Venetian Ghetto

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A store window in Venice's Jewish ghetto.
A store window in Venice's Jewish ghetto.

The Venetian Ghetto was the area of Venice in which Jewish people were compelled to live under the Venetian Republic. It is from its name, in the Venetian language, that the word "ghetto", used in many languages, is derived.

Contents

[edit] Etymology

The name is derived for the "campo gheto" an area that iron foundries located there in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries used for cooling slag (Venetian "gheta"; Italian "ghetta"; from Latin GLITTU[M], GLITTUS).[citation needed]

[edit] Location and geography

A sign in the Ghetto Vechio area.
A sign in the Ghetto Vechio area.

The Ghetto is an area of the Cannaregio sestiere of Venice, divided into the Ghetto Nuovo ("New Ghetto"), and the adjacent Ghetto Vecchio ("Old Ghetto"). The names of the sections of the ghetto are misleading: the Ghetto Nuovo is actually older than the Ghetto Vecchio section.

[edit] History

Unlike much of Europe, Venice usually tolerated the presence of Jews from the late fourteenth century. Restrictions on their movement and permitted trades varied, but money lending, running pawnshops, dealing in second hand goods, tailoring, and medicine were common occupations. The tolerance of Jews in the Venetian Republic came to an end following the 1509 influx of Sephardic Jews expelled from the Iberian Peninsula in 1492, and some public figures talked of deporting or isolating the Venetian Jews. The Jews of Venice were not expelled, as was the case in many European countries, but the Venetian Ghetto was instituted in 1516 to contain them. Surrounded by canals, the area was only linked to the rest of the city by two bridges, which were closed from midnight until dawn and during certain Christian festivals, when all Jews were required to stay in the Ghetto.

Despite the restrictions on movement and terribly cramped conditions, the Jewish population grew, and in 1541, the quarter was enlarged to cover the neighbouring Ghetto Vecchio, and in 1633, the Ghetto Nuovissimo (Newest Ghetto) was also added.

The area had such a dense population that – uniquely in Venice – buildings rose to six or more stories. There were numerous benevolent institutions, and it is still home to five synagogues. They are known for their interiors, the oldest, the Scuola Grande Tedesca, dating from 1528. Most have fairly plain exteriors, although the Scola Levantina is a grander, Baroque building. The Scola Spagnola now contains the Museum of Hebrew Art.

During Napoleon Bonaparte's occupation of Venice in 1797, the gates enclosing the Ghetto were demolished, but Venetian Jews did not gain full citizenship rights until 1818. For the rest of the 19th century, the population of the Ghetto declined steeply and many of the buildings fell into disrepair.

During the Second World War, some 200 Jews were deported from Venice and the Venetian Ghetto between the years of 1943 and 1945. After the end of the Holocaust, only eight returned.

[edit] Famous Venetian Jewry

Some famous Jews of the Ghetto include Leon of Modena, his family originating in France, as well as his disciple Sarah Coppio Sullam. She was an accomplished writer, debater (albeit through letters), and even hosted her own salon. Meir Magino, the famous glass maker also came from the ghetto.

[edit] The Ghetto today

Two young Jewish men in the Ghetto today.
Two young Jewish men in the Ghetto today.

Today, the Ghetto is still a center of Jewish life in the City of Venice, and is home to the aforementioned five synagogues, a yeshiva, a restaurant that used to be kosher, several Judaica shops, and a Chabad synagogue[1]. Although only around 300 of Venice's roughtly 1000 Jews still live in the Ghetto, many return there during the day for religious services in the two synagogues which are still used (the other three are only used for guided tours, offered by the Jewish Community Museum).

[edit] Historical Jewish demographic of the Ghetto

Though it was home to a large number of Jews, the population living in the Venetian Ghetto never assimilated to form a distinct, "Venetian Jewish" ethnicity. The four of the five synagogues were clearly split along ethnic lines: separate synagogues existed for the German (The Scuola Grande Tedesca), Italian (The Scuola Italiana), Sephardic (The Scuola Spagnola), and Levantine Mizrahi communities (The Scola Levantina). The fifth, the Scuola Canton, is believed to either have been French, or a private synagogue for the families who funded its construction. Today, there are also populations of Ashkenazic Jews in Venice, mainly Lubavitchers who operate one of the two kosher restaurants, a yeshiva, and the aforementioned Chabad synagogue).

Languages historically spoken in the confines of the Ghetto include Venetian, Italian, Ladino, Judeo-Arabic, French, and German. In addition, Hebrew was traditionally (and still is) used on signage, inscriptions, and for official purposes such as wedding contracts (as well as, of course, in religious services). Today, English is widely used in shops and the Museum because of the large number of English-speaking tourists.

[edit] In fiction

  • William Shakespeare's play The Merchant of Venice, written ca. 1595, features Shylock, a Venetian Jew.
  • Geraldine Brook's 2008 novel [People of the Book] which traces the history of the [Sarajevo Haggadah]has a chapter whose action takes place in 1609 in the Venetian Geto.

[edit] Reception

The trilogy work by Israel Zangwill
  • Kinder des Ghetto. 1897. Cronbach, Berlin 1897, 1913 (German).
  • Träumer des Ghetto. 1898. Cronbach, Berlin 1908, 1922 (German).
  • Komödien des Ghetto. 1907. Cronbach, Berlin 1910 (German).

[edit] References

  1. ^ Chabad of Venice

[edit] External links

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Coordinates: 45°26′43″N, 12°19′35″E

[edit] See also