Jews in South America & Caribbean: Part Six

On the day Columbus left Spain was the day the Catholic Monarchs decreed that Jews had to
convert, depart or face death.

At least seven Jews travelled with Columbus; Rodrigo de Triana was the first to sight land,
Maetre Bernal served as the physican. and Luis De Torres, who spoke Hebrew and Arabic, as
the Interpreter.

Jews settled in the Spanish and Portugese colonies in the Caribbean where they believed
they would be save from the Inquisition.  But this was not true; several soldiers of Cortez
were executed because they were Jews.

The largest Jewish communities were in those areas which were controlled by the Dutch;
Brasil and Curacao, then those conquered/captured by the English.

By the 16th century, Jewish communities were in Brasil, Suriname, Curacao, Haiti, Dominican
Republic, Jamaica and Barbados.  There were also secret communities in Cuba, Puerto Rico
and Mexico.

Many  ‘Catholic’ families in South America are of Jewish origin.  Traces of Judaic practices
are often found in the most remote settlements.   In Boliva, for example, the oldest families
in Santa Cruz, have seven-branched cndle sticks,  prepare ‘kosher’ dishes, light candles
on Friday at sunset. 

Many Jewish merchants who came to Boliva in the late 19th century married local women
and moved into mainstream Catholic society so that by by 1917 it was estimated there
were only 20 to 25 professing Jews living in all of Boliva.

When the Nazi era started in Germany, 7,000 Jews arrived, but did not stay, migrating
to other areas. Today there are only about 600 Jews in Boliva.

Chile has a small but prominient Jewish community, the most famous names in
arts & culture are Jews.  Jews are active in politics, sports, and the major
companies have been set up by Jews.

The Jews of Columbia came from Jamaica and Curacao. They practiced their religion
openly at the end of the 17th century though it was not legal so to do.  Soon it was
legal and land was granted for a Jewish cemetary.

In the early 1900s Jews came from Greece, Turkey, North Africa and Syria, then
from Eastern Europe.  In 1939, when most necessary, Colombia blocked immigration.

Costa Rica did not, and there was a major immigration from one town in Poland. The
first synagoge was built in 1933.   There was an outbreak of anti-Semitism in the
1940s but it seems to have settled, and today there is a Jewish community of
about 3000.

A suburb of San Jose called Rohrmoser has a strong Jewish flavour. There are
synagoges, a kosher deli and the only kosher Burger King in the country.

In the Dominican Republic Sosua was founded by Ashkenazi Jews fleeing
the Nazi regime. Jews were welcomed by Rafael Trujillo who believed their
skills would help develope the country.

Ecuador also accepted refugees from Nazi Germany, but most were expelled by
the pro-fasict government of Gallo.  Anti-semintism  was was stopped by the
intervention of the American embassy.  There were about 3000 Jews in Ecuador
which has decliened to about 600.

Jews did not arrive in El Salvador until the mid 1800s.  In 1936 Jews attempted
to emigrate bu were barred entry by President Martinez.

In Cayenne, (French Guiana) there are only about eighty Jews today.  Arriving
in 1658, Portugese Jews from Brasil set up a settlement called Remire.

In 1667 the Jewish community was captured by occupying British forces
and moved to Suriname or Barbados to work in sugarcane production.

Luis de Torres arrived in Haiti with Columbus and settled there. When
Haiti was conquered by France in 1633 many Dutch Jews came from
Brasil, but were exprelled in 1683, though a few remained.  By the
mid 1700s many returned, but most were murdered during the Haitian
revolution.

Some years after the revolution, Polish Jews arrived and settled
in Casal. Archeologist have discovered a secret synagoge in
Jeremie, and a few Jewish tombstones in Cayes and Jacmel.

In the 1800s Jews immigrated from Lebanon, Syria and Egypt. There
were about 200 Jews in Haiti. During the Ameican occupation many
migrated to the United States.

In 1937 Haiti  issued passports and visas to Easter European Jews to
escape the Nazi persecution. Many Jews stayed in Haiti until the 1950s.

Between the 1800s to 1980s many Jewish immigrants came to Honduras,
mainly from Russia, Poland, Germany, Hungary and Romania, as well as
Greece, Turkey and North Africa.  Many immigrants have also come from
Israel. 

The synagogue was destroyed by Hurricane Mitch, but was rebuilt.

Due to the strength of the Catholic Church, immigration to Mexico was
slow. It was not until the late 1800s a number of German Jews settled in
Mexico as a result of invitations from Maximilian I of Mexico.

This was  followed by a  Ashkenazic Jews fleeing pogroms in Russia and Eastern
Europe. When the Ottoman Empire collapsed, many Sephardic Jews from Turkey,
Morocco, and parts of France fled to Mexico.

The next major wave was to escape Nazi persecutions.

There are more than 50,000 Jews in Mexico, the third largest Jewish community in Latin America.

To believe that the United States was the only or best place for Jews is not true.
Many Jews preferred other countries where anti-Semitism was virtually non-existent
and the chance for advancement was greater.

In many of these other locations, however, many Jews, freed from oppression, able to
practice their religion as they chose, instead chose to marry out of the faith and assimiliate
into wider society. 

Many of the names of early Jews remain in all the nations of the New World, although many
are no longer practicing Jews and some are unaware of their heritage.