Dominican '40s Jewish settlement fading away
December 07, 2007|By Mike Williams, Cox News Service
SOSUA, Dominican Republic -- Framed by lush vegetation and spreading palms, the
simple wood-framed house of worship off the main street isn't so different from the other
small churches you find on this Caribbean island.
Except there are no crosses or statues of the Virgin.
Instead, a menorah etched in glass graces the window over the door, while the Star of
David -- painted a jaunty tropical blue -- is fixed to the gate.
The small Jewish synagogue and museum is a testament to a unique bit of Caribbean
history, a time when this heavily Catholic nation stepped forward on the world stage with a
humanitarian gesture unmatched by larger, richer countries.
"No other country made such an offer," said Luis Hess, a German Jew who came here in
1939 at the invitation of the Dominican government after escaping the terrors his people
faced at the hands of Hitler's Nazi Germany. "We were accepted by the Dominican
people. There was no prejudice."
The settlement at Sosua became home to about 700 Jewish refugees, most of whom fled
Europe's cities. Few were farmers, but they learned to farm, transforming a rugged,
isolated stretch of coast into a productive dairy center complete with a cheese factory.
Along the way, they intermarried with their Dominican neighbors, creating a unique blend
of New World and Old World cultures, a Jewish-Caribbean-Spanish mix that survives today.
"Coming here was a gift from God," said Benny Katz, 44, whose father was one of the
original settlers of what became known as the Sosua colony. "My father left Frankfurt and
came here in 1940. Most of our family died in Auschwitz."
The origins of the colony date to 1938, when the great powers held a conference at the
behest of President Roosevelt to debate what to do about Hitler's persecution of the Jews.
The Holocaust was yet to take full shape, but already Jews were fleeing Germany, where
they were confined in ghettos, stripped of their businesses and made to wear yellow Stars
of David.
"I left in 1933, as soon as Hitler came to power," said Hess, who is amazingly hale and
lucid at 99.
After much sympathetic rhetoric at the international conference, only the tiny,
little-known Dominican Republic made a concrete offer to accept Jewish refugees.
Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo agreed to take up to 100,000.
Hess had moved to the Dominican Republic on his own, establishing a translation service
and language school in Santo Domingo. He was quickly hired to translate for the colony's
American organizers, and then agreed to move to Sosua to teach Spanish to settlers.
The first group arrived in May 1940. About three dozen refugees suddenly found
themselves plopped down in a tropical jungle, hours by rough road from the nearest city.
Today, only a handful of the colony's original residents are still alive, while about 60 of
their descendants live in the area. The synagogue still holds services, and
Jewish-Dominican boys still receive bar mitzvahs.
simple wood-framed house of worship off the main street isn't so different from the other
small churches you find on this Caribbean island.
Except there are no crosses or statues of the Virgin.
Instead, a menorah etched in glass graces the window over the door, while the Star of
David -- painted a jaunty tropical blue -- is fixed to the gate.
The small Jewish synagogue and museum is a testament to a unique bit of Caribbean
history, a time when this heavily Catholic nation stepped forward on the world stage with a
humanitarian gesture unmatched by larger, richer countries.
"No other country made such an offer," said Luis Hess, a German Jew who came here in
1939 at the invitation of the Dominican government after escaping the terrors his people
faced at the hands of Hitler's Nazi Germany. "We were accepted by the Dominican
people. There was no prejudice."
The settlement at Sosua became home to about 700 Jewish refugees, most of whom fled
Europe's cities. Few were farmers, but they learned to farm, transforming a rugged,
isolated stretch of coast into a productive dairy center complete with a cheese factory.
Along the way, they intermarried with their Dominican neighbors, creating a unique blend
of New World and Old World cultures, a Jewish-Caribbean-Spanish mix that survives today.
"Coming here was a gift from God," said Benny Katz, 44, whose father was one of the
original settlers of what became known as the Sosua colony. "My father left Frankfurt and
came here in 1940. Most of our family died in Auschwitz."
The origins of the colony date to 1938, when the great powers held a conference at the
behest of President Roosevelt to debate what to do about Hitler's persecution of the Jews.
The Holocaust was yet to take full shape, but already Jews were fleeing Germany, where
they were confined in ghettos, stripped of their businesses and made to wear yellow Stars
of David.
"I left in 1933, as soon as Hitler came to power," said Hess, who is amazingly hale and
lucid at 99.
After much sympathetic rhetoric at the international conference, only the tiny,
little-known Dominican Republic made a concrete offer to accept Jewish refugees.
Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo agreed to take up to 100,000.
Hess had moved to the Dominican Republic on his own, establishing a translation service
and language school in Santo Domingo. He was quickly hired to translate for the colony's
American organizers, and then agreed to move to Sosua to teach Spanish to settlers.
The first group arrived in May 1940. About three dozen refugees suddenly found
themselves plopped down in a tropical jungle, hours by rough road from the nearest city.
Today, only a handful of the colony's original residents are still alive, while about 60 of
their descendants live in the area. The synagogue still holds services, and
Jewish-Dominican boys still receive bar mitzvahs.
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