The Jewish Ghetto of Nicastro

The Jews had to abandon the ghetto of Nicastro, as they did all the other ghettos, owing the expulsion edict of 1510. But not all of them left the territory. Most, in fact, found refuge in the interior. One group found a reception and acceptance in Zangarona, a village of Albanians which had arisen in the middle of the 15th century, along with other hamlets of Albanian origin like Vena at Maida, Amato, and Gizzeria. Zangarona is not only an example of solidarity but also of peaceful coexistence of two ethnicities. Specifically, various Jewish families not only from the Nicastro ghetto but from that of Amantea sought refuge beyond the Reventino, in the land of Martirano, and in the valley of the Salso River in the land of Conflenti Soprani. This locality, deep in the interior, secluded and with plenty of water, offered all the requisites that allowed the Jews to continue to maintain their own identity and to carry out their activities. The abandoned waters of small brooks and rivulets in that place guaranteed that they could develop the typical activities that later endured among the population of Conflenti Soprani: tanning of hydes, dyeing cloth, making baskets, barrels, combs, and working in wax and honey. It was the Jews who introduced mulberry cultivation and silk industry into the towns of the Reventino.

The Jewish Ghetto in the 1920s

There was an attempt to fill the void left by the Jews in Nicastro, in the field of money lending, through the institution of the Monte di Pieta whose mission, according to its statutes, was to “give loans against security, without consideration for the poor.” But since this activity soon ended up in the hands of speculators, as the Bishop of Nicastro complained, it quickly deviated from the benefits that had been foreseen for it in the Council of Trent, as a commodum pauperum previis pignoribus (an advantage for the poor with prior collateral). Rather than giving loans to the needy, the administrators gave loans to themselves and their associates, pledging things of no value as collateral, such as “pieces and rags of wool or other cloth which had been used for over fifteen years, and were eaten by moths and mice,” as the bishop said. The bishop tried to repair the situation before the Monte di Pieta were completely ruined. He deputized the episcopal vicar and the senior chaplain of the cathedral, as well as an attorney and notary, to verify the Monte’s accounts and require repayment by those who had extracted money from it. But he had to accept bitterly that there would be considerable difficulty in recovering the money at that time, since the administrators of the Monte were laymen who could not be tried by an ecclesiastic tribunal. Meanwhile, the people, living in misery and oppressed by need, had to resort usurers, especially during times following disasters and calamities. In such cases, the Monte di Pieta were supposed to aid the population, as called for by the statutes. Instead the mass of farmers remained cut off from the loans, which became the exclusive prerogative of classes that were well off. These rich people themselves became the Christian usurers.

It was to these, after the terrible disappearance of Jewish competition, that the poor had to go, especially after those calamities that caused death and destroyed harvests. From what emerges from notarial documents, Christian usurers requested interest of as much as two carlini a month for each ducat lent, which is 200% a month or 2,400% a year. Furthermore, the poor were forced to secure their loans with their homes, cattle, or small plots of land. So, in cases of insolvency, the Christian usurers foreclosed on these goods, leaving the poor debtors penniless.

In the State Archives of Lamezia Terme there are hundreds of notarial acts that document these authentic sins and damages against the poor. The names of these Christian usurers belonged to noted familes with great financial patrimonies. Faced with this situation, the people of Nicastro, like those in other centers of the Kingdom of Naples, sent a petition to the sovereign asking him to bring back the Jews, and expressing “the greatest need that the Jews offer to permit us to make required payments, which will be impossible for us to do without their support.” In response to all such petitions, King Charles V issued an edict on November 23, 1520, recalling the Jews into the kingdom, with certain conditions. Some Jews came back, even to Nicastro. But the opposition of the Church contra obstinatissimam judaeorum perfidiam (“against the most obstinate Jewish perfidy”), which was entrusted to the preaching of priests and monks, let loose once again the hatred against those who had tried to make profits from the edict. The definitive removal of the Jews from the Kingdom of Naples occurred in 1702, a few years before the end of Spanish domination that was substituted by that of the Austrian Hapsburgs in 1734.

What was the fate of the Jewish ghetto of Nicastro? The few Jewish families who had converted to Christianity and integrated with the population through mixed marriages remained in their homes. In time they completely lost their identity and their Jewish connections. The rest of the quarter, which unfolds uphill from the bridge over the Canne right near the confluence of the Niola (called then Ponticello or Piedichiuso) was first occupied in part by some inhabitants of nearby quarters after the houses, that the fleeing Jews had abandoned, were put up for auction. The total and massive occupation of the quarter occurred after the disastrous flood of the Canne and Niola on January 6, 1563. A quarter of the city known as Le Capanne, which rose right next to the Canne was totally submerged. Those who got out occupied the quarter further up where the Jewish ghetto was situated, today called Timpone. Even the small synagogue, which was placed in the center of the quarter, became a dewelling for those who had acquired it. It was changed into a church in the middle of the 1700s. In fact, in 1720 a certain D. Orazio Vicino, before he died, bequeathed to the bishop the house that he owned, in exchange for certain months of intercession for his soul. Some years later, a son of his named D. Antonio Vicino, in agreement with the bishop, had a church built at that house, dedicating it to S. Agazio, a martyred Roman soldier, and arranging that he be made legally the patron saint of his family.