Auction 12 Important collection, Eretz Israel, settlement, anti-Semitism, Holocaust and She'erit Ha-Pleita, postcards and photographs, Judaica - Books, Chabad, Rabbinical Letters
Aug 2, 2021
Abraham Ferrera 1 , Jerusalem, Israel

The auction will take place on Monday, August 2nd, 2021 at 19:00 (Israel time).
The auction has ended

LOT 19:

An antisemitic order from the Napoleonic period forbidding Jews to use "biblical" family names - France, 1808

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An antisemitic order from the Napoleonic period forbidding Jews to use "biblical" family names - France, 1808


LE PREFET DU DEPARTEMENT DE LA STURA  - An antisemitic proclamation on behalf of Napoleon, forbidding Jews to use family names from the Bible ('from the Old Testament'), signed in print by Napoleon. Stura (an area in Italy annexed to France during Napoleon's rule) July 20, 1808.


In a special order issued after the conquest of Italian Stura by Napoleon's forces, the French sought to rearrange the surnames of the local Jews. The decree, which is divided into seven sections and an additional clarification entitled: "Imperial decree concerning juifs that do not have family names and fixed persons" - "Imperial decree concerning Jews who do not have a family name", states that Jews often confuse the first name with The family, thus creating a situation where there are many Jews with no last name at all who are called only by their first name. Jews must adopt a last name within three months and declare the new name to the registrar of the local municipality in which they live. Article 3 states that: "The last name taken from the Old Testament will not be accepted as a family name, nor will any name of a Jewish city in which Jews lived in the past be accepted." Article 4 reinforces Article 3, which states that Jews must be informed of how the new installation is being carried out, and to tell the authorities Jews who choose a surname not in accordance with the regulation. "Jews found without appropriate surnames will be expelled from the territory of the French Empire." It is also written that the new regulation is contrary to what is accepted in the ancient Jewish tradition of the believing Jews who escaped from Egyptian bondage "because they did not change their name."


The proclamation is signed in print by Napoleon Bonaparte (Napoleon I). In those years, many Jewish families who chose to remain in place for fear of deportation were forced to use fake family names, according to the regulation. In 1814 Napoleon was defeated in the Italian sector, and the Jews of the French Empire regained Italian citizenship. Although it is known about a number of places where installation was still maintained even after the Italian reconquest.


Size: 64x44 cm. Folding marks. few stains. Very good condition.


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