The Jews Of Sosua

By April Koral
POSTED APRIL 1, 2008

In 1938, as the Nazis tightened their vise on German and Austrian Jews, President Roosevelt called for an international conference to discuss the refugee problem. Thirty-two countries attended the Evian Conference, held in Evian, France, during which every country, except for one, offered excuses for not letting in more refugees.

That unlikely country, a Caribbean island run by a dictator, Gen. Rafael Trujillo, agreed to open its doors to the Jewish refugees. The remarkable story of those fortunate to have escaped certain death is told in the show “Sosúa: A Refuge for Jews in the Dominican Republic,” now on display at the Museum of Jewish Heritage.

The first handful of refugees arrived in the country in 1940. They were brought to an abandoned banana plantation on the northeast coast where they were to be housed in two barracks and a few shacks with no electricity or indoor plumbing.

Most of the settlers were urbanites, intellectuals, craftsmen and businesspeople who had no experience in farming. But farmers were what they were about to become.

“We stared at the cows,” recalled Edith Gersten, one of the first settlers. “What happens next? Does one get hold of the tail and pump it until somehow the milk comes out?”

But with the financial help of an American Jewish philanthropy and Dominicans who worked side by side with the settlers, Sosúa grew and prospered. The men cleared the land, the women worked in the communal kitchen and dining hall. They made butter and cheese, raised pigs and packed meat.

“To us it was Eden,” settler Felix Bauer is quoted as saying in the exhibit.

The exhibit shows the simple life that the settlers built in this isolated corner of the island. Artifacts include a rusty movie projector (Wednesday was movie night) and a settler’s mandolin and sheet music from German operettas (Saturday was dance and music night).

There are photographs of the settlers at work in the sausage factory and playing on the beach. Of special interest is a film in which the settlers reminisce about their experiences.

The show does not explore the politics that swirled around the settlement. But a book published by the museum in conjunction with the exhibit describes in detail how the U.S. State Department actively prevented more refugees from being saved. Indeed, barely more than 600 Jews made it to Sosúa.

After the war ended, most of the settlers left for the United States. (One of the show’s artifacts is a contract, signed by a settler who was leaving, promising to repay $987.63—the cost of bringing him to the Dominican Republic.) But the town they built remains. It is now a popular seaside resort.

The Museum of Jewish Heritage, 36 Battery Pl., 646-437-4200, www.mjhnyc.org. Sun–Tue, Thu 10 am–5:45 pm; Wed 10 am–8 pm; Fri 10 am–5 pm. The exhibit is also translated into Spanish.

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