's name to win the crown's loyalty and demonstrate their allegiance.

Spain just recently granted dual citizenship to those Jewish descendants who can prove that they were persecuted against during the Inquisition more than 500 years ago. Currently no Jews reside in Castrillo Mota de Judíos.

[yankeedoodle]

Spanish police make arrests for antisemitic graffiti at village that was once called "Kill Jews'
Castrillo Mota de Jews, Camp Jews Hill, changed its name in 2015
https://www.thejc.com/news/news/spanish-police-make-arrests-for-antisemitic-graffiti-at-village-that-was-once-called-kill-jews-4JTccUOXJ3jxbFUhu27YMu?reloadTime=1665938889100

Spanish police are reported to have arrested two men and a woman thought responsible for antisemitic vandalism in a village that was once called "Kill Jews".

According to JTA, the suspects are alleged to have defaced the Sephardic memory centre at Castrillo de Mota Judios, "Camp Jews Hill", and the town hall with graffiti such as Juden Raus, "Jews Out" over the past year.

They are also believed to have started fires after the village twinned with an Israeli town last year and to have scrawled graffiti on the walls of a synagogue near Madrid.

In December, the Mayor Lorenzo Rodriguez, called the perpetrators "cowardly, intolerant and ignorant people"."

Nazi paraphernalia was discovered by police during a search of the suspects' homes, JTA reported. The detainees were related to "xenophobic movements with a marked antisemitic discourse", police said.

For almost 400 years, the village was known as Castrillo Matajudios, "Camp Kill Jews", a sinister reminder of Spain's antisemitic past.

But in 2014, the 52 residents voted to revert to its older name - dating from the 11th century when Jews fleeing persecution found refuge there - which became official in 2015.

Some believe the infamous name  "Matajudios" resulted more from a slip of the pen than a conscious decision to evoke the lethal aims of the Inquisition.

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