Jewish stories in Aleppo: Picciotto family

There were many illustrious Jewish families in the Middle East, and Picciotto remains until today a famous brand. Present in Syria, Egypt or in Beyrouth, they arrived in the area from Livorno at the end of the 18th century. In Aleppo, they settled in Khan al-Gumruk. Besides trade, members of the family were amongs the first consul in the city for the Holy Roman Empire shortly after they relocated in the region. Apparently they did a good job, as the Austrian Empire enobled them in 1806, one of the first Jews to receive such a honour.

One of the most important figure was Esdras de Picciotto, who held the position of of Austrian consul general. In this position, he presided over the Catholic services in the city, part of his obligations being also the enthronement of the Apostolic Vicar of Syria. In 1818, his brother, Eliahu, was designated as vice-consul of Denmark, while the other brother, Raffaele, was the consul of Russia. Ironically, at the time, both the Russian and Austrian Empire were strongly anti-Semitic and on their territories, life of the Jews were a cheap commodity. Other members of the family took the positions as consuls of Sweden, the Netherlands, Prussia and Spain. Moise de Picciotto, for instance, was representing 5 countries at once: Austria, Prussia, Denmark, the Netherlands and Belgium.

In time, they become very wealthy and influential, giving loans to many powerful or simple citizens of Aleppo. In the 19th centuries, they created their own bank.

Members of the family are still alive nowadays mostly in Switzerland, keeping alive their love for Aleppo and the Middle East in general.

The information from this article is mostly based on the research on Aleppo, by Philip Mansel that will be published at the end of April. The edition house house granted me the book via NetGalley.com. It is a detailed overview of the life in and history of Aleppo, but get caught in the usual stereotype about the happy harmony between Jewish and Muslim communities in the Middle East, ignoring the many 'blood labels', frequent at the end of the 19th century, and pogroms against the Syrian Jews. The book is not about Jews in Syria, after all. 

Why the Jewish character must be the bad guy?

I wonder why? Why not the Chinese, the Indian or the Indonesian, just to give some random examples...True is that in every community there are bad guys and good guys and Jews are no exception to that but, besides this reality, the literature creates or emulates certain models and stereotypes which perpetuate certain negative stereotypes, including those with anti-Semitic flavours. 

My recent experience in this respect is the short story part of the Santa Rita Stories, by Andrew J. Rodriquez. It collects various stories based in Santa Rita, a little fishing village in Northeastern part of Cuba. Created as an initition story into life of the little Carlos by the destitute Pedro, it includes various lessons in understanding life and humans. One of them is dedicated to Carlos encounters with the family of Veronica, a girl he worshipped in secret. Everything started with the invitation to attend and accompany her to her fiesta de los quince - celebration of 15-year anniversary, an important moment in the life of a Cuban girl. 

Both Pedro and his parents are warning him that she is Jewish and thus, different traditions apply. But when he received an invitation to meet her father Benny, he has a little nightmare experience. The house is guarted by a huge dog who is ready to bit everyone that is shaking hands with any member of the family. The interior is full of kitsch expensive looking art, besides Jewish symbols. The father, Benny is not only 40 minutes late and impolite, but offers him a dirty deal: to pay him to keep his daughter away from the previous boyfriend till the famous party, which is planned as a way to invite famous local people and climb up the social ladder. He is open with his intentions: 'The pride and joy of elevating our status far beyond the common folk is all I care for'. 

Brave Carlos will not succumb the temptation and will reject the invitation to the party, while keeping a secret relationship with Veronica till her departure to Havana to her aunt for law studies. 

Again, you don't have to tag ethnicity for creating bad guy characters.