Spain Grants Citizenship To Descendants Of Jews That Were Expelled From Country More Than 500 Years Ago
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A special day of remediation was held between a group of Jewish men and women and the Spanish government to help right a wrong from more than 500 years ago and erase a painful piece of history.
The extraordinary ceremony was held at the Office of the Consul General of Spain in Midtown. Twenty-three Sephardic Jews prepared to regain a piece of their past and a piece of themselves after Spanish citizenship was taken from their forefathers centuries ago.
"Words cannot convey the emotions that this really generates," Robert Zara of Bronxville said.
Back in 1492 in the era of Inquisition, thousands of Sephardic Jews were expelled from Spain by order of King Ferdinand and Queen Isabella after refusing to convert to Catholicism. It is known as the Edict of Expulsion and referred to some as one of the darkest chapters in Spain's history.
Juan Jose Herrera is Spain's Consul for Cultural Affairs.
"I think that we are fixing a serious, unfair and dark injustice that was committed," he told CBS2's Scott Rapoport.
The people at the ceremony were some of the descendants of expelled Jews.
On Tuesday, by order of Spanish King Felipe VI, the Spanish government, and in accordance with a law passed in Spanish parliament last year, these relatives are now citizens of Spain as well as citizens of the United States.
It's a restoration of their ancestral legacy after more than five centuries. For many, it was a moment they never thought they would see.
"It's tremendous. And I'm very happy and proud to be a Spanish citizen," Zara said. "It's basically the closure, the remediation of an injustice that was done 500 years ago."
CBS2 is told there are more than 4,000 Sephardic Jews who have applied for renewed citizenship.
