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ABOVE: Street life in the Campo Ghetto Nuovo. (The
plaques of a memorial to Venetian holocaust victims are barely visible on the wall at left.)
Ethnic rivalries and synagogues
The Ghetto may have been populated by Jews, but it wasn't a melting pot.
Residents came from a variety of countries, cultures, and social classes, making
clashes (or at least open hostility) inevitable. This was most obvious in the
building of synagogues, which eventually numbered five: one each for the German,
Italian, Spanish, and Levantine communities, and a fifth--the Scuola
Canton--which may have been French, or may have created as a private synagogue
for the families who undewrote its building expenses. (All five synagogues
remain. Three may be visited on a public tour, and two others--both in the
Ghetto Vecchio--are used for religious services on an alternating summer and
winter schedule.)
Freed by Napoleon, persecuted by Hitler
As Venice went into economic and political decline in the 1700s, the Ghetto
sank with it and was forced to declare bankruptcy in 1737. Sixty years later,
Napoleon's troops brought an end to the Republic of Venice. The Ghetto's gates
were torn down, and Jews were given the same freedoms as other citizens of
Venice. Many Jews chose to continue living in the Ghetto, however, and the
Ghetto remained a focal point for the Venetian Jewish community until the German
occupation during World War II, when some 200 Jews were deported and killed
between 1943 and 1945.
Visiting the Ghetto today
The Jewish community in Venice has experienced a modest resurgence in recent
years. About 500 Jews live in Venice, although the Ghetto itself has only about
30 Jewish residents. Religious services take
place in either the Scuola Grande Spagnola or the Scuola Levantina. The
neighborhood has several Jewish shops, a book publisher, a social center, a rest
home for the elderly, a museum, a yeshiva, and the kosher Gam
Gam restaurant (run by Lubavicher Jews from New York).
 Tours
of the Ghetto are available year-round at the Museo Comunità Ebraica
(Jewish Community Museum) in the Campo Ghetto Nuovo, which has a large
collection of religious objects and silverware. The tour has several morning and
afternoon departures and lasts about 40 minutes. The price is a bit steep, but
the three synagogues included in the tour are worth visiting if you're even
remotely interested in Venetian history or Jewish culture. (You can also buy a
combined ticket for the tour and the museum.)
TIPS:
- Skip the tour if you aren't able to climb stairs, since the Ghetto Nuovo's
synagogues were built above street level for reasons of space, security, and
religious law. (The small inset photo at right shows the cupola of the
Scuola Italiana; to see the façade, go to page
2.)
- If you're Jewish, enjoy kosher cooking, and can't afford the prices at the
Gam Gam restaurant, you can arrange to buy meals or kosher food at the rest
home. See the Jewish Community of Venice Web site (link on next page) for
details.
Reaching the Ghetto
Continued on page 4
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Durant
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Imboden's
