26 October 2019

Visiting synagogues
in Ireland and
around the world

The cupola of the Neue Synagoge or New Synagogue in the Spandau area of Berlin (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Patrick Comerford

Yehuda Amichai’s ‘Poem Without an End,’ translated from the Hebrew by Chana Bloch, is quoted by Simon Schama in his Belonging, the Story of the Jews, 1492-1900 (Penguin, 2017):

Poem Without an End (שיר אינסופי)

Inside the brand-new museum
there’s an old synagogue.
Inside the synagogue
is me.
Inside me
my heart.
Inside my heart
a museum.
Inside the museum
a synagogue,
inside it
me,
inside me
my heart,
inside my heart
a museum.

Over the past ten years or so, I have visited, blogged or written almost 200 synagogues and Jewish historical sites in over 20 countries.

I have visited 36 synagogues, and the sites of past synagogues, or burial grounds in Ireland and 80 in England, and in all I have visited, blogged or written about 200 or so synagogues and Jewish sites, the sites of former synagogues and Jewish history and Jewish museums, including Afghanistan (2), Albania (1), Austria (5), China (1), the Czech Republic (7), England (78), Finland (1), France (8), Germany (2), Greece (9), Hungary (4), Ireland (36), Isle of Man (1), Italy (12), Malta (2), Morocco (2), Myanmar (1), Poland (9), Portugal (4), Slovakia (5) and Spain (6).

Before I began this blog, I had also visited synagogues and Jewish communities in Hong Kong, Hungary, Israel and the West Bank, Romania and Turkey. But I have also visited many synagogues and former synagogues in Ireland, including Dublin, Derry, Limerick and Waterford.

So, having blogged throughout September and October 2019 about Dublin synagogues, I have revised this list of my blog postings on synagogues. I plan to up-date this list in the future as I continue to write about visits to other synagogues and sites around the world.

Albania’s first synagogue, built in Onchesmos or Saranda in the fourth or fifth century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Afghanistan:

1, Yu Aw Synagogue, Herat (9 December 2022)

Jewish life in Afghanistan:

2, The last Jew of Kabul (20 August 2021)

Albania:

1, Saranda: the fifth-century synagogue of Onchesmos (29 August 2019)

Austria:

Vienna:

1, The mediaeval Or-Sarua Synagogue, Vienna (13 November 2019)

2,The Stadttempel or City Synagogue, Seitenstettengasse, Vienna (14 November 2019)

3, The Sephardic prayer house, Upper Danube Street, Vienna (14 November 2019)

4, The ‘Turkish Temple’ (Sephardic Synagogue), Zirkusgasse 22, Vienna (14 November 2019)

5, The Montefiore Prayer House (Bethaus Montefiore), Taborstrasse 38, Vienna (20 November 2019)

China:

1, The Jewish community of Hong Kong (19 April 2006).

The wrought-iron rococo grille that adorns the bimah in the Pinkas Synagogue in Prague, seen from the women’s gallery (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Czech Republic:

Prague:

1, The ‘Old-New’ Synagogue (29 January 2019)

2, The High Synagogue (30 January 2019)

3, The Maisel Synagogue (30 January 2019)

4, The Klausen Synagogue (31 January 2019)

5, The Spanish Synagogue (31 January 2019)

6, The Pinkas Synagogue (1 February 2019)

7, The Jerusalem Synagogue (6 May 2023)

Old Jewry stands in the heart of the original Jewish ghetto in London (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

England:

Befordshire:

1, Bedofrd, Mediaeval Jewish communities and synagogues in Bedford (12 July 2024)

Birmingham:

2, Singers Hill Synagoue, Birmingham (25 August 2023)

3, The former Severn Street Synagogue, Birmingham (1 September 2023)

4, The former Wrottesley Street Synagogue, Birmingham (8 September 2023)

Jewish life in Birmingham:

5, The Jewish Heritage of Birmingham (17 August 2013)

6, Jewish family life in the Birmingham Back-to-Backs (15 September 2023)

Buckinghamshire:

Milton Keynes:

7, Bletchley: Bletchley Hebrew Congregaion (1 December 2023)

8, Milton Keynes and District Reform Synagogue (25 November 2022)

9, The Wolverton United Synagogue Membership Group, or the Haversham Jewish Community, New Bradwell and Haversham (24 March 2023)

Cambridge:

10, Cambridge Jewry and the Jewish community in mediaeval Cambridge (19 July 2024)

11, The Cambridge Synagogue and Jewish Student Centre (20 July 2013)

12, The Round Church, Bridge Street … was it the site of a mediaeval synagogue (20 July 2013)

13, The site of the mediaeval synagogue, the Guildhall, Market Hill (20 July 2013) and HERE (19 July 2024)

14, The Jewish congregation, Petty Cury, ca 1888 (20 July 2013)

15, The Jewish congregation, Saint Mary’s Passage, near King’s College ca 1900 (20 July 2013)

16, The Jewish congregation, Sidney Street, opposite Sidney Sussex College ca 1912 (20 July 2013)

Other Jewish links in Cambridge:

17, Portugal Place, home to Sephardic refugees in the 17th century (20 July 2013)

Cornwall:

18, The synagogues and Jewish communities of Cornwall (18 October 2019)

Coventry:

19, Barras Lane Synagogue (30 June 2023)

20, the former synagogue at 16 Spon Street, Coventry (30 June 2023)

21, Coventry Jewish Reform Community (7 July, 2023)

22, Historic Jewish life in Coventry (14 July 2023)

Hertfordshire:

23, Jewish life in Berkhamsted, mediaeval and modern (24 November 2023)

24, St Albans Synagogue (United Synagogue) (19 January 2024)

25, Former Synagogue, 54 Clarence Road, St Albans (19 January 2024)

26, Saint Albans Masorti Synagogue (SAMS), St Albans (2 February 2024)

Leicestershire:

27, Jewry Wall and the mediaeval Jewish community, Leicester (17 May 2024)

28, Leicester Hebrew Congregation, Highfield Street, Leicester (24 May 2024)

29, Neve Shalom, Leicester Progressive Jewish Congregation, Avenue Road, Leicester (31 May 2024)

London:

30, The site in Old Jewry of the Great Synagogue of London until 1271 (29 April 2016)

31, Kehillas Ya’akov, Commercial Road, Stepney (1 February 2018)

32, The site of a synagogue at Threadneedle Street, built in 1231 (17 February 2019)

33, The Bevis Marks Synagogue, Bevis Mark (22 January 2020)

34, The site of the former Fieldgate Street Great Synagogue, Whitechapel (23 January 2020)

35, The site of the former Brick Lane Synagogue (23 January 2020)

36, The site of the former Creechurch Lane Synagogue (6 March 2020)

37, The site of the former Great Synagogue, Duke’s Lane (6 March 2020)

38, Sandy’s Row Synagogue (9 March 2020)

39, Princelet Street Synagogue (10 March 2020)

40, The Spital Square Poltava Synagogue, 2 Heneage Street (24 February 2023)

41, the former Artillery Lane Synagogue, near Liverpool Street Station (28 February 2023)

42, the former Gun Street Synagogue, near Spitalfields (1 March 2023)

43, The East London Central Synagogue, also known as Nelson Street Synagogue, founded as the Nelson Street Sfardish Synagogue (2 March 2023)

44, the Konin Synagogue, 48 Hanbury Street (3 March 2023)

45, the Glory of Israel and Sons of Klatsk Synagogue, No 50½ Hanbury Street (3 March 2023)

46, the Poltava Synagogue, No 50½ Hanbury Street (3 March 2023)

47, the Brethren of Suwalki Synagogue, No 56 Hanbury Street (3 March 2023)

48, Hanbury Street Synagogue, 60 Hanbury Street (3 March 2023)

49, the Lovers of Peace Synagogue and the Voice of Jacob Synagogue, both at 183/185 Hanbury Street (3 March 2023)

50, the former Hambro’ Synagogue (6 March 2023)

51, the former New Synagogue, Leadenhall Street (17 March 2023)

52, the Central Synagogue, Great Portland Street, London (19 May 2023)

53, The Anne Frank Tree, the British Library (4 August 2023)

54, The Anne Frank Bust, the British Library (13 October 2023)

Norfolk:

55, Mediaeval synagogue, Norwich city centre (5 April 2024)

56, Norwich Synagogue, 2 Tombland Alley, 1828-1848 (5 April 2024)

57, Norwich Synagogue, Synagogue Street, 1849-1942 (5 April 2024)

58, Norwich Hebrew Congregation Synagogue, Earlham Road (5 April 2024)

Northamptonshire:

59, The mediaeval synagogue, Sheep Street (3 February 2023)

60, Northampton Hebrew Congregation, Overstone Road (10 February 2023)

Oxford:

61, Oxford Jewish Centre (16 September 2022) and HERE (1 April 2022)

62, Site of mediaeval synagogue, opposite Pennyfarthing Lane (16 September 2022)

63, The Oxford Centre for Hebrew Jewish Studies, Clarendon Institute, Walton Street (16 September 2022)

64, Osney Abbey, Oxford, and the site of the execution of Robert of Reading, convert to Judiasm, in 1222 (22 December 2023)

65, Dead Man’s Walk, the route for Jewish funerals in 12th and 13th century Oxford (5 January 2024)

66, The mediaeval Jewish cemetery in Oxford (29 March 2024)

Peterborough:

67, Peterborough Hebrew Congregation, formerly on 142 Cobden Avenue (17 August 2019)

Staffordshire:

68, Wolverhampton Hebrew Congregation, now Saint Silas Church (29 September 2023).

69, The figure of Sinagoga, blindfolded by a snake, Lichfield Cathedral (2 July 2020).

Yorkshire:

Knaresborough:

70, The mediaeval synagogue, Knaresborough (12 May 2023)

Sheffield:

71, Sheffield Hebrew Congregation, or the Great Synagogue, Figtree Lane, Sheffield (19 August 2022)

72, Sheffield Hebrew Congregation, or the Great Synagogue, North Church Street, Sheffield (19 August 2022)

73, Sheffield Central Synagogue, Campo Lane. Sheffield (19 August 2022)

74, Sheffield Hebrew Congregation, Wilson Road, Ecclesall, Sheffield (19 August 2022)

75, United Synagogue, Sheffield, Psalter Lane (19 August 2022)

76, Sheffield and District Reform Jewish Congregation (19 August 2022)

York:

77, Clifford’s Tower and the massacre of 1190, York (22 September 2022)

78, The mediaeval and modern synagogues of York (23 September 2022)

79, The mediaeval Jewish cemetery at Jewbury, York (24 September 2022)

80, The ‘Five Sisters’ or ‘Jewish Window’ in the north transept of York Minster, and the figure of Sinagoga, blindfolded by a snake, Saint Wilfred’s Church or Oratory Church, York (6 October 2023)

Finland:

1, Helsinki Synagogue and Finland's Jewish community (20 January 2023).

France:

1, The Synagogue Agoudas Hakehilos (Pavée Synagogue), rue de Pavée, Paris (9 February 2024)

2, the Fondation Roger Fleischman, rue des Ecouffes, Paris (16 February 2024)

3, the former Synagogue Beit Yossef, rue des Ecouffes, Paris (16 February 2024)

4, the Tephilat Israel or Frank-Forter Synagogue, rue du Bourg Tibourg, Paris (16 February 2024)

5, the Mémorial de la Shoah, the Tomb of the Unknown Jewish Martyr and the Wall of the Righteous, 17 rue Geoffroy l’Asnier, Paris (23 February 2024)

6, the Jewish Museum of Art and History (mahJ), the Hôtel de Saint-Aignan, 71 Rue de Temple, Paris (1 March 2024)

7, the Jewish school, rue des Hospitalières-Saint-Gervais, the Marais, Paris, and 260 Jewish children murdered in the Holocaust (8 March 2024)

8, Exhibition on the Jews of Thessaloniki at the Museum of Jewish Art and History, Paris (15 March 2024).

The site of Berlin’s first synagogue at Heidereutergasse, dedicated in 1714 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Germany:

Berlin:

1, The New Synagogue, Oranienburger strasse (13 September 2018).

2, The Alten (Old) Synagogue (31 December 2018).

The bimah in the Etz Hayyim Synagogue, Chania (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Greece:

Corfu:

1, The Nuova or New Synagogue, Corfu (24 August 2019).

Crete:

Chania:

2, The Etz Hayyim Synagogue (18 June 2018)

Iraklion:

3, The Delmedigo family and the synagogues of Iraklion (3 May 2024).

Rethymnon:

4, The site of the mediaeval synagogue (9 June 2018) and HERE (19 April 2024).

5, The Capsali family of rabbis and scholars in Rethymnon (26 April 2024).

Kos:

6, The synagogue in Kos Town (28 April 2023).

Rhodes:

7, The Kahal Shalom Synagogue (25 June 1999).

Thessaloniki:

8, The Monasterioton Synagogue, Syngrou Street (8 April 2018).

9, Exhibition on the Jews of Thessaloniki at the Museum of Jewish Art and History, Paris (15 March 2024).

Hungary:

1, The Great Synagogue, Dohany Street, Budapest (13 January 2023)

2, Raoul Wallenberg Holocaust Memorial Park (11 January 2023).

3, Bathhyany Square Synagogue, Szombathely (6 January 2023)

4, Leopold Bloom and Hungary's Jewish Community (The Irish Times, 16 June 2001).

Terenure Synagogue on Rathfarnham Road dates back to a meeting in 1936 and first opened in 1953 (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)

Ireland:

Dublin:

1, Crane Lane Synagogue, off Dame Street (27 September 2019).

2, Ballybough Cemetery (28 September 2019).

3, Marlborough Green Synagogue (30 September 2019).

4, Stafford Street Synagogue (1 October 2019)

5, Saint Mary’s Abbey Synagogue (2 October 2019)

6, Saint Kevin’s Parade Synagogue (3 October 2019)

7, Oakfield Place Synagogue (4 October 2019)

8, Lennox Street Synagogue (5 October 2019)

9, Camden Street Synagogue (6 October 2019)

10, The Dublin Hebrew Congregation, Adelaide Road Synagogue (7 October 2019)

11, the Chevrah Tehillim Synagogue, Lombard Street West (9 October 2019)

12, United Hebrew Congregation, Greenville Hall Synagogue, South Circular Road (10 October 2019)

13, The Beth Hamedresh Hagadol Synagogue, Walworth Road, and the Irish Jewish Museum (11 October 2019)

14, Grosvenor Place Synagogue, Rathmines (12 October 2019)

15, Grosvenor Road Synagogue, Rathgar (14 October 2019)

16, The Dublin Jewish Progressive Synagogue, Leicester Avenue, Rathgar (15 October 2019)

17, Terenure Synagogue, Rathfarnham Road, Terenure (16 October 2019)

18, Machzikei Hadass Synagogue, Rathmore Villas, Terenure (17 October 2019)

19, The former synagogues in the former Jewish Home of Ireland, Denmark Hill, Rathmines, Dublin (29 December 2023).

See also:

20, Some additional Jewish buildings in Dublin (18 October 2019)

21, The Progressive Jewish Cemetery, Oldcourt Road, Woodtown, Rathfarnham, Co Dublin (8 January 2021)

22, The Chabad House and Deli 613, Upper Rathmines Road

23, The Stolpersteine ‘stumbling stones’, Donore Avenue (11 August 2023)

24, Interactive heritage trail of Jewish Dublin (18 August 2023)

Cork:

25, A lost Sephardic synagogue, Kemp Street (13 February 2020).

26, Cork Hebrew Congregation, South Terrace Synagogue (13 February 2020).

27, Cork Hebrew Congregation, 15 Union Quay (14 February 2020).

28, The Remnant of Israel, 24 South Terrace (14 February 2020).

29, Munster Jewish Community, ‘a community without a shul’ (15 February 2020).

30, Jewish Youghal, Co Cork (16 August 2021)

Derry:

31, The former synagogue in Kennedy Place, Derry (24 May 2019).

Limerick:

32, The former synagogue at 63 Wolfe Tone Street (2 July 2017).

33, The former synagogue at Hillview, Wolfe Tone Street (2 July 2017).

Waterford:

34, The former synagogue at 56 Manor Street, Waterford (15 March 2019)

Wexford:

35, The Beth El synagogue, Rainsford Lordge, Bunclody, Co Wexford (8 September 2020).

36, Jewish Wexford (11 March 2022)

Inside the Scuola Spagnola in Venice, founded around 1580 by Spanish and Portuguese speaking Jews (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Isle of Man:

1, The Jewish community, the Isle of Man (9 July 2020).

Italy:

Bologna:

1, The synagogue on Via Mario Finzi (17 November 2017).

Padua:

2, The Italian Synagogue and the ghetto, Padua (11 November 2021)

Rome:

3, The Great Synagogue of Rome (7 January 2017).

Sicily:

4, The lost synagogues and Jewish quarter of Taormina (27 October 2023).

Venice:

5, The Scuola Spagnola (19 November 2018).

6, The Scuola Grande Tedesca (19 November 2018).

7, The Scola Levantina (19 November 2018).

8, The Scuola Canton (9 November 2018).

9, The Scuola Italiana (9 November 2018).

10, The Beit Chabad, the New Ghetto, Venice (16 November 2021)

11, The old and new Jewish cemeteries, Lido of Venice (10 November 2021)

See also:

12, Giudecca: was this the original home of the Jews of Venice? (15 November 2021)

Malta:

1, The former synagogue, Mdina (21 January 2022).

2, The Jews’ Gate, Valletta (28 January 2022)

The Synagogue Rebbi Akiva on Rue Synagogue, Tangier, was originally built in the mid-19th century (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2018)

Morocco:

Tangier:

1, The Synagogue Rebbi Akiva (30 October 2018).

2, The Moshe Nahon Synagogue (30 October 2018).

Myanmar:

1, Musmeah Yeshua Synagogue, and a postponed plan to visit the last surviving synagogue in Yangon (24 March 2020).

The Old Synagogue built in Kraków 1407 is the oldest Jewish house of prayer in Poland (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2016)

Poland:

Kraków:

1, The Old Synagogue (Synagoga Stara), Szeroka Street (12 November 2016).

2, The Remu'h Synagogue, Szeroka Street (12 November 2016).

3, The Wolf Popper Synagogue, Szeroka Street (12 November 2016).

4, The High Synagogue or Synagoga Wysoka, Jozefa Street (12 November 2016).

5, The Isaak Jakubowicz Synagogue, Kupa Street (12 November 2016).

6, The Kupa Synagogue, Kupa Street (12 November 2016).

7, The Tempel Synagogue, Miodowa Street (12 November 2016).

Warsaw:

8, The Great Synagogue, destroyed by the Nazis in 1943 (26 May 2020).

9, The Nożyk Synagogue, the only surviving pre-war synagogue in Warsaw (26 May 2020).

The Kadoorie Mekor Haim Synagogue in Porto is one of the largest in western Europe (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Portugal:

Porto:

1, The Kadoorie Mekor Haim (‘Spring of Life’) Synagogue (6 February 2019).

2, The site of the first synagogue in Porto at Igreja dos Grilos (12 February 2019).

3, The site of the 14th century synagogue at Rua do Comércio do Porto (12 February 2019).

4, The site of the synagogue at the Igreja de Nossa Senhora da Vitória (12 February 2019).

Slovakia:

Bratislava:

1, The mediaeval synagogue, Uršulínska Street (7 November 2019).

2, The Synagogue at Heydukova ulica 11 (7 November 2019).

3, The tomb of Chatam Moser (7 November 2019).

4, The Jewish Museum, Židovská Street (7 November 2019).

5, The Holocaust Memorial and the site of the former Neolog Synagogue (7 November 2019).

The women’s balcony above the entrance to the synagogue in Córdoba (Photograph: Patrick Comerford, 2019)

Spain:

Barcelona:

1, The site of the old synagogue at the Church of Sant Jaume on Calle Ferran (8 May 2016).

Córdoba:

2, The synagogue built by Simon Majeb in 1315 (7 June 2019).

Málaga:

3, The synagogue and Sephardic heritage centre, Plaza de Judería (5 June 2019).

Seville:

4, Former synagogue at the Church of Santa María la Blanca (27 October 2018) and here (15 May 2024)

5, The Jewish Interpretive Centre, Ximenez de Enisco (27 October 2018)

Valencia:

6, The lost synagogues of Valencia (30 January 2020)

Most recent updates to this posting: 19 July 2024.

Franco’s funeral and
refusing to whitewash
his racism and oppression

Madrid was a riot of red flags and banners, interspersed with a sprinkling of black-and-red anarchist banners and a good measure of old Spanish republican flags of red, yellow and purple on May Day ten years ago (Photograph: Patrick Comeford)

Patrick Comerford

As I watched the news reports over these two days on the reburial of Franco, memories came back of waiting up on many long nights as a young journalist in The Irish Times, waiting for Franco to die so the city editions could run his obituary.

But the dictator died on 20 November 1975, on a night that I was off work. The same happened to me three months earlier when Eamon de Valera died on 29 August 1975, once again on a night when I was off after sitting through many late shifts.

I had joined the staff of The Irish Times from the Wexford People less than 12 months earlier the previous year. Who was I to complain at the time that after two consecutive runs of long, late-night shifts I never got to shout the old hackneyed phrase: ‘Hold the Front Page’?

And over these two days, memories came back too of spending May Day in Madrid ten years ago.

I had long avoided visiting Spain. At first, my excuse was the Franco regime and the lack of human rights. Later, in my own stupid snobbery, I pretended I was being deterred by images and prejudices created by popular package holidays and high-rise beach resorts.

Eventually, Ryanair persuaded me I was wrong, and I spent the May bank holiday weekend in Madrid in 2009. I quickly realised the city is one of the architectural capitals of Europe with some of the finest art galleries and museums, including the Prado, with its collections of Goya and Velazquez, the Centro de Arte Reina Sofía, which houses Picasso’s Guernica, and the Thyssen Bornemisza, with major works by Titian, Goya, Picasso and Rubens.

I set off early one morning to see some of those magnificent sights that I had seen from the outside from the top of the red bus the previous day. But I had forgotten it was May Day, and – of course – after the decades of fascism and oppression Spain had endured under Franco, May Day is celebrated with style in Madrid, and the workers have a day off.

From Plaza de Cibeles to Sol, Calle de Alcala was a riot of red flags and banners that May Day, interspersed with a sprinkling of black-and-red anarchist banners and with a good measure of old Spanish republican flags of red, yellow and purple.

If the right-wing can be triumphal in the Catedral de la Almudena, then at least on May Day the streets of Madrid belong to the left and to the workers. In Plaza de Cibeles, even Cybele and her chariot were bedecked in red and republican colours.

It is disturbing how politicians, journalists and amateur historians have tried to rewrite and sanitise Franco’s story since he died in 1975. The ‘fake history’ stories include a claim that Franco saved more Jews from the Holocaust than any other single person.

Franco may have had some Jewish ancestry on both his father’s and his mother’s sides, but no-one knows for sure … and even he may not have known. The name Franco is particularly associated with Jewish families in Spain before the Inquisition, and rumours of Franco’s Jewish ancestry were reported by Sir Robert Hodgson, a British diplomat, and repeated by Sir Samuel Hoare, the British ambassador in Madrid during World War II. The Nazis ordered an investigation, but this was inconclusive.

However, we know that Franco generally spoke in vile terms about Jews and openly expressed his antisemitic prejudices.

But we know that Franco generally spoke in vile terms about Jews and openly expressed his antisemitic prejudices.

At his victory parade in May 1939, Franco vowed to remain alert to the ‘Jewish spirit which permitted the alliance of big capital with Marxism.’ A few months later, he severely criticised Britain and France and justified the persecution of what he referred to as those races marked by the stigma of their greed and self-interest.’

Later, the Franco regime claimed there was an international conspiracy of Jews and Freemasons against Spain, the contubernio judeo-masonico.

Franco met Hitler on 23 October 1940 in Hendaye, near the Franco-Spanish border. Franco’s demands included Gibraltar and parts of French north Africa, but Hitler is reported to have furiously declared that he ‘would rather have three or four teeth pulled out’ than spend more time with Franco.

Throughout 1940 and 1941, Spain issued strict orders against allowing refugees to enter its territory. Despite this, about 20,000 to 30,000 Jews entered Spain. But they passed on through Portugal to Britain and the US. Many other Jews were arrested by the Spanish authorities who intended to return them to France. This would have meant certain death for them.

On 5 May 1941, Franco’s Dirección General de Seguridad ordered each civil governor to compile a list of ‘all the national and foreign Jews living in the province … showing their personal and political leanings, means of living, commercial activities, degree of danger and security category.’

Provincial governors were ordered to look out especially for Sephardic Jews, descendants of those expelled from Spain in 1492, because their Ladino language and Hispanic background helped them fit into Spanish society. ‘Their adaptation to our environment and their similar temperament allow them to hide their origins more easily,’ said the order issued in May 1941.

These lists of 6,000 members of ‘this notorious race’ helped to compile the Archivos Judaicos, which Franco’s regime maintained at least until 1944. El Pais claimed in 2010 that, as Spain negotiated its possible entry into the war on the side of the Axis powers, the list was handed to Heinrich Himmler.

Among the Sephardim, the descendants of Jews expelled from Spain by the Inquisition in the late 15th century, at least 550 Sephardim in Thessaloniki in Greece had Spanish papers.

In an example of singular bravery, the Spanish consul general in Athens, Sebastian Romero Radigales, mounted an heroic effort to save them, managing to move some to the relative safety of the Italian-controlled zone, and – despite their deportation to Bergen-Belsen – ensuring another 365 were brought to Spain by train in February 1944. However, Franco insisted the Sephardim could move through Spain but not remain there.

In German-occupied Hungary in March 1944, two Spanish diplomats in Budapest, Angel Sanz Briz and Giorgio Perlasca, issued passports, letters of protection and placed Jews in rented buildings under the Spanish flag. These two men saved the lives of around 5,200 Hungarian Jews. Sanz Briz was later honoured at Yad Vashem.

I am reminded this week too of the story told by Ronnie Drew in Sez He and by many others of how Brendan Behan decided to go to Spain on holidays while it was still struggling Franco’s brutal regime.

When he arrived at Madrid Airport, Behan found the police had obviously been advised about his political views and were waiting for him at the passport checkpoint.

‘What is the purpose of your visit to Spain, Mr Behan?’

‘I have come to attend General Franco’s funeral.’

‘But the Generalissimo is not yet dead.’

‘In that case,’ says Brendan, ‘I’ll wait.’

It is said he was deported soon afterwards.

As I strolled in the atmospheric streets south of Plaza Mayor that May Day ten years ago, elderly couples proudly displayed lapel pins with the flag of Republican Spain. They had endured decades of suffering and oppression and cruelty throughout the Franco years, and now they were having their day in the sun. Those who survive must be relieved that Franco has been removed this week from his place in the sun in the Valley of the Fallen, built built by the forced labour of political prisoners.

Franco’s planned burial in Madrid’s Catedral de Almudena has not taken place (Photograph: Patrick Comerford)