Jews in Cuba (from the Encyclopedia Judaica)
"The first Jewish group to settle in Havana after Cuban independence (1902) came from the United States. They founded the United Hebrew Congregation in 1906. They were followed by Sephardim, mainly from Turkey, whose communal congregation, Shevet Ahim, was founded in 1914. In the 1920s thousands of Jews from Eastern Europe arrived in Cuba, hoping to use it as a stepping stone to the U.S. Many of them settled in Havana, where they founded the Centro Israelita (Jewish Center) in 1925, together with a large number of social, religious, cultural, and political organizations. In the late 1930s and during World War II Havana became a temporary haven for thousands of Jews fleeing Nazi Germany, using loopholes in Cuba's immigration laws. In May 1939, however, Havana was the scene of the tragic episode of the S.S. *St. Louis, whose passengers were refused landing and were compelled to return to Europe, where many of them perished in extermination camps.
Following World War II the Havana community prospered both economically and socially. In 1951 the Ashkenazi community laid the cornerstone for the Patronato, a magnificent building that symbolized the social mobility and prosperity of Havana Jews. When the Sephardim inaugurated their Sephardi Cent
er, Fidel Castro was already in power.
The Cuban revolution of 1959 marked the decline of Havana Jews. Following the nationalization of private business, around 90% of them emigrated from Cuba, most of them to the United States. The government respected the right of the Jewish community to continue
its religious life, but the demographic decline, the emigration of lay and religious leaders, and the influence of the atheistic policy of the state had a growing impact on Jewish life. In 1973 Cuba severed its diplomatic relations with Israel, and the isolation of Havana Jews increased."
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hotel riviera in havana vedado was owned by meyer lansky till 1959.
19th to mid-20th centuries.
their favorite vacation in the late 1940s and
1950s decade. The cuban musical sounds began to appear in the yiddish songs of Mickey Katz,
The Barry Sisters, and other yiddish entertainers of that period.The yiddish women
were dancing the cha-cha, mambo and the rumba,
all of these were cuban dances.
Mickey Katz sings the song TICO TICO, not in portuguese,
but in Spanish. The sound of Cuban music spread as well into American music.
my definition to CUBAN JEWS but to jews as
tourists in Havana. Also many refugees from the Holocaust arrived in Havana and stayed
there for a while en route to other destinations.
íos)for killing Jesus. That's the reason many Cubans will tell you that they never met a Jew in Cuba, but they knew lots of 'polacos.' Up to 1959, there was a large Jewish presence in Cuba, mostly as merchants and professionals. Additionally, thousands of American Jewish tourists flocked to Cuba
during the winter months.
ían propiedades y fueron expropiadas. De ahí la mayoría decidió marcharse cuando tubieron la oportunidad unos a Miami otros a Europa. Otros decidieron quedarse. La familia se dividió y yo ahora no tengo nada de judio...
anyone know his mother's last name? It could
be from a family of sephardic jews.