Memorial Plaque For Jews Massacred In Lisbon In 1506 Editorial Photo

This plaque, in the shape of Judaism`s Star of David translated from the Portuguese reads, `In memory of the thousands of Jews who were victimized by intolerance and religious fanaticism, killed in the massacre that started on 19 April, 1506, on this square.` It is estimated that between two and 4 thousand Jews, including many Jews who had converted to Catholicism, were brutally murdered. At one time Portugal, mostly in the Lisbon area, contained about 100,000 Jews, who lived side-by-side with a larger Moorish Muslim society. In 1506, Lisbon was suffering from drought and plague, and Jews were blamed for this. Many of those killed were refugees from Spain which expelled Jews in 1492. By 1536 all Jews, other than maranos, or secret Jews, had been expelled from Portugal. The plaque was made by Graca Bachmann in 2008, after a proposal from the Jewish community. It is located in Sao Domingos Square, adjacent to Rossio Square in the Baixa district of Lisbon.