MEN FROM CARÇÃO WORKING IN BRAZIL IN THE 1930s
THE JEWS OF CARÇÃO

Carção (Karssaou) is a small village in the district of Vimioso in the province of Tras os Montes (Behind the Mountains) in northern Portugal. Its present of coat of arms consists of what appears to be a mezuzah and a menorah and is described as, "a candelabrum of seven gold fires and a shuttle loom with a blue thread" (thanks to Oscar Barroso). In 1662, the unHoly Office of the Inquisition initiated a reign of terror against New Christians living there, resulting in over 200 people being charged with "Judaizing". These files are in the national archives (Torre do Tombo) in Lisbon.
Recently, Ladina collaborator, Fernanda Guimarães* started researching the Carçaõ files and discovered a wealth of information which will be the subject of a new book. It will include amazing stories such as the barber who went to Livorno and returned a rabbi and another of an accusation against a New Christian that while he was decorating the church, he stood on the high altar with his feet facing the tabernacle, ready to urinate on it. The local priest was a afraid that the New Christians would urinate in the holy water and wine!
The “Man from Carção” (O Homem de Carçaõ) was a legendary figure in Tras os Montes. It was said, and it is still remembered today, that the Man from Carção was born with a mule, which he then mounted to roam Tras os Montes and Beira provinces selling his wares. With the reins of the mule gripped in his teeth, the Man from Carçaõ sold every imaginable item: furs, leather goods, raw silk, hemp rope, bolts of cloth, herbal remedies, honey, wax candles, almonds, olives, olive oil, pots and pans, and even under-garments, all displayed on his heavily laden trusty mule!
Modernity destroyed the Man from Carçaõ, the coming of the highway sealing his fate. To view a 20th century Man from Carção, or the Carção coat of arms, visit http://www.ladina.blogspot.com/.

* Fernanda’s other publications (in Portuguese) include, Os Judeus de Torre de Moncorvo, Os Judeus de Bragança and Os Judeus de Mogadouro, (forthcoming). Some of her publications are available from Ladina. She is available for hire for private research of Inquisition files.