History of the Jews in Barbados

The 1986 restored Nidhe Israel Synagogue in Bridgetown

The mikveh from 1654

The Israel Museum in Bridgetown

The history of the Jews in Barbados begins in 1654 when Sephardic Jews landed on the then British island of Barbados as refugees from Dutch Brazil . The refugees came from the Jewish communities of Recife and Bahia in the briefly Dutch north of Brazil and had to leave the country after the Portuguese conquered Dutch Brazil - according to some sources on the run from the Inquisition , according to others, as they were allies of the Dutch were viewed. British plantation owners on Barbados, who were about to fail with the cultivation of ginger and indigo , contacted the Jewish refugees in this situation and brought them to Barbados. The Jewish refugees brought with them valuable knowledge about the cultivation and processing of sugar cane and coffee , which contributed to the development of the island as an important sugar producer.

Only a few of the Jews of Barbados were plantation owners themselves, as the cultivable land on the small island had already been taken when they arrived or by the 1660s at the latest. Most of the newcomers therefore settled in the capital Bridgetown as traders, a small number of them also in the northern city of Speightstown . Allegedly, quite a few of the surnames of the Jews who immigrated from Brazil can still be found today as surnames in today's Barbados, either among the white or colored descendants of the Sephardic families or among the descendants of their slaves, who had adopted the names of the families of their owners.

In 1667 there was a second wave of Jewish immigration. After the Dutch had conquered the formerly British colony of Suriname, many Jews there emigrated to Barbados in order to retain their British citizenship. In 1697 nearly 300 Jews lived on the island. In 1668 the island's Jews were forbidden to engage in long-distance or local trade or to buy slaves . They were also forced to move to a ghetto . In 1802 all discriminatory laws against the Jewish population were repealed by the colonial administration of Barbados. Barbados was the first British colony to give Jews full political rights.

However, emigration and Jewish assimilation ensured that the island's practicing Jewish population disappeared in 1929, when the last descendants of the Brazilian immigrants still practicing the Jewish religion are said to have left the island and services were no longer held in the last synagogue that was still active . Jewish life only began again here when 30 Ashkenazi Jewish families arrived as refugees from Eastern Europe in the wake of the persecution by the Nazis and the Holocaust . In 1968 there were again 80 Jews living in Barbados. Although small, the Jewish community that exists today has taken steps to extend its legacy e.g. B. in the form of an active synagogue, the Nidhe Israel Synagogue in Bridgetown, which opened again in 1987 . The old synagogue now houses a museum and a library. In January 2008 the Nidhe Israel Museum opened, telling the story of the Sephardic and Ashkenazi Jews. Also in 2008, the courtyard of the original 17th century synagogue was archaeologically examined by historians and students from the University of the West Indies . The main focus of the investigation was the rabbi's house , but the still intact mikveh from the 17th century, which was built over a spring , also came to light.

Today (as of 2017) around 40 Jews live in Barbados.

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1. ↑ http://www.bbc.co.uk/history/british/empire_seapower/barbados_01.shtml accessed on March 31, 2013
2. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from May 11, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. accessed on March 31, 2013  
3. ↑ http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/barbados.html accessed on March 31, 2013
4. ↑ http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/barbados.html accessed on March 31, 2013
5. ↑ http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/barbados.html accessed on March 31, 2013
6. ↑ http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/barbados.html accessed on March 31, 2013
7. ↑ http://www.nationnews.com/story/306441874580391.php ( Memento from May 19, 2008 in the Internet Archive ) accessed on March 31, 2013

• The Jewish Nation of the Caribbean: The Spanish-Portuguese Jewish Settlements in the Caribbean and the Guianas ", p. 197

Web links

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