Articles

Ladino Exhibition

Birmingham, AL. The Istanbul Center and the Peace Valley Foundation presented the historic Ladino Exhibition of images commemorating 500 years of Jewish-Turkish history in Birmingham, Mobile, Auburn and Huntsville. In Birmingham the exhibition was held at Birmingham International Center, the program started with the opening and welcoming by Jesse Hernandez, President of the BIC. Then, Peace Valley Foundation Vice President Yasin Oduk greeted the guests.

Keynote speaker Dr. Arnold Reisman, a retired university professor, discussed the invitation and settlement of 150,000 Sephardic Jews in the Ottoman Empire during the reign of Sultan Beyazid II. Jews were fleeing persecution from King Ferdinand of Spain and gladly accepted the Sultan's help. Dr. Reisman also discussed the many thousands of Jews who were saved from the Nazis by Turkish bureaucrats and the German-Jewish academicians who were invited to Turkey to lay the foundation for Western style universities in Turkey. The program ended with the BIC executive Director Iris Gross's closing remarks.