July 31, 2020 • 10 mins
Ferdinand and Isabella issued the Alhambra Decree on this day in 1492. / On this day, Germany targeted the Soviets' 588th Night Bomber Regiment, aka the Night Witches, with tracers and deployed night fighters.
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Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
Hey, everyone, it's Eaves. Just wanted to let you know
that you'll be hearing an episode from me and an
episode from Tracy V. Wilson today. I hope you enjoyed
the show. Welcome to this day in history class. It's
July thirty one. The Alhambra Decree went into effect honest
day in fourteen. This was the decree issued by Ferdinand,
(00:22):
King of Aragon and Isabella, Queen of Castile, which expelled
the Jewish population from Spain. This was not at all
the first time that a European nation had expelled its
Jewish population. England did it in the thirteenth century. France
and the fourteenth century. Also Vienna, Bavaria, and Milan all
expelled their Jewish populations. For centuries, though, the collection of
(00:46):
kingdoms that we think of as Spain today had been
home to Christians, Muslims, and Jews, and who was in
power shifted at any given time. First, the Muslims had
driven the Germanic people's known as the Visigoths out of
a lot of this territory, and then Christians regained control
of that territory in a series of campaigns that were
(01:08):
known as La Reckonquista. Throughout all of this, Spanish Jews
or Safarti were in the minority of the people who
were living in this area. But even before the Alheber decree,
Jews in Spain had been facing a lot of anti Semitism.
The Catholic Church in Spain taught specifically that Jews were
(01:28):
responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. Some Jews worked
as money lenders and charged interest, which was usury under
Christian law, and also became a huge stereotype. Christians in
general were distrustful of Jews, and all of this always
got a lot worse in times of war or social
or economic crisis. Just as one example, Jews were blamed
(01:53):
completely without cause for the Black Death. And this wasn't
just cruel t Thousands of Jews in the city of
Toledo were killed because of this rumor that Jews were
responsible for the Black Death. There was huge pressure for
Jews to convert to Catholicism during all of this. We
(02:14):
talked about that a little earlier this month. Actually, this
was especially true after Ferdinand and Isabella married and united
their kingdoms and started explicitly trying to make their nation
that they were ruling under a Catholic nation. In fourteen
seventy eight, Ferdinand and Isabella became suspicious that recent converts
to Catholicism, who were known as conversos, were really lying
(02:36):
about their conversions and we're still Jewish, in other words,
that they were crypto Jews. That earlier this month that
we talked about it was when we talked about the
Inquisition and the inquisitions targeting of conversos. Tensions were really
high until fourteen nine, when a group of Jews and
Conversos were accused of a horrifying crime again in the
(02:59):
city of Toledo. They were accused of crucifying a Christian
child and desecrating a consecrated host as part of a
supernatural ritual. The host is what's used in communion. The
accused people were tried by the Spanish Inquisition and they
were burned to death. But for a lot of people,
they really thought of this as a breaking point, and
(03:19):
I thought of it as the moment that the Jewish
population needed to go. On January second, of the last
Muslim stronghold in Spain fell to Spanish forces. Ferdinand and
Isabella set about really focusing on removing the Jews from Spain.
And making the territory exclusively Catholic, and part of this
(03:41):
was the al Hybrid Decree was signed on March thirty
one of that year and it went into effect on
July one. Again today in history, by that moment, by
July thirty one, all Jews living in their territory either
had to convert or they had to leave. They were
given permission to sell their possessions to fund their journey,
(04:02):
but they weren't allowed to take any gold, silver, or
coins out of the country. They could obtain letters of
credit for the value of their sold property, but basically
there was an order to leave and then an increasingly
big set of obstacles to try to cross to even
be able to leave. Although the deadline was the last
day of July, the last ships carrying juice from Spain
(04:24):
left on the second of August. Christopher Columbus then set
sail on his first voyage the next day, and that
has really overshadowed the Jewish expulsion that happened when somebody
says the impact on the Sephardic Jewish population was catastrophic.
They lost their homes, their possessions, in their livelihood. Some
(04:46):
who were better off did manage to hang onto at
least some of their wealth and to secure passage to
North Africa or to the America's where they might continue
to carry on their own religion and traditions. But a
lot of the others just wound up in other neighboring kingdoms,
only to be expelled from them later on as well.
The few remaining Muslims in Spain faced a similar convert
(05:09):
or leave order not long after the Alhambra decree wasn't
overturned until nineteen sixty eight, and then in Spain offered
Sephardic Jews who were descended from people who had been
expelled during all of this, an opportunity to apply for
Spanish citizenship without giving up their current citizenship. This effected
as many as three point five million people. You can
(05:32):
learn more about all of this in the November ten
episode of Stuff You Miss in History Class called the
Expulsion of the Jews from Spain, and from the November
one episode La reckon Quista and the Alhambra, And you
can subscribe to This Day in History Class on Apple podcasts,
Google podcasts, and whatever else you get your podcasts. Tomorrow,
(05:52):
we'll have an astronomical discovery that was also a female first.
Welcome to this day in History class, where we bring
you a new tipbit from history every day. The day
(06:20):
was July thirty one, nineteen forty three. Germany tried a
new tactic against the Night which is the nickname for
the female Soviet aviators of the Night Bomber Regiment. They
shot tracers at the plans of the Night Whiches and
deployed Night Fighters, killing eight Soviet pilots. The Night which
(06:41):
Is took their last fight on May fourth, nineteen three
days before Germany surrendered to the Allies in World War Two.
Before the Night which Is women had been barred from combat,
but the Germans were putting a lot of pressure on
the Soviet Union. Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin issued in order
for the creation of three women's Air Force units. Experienced
(07:05):
pilot and navigator Marina Raskova had already been putting out
calls for and interviewing women who wanted to become combat pilots,
and she had petitioned Stalin to create a fighting squadron
of all women. The women who were selected to be
part of the one and twenty second Composite Air Group
soon split into the five eight six Fighter Regiment, the
(07:28):
five eight seventh Bomber Regiment, and the five eight Night
Bomber Regiment. They were mostly young women between ages seventeen
and twenty six. The women went through about six months
of training, a period that was short compared to the
years normally afforded other soldiers. Major Rascava commanded the five
(07:49):
eight seventh Regiment until she was killed in combat in
nineteen forty three. Did face challenges and sexism for being
women in a male domnated space, but a lot of
difficulties they faced stemmed from the fact that the military
was not prepared for women pilots and did not have
adequate resources. For instance, they had to wear oversized boots
(08:13):
and uniforms handed down from male soldiers, and they got
old biplanes that had been used as training vehicles and
were not intended for combat. They did not have parachutes, radios,
and other equipment, and they had to make do with rulers, maps, encompasses,
and other rudimentary materials. Though their piloting skills were excellent,
(08:36):
they struggled to acclimate to combat in the beginning, but
on June regiment embarked on his first mission Two women
were killed on that first mission to bomb the headquarters
of a German division. But from there the Night which
is grew more skilled in combat and were feared by Germans.
(08:59):
There wouldn't lanes had to fly at low altitudes because
the bombs were so heavy, so they only completed missions
at night because there were such easy targets. Two people
traveled in each plane, a pilot and a navigator. They
went on several missions each night. Their nickname night which
is came from the fact that the sound of air
(09:20):
over their plane wings as they glided reminded Germans of broomsticks.
Because they completed many successful missions, they were viewed as
heroes by many Soviets, but they did have some downs
as well. On the night between July thirty one in
August first, nineteen, the Germans shot tracers at the Night
(09:40):
which is planes. Tracers are bullets, are shelves that carry
a pyrotechnic charge to mark the flight path, and they
set fire to the campus in wooden planes. Four of
the Night which is planes went down, though others managed
to evade the Germans Night Fighters. After the night, which
is their last mission in the Germans surrendered twenty three
(10:04):
of them were named heroes of the Soviet Union. I'm
Eve step Code and hopefully you know a little more
about history today than you did yesterday. If you'd like
to learn more about listen to the episode of Stuff
you miss in History class called The Night which is
and if you're so inclined, you can follow us at
(10:26):
T D i h C Podcasts on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Thanks again for listening and we'll see you tomorrow. For
more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
Hey, everyone, it's Eaves. Just wanted to let you know
that you'll be hearing an episode from me and an
episode from Tracy V. Wilson today. I hope you enjoyed
the show. Welcome to this day in history class. It's
July thirty one. The Alhambra Decree went into effect honest
day in fourteen. This was the decree issued by Ferdinand,
(00:22):
King of Aragon and Isabella, Queen of Castile, which expelled
the Jewish population from Spain. This was not at all
the first time that a European nation had expelled its
Jewish population. England did it in the thirteenth century. France
and the fourteenth century. Also Vienna, Bavaria, and Milan all
expelled their Jewish populations. For centuries, though, the collection of
(00:46):
kingdoms that we think of as Spain today had been
home to Christians, Muslims, and Jews, and who was in
power shifted at any given time. First, the Muslims had
driven the Germanic people's known as the Visigoths out of
a lot of this territory, and then Christians regained control
of that territory in a series of campaigns that were
(01:08):
known as La Reckonquista. Throughout all of this, Spanish Jews
or Safarti were in the minority of the people who
were living in this area. But even before the Alheber decree,
Jews in Spain had been facing a lot of anti Semitism.
The Catholic Church in Spain taught specifically that Jews were
(01:28):
responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. Some Jews worked
as money lenders and charged interest, which was usury under
Christian law, and also became a huge stereotype. Christians in
general were distrustful of Jews, and all of this always
got a lot worse in times of war or social
or economic crisis. Just as one example, Jews were blamed
(01:53):
completely without cause for the Black Death. And this wasn't
just cruel t Thousands of Jews in the city of
Toledo were killed because of this rumor that Jews were
responsible for the Black Death. There was huge pressure for
Jews to convert to Catholicism during all of this. We
(02:14):
talked about that a little earlier this month. Actually, this
was especially true after Ferdinand and Isabella married and united
their kingdoms and started explicitly trying to make their nation
that they were ruling under a Catholic nation. In fourteen
seventy eight, Ferdinand and Isabella became suspicious that recent converts
to Catholicism, who were known as conversos, were really lying
(02:36):
about their conversions and we're still Jewish, in other words,
that they were crypto Jews. That earlier this month that
we talked about it was when we talked about the
Inquisition and the inquisitions targeting of conversos. Tensions were really
high until fourteen nine, when a group of Jews and
Conversos were accused of a horrifying crime again in the
(02:59):
city of Toledo. They were accused of crucifying a Christian
child and desecrating a consecrated host as part of a
supernatural ritual. The host is what's used in communion. The
accused people were tried by the Spanish Inquisition and they
were burned to death. But for a lot of people,
they really thought of this as a breaking point, and
(03:19):
I thought of it as the moment that the Jewish
population needed to go. On January second, of the last
Muslim stronghold in Spain fell to Spanish forces. Ferdinand and
Isabella set about really focusing on removing the Jews from Spain.
And making the territory exclusively Catholic, and part of this
(03:41):
was the al Hybrid Decree was signed on March thirty
one of that year and it went into effect on
July one. Again today in history, by that moment, by
July thirty one, all Jews living in their territory either
had to convert or they had to leave. They were
given permission to sell their possessions to fund their journey,
(04:02):
but they weren't allowed to take any gold, silver, or
coins out of the country. They could obtain letters of
credit for the value of their sold property, but basically
there was an order to leave and then an increasingly
big set of obstacles to try to cross to even
be able to leave. Although the deadline was the last
day of July, the last ships carrying juice from Spain
(04:24):
left on the second of August. Christopher Columbus then set
sail on his first voyage the next day, and that
has really overshadowed the Jewish expulsion that happened when somebody
says the impact on the Sephardic Jewish population was catastrophic.
They lost their homes, their possessions, in their livelihood. Some
(04:46):
who were better off did manage to hang onto at
least some of their wealth and to secure passage to
North Africa or to the America's where they might continue
to carry on their own religion and traditions. But a
lot of the others just wound up in other neighboring kingdoms,
only to be expelled from them later on as well.
The few remaining Muslims in Spain faced a similar convert
(05:09):
or leave order not long after the Alhambra decree wasn't
overturned until nineteen sixty eight, and then in Spain offered
Sephardic Jews who were descended from people who had been
expelled during all of this, an opportunity to apply for
Spanish citizenship without giving up their current citizenship. This effected
as many as three point five million people. You can
(05:32):
learn more about all of this in the November ten
episode of Stuff You Miss in History Class called the
Expulsion of the Jews from Spain, and from the November
one episode La reckon Quista and the Alhambra, And you
can subscribe to This Day in History Class on Apple podcasts,
Google podcasts, and whatever else you get your podcasts. Tomorrow,
(05:52):
we'll have an astronomical discovery that was also a female first.
Welcome to this day in History class, where we bring
you a new tipbit from history every day. The day
(06:20):
was July thirty one, nineteen forty three. Germany tried a
new tactic against the Night which is the nickname for
the female Soviet aviators of the Night Bomber Regiment. They
shot tracers at the plans of the Night Whiches and
deployed Night Fighters, killing eight Soviet pilots. The Night which
(06:41):
Is took their last fight on May fourth, nineteen three
days before Germany surrendered to the Allies in World War Two.
Before the Night which Is women had been barred from combat,
but the Germans were putting a lot of pressure on
the Soviet Union. Soviet Premier Joseph Stalin issued in order
for the creation of three women's Air Force units. Experienced
(07:05):
pilot and navigator Marina Raskova had already been putting out
calls for and interviewing women who wanted to become combat pilots,
and she had petitioned Stalin to create a fighting squadron
of all women. The women who were selected to be
part of the one and twenty second Composite Air Group
soon split into the five eight six Fighter Regiment, the
(07:28):
five eight seventh Bomber Regiment, and the five eight Night
Bomber Regiment. They were mostly young women between ages seventeen
and twenty six. The women went through about six months
of training, a period that was short compared to the
years normally afforded other soldiers. Major Rascava commanded the five
(07:49):
eight seventh Regiment until she was killed in combat in
nineteen forty three. Did face challenges and sexism for being
women in a male domnated space, but a lot of
difficulties they faced stemmed from the fact that the military
was not prepared for women pilots and did not have
adequate resources. For instance, they had to wear oversized boots
(08:13):
and uniforms handed down from male soldiers, and they got
old biplanes that had been used as training vehicles and
were not intended for combat. They did not have parachutes, radios,
and other equipment, and they had to make do with rulers, maps, encompasses,
and other rudimentary materials. Though their piloting skills were excellent,
(08:36):
they struggled to acclimate to combat in the beginning, but
on June regiment embarked on his first mission Two women
were killed on that first mission to bomb the headquarters
of a German division. But from there the Night which
is grew more skilled in combat and were feared by Germans.
(08:59):
There wouldn't lanes had to fly at low altitudes because
the bombs were so heavy, so they only completed missions
at night because there were such easy targets. Two people
traveled in each plane, a pilot and a navigator. They
went on several missions each night. Their nickname night which
is came from the fact that the sound of air
(09:20):
over their plane wings as they glided reminded Germans of broomsticks.
Because they completed many successful missions, they were viewed as
heroes by many Soviets, but they did have some downs
as well. On the night between July thirty one in
August first, nineteen, the Germans shot tracers at the Night
(09:40):
which is planes. Tracers are bullets, are shelves that carry
a pyrotechnic charge to mark the flight path, and they
set fire to the campus in wooden planes. Four of
the Night which is planes went down, though others managed
to evade the Germans Night Fighters. After the night, which
is their last mission in the Germans surrendered twenty three
(10:04):
of them were named heroes of the Soviet Union. I'm
Eve step Code and hopefully you know a little more
about history today than you did yesterday. If you'd like
to learn more about listen to the episode of Stuff
you miss in History class called The Night which is
and if you're so inclined, you can follow us at
(10:26):
T D i h C Podcasts on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.
Thanks again for listening and we'll see you tomorrow. For
more podcasts from I Heart Radio, visit the iHeart Radio app,
Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen to your favorite shows.
This Day in History Class News
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