Conversos: Latin America’s Crypto Jews

In this video, we’re unpacking the story of the Crypto Jews or Conversos and explaining why a surprising number of Latin Americans and people of Latin American descent have Jewish ancestry. To understand why, we’re going back in time. All the way back to 1492. That’s the year in which two huge historical events took place; events that shook up the Jewish community of Spain and changed the trajectory of their history forever. This explainer video unpacks those events, explains why some Latin American families have traditions that are markedly different to those of their neighbors, and looks at why the numbers of people taking up an offer of citizenship from the Spanish government has been bigger than anyone could have imagined. After watching the video, use the prompts below to learn more and get your students thinking.

video Transcript