Meet the Jewish settlers of Sosúa

FERN SWEDLOVE SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH BULLETIN

We did not expect to find a white, pristine synagogue and a Jewish museum steps from our hotel in the town of Sosúa while vacationing this winter in the Dominican Republic. The Museo Judio Sosúa is set back from the bustling streets and surrounded by a simple black fence adorned by a Jewish star. Glancing around the area, you couldn't help but notice the abandoned buildings, racing motorcycles and the constant noise of the tourist trade. Amid the pandemonium, it was as though the synagogue and the museum were from another world.

In the 1940s, hundreds of Jews, mostly from Germany and Austria, arrived in Sosúa, located on the north shore of the island. The Dominican Republic was the only country that would open its doors to these Jewish refugees. They were greeted with an abandoned, failed banana plantation and miles of uninhabitable jungle. Many of the young men who came to Sosúa knew that this was only another stop in their long voyage to find a new home. Others decided to put down roots, rebuild their lives and look to the future.

At the Evian Conference in 1938, convened to discuss the fate of the Jews in Europe, Gen. Rafael Leonidas Trujillo, the dictator who ruled the Dominican Republic, offered to shelter up to 10,000 Jews. He wanted to improve his image with the United States and possibly whiten the race on the island by only choosing young men to immigrate. An agreement was made between the Dominican Republic and DORSA (the Dominican Settlement Association, which was formed by two Jewish American aid organizations) to permit Jews to come to the island. Only 700 refugees were able to complete all the necessary paperwork to come to Sosúa. By 1947, around 350 Jews remained in the town. These settlers built a community modelled after agricultural settlements in Israel. A cattle industry, and meat and dairy processing plants were developed so they could sell their products. The young men started families, often marrying women from the Dominican Republic. They learned Spanish and grew to be part of this largely Roman Catholic country. Schools, hospitals and the infrastructure needed for the growing community were also built by the settlers.

Joe Benjamin was six years old when he arrived in Sosúa in 1947. As one of the children of the original settlers, he is a spokesperson for the Jewish community. Not only was the Dominican Republic the only country to allow Jews to enter, recounts Benjamin, but there were "difficult conditions" and the young men didn't want to fail. Succeeding meant that "they could bring their families to join them," he said. Benjamin remembers growing up in Sosúa as idyllic. "When I wasn't in school, I could play on the beach and run around everywhere," he said. "There was no anti-Semitism." Services were held every Friday night at the synagogue and the community became very close knit.

This small group of Jewish settlers originally came from largely urban environments. For the majority of the past 60 years living in Sosúa, they were isolated from other communities and had only the most basic roads to lead them to larger centres such as Puerto Plato or Santo Domingo. In 1980, they became connected by the national network of paved roads and an international airport.

Benjamin is not aware of another community in the world that exists with a similar history as Sosúa. Along with a handful of the descendants who live in Sosúa, he wants to ensure that this story is not lost. Although 12 families from the original settlers still live in the town, "as a Jewish community, it is disappearing. It is important to have a reminder of what was once here," said Benjamin.

The circular museum, filled with sun pouring in through skylights shaped like Magen Davids, is a permanent home for their history. The Museo Judio Sosúa was recently renovated for the 60-year anniversary of the Jewish settlement. There are original documents chronicling the Evian Conference and the refugees' journeys to Sosúa. Pictures of the settlers working on the land with basic farm implements, building their homes and raising their families are throughout the museum. Photographs of children born in Sosúa cover an entire wall and many of the original implements and religious items are on display. A beautiful, hand-carved wooden menorah serves as a reminder of how the settlers had to make many of their Jewish celebratory items from the available material. You can hear and see the original settlers tell their stories on videotapes.

Sosúa is typical of many resort areas in the Caribbean. Sweeping beaches, translucent waters and sunny days are constants. But the Jewish presence is unique. Two streets are named for founders of the community, Calle David Stern and Calle Joseph Rosen. The school that the settlers built bears the name of the director of the school, Luis Hess, who still lives in Sosúa and is 95 years old. A small Jewish cemetery is carefully maintained in the town. A small hotel run by Benjamin, the Casa Cayena, is adorned by a Jewish star in the ceiling of the lobby. Benjamin works as the president of Productos Sosúa, a company formed by the original settlers. It is now a shareholding company and the second largest supplier of beef and largest for cheese on the island.

Sosúa has become very popular with non-Jewish, German tourists, who have their own television and radio station. The communities have co-existed peacefully. While Benjamin has seen a swastika on the outskirts of the town on a sign, which he found unsettling, the authorities were unable to identify who was responsible for the graffiti.

The approximately three dozen Jews living in the area meet once a month in the synagogue. A rabbi comes from Santo Domingo, the capital of the island, to conduct the service. Benjamin's daughter had her bat mitzvah a few years ago in the synagogue, along with another daughter of one of the original settlers. Often they invite tourists to join them for the holidays. This year, when they opened their doors for a Chanukah celebration, more than 100 people – Jews and interested non-Jews – showed up, spilling over into the museum and the synagogue. Benjamin was pleasantly surprised and one of the guests was able to conduct a full service, including the Torah reading.

Similar to many of the children of the original settlers of Sosúa, Benjamin went to the United States for his education; he trained as an electrical engineer. But he found that there was something missing and returned. "I wasn't happy," he said. For those Jews who returned or who never left Sosúa, their roots run deep in this tiny island that opened its doors to Jews when no one else wanted them. The children of the original settlers who grew up in Sosúa have given birth to a new generation. Jewish traditions continue. These Jews have never forgotten where they came from. Their children, museum and synagogue are their legacy for the future.

The Museo Judio Sosúa is open Monday to Friday from 9 a.m.-1 p.m. and 2-4 p.m. It is located next to the Casa Marina Beach Resort. The number to contact for further information is 809-571-1389.

Fern Swedlove is a Winnipeg Jewish freelance writer. This article was originally published in the Jewish Post & News and is reprinted with permission.

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