the jewish community of cuba: between continuity and extinction

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118 Margalit Bejaranospiritualroots in Spainand the SpanishCivil War waspoliticallyechoed in Cuba. The struggle against Spanish Fascism, identified asthe successor to their colonial oppressor, found great support among theCubanpeopleas well as among its leadership;it rested primarilyinthe Communist Party, legalizedand later acceptedinto FulgencioBatista's first government (1940-44).11Since the daysof the Popular Front, Cuban communists were amongthe defenders of the Jewish community againstantisemitic attacksboth locally and internationally. Friendshipbetween Jewish andCuban communists consolidated during their collaboration on behalf ofthe Allied cause, and in particularfor the Red Army. The communists'attitude of sympathyand solidaritytowards the Jews, disseminatedduringtheir mutualstruggle against Fascism and Nazism, was destinedto bear fruit both before and after the Castro Revolution, and shouldnot be overlooked while examining the attitude of the revolutionarygovernment towards the Jewish community.While official antisemitism has never existed in Cuba, Cuban authorities have demonstrated on several occasions a sympatheticattitude towards the Jewish people.It seems, however, that Cuba isrecorded in Jewish history mainly through two events ? the St. Louistragedy and its "no" vote on the partitionof Palestine. Each of theseepisodes,disconnected from its historical context, tends to distort bothCuba's overall balance in the rescue of Jewish refugees during theHolocaust,12 and the wide supportin all its political parties for theestablishment of a Jewish state in the land of Israel.13Thesympatheticattitude towards the Jewish people, especiallyamong liberal and left-wing intellectuals and politicians,found its expressionin the friendlyrelations that had developedbetween Cubaand the State of Israel during the democratic presidency of Carlos PrioSocarras (1948-52) and duringthe military dictatorshipof FulgencioBatista (1952-58).14 It should be stressed that the great economicprogress made by local Jews throughout the above period, accompaniedby expressions of nouvelle richesse, was accepted with great toleranceby the Cuban society. This does not imply that social prejudicestowards Jews were non-existent, but theywere mostlylimited to thehigher social strata who were reluctant to accept Jews to prestigiousclubs or social circles. Amongthe low bourgeoisie and poorer classes,who were destined to carry on their shoulders the burden of the CastroRevolution,antisemitism was a rare phenomenon.15This 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 119The History of the Jewish Immigrantsand their InstitutionsThe American GroupJewish immigrationinto Cubabegan with a small group of U.S. citizens who settled in Cuba after the Spanish-AmericanWar (1898) andduringthe first years of Cubanindependence.This first nucleus of"American" Jews in Cuba was composed mainly of Romanian-born Jewswho had lived in southern Florida where the Cuban movement for independencewas widely supported. Having been naturalized in the U.S.they saw themselves as Americans, conducted their social life in English and identified with the local American colony. Their first preoccupationas Jews concerned the dead: in 1906 a group of eleven Jewsformed a societythat wouldprovideburial groundsfor future Jewishsettlers in Cuba. Under the name of the United HebrewCongregationathey purchased largetract of land in the nearbytown of Guanabacoa,where the Jewish cemeterywasinauguratedin 1910.16In the first period of its existence, the activities of the United Hebrew Congregationwere limited to religiousservices duringthe HighHoly Days,held in one of Havana's hotels. Confronted with poorSephardic immigrantsfrom the Ottoman Empire,the American Jewswerecompelledto grant them burial space, but refused to accept theSephardiminto their congregation.17The arrival of U.S.-born Jewish businessmen and representatives ofAmerican firms in Cuba following the expansion of the sugar industryled to the organizationof regular religious services within the framework of a Reform Templecalled Beth Israel.In 1921, after the first U.S. Quota Act, hundreds of destitute immigrantsfrom Eastern Europe appearedon the streets of Havana, andtheir number grew constantly.The small American group, estimated ataround 100 persons,came to their rescue with great personaldevotionand practicallysaved them from starvation.18 Theirphilanthropicmethods, however, werehighly criticized by U.S. welfare organizations that beganto function in Cuba to work directlywith the EasternEuropean immigrants. Thus the Americans werereplacedas theleadershipof the Jewish community.A similar story occurred fifteen years later when imported Naziantisemitism threatened the securityof the local Jews and strengthened a restrictive immigration policy. Refugeesfrom GermanyandAustria who had found temporary shelter in Cuba found a mutual language with the upper middle class American Jews who representedboth their affluent past and their aspirationto reach the UnitedStates. Individual American Jews used their contacts in governmentThis 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
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