The same week that Columbus sailed west in 1492, the last Jews of Spain were being expelled. Even though they had lived there for a thousand years, religious intolerance threw them out. Where did they go? Who took them in? The answer will surprise you: while most found refuge in Portugal (briefly), Antwerp and in Amsterdam, and then in the western hemisphere, most of these Spanish Jews, or the Sephardim, settled in lands ruled by the Ottoman sultans. Around 180,000 lived in the Balkans, and they lived alongside their Christian and Muslim neighbors. Until 1941 and 1942, when the Germans invaded the region and--with some local collaborators--murdered most of them. But then came the 500th anniversary of the expulsion in 1992, and the very last of the Sephardic Jews in the embattled, war torn city of Sarajevo said: We remember what intolerance did to us. We know what hate does. It is not our way. We travel another path.
El Otro Camino: 1492
Lesson plans for this film
4 results
| Title | Language | For grades | Documents | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ladino, language of the Sephardic Jews Literature LADINO, LANGUAGE OF THE SEFARDIC JEWSGrade of class: middle and junior highCourse lesson taught in: transversal during Spanish language and English language lessonsCategory of lesson: Jewish Identity/preparation for family root projectSummary of goals: Awaken curiosity for their family roots; broaden their perception of themselves and their cultural heritage; “tearing down” of the virtual walls of their “virtual Ghetto” -> see explanation at the bottom about Roman Jewish comunity in order to understand what is intended. |
en | 9 | ||
| El otro camino - Materialien für den Spanischunterricht other projects |
es | 10 | ||
| Roads History This lesson plan is based on Centropa's El Otro Camino film. The lesson is designed for Hungarian students, who usually have minimal knowledge about the Sephardic Jewry. |
en | 12, 9 | ||
| Getting to know and “adopting” my neighborhood etika, hit- és erkölcstan, History A year-long project that includes several parts—making videos and a photograph tour of the local Jewish history in Thessaloniki, creating a Holocaust library for the school, creating an exhibition for students to present their work to the school. The goal: to help students understand the sociopolitical motives that drive people into committing atrocities. I believe that my students learned to recognize prejudiced attitudes, racist behaviors and also developed skills in order to face them off in the future. |
en | 10, 11, 12, 9 |