The Washington herald. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1906-1939, 1915-03-07

1t IL on" OF -hc stranCcst coinci-
denccs in history that on the very day
before Columbus hUleted sail at FalOs
and steered the Santa Maria toward the
were driven out Of the Kingdom. Those
/ who did not perish by The way dis
lrersed over Turkey. Northern Africa
and over France and the Netherlands
| iards still ban the race. While a few
Jews arc suffered to live in the Coun-
! try. no synagogue EYER has been au-
thorizcd ny the Spanish government
A Frenzy of Persecution.
England had anticipated Spain by
two centuries in the expulsion of the
LEWIS from that island. while the spread
OF the crusades had brought upon thu"
race all over Mort bern Europe Il frenzy
of persecution. In their hysteria the
Crusaders were deaf to the counsels o:
christian mercy from the Pop"s and
! prclates % tn" church. ard as they
marched To the rescue of the Holy
SeDulChre they left behind them a red
! trail OF Jewish blood in The valleys of
the Rhine. the Danube and the RhOne.
In all the wars and in all the tumults
OF the Dark Ages and the medieval era
the excited popula"e took vengeance on
these strangers within the Eat". The
Jews We're held to a terrible account
even for n" black plague when it filled
the lands with death. and on tie sus-
riCion Of having poisoned tn" wells
'lH'E were Sidlu IN the thousands
Not a few good Christians had
method in their madness. For a cool
ejaculation often entered into those
binding storms of passion. Jew bait
ing really was for many only brutal
means Of declaring Il moratorium, en-
abling them to throw off with a clear
and righteous conscience their obliga-
tions to Jewish merchants and
Shakespeare's Merchant OF Venice" is
but story of good Christian
trying TO get out of paying Shylock
what is honestly due him
When. in a spirit of persecution. the
voluntary segregation of the race was
seized upon and made compulsory il
became fruitful source of injustice.
Culmina ting IN the Russian Pale of
our day. Everywhere. the ChettOes or
Jcwries were turned into prison stock
AIDES and burdened with unjust taxa
ton and restrictions.
Inc Jews could venture beyond the
prescribed limits only under veXatious
and insulting conditions. In many
places they were forbidden the side
walks in the daytime and were per
mitted to walk only in the middle of
the street. They were required to
uncover their heads to every passer-
by. and Jew. make your bow, =" was
the familiar and peremptory comma nd
forever ringing in their ears. In not
Few communities. notably in the
cities of Frankfort aud Prague. the
rule was NO Jews on a green spot"
Whenever they came to square with
trees or flowers they dared not enter
il, but had TO turn aside.
Polish Esther.
Under the pressure of persecution
the Jews retreatCd eastward and be
gan their migration across the Oder
and the NiStula TO the greatest OF
their present day settlements \ null
titude fled beyond those rivers to es- |
cape the fury aroused by the strife of |
the Christians in the Reformation. a |
fury that attained the climax of its
savagery in the course of the Thirty |
Years War between !6lS and l64S
The dark history of the Polish andf
Russian Jew. however. has a rosy
dawn in a romantic love story 1t is |
the legend OF a later Esther. nearly |
600 years ago. when Casimir the Great |
was taken captive by the beauty of |
a JeweSs. who unlocked the heart of |
that King of Poland and opened it to |
her wandering people The ghetto OF |
Cracow today. the kazmierz bears
the name Of the King who offered his
as a refuge for the oppress-
ed race, and there the Jews dwell, al /