It Once Happened The sad and often tragic history of the Marranos of Spain and Portugal began more than a hundred years before the Expulsion in 1492, and continued for several hundred years after. The bloody pogroms that started in Spain in 1391 forced many Jews to accept Christianity in order to save their lives. These Jews were, from that time forth, under the watchful eyes of the Inquisition, a clerical tribunal set up to apprehend backsliding "New Christians." On the slightest evidence, people were arrested, tortured, and often burned at the stake for the "sin" of secretly practicing Judaism. In spite of the terror of the Inquisition, many Jewish families continued observing the mitzvot in secret. One such family was the Nunez family of Portugal. Over the generations, the secret of their Jewishness had been handed down from father to son and mother to daughter. Three of the family had paid with their lives for their loyalty to their faith: Clara, Isabella and Helen were all sentenced to death in 1632. The family had branches in Spain and Portugal. The Portuguese family was considered among the aristocracy of that country. The head of that family, Samuel, or as he was known in Portuguese, Ribiero Nunez, was the court physician. On the surface Samuel was a loyal Catholic, never arousing the slightest suspicion that he was a secret Jew. But the Inquisition set about to discover his secret. One fanatical member of the tribunal succeeded in planting a spy in his household--a servant who was instructed to note all of the family activities and report back with his findings. Indeed, he returned to the tribunal with the news that the Samuel Nunez family was seen observing certain Jewish rituals. Samuel Nunez's arrest caused a sensation in the land. A personal friend as well as physician to the king, Dr. Nunez was widely admired by the nobility. Although the king normally refrained from interfering with the actions of the Inquisition, he now used his influence to free the doctor. The Inquisition freed him, but on the condition that an observer be installed in his home to watch for any questionable activities. Samuel Nunez decided that he had better plan an escape. It would be difficult to elude the spying eyes in his household, but Dr. Nunez seized upon brilliant idea. Dr. Nunez invited many of his distinguished friends to an elaborate banquet at his home. After the meal he announced that a grand surprise awaited them. His yacht was anchored outside his home on a nearby river, and he would be treating them to a lovely after-dinner cruise. The tipsy guests boarded the ship in happy expectation of more entertainment. By the time they sobered up and realized they were far from shore, the Nunez family was well on their way to freedom in England. For, the "yacht" was a well-appointed British battleship commissioned by Dr. Nunez for the purpose of bringing his family to freedom. The surprised passengers were assured that provisions were in place for their return voyage, but the Nunezes would be remaining abroad, since their lives were in jeopardy in Portugal. Careful planning had led to the success of his secret plan. Relatives in England were waiting for the Nunez family, and when they arrived there, they joined a group of Jewish refugees bound for the British Colonies of America. In the summer of 1733 the Jews arrived in Savannah, Georgia, where Governor Oglethorpe provided them with the land they would need for homes and farming. When a protest was lodged by English trustees of the colony, saying, "We do not wish to make the American Colonies a Jewish settlement," Oglethorpe, an honest, liberal-minded man, ignored it. Angry protests continued to issue from England to disenfranchise the Jews, and although the governor made a pretense of obeying, land records from that time show the Nunez family received the deed to six farms in the Savannah area. Due to the continued anti-Jewish pressure, Dr. Nunez moved his family to Charleston, South Carolina for a time, later returning to Georgia, where he lived out his life. The doctor's son-in-law located in New York, where he became one of the leading members of the Spanish-Portuguese congregation there. Adapted from The Storyteller, Kehot Publication Society.\ >From L'Chaim Weekly