Produced by the Jewish Community of Oporto, the “1506 – The Lisbon Genocide” documentary film shows a massacre of Jews that has been forgotten

LISBON, April 19, 2024 /PRNewswire/ — Today, 19th April is the anniversary of the start of the massacre which for three days assassinated about three thousand Jews in Lisbon. The bonfires went as high as the houses, in a city filled with quartered bodies where heads were paraded on the points of spears.

The Jewish community of Oporto, Portugal, has just released a free documentary film online about these events, in English, Hebrew, French, Spanish and Portuguese – The film aims to show that the October 2023 massacre did not happen in a vacuum.

According Michael Rothwell, director of the Oporto Holocaust museum, “there has always been a mix of stereotypes, fanatical joy and terrorism of the quartering in the massacres that for two millennia targeted the Jews in such different locations as Alexandria, Granada, Seville, Madrid, Toledo, Barcelona, Basel, Überlingen, Strasburg, Cologne, Worms, Erfurt, Metz, York, Norwich, Trent, Troyes, Bern, Paris, Odessa, Moscow, Hebron and recently the border areas of southern Israel.”

The documentary film was made as short as possible, about 20 minutes long, so that it may be seen by everyone of all ages, even those who prefer not to watch long movies. The format allows the organization viewings and debates in cinemas around the world, with invited speakers and comments from the audience.

On Wednesday 17th, 2024 the Tel Aviv Diaspora Museum presented a preview of the film, followed by a debate moderated by Alex Traiman, Editor in Chief of the Jewish News Syndicate. Speakers included Michal Cotler-Wunsh, Israeli Special Envoy for Combating Antisemitism, Raheli Baratz-Rix, Head of the Department for Combating Antisemitism and Enhancing Resilience of the World Zionist Organization, and Ashley Peretz, President of the “Reconectar” Association that promotes the reconnection between the descendants of the Sephardic Jews and the Jewish world.

The documentary film was produced by the Portuguese director Luís Ismael and involved the participation of hundreds of costumed and armed extras. Research was carried out by the Community’s historical research centre and reviewed by the holder of the Alberto Benveniste Chair of Sephardic Studies of the University of Lisbon.

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SOURCE Jewish Community of Porto – Portugal