Remnants of the conversos, the hidden Jews of New Mexico, can be found carved on the headstones at  camposantos throughout the northern part of the state. Many are engraved with both the Star of David and the Catholic cross, evidence of the dual faith that they practiced. Just as the Native Americans were forced to convert to Christianity while honoring their own spirituality secretly, many of New Mexico’s first Spaniards also practiced a hidden faith. They were the Sephardic Jews who fled the Inquisition under the guise of being conversos, Jews that had converted to Catholicism. They became known as Crypto Jews because they practiced their Jewish faith covertly while presenting a different persona in public. It wasn’t until the mid-20th century that revelations of their existence came to light for the general public. Virtually, all of the descendants of the Crypto Jews were buried through the Catholic Church but remnants of their religious roots can be found on their gravesites. 

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