0:00:04 > 0:00:08If you care to look at my wardrobe, most of it is 25 years old.
0:00:08 > 0:00:12This was given to me by Angie when she went to Spain the first time.
0:00:12 > 0:00:15Though, Dot, she only wears it for special occasions.
0:00:15 > 0:00:2084-year-old actress June Brown has been a British cultural icon for decades...
0:00:20 > 0:00:22You can see all the brooches.
0:00:22 > 0:00:26..Playing the indomitable Dot Cotton in the BBC soap EastEnders.
0:00:26 > 0:00:31It shouldn't really be too co-ordinated, cos she gets the colours slightly wrong.
0:00:31 > 0:00:34Many find it difficult to distinguish June from the part she plays.
0:00:34 > 0:00:38I think they think I'm very like Dot. A lot of people call me Dot.
0:00:38 > 0:00:40I'm always delighted when they call me June.
0:00:40 > 0:00:42There's a negligee.
0:00:42 > 0:00:43SHE CHUCKLES
0:00:43 > 0:00:45Well covered up.
0:00:45 > 0:00:50I am the oldest person who has ever done Who Do You Think You Are?
0:00:50 > 0:00:57June married at 23 and by the age of 30 was widowed after her husband's suicide.
0:00:58 > 0:01:00She continued her acting career
0:01:00 > 0:01:05and in 1958 married for a second time, to actor Robert Arnold.
0:01:05 > 0:01:09They had six children, losing one as a baby.
0:01:12 > 0:01:18In 2003, after 45 years of marriage, June was widowed again.
0:01:18 > 0:01:22I'm not a person who can cry.
0:01:22 > 0:01:26I think I've sort of worked my emotions out,
0:01:26 > 0:01:32so I don't EXPECT to weep, although I will have some waterproof mascara, but I don't THINK I will.
0:01:32 > 0:01:37June knows she has East End Jewish roots.
0:01:37 > 0:01:41Now she wants to see whether these spread any further
0:01:41 > 0:01:45than the laundrette she's inhabited professionally for more than 20 years.
0:01:45 > 0:01:50I've never really felt like an EastEnder, I knew my mother was.
0:01:51 > 0:01:52SHE LAUGHS
0:01:52 > 0:01:55I don't think we'll find any royal blood,
0:01:55 > 0:01:59any blue blood flowing in our veins but who cares, we're all people.
0:02:32 > 0:02:34Well, I'm going to have a wine glass, yeah.
0:02:36 > 0:02:38So did you want some?
0:02:38 > 0:02:40Where's the champagne?
0:02:40 > 0:02:47'I was born in 1927. We had no television, telephones or cars.'
0:02:47 > 0:02:50'It was a lovely life.
0:02:50 > 0:02:52'It's a different world from ours.'
0:02:54 > 0:03:00At the age of 84, June feels that this is her last chance to discover if she's a real EastEnder.
0:03:00 > 0:03:01Smile.
0:03:03 > 0:03:09Before she begins, her family has gathered at her Surrey home to send her off in style.
0:03:09 > 0:03:13- Cheers, cheers. - I've already drunk mine.
0:03:19 > 0:03:23June was born in Suffolk, one of five children.
0:03:23 > 0:03:28Her parents, Louisa and Henry both came from London's East End.
0:03:31 > 0:03:36Scottish grandfather, Italian grandmother...
0:03:36 > 0:03:38er, Irish grandfather.
0:03:38 > 0:03:41Like a mongrel, I'm not truly English,
0:03:41 > 0:03:44I'm not truly anything as far as I know,
0:03:44 > 0:03:47'but I know I'm Jewish, through my mother's line.'
0:03:47 > 0:03:51It's her mother's Jewish East End heritage June wants to investigate.
0:03:51 > 0:03:56- I'm not married.- That is my mother, and my mother was 35 for years
0:03:56 > 0:04:00and then she got fed up with being 35 and suddenly said, "Oh, I'm 50."
0:04:00 > 0:04:06When I was first in EastEnders, they said, "47-year-old June Brown",
0:04:06 > 0:04:07Well, I was 58. I said...
0:04:07 > 0:04:10- We laughed at that!- "If they want to think I'm 47, let them."
0:04:10 > 0:04:13I thought, "I'm not going to say any different."
0:04:13 > 0:04:17Did we laugh at that? You might have done, I didn't, I was delighted.
0:04:19 > 0:04:24As the Matriarch, she is the keeper of the family history,
0:04:24 > 0:04:29and over the years has collected together an archive of photographs and stories.
0:04:29 > 0:04:34That was 1967, your father was quite famous at the time,
0:04:34 > 0:04:37as PC Swain in Dixon of Dock Green.
0:04:37 > 0:04:39Is this you here?
0:04:39 > 0:04:42That is me as a bridesmaid in green satin.
0:04:42 > 0:04:45This is the wedding of my auntie Marie.
0:04:45 > 0:04:47They all, they lived in the East End.
0:04:47 > 0:04:51All of those are Jewish cousins.
0:04:51 > 0:04:55My mother said, and I might be completely wrong,
0:04:55 > 0:04:59but my mother did say we had a champion bare knuckle fighter,
0:04:59 > 0:05:01and he was in the East End, of course.
0:05:01 > 0:05:04- What was the fighter's name? - His name was Isaac Bitton
0:05:04 > 0:05:07I don't know where Bitton comes from, it doesn't sound Jewish.
0:05:07 > 0:05:12It would be nice to find out a bit more about him. Well, I'd like to find out more about him.
0:05:12 > 0:05:15- I wouldn't know.- Did he have money?- Well, I should think so.
0:05:15 > 0:05:18- Well, it would be quite interesting. - ..To follow that.
0:05:18 > 0:05:22It's all my mother, the Jewish side, it's Granny.
0:05:36 > 0:05:43June's family archive includes a document that proves she's a direct descendant from Isaac Bitton.
0:05:43 > 0:05:47My mother was born in the Mile End Road,
0:05:47 > 0:05:53she mentioned this famous bare knuckle fighter in the East End
0:05:53 > 0:05:57and I'd like to find out more about Isaac Bitton, if I can.
0:06:00 > 0:06:03Family research has managed to trace back
0:06:03 > 0:06:06as far as June's great, great, great grandfather,
0:06:06 > 0:06:11the bare knuckle boxer Isaac Bitton, born in 1779.
0:06:14 > 0:06:18Now June is hoping that Isaac, the legendary fighter,
0:06:18 > 0:06:22will help her travel further back into her East End past.
0:06:24 > 0:06:27I'm a very curious person, I like to know everything, really.
0:06:27 > 0:06:32I don't care what I find out, as long as I find out.
0:06:34 > 0:06:37- Would you be Michael Berkowitz? - Yes, I am.
0:06:37 > 0:06:41- My name is June Brown,- Pleasure meeting you.- Thank you so much.
0:06:41 > 0:06:45Historian Michael Berkowitz is an expert on Jewish London,
0:06:45 > 0:06:48and the early years of British boxing.
0:06:49 > 0:06:52And here we have Isaac Bitton.
0:06:54 > 0:06:56Your great, great, great grandfather.
0:06:58 > 0:07:03He was a big personality, a real EastEnder.
0:07:03 > 0:07:06Yeah, but look at the little dancing feet.
0:07:06 > 0:07:09They remind me a bit of you know, dance like a butterfly.
0:07:09 > 0:07:12It looks like he has quite strong legs.
0:07:12 > 0:07:16He was known for being undefeated, an extremely powerful fighter.
0:07:21 > 0:07:27In the early 19th century, Isaac Bitton lived in London's growing Jewish community in the East End,
0:07:27 > 0:07:32an area that for century's had been home to those on the social margins.
0:07:35 > 0:07:41The blood thirsty sport of bare knuckle fighting was at the height of its popularity.
0:07:41 > 0:07:47Few rules existed, and audiences were entertained by bouts that could continue for hours.
0:07:47 > 0:07:51With no limit to the number of rounds, the winner was only decided
0:07:51 > 0:07:55when his opponent could no longer stand and fight.
0:07:55 > 0:08:00For men like Isaac, the sport provided one of the few paths to fame and fortune.
0:08:00 > 0:08:03One of the things that is very interesting is
0:08:03 > 0:08:07not only were Jews involved, who were pretty marginal in society.
0:08:07 > 0:08:09- Exactly. - But also Irish and blacks.- Yeah.
0:08:09 > 0:08:14And one of the things that boxers consider very special is that,
0:08:14 > 0:08:16although it's a very brutal world,
0:08:16 > 0:08:19that they treated each other with more respect
0:08:19 > 0:08:24and more dignity, than they would be accorded in the wider society.
0:08:24 > 0:08:28If you could take a look, there was a paragraph down here that I've marked.
0:08:29 > 0:08:33"One thing at all events is certain, he was a Jew,
0:08:33 > 0:08:39"that was unmistakably... stamped upon his physiogomy.
0:08:39 > 0:08:44"The hook nose, the thick lips, the swarthy complexion,
0:08:44 > 0:08:48"the curly black hair and piecing black eyes.
0:08:48 > 0:08:54"Every traditional feature of the Jewish face was there in most marked and pronounced characters."
0:08:54 > 0:08:58So they're talking about the racial characteristics, which is completely wrong,
0:08:58 > 0:09:06but he had no problem showing himself as a very, almost stereotypically, um, Jewish Jew.
0:09:06 > 0:09:09I think this is part of his personality and part of the magnetism.
0:09:09 > 0:09:15He was very comfortable, although he had a lot of it, He was very comfortable in his own skin.
0:09:15 > 0:09:19- You mean he was fat? - Yes, he was fat, but agile.
0:09:20 > 0:09:23The sport of bare knuckle boxing was illegal.
0:09:23 > 0:09:26Fights were arranged covertly,
0:09:26 > 0:09:31many taking place on London's Commons, far from the attention of the police.
0:09:31 > 0:09:35But attending the fights had become a fashionable past-time.
0:09:35 > 0:09:40The cream of society enjoyed mixing with London's underworld.
0:09:40 > 0:09:44Though most of the boxers themselves saw little profit from the fights,
0:09:44 > 0:09:49vast sums were won and lost by the wealthy audiences betting on the outcome.
0:09:49 > 0:09:55A fighter like Isaac Bitton would have been lauded by his aristocratic audiences.
0:09:56 > 0:10:02The fights were incredibly popular and they could have hundreds, if not thousands of spectators,
0:10:02 > 0:10:08even Byron was a great patron, so he knew a lot of these very important people of his time.
0:10:08 > 0:10:15He was identified, very consistently, as sort of one of the great figures of the East End.
0:10:15 > 0:10:19Actually we've got a rather special publication here,
0:10:19 > 0:10:23called Pugilistica, it's just over a little 100 years old.
0:10:23 > 0:10:28If I could have you read toward the end...
0:10:28 > 0:10:30(This is fun!)
0:10:30 > 0:10:33"Isaac Bitton, a Jew of great strength,
0:10:33 > 0:10:35"was well known for more than 30 years
0:10:35 > 0:10:38"to the ring-going world of the last generations."
0:10:38 > 0:10:42"His draw with Maddox deserves preservation
0:10:42 > 0:10:45"and for these reasons we've given the ponderous Isaac..."
0:10:45 > 0:10:49Ponderous! "..a niche in our history."
0:10:49 > 0:10:52It's a fight that lasts 74 rounds.
0:10:52 > 0:10:54You know, which would be absolutely un-heard of...
0:10:54 > 0:10:58It's referred to as one of the hardest fought battles ever.
0:10:58 > 0:11:01Isaac actually came out on top by the end,
0:11:01 > 0:11:04except he isn't, he simply isn't going to be able to see,
0:11:04 > 0:11:09- you know he was probably completely swollen and...- Like this one, yes, he probably, his eyes were.
0:11:09 > 0:11:12- Yeah.- Oh, dear me. Do you think his brain was damaged?
0:11:12 > 0:11:18Oh, I think it's... It would... If it didn't get damaged in some way, it would be utterly remarkable.
0:11:19 > 0:11:23Isaac Bitton's epic fight of 74 bloody rounds,
0:11:23 > 0:11:29took place in December 1802, on Wimbledon Common, when he was just 23 years old.
0:11:29 > 0:11:32It would be the greatest fight of his career.
0:11:32 > 0:11:35Isaac retired undefeated.
0:11:37 > 0:11:42"His weight after his retirement, so immensely increased
0:11:42 > 0:11:50"that although his activity was remarkable for his size, he draw at scale, 17 stone."
0:11:50 > 0:11:55That's not that bad nowadays, they can be 22, and really quite small.
0:11:55 > 0:12:01For quite a long time though he was the life of the party. I mean he was one of the major figures,
0:12:01 > 0:12:04I think it will most likely be helpful
0:12:04 > 0:12:07to see what kind of evidence is available at Bevis Marks Synagogue,
0:12:07 > 0:12:13because there are references, to him as being Sephardic.
0:12:13 > 0:12:16- That is, coming from...- From Spain. - ..The Spanish world,
0:12:16 > 0:12:20which means either Spain or Portugal at some point.
0:12:27 > 0:12:33From Michael's research, June has clues to her family's Sephardic Jewish roots in the East End.
0:12:36 > 0:12:39She's on her way to the Bevis Marks Sephardic Synagogue,
0:12:39 > 0:12:42which holds records for the community.
0:12:49 > 0:12:50Hello, nice to meet you.
0:12:50 > 0:12:53My name's June Brown, yours is?
0:12:53 > 0:12:57I'm Maurice Bitton, I'm the, er... I look after this wonderful old synagogue.
0:12:57 > 0:12:59You're not a relative by any chance, are you?
0:12:59 > 0:13:01I was hoping we were, but I don't think we are.
0:13:01 > 0:13:06- I'm sure we must be, with a name like that.- Well, if you go back far enough, we probably are.
0:13:07 > 0:13:13As you can see, this was built in 1701, which makes it the oldest surviving synagogue in the country.
0:13:17 > 0:13:19It's beautiful isn't it?
0:13:19 > 0:13:22It is, isn't it?
0:13:22 > 0:13:25All the...candelabra, I suppose you call them.
0:13:27 > 0:13:29You get this wonderful sense of silence.
0:13:31 > 0:13:35- Let me introduce you. - Oh!- Miriam Rodrigues-Pereira, who's our archivist.- How do you do?
0:13:35 > 0:13:37It's very kind of you to come and tell me.
0:13:37 > 0:13:39It's been a pleasure to do.
0:13:39 > 0:13:42- Is this the Rabbi's, erm...? - Reading desk.
0:13:42 > 0:13:45- Reading desk.- This is the, um...
0:13:45 > 0:13:50this is the book of all the Hebrew marriage certificates. There we are.
0:13:50 > 0:13:52There he is.
0:13:52 > 0:13:59Their names are given in Hebrew, here. "Isaac son of Abraham Bitton",
0:14:00 > 0:14:03And her name is Hava.
0:14:03 > 0:14:05- Hava.- Eve, in Hebrew.
0:14:05 > 0:14:08So that gives us his father, who's Abraham.
0:14:08 > 0:14:11Yes, it sounds like the Old Testament doesn't it?
0:14:11 > 0:14:14Isaac son of Abraham.
0:14:14 > 0:14:17- There's his signature. - Oh, he could write quite well.- Yes.
0:14:17 > 0:14:19- He was literate. - And- what's that say?
0:14:19 > 0:14:25That says "novio", which is the Spanish, actually, for Bridegroom.
0:14:25 > 0:14:31- Oh, that's lovely.- And at the bottom, the Rabbi has written in Portuguese,
0:14:31 > 0:14:36"I married them with the seven blessings, the 10th July 1818."
0:14:36 > 0:14:37How wonderful.
0:14:39 > 0:14:43Aged 39, Isaac married Hava,
0:14:43 > 0:14:4717 years after beginning his career as a bare knuckle boxer.
0:14:47 > 0:14:50For June, the wedding record is the first time
0:14:50 > 0:14:53she's seen evidence of any other Bitton ancestors,
0:14:53 > 0:14:56Isaac's father Abraham.
0:14:59 > 0:15:05The next document Miriam has for June is from 1798, when Isaac was 19 years old.
0:15:06 > 0:15:11This is the charity ledger from 1798
0:15:11 > 0:15:15and Isaac's father was getting money every month.
0:15:15 > 0:15:19- Uh-huh.- Until, um, April.
0:15:19 > 0:15:25- And F, I think, is "faleceu", which is the Portuguese for died.- Oh.
0:15:25 > 0:15:27So he died,
0:15:27 > 0:15:30so Isaac was on his own.
0:15:30 > 0:15:33Is the mother mentioned?
0:15:33 > 0:15:35No, it was just himself and Isaac.
0:15:35 > 0:15:36Oh.
0:15:37 > 0:15:40The charity ledger proves that Isaac and his father Abraham
0:15:40 > 0:15:43were living on their own in London's East End.
0:15:46 > 0:15:50June wants to discover what happened to Isaac after his father's death.
0:15:52 > 0:15:57So we know from the birth register Isaac had 11 children altogether.
0:15:57 > 0:16:05And this is the ledger for the charity allotment by the congregation,
0:16:05 > 0:16:09which gives all the details of, er...
0:16:09 > 0:16:12Oh, it's, oh, it's the money they give.
0:16:15 > 0:16:17"Isaac Bitton relief."
0:16:17 > 0:16:19Yes, Isaac, here we are.
0:16:19 > 0:16:25Isaac gets money, ten shillings, this was in 1838.
0:16:25 > 0:16:27But, I mean, how long was that?
0:16:27 > 0:16:30Do you know whether he, that he stopped boxing by then?
0:16:30 > 0:16:33I don't think he was ever wealthy.
0:16:33 > 0:16:40- Oh.- He didn't have very much, and the congregation was very good at providing for people...- Yes.
0:16:40 > 0:16:44..Giving them allowances and giving them coal in the winter.
0:16:44 > 0:16:47Otherwise, there was no welfare for anybody.
0:16:47 > 0:16:50Exactly. And they'd starve, especially with all those children.
0:16:50 > 0:16:52So, erm, yes.
0:16:54 > 0:16:58More than a century before the creation of a welfare state,
0:16:58 > 0:17:01Britain's poor relied on charity for survival.
0:17:01 > 0:17:06The Bevis Mark Sephardic Synagogue looked after it's members,
0:17:06 > 0:17:10distributing sedekah - charitable donations to the needy,
0:17:10 > 0:17:12like Isaac and his family.
0:17:16 > 0:17:18There is a note of his death, so...
0:17:18 > 0:17:21Oh, right. Oh, it's in English, that's marvellous.
0:17:21 > 0:17:27I can read this. Where do we go? Ah. Oh, here we've got it, look.
0:17:27 > 0:17:29"Old Ikey", that's nice, isn't it?
0:17:29 > 0:17:34"After a few weeks illness, breathed his last at the age of 60,
0:17:34 > 0:17:38"in the Eastern Quarter, where he was so long known,
0:17:38 > 0:17:43"and lies in the Jewish burial ground near Bethnal Green."
0:17:43 > 0:17:45Well, it's Mile End Road, actually.
0:17:45 > 0:17:48Well, you see, that's where my mother was born.
0:17:49 > 0:17:53Isaac died in 1839 at the age of 60.
0:17:53 > 0:17:55He had fathered 11 children.
0:17:58 > 0:18:00That's weird, what's that?
0:18:00 > 0:18:03In order to learn any more about her Sephardic roots,
0:18:03 > 0:18:06June has to turn her attention to Isaac's father Abraham,
0:18:06 > 0:18:10her great, great, great, great grandfather.
0:18:10 > 0:18:15- Abraham was an immigrant, as far as we can tell.- Mm.
0:18:15 > 0:18:18And I should think the most likely place
0:18:18 > 0:18:22- is, er, Holland from Amsterdam. - Why would you think that?
0:18:22 > 0:18:26- Well, because a lot of our people did come from there.- Yeah.
0:18:26 > 0:18:30I want to ask you, Miriam, if there are any graves that one could visit
0:18:30 > 0:18:34because if Abraham died here, he would have been buried here.
0:18:34 > 0:18:38Yes, they were both buried here, but unfortunately there is no grave now.
0:18:38 > 0:18:43- Ah.- And we don't know whether there were gravestones.
0:18:43 > 0:18:47- If there were, they didn't survive.- Mm.
0:18:48 > 0:18:51Despite Isaac's fame in the East End,
0:18:51 > 0:18:54no memorial to the bare knuckle boxer exists.
0:18:56 > 0:18:58Isaac died penniless,
0:18:58 > 0:19:02just as his father Abraham had, four decades earlier.
0:19:10 > 0:19:14That's always been one of my fears.
0:19:14 > 0:19:17Being poor and old.
0:19:17 > 0:19:19It's not so bad being poor when you're young,
0:19:19 > 0:19:22cos you've always got the hope that something's going to happen,
0:19:22 > 0:19:26but unless you win the football pools, or the lottery comes up,
0:19:26 > 0:19:28you don't have much chance when you're old.
0:19:38 > 0:19:44It seems likely that Abraham and Isaac made their way to London's East End from Holland.
0:19:45 > 0:19:50June's come to Amsterdam to discover if they did live here and, if so,
0:19:50 > 0:19:53why they migrated to London when Isaac was only ten years old.
0:19:55 > 0:19:59For me, it's rather like reading a detective novel,
0:19:59 > 0:20:00which I do all the time.
0:20:00 > 0:20:03It's the only things I read unless I'm being serious.
0:20:03 > 0:20:09And this is like this for me, you know finding out all sorts of fascinating things.
0:20:15 > 0:20:18What I'm interested in finding out
0:20:18 > 0:20:21is why he left Holland or the Netherlands.
0:20:21 > 0:20:26I don't know whether mother had died, or stayed behind or whatever,
0:20:26 > 0:20:28or divorced.
0:20:28 > 0:20:33They must have some reason why he came to the East End of London.
0:20:39 > 0:20:41At Amsterdam's Municipal archives,
0:20:41 > 0:20:44June has arranged to meet Harmen Snell,
0:20:44 > 0:20:47a specialist in Jewish genealogy.
0:20:48 > 0:20:50What I found out in London
0:20:50 > 0:20:54was that I have a great, great, great grandfather
0:20:54 > 0:20:58who was a very well-known bare knuckle champion.
0:20:58 > 0:21:02This is Isaac Bitton, and I'd like to know if he was the only child,
0:21:02 > 0:21:08and why he came at the age of 11, roughly, with his father to the East End.
0:21:08 > 0:21:10And when did they arrive?
0:21:10 > 0:21:13I think roughly 1790.
0:21:13 > 0:21:17Yeah, so we're going to go for Bitton.
0:21:17 > 0:21:24We're looking for some child born about 1778.
0:21:24 > 0:21:27I wish I could work one of these things.
0:21:27 > 0:21:29- This is Abraham Bitton, that's the father.- Ah-ha.
0:21:29 > 0:21:33These are years that his children were born.
0:21:33 > 0:21:36This is the name of the mother.
0:21:36 > 0:21:39- Ah, oh, look. - Rachel Rodrigues de Castro.
0:21:39 > 0:21:41- That's a lovely name, isn't it? - Yes, beautiful.
0:21:41 > 0:21:44I wish I had a name like that.
0:21:44 > 0:21:46- Mine's so common. - Yeah, well, mine too.
0:21:46 > 0:21:51And here is one child, Isaac.
0:21:51 > 0:21:54- Uh-huh.- Born 1777.
0:21:54 > 0:21:56Ah, bit older than we thought, then.
0:21:56 > 0:22:02And here is another Isaac, in 1779.
0:22:02 > 0:22:04- Oh, one died.- One died.
0:22:04 > 0:22:09- The first one died.- And the second one was named Isaac Haim.
0:22:09 > 0:22:11- Haim, meaning life.- Mm.
0:22:11 > 0:22:14This is the birth, the registration.
0:22:14 > 0:22:17Good Lord! Such lovely writing they wrote, as well.
0:22:17 > 0:22:22And here you see 29th June 1779,
0:22:22 > 0:22:29Isaac Haim, son of Abraham Bitton and Rachel Rodrigues de Castro.
0:22:29 > 0:22:33So that must be the bare knuckle boxer.
0:22:33 > 0:22:35And his mother was Rachel.
0:22:35 > 0:22:37Yes.
0:22:37 > 0:22:41In the late 18th century, many of Europe's cities
0:22:41 > 0:22:46forced Jews to wear distinguishing marks and live in separate ghettos.
0:22:46 > 0:22:50But in Amsterdam, the city in which Abraham and his family were living,
0:22:50 > 0:22:54Jews were tolerated and could move about and practice their faith freely.
0:22:56 > 0:23:00But even with this freedom, Jews were prohibited from most professions.
0:23:00 > 0:23:05Many were forced to scrape together a living as street traders.
0:23:05 > 0:23:09So what prompted Abraham and the 10-year-old Isaac
0:23:09 > 0:23:13to abandon their family and leave the most tolerant city in Europe,
0:23:13 > 0:23:16for an uncertain future in England?
0:23:18 > 0:23:26What I want to show you is, a book which is called The Termos...
0:23:26 > 0:23:31The Sephardic community, if they had to deal with something they wrote it in this book.
0:23:31 > 0:23:34- Very fancy.- Very fancy, yeah.
0:23:34 > 0:23:39- Yes.- But Abraham Bitton is registered here
0:23:39 > 0:23:41being a tax payer for the community.
0:23:41 > 0:23:44Ah, so he wasn't on the poor relief, then?
0:23:44 > 0:23:47- No.- He had a job.
0:23:47 > 0:23:50He had a job, most likely he was a hawker, on the streets.
0:23:50 > 0:23:52But not a liability on the congregation.
0:23:52 > 0:23:55- No.- Oh, well done.
0:23:55 > 0:23:58- Not yet.- Oh, no!
0:23:58 > 0:23:59- Yes.- What's next?
0:23:59 > 0:24:02- And next,- What's this?
0:24:02 > 0:24:06This is the year 1784, 1785.
0:24:07 > 0:24:14And here you see Abraham Bitton again, and this is a sedekah list...
0:24:14 > 0:24:17- relief for the poor.- Uh-huh.
0:24:17 > 0:24:21- And this is the first time he appears in this.- Right.
0:24:21 > 0:24:23So his household were seven people.
0:24:23 > 0:24:26- So...- Five children.- Five children.
0:24:26 > 0:24:29Five children were alive at that moment.
0:24:29 > 0:24:31And these are the amounts that they received.
0:24:31 > 0:24:33Why did they receive that?
0:24:33 > 0:24:36Had he gone down in the world? Was he out of work?
0:24:36 > 0:24:431784, 1785 were dramatically bad years in Dutch economy.
0:24:43 > 0:24:46We just had a war, behind us.
0:24:46 > 0:24:50- Which war was that?- It was what we call the Fourth English War.
0:24:50 > 0:24:53So imagine who we were fighting!
0:24:53 > 0:24:55I can't think which war that was.
0:24:55 > 0:24:57We lost, we lost.
0:24:57 > 0:24:59- Oh, good. Oh, I'm sorry!- Oh, yeah.
0:25:01 > 0:25:04In 1780, the British declared war on Holland,
0:25:04 > 0:25:08when the Dutch came out in support of George Washington
0:25:08 > 0:25:11and his revolutionary forces in America.
0:25:11 > 0:25:14Four years of war with Britain followed.
0:25:16 > 0:25:22The Dutch economy was in ruins and in the years that followed, Jewish street traders like Abraham,
0:25:22 > 0:25:27who in the good times had managed to eke out a living for their families, now faced destitution.
0:25:29 > 0:25:31The 10-year-old Isaac and his father Abraham
0:25:31 > 0:25:33joined a wave of Jewish migrants
0:25:33 > 0:25:36in search of a new life in the booming city of London.
0:25:38 > 0:25:42Abraham's wife Rachel and Isaac's siblings
0:25:42 > 0:25:44were left behind in Amsterdam.
0:25:46 > 0:25:50Why did he move to London without his wife and other children, do you know?
0:25:50 > 0:25:54He probably thought in London there might be chances,
0:25:54 > 0:25:58he went there to see if there were chances to stay there
0:25:58 > 0:26:03- for a longer time and get his family over, but...- Still goes on!
0:26:03 > 0:26:05It still works like that.
0:26:05 > 0:26:12But in 1795, the Netherlands were invaded by France.
0:26:12 > 0:26:15And from that moment on, it was very difficult
0:26:15 > 0:26:19or almost impossible to travel to England.
0:26:19 > 0:26:21- To leave the country. - To leave the country.
0:26:21 > 0:26:23And go across the channel, on the boat.
0:26:25 > 0:26:30By 1795, Europe was in the grip of the French Revolutionary Wars.
0:26:31 > 0:26:34Holland was politically and economically vulnerable,
0:26:34 > 0:26:38and the French invading army marched in, isolating the country by land.
0:26:39 > 0:26:45And with Britain and France at war, the channel was blockaded, cutting Holland off by sea.
0:26:48 > 0:26:52Rachel would have given up any hope of escaping the devastated Amsterdam
0:26:52 > 0:26:55to join Abraham and Isaac in London.
0:26:55 > 0:27:00It's probable all communication between the divided family, ceased.
0:27:03 > 0:27:05But by 1801, word from London
0:27:05 > 0:27:09must have got through to the synagogue in Amsterdam.
0:27:09 > 0:27:12Rachel's husband Abraham had died.
0:27:15 > 0:27:20Here, you see, a registration, "the widow of..."
0:27:20 > 0:27:23- Ah.- "..Abraham Bitton."
0:27:23 > 0:27:29Abraham had already died, and she knows here that he died,
0:27:29 > 0:27:31because she is registered as the widow.
0:27:31 > 0:27:36And her support in this sedekah list is now for three persons.
0:27:36 > 0:27:38So she had eight children.
0:27:38 > 0:27:42Yes, well the other children, at this time in 1801,
0:27:42 > 0:27:44had all died, except Isaac.
0:27:44 > 0:27:47- In these times...- They died young?
0:27:47 > 0:27:49They died young, many of them died young
0:27:49 > 0:27:54and most of them on tuberculosis or kind of fevers.
0:27:54 > 0:27:57- That's a very bad period of their lives then,- Yeah.
0:27:57 > 0:28:02They were separated, the son went and she was on the parish, as it were.
0:28:02 > 0:28:08- And, for Isaac, writing letters or visiting his mother...- Yes.
0:28:08 > 0:28:10- ..Was not really in it.- Impossible.
0:28:10 > 0:28:17It looks like the mother was totally not aware that her son was still alive in London.
0:28:17 > 0:28:20And he had no contact with her...
0:28:20 > 0:28:22- No.- ..Once he was in England.
0:28:22 > 0:28:24Oh, dear.
0:28:24 > 0:28:26What happened to Rachel?
0:28:26 > 0:28:31Well, she died in Amsterdam in 1812,
0:28:31 > 0:28:35and she and her children are buried in Amsterdam.
0:28:36 > 0:28:39Where did Abraham and Rachel come from?
0:28:39 > 0:28:43We can research that when we find the marriage.
0:28:43 > 0:28:45- I will show you.- Go on, then.
0:28:45 > 0:28:49- I'll show you that one! - Speedy Gonzales!
0:28:52 > 0:28:56June has uncovered the fate of Isaac's parent's Rachel and Abraham.
0:28:56 > 0:29:01Now she wants to delve further back to earlier generations.
0:29:04 > 0:29:09So, what I have here is a reference to the actual marriage
0:29:09 > 0:29:12of Abraham Bitton and his wife.
0:29:14 > 0:29:18I'm looking for my glasses, I won't be a minute. Right, I've got them.
0:29:19 > 0:29:23I think you might be able to read it without.
0:29:23 > 0:29:29"21st May 1762. Abraham Bitton from..."
0:29:29 > 0:29:30- Can you read this?- Yes.
0:29:30 > 0:29:33Yes? What does it say?
0:29:33 > 0:29:37Well, I said yes, I said yes, to be accommodating,
0:29:37 > 0:29:39but it looks like "Go" to me!
0:29:39 > 0:29:41You should read it like this.
0:29:41 > 0:29:43It's written, "Livorno".
0:29:43 > 0:29:47- What does that mean? Is that a town in Italy? - That's the town, in Italy.
0:29:47 > 0:29:50- Where they make hats. - Town where he was born.
0:29:50 > 0:29:52Really? Oh, so he was Italian?
0:29:53 > 0:29:55And she, it's written here,
0:29:55 > 0:29:58Rachel Rodrigues from Amsterdam,
0:29:58 > 0:30:01and here you see their signatures.
0:30:01 > 0:30:05- Yeah.- So this is the father of Isaac. - It's very good, they were literate.
0:30:05 > 0:30:10- Yeah.- See that's unusual, at that time, because very often
0:30:10 > 0:30:13people couldn't write and they signed their name with a cross.
0:30:13 > 0:30:15Yeah, or with a circle.
0:30:15 > 0:30:19In the Netherlands, Jews very rarely used the cross
0:30:19 > 0:30:22- when they couldn't write. - Oh, you mean that sort of cross.
0:30:22 > 0:30:25They didn't like very much what the cross had done to them.
0:30:25 > 0:30:30- So the man who came to England...- Mm.
0:30:30 > 0:30:32- ..He came from the Netherlands... - Mm-hm.
0:30:32 > 0:30:34- ..but he was born in Italy. - Born in Italy.
0:30:34 > 0:30:36I always said I was a mongrel!
0:30:38 > 0:30:40- So where do we go...? - But his wife was from Ams...
0:30:40 > 0:30:42Maybe go backwards from here?
0:30:42 > 0:30:44We go backwards.
0:30:44 > 0:30:48Harmon has one final document connected to Abraham for June to see.
0:30:49 > 0:30:52So you see, this letter,
0:30:52 > 0:30:54dated 1764,
0:30:54 > 0:30:58says that there is confirmation of his birth...
0:30:58 > 0:31:01- Mm-hm.- ..In Italy, in Livorno,
0:31:01 > 0:31:04with an exact date, 25th June 1732,
0:31:04 > 0:31:08and names of his parents, Joseph and Simha Bitton, in Livorno.
0:31:08 > 0:31:11- That's the mother.- Yes.
0:31:11 > 0:31:15And this part is even more interesting.
0:31:15 > 0:31:20This is by two other guys, who confirm that Abraham,
0:31:20 > 0:31:22the son of Joseph Bitton,
0:31:22 > 0:31:27who now lives in the city of Amsterdam,
0:31:27 > 0:31:31that he really is from the "nacion Espanola,"
0:31:31 > 0:31:33- the Spanish nation...- Yeah.
0:31:33 > 0:31:36..And that his grandfather,
0:31:36 > 0:31:38Isaac Bitton...
0:31:40 > 0:31:44..was from the city of Oran.
0:31:45 > 0:31:49- Where's that? - In the north of Africa.
0:31:49 > 0:31:51- Er...- Africa!
0:31:51 > 0:31:53In Algeria, nowadays Algeria.
0:31:53 > 0:31:56Algeria.
0:31:56 > 0:31:57And at that time,
0:31:57 > 0:31:59it was Spanish ruled.
0:31:59 > 0:32:02- Ruled by the Spanish.- Oh, right.
0:32:02 > 0:32:04But it says that the whole family
0:32:04 > 0:32:08was "espulsados", was expelled,
0:32:08 > 0:32:10together with all the Jews -
0:32:10 > 0:32:12"todos los Hebreos" -
0:32:12 > 0:32:15in the year 1669.
0:32:16 > 0:32:19So all the Jews were expelled from that town.
0:32:19 > 0:32:22- Because of faith? Their faith?- Yes.
0:32:23 > 0:32:24Thank you.
0:32:39 > 0:32:42June has now traced her Bitton ancestors
0:32:42 > 0:32:45back to 1669, to the North African city of Oran,
0:32:45 > 0:32:48when it was under Spanish rule.
0:32:48 > 0:32:52But before she can pursue this new information,
0:32:52 > 0:32:55there is one place she still wants to visit in Holland.
0:32:56 > 0:33:00Amsterdam's Sephardic cemetery is just outside of the city,
0:33:00 > 0:33:03on a tributary of the Amstel River.
0:33:03 > 0:33:06June is now on her way there to see if she can find the grave
0:33:06 > 0:33:08of Isaac's mother Rachel,
0:33:08 > 0:33:11June's great, great, great, great grandmother.
0:33:12 > 0:33:14They must have lived always on edge.
0:33:15 > 0:33:19Their fortunes fell and rose and fell,
0:33:19 > 0:33:22and unfortunately fell more than they rose.
0:33:22 > 0:33:26I think this must have been particularly hard for Rachel
0:33:26 > 0:33:28when she was left.
0:33:28 > 0:33:30It's like being widowed,
0:33:30 > 0:33:33there is the hole there somehow,
0:33:33 > 0:33:35you miss the familiarity of it,
0:33:35 > 0:33:37the pattern of it, the routine of it.
0:33:39 > 0:33:42I think it must have been dreadful
0:33:42 > 0:33:44not to know what happened to your son.
0:33:44 > 0:33:47Well, she couldn't get across the Channel, it was blockaded
0:33:47 > 0:33:50and there wasn't a telephone and, er...
0:33:50 > 0:33:53you couldn't make a call and how did you know how they were?
0:33:53 > 0:33:57It must have been... She must have lived her life in constant worry.
0:34:01 > 0:34:06By tradition, the dead are carried to Beth Haim Cemetery by boat.
0:34:10 > 0:34:12Hello.
0:34:12 > 0:34:15- Thank you. May I hand you this? - Yeah, of course.- Thank you.
0:34:17 > 0:34:21Opened in the early 17th century, the cemetery is still used
0:34:21 > 0:34:25and cared for by Amsterdam's Sephardic community.
0:34:31 > 0:34:34Well, that's only... That's ten years later.
0:34:35 > 0:34:38June's sorting through the cemetery's records to find Rachel
0:34:38 > 0:34:41and any of her children who may have been buried here.
0:34:41 > 0:34:42"Bitton."
0:34:42 > 0:34:46Ah, we've got Rachel.
0:34:46 > 0:34:4921st July 1812.
0:34:50 > 0:34:53And the Bitton is only spelt with one T.
0:34:54 > 0:34:56Well, that must be the mother.
0:34:56 > 0:35:00Oh, a child who died at two months old.
0:35:00 > 0:35:02Oh, dear.
0:35:02 > 0:35:05And this is a brother...
0:35:05 > 0:35:07and he was two when he died.
0:35:07 > 0:35:09So...he's died,
0:35:09 > 0:35:11he's died as well.
0:35:11 > 0:35:14Of course, they're all "died" in here,
0:35:14 > 0:35:17and this one died in '96.
0:35:18 > 0:35:22So she lost that daughter,
0:35:22 > 0:35:26this one born '69, Abigail, a daughter -
0:35:26 > 0:35:30- pretty name - died 1812.
0:35:30 > 0:35:33so she died the same time
0:35:33 > 0:35:34as her mother.
0:35:35 > 0:35:37So we've got 1812,
0:35:37 > 0:35:38mother and daughter
0:35:38 > 0:35:41died in the same year.
0:35:41 > 0:35:42Oh!
0:35:42 > 0:35:45Well, the daughter died first,
0:35:45 > 0:35:48Abigail died on the 26th January
0:35:48 > 0:35:51and her mother died on the 21st of July.
0:35:52 > 0:35:55So she was left all on her own.
0:35:55 > 0:35:58She was the last one to die.
0:35:58 > 0:36:01And she'd lost her daughter...
0:36:04 > 0:36:08Perhaps she died heartbroken when her last child died.
0:36:08 > 0:36:10Nothing left to live for.
0:36:10 > 0:36:12Oh, dear.
0:36:13 > 0:36:15What a sad life.
0:36:18 > 0:36:21Beth Haim's caretaker, Dennis Ouderdorp,
0:36:21 > 0:36:24is taking June to the place where Rachel was buried.
0:36:25 > 0:36:28The mother was left alone, she was the last one to die.
0:36:29 > 0:36:31She'd got Isaac, but she didn't know that -
0:36:31 > 0:36:33he was in England.
0:36:34 > 0:36:37If they were wealthy then we have a stone,
0:36:37 > 0:36:40and if they were not wealthy, then it wouldn't have a stone.
0:36:41 > 0:36:45Of field 1763, this is row eight,
0:36:45 > 0:36:48and Rachel was buried in row six.
0:36:48 > 0:36:52- Right. - So that must be somewhere...here.
0:36:53 > 0:36:54Right.
0:36:55 > 0:36:56Row seven.
0:36:56 > 0:36:59Row seven's about there, yes.
0:36:59 > 0:37:02Somewhere here must be row six.
0:37:02 > 0:37:04Row six.
0:37:06 > 0:37:08So we could be standing on her.
0:37:08 > 0:37:11On her grave, yes.
0:37:11 > 0:37:12Well, I'm going to imagine
0:37:12 > 0:37:16that her grave is here. Where would her head be in this row?
0:37:16 > 0:37:19Erm, on the side we are standing now.
0:37:19 > 0:37:21- This side?- And the feet upwards.
0:37:21 > 0:37:23So the... It goes that way?
0:37:23 > 0:37:26- Right, right. - So we are.. We are here.
0:37:26 > 0:37:29- Right.- Right, thank you. Would you like to leave me alone for a moment?
0:37:29 > 0:37:32- No, of course, I do understand. - Thank you.
0:37:38 > 0:37:41So... Rachel...
0:37:41 > 0:37:46dear great, great, great, great grandmother.
0:37:47 > 0:37:49I have come to visit you,
0:37:49 > 0:37:52which you never expected.
0:37:52 > 0:37:56And I'm going to show you what happened
0:37:56 > 0:37:59to your only living child
0:37:59 > 0:38:01when you died.
0:38:01 > 0:38:03Well, this is he.
0:38:03 > 0:38:04And he became famous,
0:38:04 > 0:38:07he was a champion bare knuckle fighter,
0:38:07 > 0:38:11so you would have been very proud of him.
0:38:11 > 0:38:13So where is the sun there?
0:38:13 > 0:38:17And I've brought you a flower from him and wherever the sun goes,
0:38:17 > 0:38:19that face will track it,
0:38:19 > 0:38:21so may your face always be beside the sun.
0:38:21 > 0:38:25And this I will place in front.
0:38:25 > 0:38:28I don't suppose it will be there long,
0:38:28 > 0:38:31and according to the Jewish custom,
0:38:31 > 0:38:35I have brought you a stone which, believe it or not,
0:38:35 > 0:38:36has got a little face on it,
0:38:36 > 0:38:40I'm sure you were prettier, but there she is.
0:38:41 > 0:38:42That is on your son.
0:38:50 > 0:38:53I feel a kind of affinity with this Rachel,
0:38:53 > 0:38:57partly because of the amount of children that she had,
0:38:57 > 0:39:00partly because she named two of her children, I think it was,
0:39:00 > 0:39:04when the first one died, with the same name,
0:39:04 > 0:39:05and I did the same.
0:39:05 > 0:39:08I had a premature baby that died when she was 16 days old
0:39:08 > 0:39:12and I named her Chloe, and then I had Sophie
0:39:12 > 0:39:17and then I had William, and the next one I called Chloe again.
0:39:17 > 0:39:19And of course I've...
0:39:19 > 0:39:20lost one child,
0:39:20 > 0:39:22my mother lost two children,
0:39:22 > 0:39:25she had five and I had six, I suppose.
0:39:25 > 0:39:28And this... How many has she lost?
0:39:28 > 0:39:29All of them in the end.
0:39:29 > 0:39:31And she was widowed,
0:39:31 > 0:39:32and I am twice widowed,
0:39:32 > 0:39:36and so I do feel very much that I understand,
0:39:36 > 0:39:38what it must have been like for her
0:39:38 > 0:39:42when she was left at the very end with no children, no husband,
0:39:42 > 0:39:45I'm quite sure she gave up.
0:39:46 > 0:39:49And I should think she'd had enough.
0:39:50 > 0:39:54I think you can almost will yourself to die.
0:40:04 > 0:40:08She at least knows that she had one son living
0:40:08 > 0:40:12at the time of her death, who became successful
0:40:12 > 0:40:16and was charismatic and very well liked.
0:40:18 > 0:40:20Now there is success.
0:40:25 > 0:40:28It won't last long, the photograph.
0:40:30 > 0:40:31But she's seen it.
0:40:37 > 0:40:41June has traced her Bitton family's line from the East End
0:40:41 > 0:40:45to the heart of Amsterdam's Sephardic community.
0:40:45 > 0:40:48To follow these Sephardic roots any further,
0:40:48 > 0:40:51June has to step back a century earlier and trace the journey
0:40:51 > 0:40:54that her family made from Oran, in North Africa,
0:40:54 > 0:40:57when it was under Spanish Imperial rule.
0:41:01 > 0:41:04June has travelled to mainland Spain,
0:41:04 > 0:41:07where records of its time under the Spanish are kept.
0:41:19 > 0:41:24She's starting her journey in Madrid, once the capital of the largest empire in the world.
0:41:28 > 0:41:32I've been to Spain before, not to Madrid,
0:41:32 > 0:41:36and it gives a sense that Spain had a big empire.
0:41:37 > 0:41:39An enormous empire.
0:41:44 > 0:41:47June is in pursuit of another Isaque -
0:41:47 > 0:41:52her great, great, great, great, great, great grandfather.
0:41:52 > 0:41:56She knows this Isaque was expelled from Oran in modern day Algeria,
0:41:56 > 0:41:58in 1669.
0:42:00 > 0:42:02I might be able to find out
0:42:02 > 0:42:05more about my Sephardic roots...
0:42:05 > 0:42:09what happened to those particular Jews,
0:42:09 > 0:42:14because that is a very interesting thing to be part of.
0:42:16 > 0:42:20When June's ancestor was living in the North African Spanish outpost,
0:42:20 > 0:42:23religious intolerance raged.
0:42:25 > 0:42:26For more than two centuries,
0:42:26 > 0:42:29Spain had aggressively expanded its empire.
0:42:29 > 0:42:34As it grew, a zealous Catholicism was branded on its new territories.
0:42:35 > 0:42:39A tribunal was set up to enforce adherence to this Catholic doctrine
0:42:39 > 0:42:43that's become known as the Spanish Inquisition.
0:42:44 > 0:42:49In Spain, Jews faced the onslaught of this Catholic zeal,
0:42:49 > 0:42:52they were offered a choice -
0:42:52 > 0:42:55leave, convert, or face death.
0:42:56 > 0:43:00The Spanish captured Oran in 1509.
0:43:00 > 0:43:02Remarkably in this North African town,
0:43:02 > 0:43:05just a day's sail from mainland Spain,
0:43:05 > 0:43:08the small Jewish community was tolerated,
0:43:08 > 0:43:12and even permitted to practise their faith.
0:43:12 > 0:43:16The area surrounding Oran was rich with fertile ground
0:43:16 > 0:43:20and Jews were put to use brokering deals for the abundant crops,
0:43:20 > 0:43:24between the local Berber farmers and Spanish buyers.
0:43:35 > 0:43:39The largest collection of documents connected to the Jewish presence in Oran,
0:43:39 > 0:43:41is held in royal archives,
0:43:41 > 0:43:45north of Madrid in the town of Simancas.
0:43:53 > 0:43:57June is here to meet Doctor Francois Soyer,
0:43:57 > 0:44:01an expert in the history of the persecution of the Jews in Spain.
0:44:05 > 0:44:08- Ah, you must be Francois Soyer. - Hello, June.
0:44:08 > 0:44:10You know my name!
0:44:10 > 0:44:13- I'll sit down, shall I? Thank you. - Sit down.
0:44:13 > 0:44:17- These are rather beautiful.- It is, it's a beautiful watercolour.
0:44:17 > 0:44:19This is a map of...
0:44:19 > 0:44:21- Map?- ..Of the western Mediterranean, yes.
0:44:21 > 0:44:23It looks like a pretty picture to me.
0:44:23 > 0:44:25On the upper side of this map,
0:44:25 > 0:44:29- is the Mediterranean coast of Spain...- Yes.
0:44:29 > 0:44:31..The Alicante
0:44:31 > 0:44:34- and in the middle...- Uh-huh. - ..Majorca, Ibiza,
0:44:34 > 0:44:37and here, at the bottom, what is today Algeria,
0:44:37 > 0:44:40known back in the 17th century as the Barbary Coast.
0:44:40 > 0:44:41Oh, is that right?
0:44:41 > 0:44:44And Oran here, this town on this side.
0:44:44 > 0:44:45Oh, yes, thank you.
0:44:45 > 0:44:48And what is that?
0:44:48 > 0:44:51That is a more detailed map of Oran...
0:44:52 > 0:44:55..drawn actually in 1675.
0:44:56 > 0:45:00The town is surrounded by walls, it's very much a military outpost.
0:45:00 > 0:45:03- Uh-huh.- It's got, er...
0:45:03 > 0:45:06hostile Muslim outposts all around it.
0:45:06 > 0:45:08Now, the Jews in Oran
0:45:08 > 0:45:10had this rather peculiar existence,
0:45:10 > 0:45:14never fully trusted by the Spaniards,
0:45:14 > 0:45:17very much forced to live in their own little area, erm...
0:45:17 > 0:45:19seen as potential double agents,
0:45:19 > 0:45:25maybe working for the Muslims as much as they were working for the Spaniards.
0:45:25 > 0:45:29Francois has a document, which will give June a clue to Isaque's life,
0:45:29 > 0:45:32and that of his father, a second Abraham.
0:45:33 > 0:45:36Now this is from the Royal Archives.
0:45:36 > 0:45:40I'm going to get slightly round nearer you,
0:45:40 > 0:45:42and we can both read at the same time.
0:45:42 > 0:45:45- Its date is...- What language is it?
0:45:45 > 0:45:50- It's in Spanish.- I don't think I'll bother, you can tell me about it. - I'll give you a translation,
0:45:50 > 0:45:52but its date is from 1637,
0:45:52 > 0:45:55and what it's telling us is that in that year,
0:45:55 > 0:45:57two Jews from Oran,
0:45:57 > 0:46:00asked for the right to trade in Spain,
0:46:00 > 0:46:02and this is exactly the documents here.
0:46:02 > 0:46:06So Sadia Elayque and Abraham ben Boton, Jews.
0:46:06 > 0:46:10What's that name again? Ben Boton?
0:46:10 > 0:46:14- Ben bo... Ben Boton. - Ben Boton, the name has changed.
0:46:14 > 0:46:16Yep, and the "boton" here is probably
0:46:16 > 0:46:21a Spanish sort of, um... transliteration of what the original name would have been.
0:46:21 > 0:46:24Is this Abraham related to me?
0:46:24 > 0:46:27- The names are so similar...- Uh-huh.
0:46:27 > 0:46:31..Abraham ben Boton, Isaac Bitton,
0:46:31 > 0:46:35that it... there should be almost no doubt that they are related.
0:46:35 > 0:46:38- Ah.- Erm, Abraham was probably his father.
0:46:38 > 0:46:40Ah.
0:46:40 > 0:46:43So these two Jews have asked the Crown for the right
0:46:43 > 0:46:47- to come to Spain for their business dealings.- Um-hm.
0:46:47 > 0:46:50Jews are not allowed to go to Spain normally.
0:46:50 > 0:46:52- No.- In fact, there is a death penalty
0:46:52 > 0:46:55- against any Jews who were to be found in Spain...- Uh-huh.
0:46:55 > 0:46:58..Without any proper authorisation.
0:47:04 > 0:47:06As a trader in Oran,
0:47:06 > 0:47:10Isaque's father Abraham needed to travel to Spain to broker deals.
0:47:13 > 0:47:15But under the rules of the fanatical Inquisition,
0:47:15 > 0:47:19any Jew found in Spain without proper authority,
0:47:19 > 0:47:22faced torture or execution.
0:47:25 > 0:47:27The permit granted to Abraham
0:47:27 > 0:47:30allowed him to travel in Spain safely.
0:47:32 > 0:47:34Effectively, they were asking for a visa
0:47:34 > 0:47:38to come to Spain, and it had to go all the way to the king,
0:47:38 > 0:47:40it had to wait for his authorisation.
0:47:40 > 0:47:44This bit here is the king's...
0:47:44 > 0:47:48- Initials, I think. - Exactly, this was Phillip IV.
0:47:48 > 0:47:51Documents also very interesting because both Sadia Elayque
0:47:51 > 0:47:54and Abraham ben Boton
0:47:54 > 0:47:57are portrayed as good Jews.
0:47:57 > 0:47:59- Right. - They're descendants of the Jews
0:47:59 > 0:48:03who helped Spain when the town was captured, and Abraham ben Boton
0:48:03 > 0:48:06is one of the most senior members of the local synagogue.
0:48:06 > 0:48:11When the Spanish authorities asked for a list of the most prominent Jews in 1656,
0:48:11 > 0:48:13he's definitely there.
0:48:13 > 0:48:17The best place to go in Spain is probably Toledo in central Spain.
0:48:17 > 0:48:21- Why is that?- Well, it has probably the best preserved Sephardic,
0:48:21 > 0:48:26medieval Sephardic synagogue in the Western Mediterranean.
0:48:26 > 0:48:28And I would heartily recommend you go there.
0:48:32 > 0:48:36Once again, June has uncovered a father and son,
0:48:36 > 0:48:39another Abraham and another Isaque,
0:48:39 > 0:48:42living in Oran in the mid 17th century.
0:48:48 > 0:48:50What she has not yet uncovered
0:48:50 > 0:48:53is evidence to explain why the ben Boton family
0:48:53 > 0:48:56fell out of favour with the Spanish Court,
0:48:56 > 0:49:00resulting in the expulsion of Abraham and Isaque in 1669.
0:49:00 > 0:49:05How did they go from being the good Jews of Oran, to being cast out?
0:49:13 > 0:49:17Abraham was a Sephardic Jew,
0:49:17 > 0:49:20which of course makes me Sephardi,
0:49:20 > 0:49:22a fact of which I'm rather proud.
0:49:22 > 0:49:25He came from Oran in, er, Algeria
0:49:25 > 0:49:28which was a Spanish property,
0:49:28 > 0:49:31it was a fortress town. They had been there for years,
0:49:31 > 0:49:36but suddenly they were all expelled, whether it was just a general pogrom
0:49:36 > 0:49:39or whether there was a particular reason
0:49:39 > 0:49:42is what I hope to find out.
0:49:43 > 0:49:46During the violent years of the Inquisition,
0:49:46 > 0:49:49few synagogues were spared.
0:49:49 > 0:49:54Many were converted to churches, others looted or destroyed.
0:49:54 > 0:49:58Remarkably, here in Toledo, the 14th-century Sinagoga del Transito
0:49:58 > 0:50:00survived the onslaught of the Inquisition.
0:50:20 > 0:50:23It's very hard not being of the Jewish faith,
0:50:23 > 0:50:26but coming from Jewish roots.
0:50:26 > 0:50:31I see both sides, I suppose, and I suppose that's what we should all do.
0:50:32 > 0:50:36I don't understand religious wars. That is where we ALL go wrong.
0:50:45 > 0:50:48At the synagogue, June's meeting Spanish language scholar Michael Britain.
0:50:51 > 0:50:54He's translated a document written in 1670,
0:50:54 > 0:50:57a year after the Jews were expelled from Oran.
0:50:59 > 0:51:02- It's not exactly brief is it, but it says...- No.
0:51:02 > 0:51:06- .."Brief account and abbridged summary..."- Oh, dear.
0:51:06 > 0:51:08"..Of the complete expulsion of the Jews
0:51:08 > 0:51:12"from the Jewish Quarter of the City of Oran, due to the Catholic zeal
0:51:12 > 0:51:16"of the most excellent Senor Dom Fernando."
0:51:16 > 0:51:19- And then it lists... This is all his name...- Oh, dear.
0:51:19 > 0:51:21..This governor of Oran.
0:51:21 > 0:51:25So this is written by the captain of the place, on his behalf,
0:51:25 > 0:51:28and within it we can see what happened
0:51:28 > 0:51:31and we can see things about the Jewish community at the time which
0:51:31 > 0:51:34Abraham and Isaque lived in, and what happened to them,
0:51:34 > 0:51:37but it's effectively a propaganda document.
0:51:37 > 0:51:39- Uh-huh.- It's very one-sided.
0:51:39 > 0:51:43Is this to excuse the reason why they expelled the Jews from Oran?
0:51:43 > 0:51:47Exactly, absolutely, and our protagonists in all of this, the Marques,
0:51:47 > 0:51:52he's going to carve himself out a glorious deed.
0:51:55 > 0:51:59In 1667, the politically ambitious Marques de los Velez,
0:51:59 > 0:52:01Governor of Oran,
0:52:01 > 0:52:05saw an opportunity to bolster his position in the Spanish Court.
0:52:06 > 0:52:09He knew that any move against the Jews would be popular
0:52:09 > 0:52:14with the Catholic monarchy, and powerful Inquisition.
0:52:15 > 0:52:18The theme that goes throughout this document
0:52:18 > 0:52:21is the usefulness of the Jew - "What is their usefulness?"
0:52:21 > 0:52:22- Yeah.- And the language is...
0:52:22 > 0:52:25is quite shocking, really. It's, um...
0:52:25 > 0:52:30At every opportunity, there's a negative term
0:52:30 > 0:52:32applied to the Jewish people.
0:52:32 > 0:52:33This one here...
0:52:33 > 0:52:37"The bad weed that grows in the wheat field
0:52:37 > 0:52:41"which Satan had introduced there to Oran,
0:52:41 > 0:52:45"a stain which had spread so much and which is of dangerous contagion,
0:52:45 > 0:52:47"not only to the faithful Christians..."
0:52:49 > 0:52:51"..but also for these kingdoms."
0:52:53 > 0:52:57The Marques advised the Spanish Court that the small Jewish Community of Oran
0:52:57 > 0:53:01no longer served any valuable purpose.
0:53:02 > 0:53:04Their expulsion was recommended.
0:53:07 > 0:53:10De Marques is saying to the Spanish Court, "This must be done secretly,
0:53:10 > 0:53:13"the Jews mustn't find out what's going to happen
0:53:13 > 0:53:15"in case they run rings round us and cause some revolt."
0:53:15 > 0:53:18- Uprising.- Uprising, yeah. - Yes, there's a lovely word.
0:53:18 > 0:53:20And then the big day comes,
0:53:20 > 0:53:24and then the actual expulsion is read out.
0:53:24 > 0:53:28"As the last words of this Catholic and holy edict were delivered,
0:53:28 > 0:53:31"the unhappy ones against whom the proclamation had been made,
0:53:31 > 0:53:33"of which there were many present,
0:53:33 > 0:53:37- "being left both sad, disheartened and confused."- Oh.
0:53:37 > 0:53:40I think we can really glimpse,
0:53:40 > 0:53:42you know, even the person writing it can see
0:53:42 > 0:53:45that this must have been a terrible moment for them.
0:53:45 > 0:53:49Yeah. And amongst these are Isaque and Abraham.
0:53:49 > 0:53:51- And Abraham.- Mm.
0:53:51 > 0:53:55Because the arrangement is that they are given eight days
0:53:55 > 0:53:59in which to tidy everything up, settle their affairs, and leave.
0:53:59 > 0:54:01They're not just taken in the night.
0:54:01 > 0:54:05- No, they're not just taken in the night.- Off to a concentration camp.
0:54:05 > 0:54:09- They do have a week. - And the arrangement, they... - And they're leaving their houses?
0:54:09 > 0:54:14They're leaving their houses, the place that they've been settled in, some of them for 150 years.
0:54:14 > 0:54:16- Yes. It's not...- It's a big thing.
0:54:16 > 0:54:20On the 16th April 1669,
0:54:20 > 0:54:23the expulsion of the Jews from the city began.
0:54:23 > 0:54:26Summoned in secret by the Marques,
0:54:26 > 0:54:30a small fleet of ships lay anchored off the shore below the town.
0:54:30 > 0:54:33Among them, a single 500-ton vessel
0:54:33 > 0:54:37he deemed large enough to hold all the Jewish people of Oran.
0:54:38 > 0:54:42The Marques readied his men at the gates of the Jewish Quarter,
0:54:42 > 0:54:46and ordered the Jews to leave their homes.
0:54:46 > 0:54:50"So now Abraham and Isaque are going to be coming out of their house,
0:54:50 > 0:54:53"they were ordered to leave the said Jewish Quarter,
0:54:53 > 0:54:55"which was their greatest pain and sorrow.
0:54:55 > 0:55:00"And at the appropriate time, the march began down to find where the ships were...
0:55:00 > 0:55:03"the Vanguard occupied by beautiful horses accompanied by drums
0:55:03 > 0:55:07"and trumpets, symbolising in form, the dignity of the illustrious
0:55:07 > 0:55:12"and loyal city of Oran, and in the middle was the standard of the holy court of the Inquisition."
0:55:12 > 0:55:15These were all Spanish people who were having the bands and the...?
0:55:15 > 0:55:19Exactly, it's all this pomp and ceremony, it's like an old boys' club.
0:55:19 > 0:55:21The Jews followed behind, terrible thing.
0:55:21 > 0:55:24- If you imagine it yourself what it would be like...- Exactly.
0:55:24 > 0:55:28Leave everything behind, and you don't know where you're going.
0:55:28 > 0:55:32"And then the most excellent lord Marques led them down whereupon they
0:55:32 > 0:55:36"reached the beach, though they were laden with clothes and furniture,
0:55:36 > 0:55:41"which they sold with greater avarice, he says wishing to take away the money."
0:55:41 > 0:55:46- So they were selling this on the beaches?- It sounds like that.
0:55:46 > 0:55:50- Like a garage sale?- Yes. - These were the small things they couldn't take with them.
0:55:50 > 0:55:54This is their actual possessions. So we're getting a picture of quite...
0:55:55 > 0:56:01It's quite a scene, isn't it, of everybody going down there, and it says here it took all day long.
0:56:01 > 0:56:05They're being received aboard, 466 people. It says...
0:56:05 > 0:56:07"His Excellency the Marques,
0:56:07 > 0:56:11"though the passage of the Jews onto the ship took most of the day,
0:56:11 > 0:56:14"remained at the spit of land by water without alighting,
0:56:14 > 0:56:16"nor disbanding the squadron,
0:56:16 > 0:56:18"until he saw that abhorrent people
0:56:18 > 0:56:21"fully disembarked from the beach."
0:56:22 > 0:56:24And we know that from Oran...
0:56:26 > 0:56:28- Which was...- Which is just... - Somewhere around here.
0:56:28 > 0:56:31- You can just see it there, I can barely see it.- I can't see it.
0:56:31 > 0:56:32There's an O-R-A-N,
0:56:32 > 0:56:35if you go from the A of Barbary you go up a bit.
0:56:35 > 0:56:38- This one, there's Oran. - That's it.- Right.
0:56:38 > 0:56:41And then they were taken up to...
0:56:42 > 0:56:44..Nice...
0:56:44 > 0:56:48and they only allowed the richest people
0:56:48 > 0:56:50to stay there,
0:56:50 > 0:56:54and, er, 300 had... were not allowed to disembark,
0:56:54 > 0:56:56and amongst those 300 were Abraham.
0:56:56 > 0:56:59- Abraham and Isaque and their families.- Exactly.
0:56:59 > 0:57:01And they went on to...?
0:57:01 > 0:57:03They went on to...
0:57:03 > 0:57:06round the corner here,
0:57:06 > 0:57:08it's got a G in those days,
0:57:08 > 0:57:12- Ligorno, Livorno, in Italy. - In Italy.
0:57:13 > 0:57:16And that is where the next one I know,
0:57:16 > 0:57:19Joseph, who was the son of Isaque,
0:57:19 > 0:57:22lived and died,
0:57:22 > 0:57:23and his son,
0:57:23 > 0:57:25Abraham,
0:57:25 > 0:57:28went to Amsterdam.
0:57:29 > 0:57:31It's quite a story.
0:57:41 > 0:57:45You talk about the wandering Jew and they seem to have wandered all the time.
0:57:45 > 0:57:50They couldn't put down any roots, not really, because they were constantly
0:57:50 > 0:57:52torn up and they had to move on,
0:57:52 > 0:57:56and it must have been an exceedingly worrying life.
0:57:59 > 0:58:02Belonging to the Sephardic tribe,
0:58:02 > 0:58:06you know, I do think it maybe is the reason
0:58:06 > 0:58:09why some collective consciousness,
0:58:09 > 0:58:12some distant race memory
0:58:12 > 0:58:15makes me think that I have to be settled.
0:58:15 > 0:58:18I don't like being unsettled,
0:58:18 > 0:58:22I don't like not knowing where I'm going or what I'm doing, or when.
0:58:23 > 0:58:26I don't know whether it's just me and the way I was born
0:58:26 > 0:58:29or whether there is something of a memory of being moved on.
0:58:31 > 0:58:34I feel more connected...
0:58:35 > 0:58:39..a consolidation, I think, of my Jewishness.
0:58:40 > 0:58:42Like being a member of a family.
0:58:59 > 0:59:02Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd
0:59:02 > 0:59:05E-mail subtitling@bbc.co.uk