BETH TORAH TIMES WINTER EDITION -Nov-Dec 2018

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CANTOR BOGOMOLNI MESSAGE
After the negative results in the field of agriculture,
the settlers began to establish farms for the raising of
dairy cattle. The farms at the beginning were handled
collectively with negative results.
In 1943, two experts arrived in Sosúa: Mr. David Stern and
Mr. Douglas Blackwood. The first organized a restructuring
of the farms, each of approximately 50 hectares with
their respective water resources. To ensure drinking water
for Sosúa and the farms, the aqueduct in the mountains
(Chocco) was extended. Mr. Blackwood instructed them
in the management and raising of dairy cattle. He quickly
gained the confidence of the settlers, since they realized
that tangible and commercially interesting results could
be obtained.
Each immigrant or settler had according to the statutes of
the DORSA the right to obtain a farm with 15 animals, the
prices were established by the administration. Each month
they had to pay 10 dollars as amortization of the capital
plus a small interest of 3% per year. Each settler was also
entitled to a job in the two small industries: the dairy
factory (C.I.L.C.A. - Compañía Industrial Lechera, C. por A.)
and the livestock meat products factory. These two small
factories functioned initially as cooperatives.
In 1945 approximately 700 people lived in Sosúa, mostly
immigrant single men. Many manage to leave the United
States: some, unable to adapt to the environment and the
management of a farm, others (especially professionals)
looking for a higher education and a better standard of
living.
In 1947 another group of immigrants arrived from
Shanghai, China. What a trip! From Europe to China and
from China to Sosúa. They were approximately 35 people.
The Benjamin, Strauss, Rothenberg, Floersheim and Hecht
families were among them.
The year 1950 is considered the last year of Jewish
immigration to Sosúa. The last two families that were
accepted as settlers were the Reuter and the Neuman
families, both from Israel.
Although Sosúa was planned as a refuge for Jewish
immigration of at least 2,000 people only 800 arrived.
As we said, after 1945, many went to the United States or
Mexico and also a few returned to Germany. The problems
of the first years - however - were overcome and Sosúa
progressed and expanded in every way.
Sosúa in those days, maintained a theater, a movie theater,
a synagogue, a hospital with excellent service and a school.
The latter very soon gained a very good reputation thanks
to its director, the unforgettable Dr. Robischek, outstanding
doctor of Vienna, known for his works of investigation in
the bacteriological field in addition to a solid connoisseur
of the Jewish sources.
Pioneers cannot forget the “Oasis” or the Cafehouse, or
Kneipe, or Taberna, a meeting point for friends. There
they played cards, adjusted the last prices of CILCA, drank
Dominican coffee or simply met people to chat over a little
bit of tea.
There was also the celebration of the Jewish holidays:
Hanukkah, Purim and Passover. In the cultural sense,
the settlers remained faithful to their European culture,
mainly German and Austrian. It is interesting to note
that despite the fact that almost all the immigrants from
Sosúa were expelled from their home countries, under
discriminatory and extremely humiliating conditions, they
always maintained the cultural ties that bound them with
the traditions and customs of their countries of origin. In
Sosúa you could hear phrases like: “cooked or not-cooked
at 12.30 we are going to eat” or, “in my country, Germany,
things were like that”, etc. In the religious aspect, it could
be said that the colonists were liberal traditionalists, with a
strong tendency to assimilate to the environment. Children
from the communities of Santo Domingo and Sosúa under
the circumstances of the first years, many immigrant men
married Dominican women and formed, in the cultural and
religious sense, mixed marriages. The interesting thing is
that these marriages, exposed from the point of view of
the Jewish tradition, to a strong assimilation to the gentile
environment, were able to preserve in their children and
even in their grandchildren traits of the Jewish tradition
and culture. In the first 30 years, some families managed
to make some capital and sent their children to the United
States to receive a better education. The majority of these
children never returned to settle in the country again.
Tourism in Sosúa ... Tourism (especially German) and
foreign investment -especially in real estate- has changed
the face of this town founded by Jewish settlers 80 years
ago. Sosúa is today one of the picturesque villages in the
northern part of the country, whose life is closely linked to
modern tourism (all inclusive).
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