I feel at home among you, Don Fernando de los Rios, the Spanish Minister of Education, began his speech to the Jews of Tetuan during his visit there (reported briefly by cable in the J.T.A. Bulletin of Dec. 30th.).
I, who have been in many countries of the world, the Minister went on, addressing the gathering, which included in addition to the leaders of the Jewish Community the Spanish Commissioner General for Morocco, the Grand Vizier and General Cabanellas, remember well how happy I was in Germany, for example, when I was received with marks of affection by the Sephardic Jews living there. In New York, and in Paris, too, I was in close ‘ 0touch with ‘ the Sephardic Jews, and I was always sad when I thought of the great injustice which Spain had committed against her Jews. It was a constant thorn in my flesh, that Spain, which I so loved and which could have had a wonderful Jewish cultural life, was an exception to all other countries. And I always cherished the idea that one day there would come a Spanish Republic, which would make amends to the Jews for the crime of 1492, and would make Spanish Jewry again a reality.
When as Minister of Justice I announced in the Cortes that the Government had formally revoked the edict of 1492 and extended the hand of brotherhood to the Spanish Jews, I felt the joy of the Deputies and the people surge towards me in a stream of satisfaction that Spain’s ignominy was at an end.
Nations are not great when they exclude all other elements, the Minister continued. They are great only when they are able to take in all other elements, and create a unity. That culture is greatest in which all the varied national elements which constitute it combine in mutual respect and love.
Jews of Tetuan, the Minister said, forget the past; think only of the future; think of the Liberal Spain of the future, in which Arab, Jewish and Spanish culture will all combine in one unity. One culture only, beneath whose surface will flow the varying streams, each preserving its distinctive character, including the profound love of knowledge which you Jews represent, and which the Arabs represent.
Do not forget, Jews of Tetuan, the Minister concluded, that I am speaking to you here not in my own name, as an individual, but officially, in the name of the Spanish Republican Government, and in the name of Spain. I cannot disguise from you how happy I feel to be here among you Jews and Arabs, and to receive from you my reward for the arduous fighting and suffering at the cost of which I and my colleagues have brought about the existence of the Spanish Republic in which there are no religious differences to divide us, and in which we all, without any distinction, stand together for the same ideal of a free and enlightened humanity.
Don Fernando de los Rios also visited during his tour the Spanish Jewish school (Escuela Hispano Israelita) in Xauen, and the Spanish Arab school there, and in his addresses he paid tribute to the Jewish and Arabic cultures which had contributed to the glory of Spain.
People of Tetuan, the Minister said in the Arabic school”, this is a moving moment in my life, when for the first time I speak here to the representatives of all the peoples who have laid the historic foundations of our beloved Spain and of our Spanish culture. For the first time I see here the unity of Arabs, Jews and Spaniards, united again as they were once in Toledo in the 13th. century, when the members of the three faiths had an unbounded respect for each other’s beliefs and lived together on such terms of friendship that we must again attain. We want the collaboration of all Spanish peoples without distinction, of you Jews, of you Arabs, of all Spaniards, in order to advance the cultural work of the Spanish Republic in Morocco.
“La Noticias”, one of the chief dailies in Barcelona, publishes an editorial, in which, referring to the Moroccan tour of Don Fernando de los Rios, it says: The fraternal greetings which our Minister has brought to the Jews and Arabs in Morocco were put into words such as have never before been spoken by an official representative of modern Spain, and they must rouse the finest feelings in the souls of these two peoples, who turn their eyes hopefully to our young Spanish Republic. What we must see to now is that these awakened hopes should not be disappointed, and we must show them that what we say we mean.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
