the jewish community of cuba: between continuity and extinction

More documents

Recommendations

Info

124 Margalit BejaranoJews who were deeply shakenby the horrors of the Holocaust, inwhich many Cuban Ashkenazi Jews had lost relatives. Witnesses interviewed for an historical study of Cuban Jewrytestified about theirideologicaltransformation from indifference or oppositionto emphaticsupport for the Zionist movement.29 This tendencywashighly accelerated after the establishment of the State of Israel.World War II RefugeesDuring the period of the Holocaust, Cuba provided temporaryshelter for almost 12,000 refugees.30Half of these refugees, mostlyfromGermanyand Austria, entered Cuba between June 1938 and May 1939,using loopholesin Cubanimmigrationlaws and semi-official arrangements based on graft.31 Although granted temporary residence that formany meant rescue from the concentration camps, the wererefugeesinconstant danger of deportation. Since Cuban law deprivedthem of theright to engage in gainful occupations, many of them weretotally dependenton their relatives' supportor on the aid of the Jewish JointDistribution Committee (JDC).32The famous incident of the ship St. Louis, when more than 1,000Jewish refugees were refused entry into Havana and were compelledtoreturn to Europe, resulted in the lockingof Cuba's gates 33 These, however, werereopenedin October 1940, and remained open until April1942, thus facilitatingthe rescue of over 5,000 Jews from various countries in Central and Western Europe. Their entrywas conditionedbythe payment of largesums of money to Cuban officials, so that this outlet was available only to the wealthy.34The most dominant group among those who arrived in Cuba between1940 and 1942 were from Belgium.Unlike the refugeesfrom Germanyand Austria, socially disconnected from the local Ostjuden, many of theBelgian Jews were originallyfrom Poland and they participatedin thelocal organizations,a giving special impulseto the development of theZionist movement. Their strongest impactwas the establishment of thediamondindustry, encouraged by Cuba's government, that providedaprofitable source of income for both refugees and veteran Jews 35After World War II, previous diamond centers were rehabilitated,and the small Belgian colonyin Cuba either returned to Antwerporemigratedto New York. Other Jewish refugees were graduallyable toenter the U.S.through the quotas of their countries of origin, especiallywhenemigration from Europecame almost to a stop duringthe war. Thelarge colonyof Jewish refugees eventually disappearedwithout atrace, its only imprint beinga few graves in the Guanabacoa cemeterycarrying German inscriptions.This content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.72.230 on Sun, 2 Dec 2012 04:14:50 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
The Jewish Community of Cuba 125The Jewish Community Under Batista'sMilitary DictatorshipThoughmarked by violent political repression, the militarydictatorship of FulgencioBatista (1952-1958) brought prosperityto theeconomic sectors into which the Jews had beenintegrated. SephardiJews, formerly dispersed throughoutthe island, centered in the maincities, especiallyin Havana. In the capital, the once poor immigrantsof Old Havana moved into better residential areas such as SantosSuarez, Vedado, or the elegantMiramar. While the majoritywere engagedin commerce and industry, many among the second generation,Ashkenazim and Sephardim alike, acquired highereducation andturned to the liberal professions.36Jews did not interfere in political matters, since the process of theirassimilation within Cuban society was only at its beginning. A group ofyoung intellectuals founded the Agrupacion Cultural Hebreo-Cubana inorder to encourage understandingbetween Jews and Cubans. Among Jewish university students, however, only a small minority were engagedin the revolutionary underground movement.37 Jewish communists hadbeen active in Cuban politics, but duringthis period they almost totally disappearedfrom the Jewish arena, followingthe repression ofthe Communist Party and disappointmentwith the Soviet Union'spolicytoward Israel and the Jews.Since the establishment of the State of Israel, the Jewish community experienceda Zionist revival. Activities on behalf of the Jewishstate were the axis of Jewish communal life, and their economic prosperity expresseditself in generous contributions to the Israel Bond driveand other Zionist campaigns. Diplomaticrelations between Cuba andIsrael, established in 1954, strengthenedthe self-confidence of the local Jews. Friendshipbetween the two countries was reflected in theplanting of the Jose Marti Forest in the Judean hills and the naming of aHavana school "Estado de Israel."38 Sender Kaplan,the presidentofthe Union Sionista, functioned as HonoraryConsul of Israel (19511960); thus he wasrecognizedas both the diplomatic representativeofthe State of Israel and the main leader of the Jewish community.An important consequence of both economic prosperityand self-confidence was a movement of exhibitionist construction of new buildingsfor the Jewish institutions. The most salient among them was the Patronato ? Casa de la Comunidad Hebrea de Cuba (House of the JewishCommunity of Cuba), situated on 13th and I Streets in Vedado. The Patronato was initiated bya group of rich Jews, and designed by the famous Cuban architect Aquiles Capablanca.It wasinauguratedin October 1955 in the presence of President Batista, Prime MinisterJorge Garcia Montes, and other high officials.39The Patronato was designedto replacethe Centro Israelita de CubaThis content downloaded by the authorized user from 192.168.72.230 on Sun, 2 Dec 2012 04:14:50 AMAll use subject to JSTOR Terms and Conditions
Page 3 and 4: The Jewish Community of Cuba 117con
Page 5 and 6: The Jewish Community of Cuba 119The
Page 7 and 8: The Jewish Community of Cuba 121rab
Page 9: The Jewish Community of Cuba 123Dur
Page 13 and 14: The Jewish Community of Cuba 127inc
Page 15 and 16: The Jewish Community of Cuba 129opp
Page 18 and 19: 132 Margalit Bejaranoregularlytwice
Page 20 and 21: 134 Margalit BejaranoAs mentioned a
Page 22 and 23: 136 Margalit BejaranoThe Cubangover
Page 24 and 25: 138 Margalit Bejarano21. On the ear
Page 26: 140 Margalit BejaranoWolf) was a Ge

the jewish community of cuba: between continuity and extinction

Create successful ePaper yourself

Delete template?

Save as template?