About fifty people have attended the commemoration of the so-called “cremadissa,” the burning of 37 crypto-Jews at the stake in 1691 in one of the largest massacres of Jews in Mallorca. These were individuals who had converted to Christianity but secretly practiced Judaism. The killings occurred amid attacks on the Jewish community of Mallorca.
The commemoration, organised by the Jewish Community of the Balearic Islands, took place in Gomila Square, where the murders occurred, and where a monument recalls this tragic event, now 333 years ago.
The President of the Balearic Government, Marga Prohens, attended the event, which also saw the presence of other representatives from the PP and Vox parties.
Marga Prohens described the persecution suffered by the descendants of Mallorcan Jews, including killings, exile, and a life of “suffering” endured by their descendants for over 300 years, with stigmatized surnames for centuries. She added, “They were not only burned or executed; that led to an ignominy that we have carried for years and that has still not been overcome today.”
“There was homicidal antisemitism,” recalled Ari Molina, president of the Jewish Community of the Balearic Islands, stating that the consequence was the killing of 37 residents of Palma for wanting to maintain their religion. “For a long time, we thought those years had passed, but some of our fellow citizens prefer to place themselves on the wrong side of history,” he said. He noted that the Parliament had passed a motion recognizing these events and outlining actions to educate about the dangers of antisemitism and fanaticism.
He suggested that the current situation is influenced by the Hamas attack in Israel last October. “Here, religious services cannot be held normally because the police guard the synagogue. Hanukkah had to be suspended in the street, and public lectures cannot be held without security measures,” he warned. “There is public targeting with names and surnames,” he lamented. “We are in a regressive stage, and that is very dangerous because it doesn’t only affect Jews; inoculating the virus of antisemitism affects society as a whole,” he concluded.
Miquel Segura, vice president of the Jewish community, recalled the “nefarious day” 333 years ago and denounced that about 30,000 people came to witness the “horrible spectacle.” He regretted that most Mallorcans are unaware of what happened and what followed. He denounced that the intention of that act was to give a warning, to start afresh. “Woe to Mallorca that remains silent and that years later accepted the marginalization suffered by the descendants of the condemned, even in full democracy,” he criticized.
