Would you believe it? Back in the late 19th century, there was a lot of prejudice against Jewish people. Surprising, right? Well, meet Wilhelm Marr, a German journalist who actually came up with the term "antisemitism" in 1879. He used this fancy term to describe hostility towards Jews. He introduced it in his publication, "The Victory of Judaism over Germandom." So, it all started with a book in Germany in 1879! Quite the scientific term compared to simply calling it Jew-hatred, don't you think?

This prejudice was so prevalent in German society that it gave rise to antisemitic parties like the German Social Party (DSP), founded around the same time as Marr's term. Led by Adolf Stoecker, a Protestant pastor, this movement blended conservative, nationalist, and anti-Semitic ideas. They claimed that Jews held too much power in finance, commerce, and the media, which they believed was harming German culture. They even advocated for legal restrictions on Jewish economic activities and university enrollment, similar to Nazi ideology later on. As we all know, the same idea of Jews controlling everything still prevails today. Today people actually believe that Israel controls almost everything, including using birds and sharks as spies!

Responding to this growing antisemitism, the Zionist movement emerged, aiming to establish a Jewish homeland in Palestine. This idea was met with some support within antisemitic circles, suggesting that maybe it would be a good idea to expel Jews.

Here we see a postcard from around 1900, titled "Die Zukunft" (The Future) which shows German soldiers forcing out a large group of Jews, who are following a route indicated by the sign "Nach Palästina" (To Palestine). The exiled Jews, portrayed with stereotypical negative attributes such as deformed bodies and enormous noses, are pictured leaving a lush landscape and crossing into barren desert land, which was how Palestine was seen. Unfortunately this postcard is not mine.

As exhibitors and collectors we are always after that WOW item, the item that you have been looking for, or the item that you saw and think wow, why didn’t I think of that before. As collectors, it is nice if others look at the item and also say, wow. It is not even a case of money since not every wow item is expensive. For me, I had not really found an item like that in some time.

While in Verona in November 2019, at the ECTP 2019 exhibition, in which I won the Champion of Champion class (hey if I don't blow my own trumpet, who will), I saw an exhibit on Columbus. I discussed with a friend to and we decided to see how the exhibitor approached the issue of Queen Isabella of Spain. I wanted to improve my page about Jews not being wanted.

We thought that there may be covers of some kind, sent by Queen Isabella, and then we saw it, the WOW item. It was a cover sent to Friar Diego Pineda of Toledo in 1582. Friar Diego Pineda was an official consultant to the Santo Oficio a San Cristóbal or the Holy Office of the Inquisition. We never even considered this direction.

We will not go into the history of the Inquisition as many of us already know it; the history is not new to us. Just to make it short, the Spanish Inquisition was established in 1478 by Catholic Monarchs Ferdinand II of Aragon and Isabella I of Castile. It was intended to maintain Catholic orthodoxy in their kingdom and to replace the Medieval Inquisition, which was under Papal control.

Basically they said "its our way or the highway" meaning either convert, be killed or leave.

The full name of the Inquisition was Santo Oficio de la Romana y Universal Inquisicion or “Holy Work of the Roman and Universal Inquisition". Santo Oficio means “Holy Job or Work”. Since the name was actually Holy Work of the Roman and Universal Inquisition, it was shortened to el Santo Oficio which was a far more used name for the institution than Inquisition, which was the preferred term of Anglophile countries, most likely because for Protestants, Holy Work sounds too good for the evil abhorrent Catholic tribunal.

The tribunal in Toledo was established in 1485 and the Inquisitor General there presided over the court in the Church of San Cristobal. As yet I have not been able to find information about the consultant just that his full name was Friar Diego Pineda.

The story of the inquisition fits my story perfectly. Now I really needed an item of my own. I approached the exhibitor who put me in touch with a site. I did a search there and found the cover he originally purchased and amazingly found a second item which I immediately purchased.

The cover eventually arrived and it is quite similar. It was also sent from Madrid to Toledo, again to Friar Pineda. Sent 8th March, 1575, and postage paid was ½Real.