Page 115 - The Track Of The Jew Through The Ages - Alfred Rosenberg

Alfred Rosenberg

Again, with the help of the Jews, the Portuguese conquered
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the city of Safi in 1508; since the conquerors however were not
very numerous, they were forced to hole themselves up in the castle.
In the city there was a conflict between two mutually warring parties
and, since a strife among the citizens was very opportune for the
Portuguese army commander Azambuj a, he had letters with similar
content delivered through a Jewish doctor to the leaders of the rival
parties, both of whom the Jew knew very well, in which it was
written that one opponent sought to kill the other, and then came the
invitation to unite however with the Portuguese. Both of the leaders
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fell for the trap and Azambuja could now finally conquer the city.
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The city of Cithibeb had declared independence from
the princes of the Fez and conducted for three years a war for its
independence. It owed its success especially to its commanders.
Recognising this, the prince of Fez decided to kill the leader, if
possible secretly. For this a Jewish doctor from Cithibeb offered his
services, poisoned the leader and, rendered demoralised in this way,
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the city gave itself up to the besiegers.
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When, in the time of Trajan, the Jews in Cyrenaica were
so numerous that they formed the majority of the population they
did as later in Cyprus: they slaughtered all the other inhabitants,
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220,000 in all. Even so, Isaac Orobio de Castro could, much later,
report very proudly: "As the Turkish and Persian kings and their
governors do not undertake anything without the Jews, so the envoys
can bring the businesses of their kings to a successful conclusion
only through the mediation of the Jews".
These few cases can be multiplied at will, whereby it must
be emphasised that one can quite ignore those where it actually
went badly with the Jews, even if never without their own
190 [A city on the Atlantic coast of Morocco]
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Kayserling, Geschichte der Juden in Portugal.
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[In Morocco]
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Jean Leon, Description de I'Afrique, in Boissi.
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[Trajan (53-1 1 7) was Roman Emperor from A.D. 98 to 1 1 7.]
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[de Castro (1617-1687) was a Portuguese Jewish physician and philosopher
who first lived in Spain, where he was persecuted by the Inquisition, and then
moved to Toulouse and Amsterdam, where he continued to profess and practise
medicine; cf. p. 181 below.]
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