Dominican Jewish holocaust safe haven revisited

As we approach Yom Hashoah it’s important to remember the many inspiring Holocaust stories of those doing Mitzvot to save Jewish lives.

One very unique yet scarcely known story, is the history of displaced European Jews who were saved by the actions of the tiny Dominican Republic at the 1938 Evian Conference. It was at Evian, a French city best known today for its commercially popular Evian natural spring water, where the only world country of 32 attending who was willing to lesson their immigration quotas and be a Jewish “safe haven” for WWII refugees was the Dominican Republic.

Although under debated underlying motivations, then Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo at Evian agreed to take in up to 100,000 displaced Jewish refugees offering them “free” land and start up provisions to begin a “new life” on an abandoned banana plantation in Sosua on the North Coast of the island. Ultimately only 700 made it to Sosua as the onset of WWII closed shipping lanes and immigrant visas became increasingly difficult to come by.

It was in 2010 when on a trip to visit the Red Sox baseball training academy in Santo Domingo that I first stumbled upon the amazing story of this small Jewish agricultural community established in 1940. Since then, my yearning for a deeper understanding of the history and events associated with the Jewish settlement’s formation took root and has become my overriding passion. Having recently returned home from a 6 week continuing investigative trip to Sosua, I had the remarkable privilege of interviewing some of the original settlers and their descendants to hear first hand some of their amazing personal testimonies of what life was like growing up there.

One of the original settlers I sat with was Rene Kirchheimer, born here in 1942, whose family came to Sosua from Germany. Sitting with Rene on 3 separate occasions, he walked me through his collection of old, and many never seen before, photos of his childhood.

“We had a perfect childhood growing up here. There was no discrimination which had a big influence on my mindset for the rest of my life”, explained Kirchheimer.

Rene’s family. like all the others lucky enough to have been selected to come to the DR. were designated to be agriculturalists. farmers. Eventually the settlers established “Productos Sosua”. a very successful dairy cooperative which supplied milk. cheese, beef. and pork products to the local area which later expanded to supplying the entire island country. In late February, coincidentally the day I arrived in Puerto Plata, the longtime president of Productos Sosua, Hermann Strauss. passed away.

Today the descendants of the original arrivals continue to carry their industrious nature forward, now real estate developers, large auto dealership owners. and small successful business owners.

There are only two synagogues in the entire country, the first established in Sosua and the 2nd in Santo Domingo. the Dominican capital city. Conducting a limited number of regular Shabbat services, this year’s Sosua Passover community Seder saw a marked increase in attendees, drawing not only the small customary remaining group of original settlers but others from the surrounding area including Jewish vacationers at nearby resorts.

Looking to raise higher awareness and celebrate the DR’s role in saving Jewish lives during the Holocaust, 3 years ago, in April of 2014. I launched Sosua75.org. a Massachusetts based 501(c)3 Non-Profit charity. Noting both the Evian & Sosua historical events are two very closely intertwined and “little known’ stories. the “75” in Sosua75 is derived from the 75th Anniversary of the settlement’s founding. which in 2015 was celebrated in small ceremonies consisting predominantly of the few remaining settlers and their descendants.

Over the course of the last 3 years, I have conducted lectures on the topic at US based Colleges & Universities and New England area synagogues (Old Orchard Beach, ME, Kehillath Israel in Brookline. and the Vilna on Beacon Hill). Last summer was the highlight of these efforts having been invited to present the Evian/Sosua story to graduate and Doctoral level candidates at the Yeshiva in NYC.

One of the reasons I am so committed to the fulfillment of this project vision and my NPO theme of “To Educate and Remember” is many of the social issues experienced back in the 1940’s, topics of refugees & immigration. women’s rights, honoring and remembering native indigenous cultures and their plights. still strongly resonate in the world today.

When asking Rene what his impression was of the goals and objectives of the Sosua75 project. He promptly responded “I would call your project a dream come true! Exposure needs to be given to this important but lost story and page of history. It’s a secret and it shouldn’t be a secret” . Further validating my efforts, at the conclusion of our interview Kirchheimer summarized “I just hoped I would live long enough to see a plan like this (Sosua75) come to fruition. Your plans are a great idea and worthy of the world’s attention“.

Although the Sosua75 project goals are predominantly aimed at recognizing the Dominican Republic’s vital world leadership role of taking in Jewish refugees when the rest of the world turned them away. in addition to formally promoting and preserving the history of Judaism in Sosua, my Jewish/Dominican Cultural project vision includes other related elements which celebrate the local Dominican culture. Plans include the cultivation of a large permaculture organic farm. replicating what the original 1940’s settlers faced as their livelihood. as well as constructing a Butterfly Conservatory honoring the historic impact of the Mirabal sisters. or Las Mariposas. the 3 assassinated Dominican matriarchal sisters known as “the butterflies” whose underground political movement overthrew Trujillo’s 31 year dictatorship.

Rounding out the plan to honor the Dominican love of baseball will be the construction of a baseball stadium with housing accommodations to host international amateur and collegiate level baseball tournaments. the players and their families. as well as utilizing the facility for other venues such as outdoor musical concerts. theatre performances. and art exhibits.

Lynn Kramer. another long time Jewish resident and key current Sosua community leader commented. “I like the process of thinking of these ideas and the opportunity to attract healthy tourism to Sosua; people who are interested in the rich Jewish cultural heritage of the area. This project will recover a community which is vanishing and return it to the family oriented community it was years ago”

The more people I speak with both here in the US and in the DR. and the more extensively I devote myself to raising awareness of these little known stories. the more I continue to uncover the remarkable synergies of these two great cultures which have blended together and run surprisingly deep.

This Yom Hashoah, the Evian/Sosua story is truly one worth remembering…

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