Encyclopaedia Judaica
Jews in Cuba 01:
1492-1933
Marranos within
Columbus' expedition - Jewish immigration from Brazil -
Inquisition and confiscations - immigration and stopover
from: Haiti; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 5
presented by Michael Palomino (2008)
<CUBA,
archipelago of islands
consisting of Cuba, Pinos, and 1,600 smaller islands;
population (1967) 7,937,200;
Jewish population (1970) approximately 1,500.
[[There is no indication about the natives on Cuba in the
Encyclopaedia Judaica]].
[Marranos within Columbus'
expedition - trade with the Antilles and with Hamburg,
Amsterdam, and New York]
There were Jewish converts [[marranos]] among the first
European settlers on the island in 1492. One of them, Luis de
*Torres, was sent by Columbus on exploratory expeditions.
Hernando Alonso, one of Cortes' soldiers and a colonial
governor, was arrested by the Inquisition in 1528 for signing
a psalm which mentioned "Israel in Egypt" while baptizing one
of his children.
Groups of Jews fleeing from Brazil during the Portuguese
reconquest (17th century) settled in Cuba despite
Inquisitional persecutions and promoted a flourishing trade
with the Antilles and western islands.
In the 18th century Jewish merchants extended this trade to
Hamburg, Amsterdam, and New York. Several of them were
severely persecuted by the Inquisition during the 17th and
18th centuries, and their possessions were confiscated, as in
the case of Francisco Gómez de León of Havana, in 1613, Luis
Rodríguez, and Antonio Méndez in c. 1627.
[Jewish community since 1898
since the independence from Spain]
The contemporary Jewish community, however, does not represent
a line of continuity with the Jews of the 18th century. Its
formation began after independence from Spain was achieved
(1898). Cuban constitutions from 1901, 1928, (col. 1146)
and particularly 1940 established the principle of freedom of
religion and separation of church and state; thus, the legal
basis for Jewish existence was attained. Although
discriminatory legislation against aliens was not maintained
as a principle - and Jews were considered aliens -
dispositions promulgated under certain governments during the
1920s imposed extra duties on peddlers, hairdressers, and
other occupations generally in the hands of Jews. In addition,
a federal law enacted by the government of Gran San Martín
(1933) legislated that 50% of workers employed by industrial
or commercial employers must be Cuban natives. The dictatorial
governments, however - including that of Fulgencio Batista -
did not affect the Jewish community, mainly because of its
apolitical character.
[[...]]
Prior to the 1959 Revolution.
FORMATION AND INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT.
The origins of the Cuban Jewish community are linked to the
War of Independence (1868) and the Spanish-American War
(1898). Jews from Florida were among the active supporters of
liberator José Martí and his people, and American Jews began
to settle on the island as veteran soldiers or as businessmen
at the end of the 19th century. In 1904 they founded the Union
Hebrew Congregation (U.H.C.) with a reform synagogue, and in
1906 they acquired a cemetery.
[1900-1914: Jewish immigrants
from European Turkey and Near East]
During the years prior to World War I, immigrants began to
arrive from European Turkey and the Near East. The majority of
them were in need of material assistance. Some members of the
U.H.C., and particularly David *Blis, came to their aid. In
1914 the Sephardi Jews established a community organization
called Unión Hebrea Shevet Ahim [[Hebrew Union Shevet Ahim]];
they had no contact with the bulk of American Jews on either
the social or the organizational level.
[since 1920: Jewish
immigrants from Eastern Europe as stopover for "USA" - dead
end Cuba since 1924 - Jewish "US" help organizations]
Immigration from Eastern Europe began in 1920-21, but for most
of these Jews, Cuba was only a transit point on the way to the
United States. Most of the immigrants who arrived between 1920
and 1923 had left Cuba by 1925. But as a result of the
stiffening of U.S. immigration laws in 1924, thousands of
immigrants suddenly found themselves compelled to stay in
Cuba, and even after 1924, thousands of Jews continued to
arrive there.
The dire economic straits of the immigrants impelled Jewish
welfare organizations in the United States to intervene on
their behalf, and from the end of 1921 *HIAS maintained its
representative in Havana. In 1922-23, the American Jewish
Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) added its support, and
HIAS, in conjunction with the National Council of Jewish
Women, established the Jewish Committee for Cuba. Later this
body, whose center was in New York, was joined by the
Emergency Refugee Committee. A local branch of the Jewish
Committee was active in Havana until it amalgamated in 1926
with the Centro Israelita, which was established about a year
before and which then constituted the main communal body of
East European Jews in Havana.> (col. 1147)
[The jobs of the Jewish
immigrants in the 1920s and 1930s]
<The first Jews to settle in modern Cuba, the Americans,
engaged mostly in export and import, as well as in sugar and
tobacco farming. The vast majority were well-to-do. The
Sephardim, most of whom arrived in Cuba penniless, developed
peddling and small business. In as much as their arrival
coincided with a prosperous period in the economy, they did
not encounter any difficulties.
The East European immigrants, on the other hand, came during a
severe economic slump. Their absorption into a country with
tropical climate , bereft of industry, and inundated with
cheap labour from neighbouring Haiti, proved very difficult.
Many turned to peddling and in 1925 about 500 Jewish peddlers
were noted in Havana (col. 1148)
and approximately another 300 in the cities of the interior.
Professionals in the fields of furniture, clothing, and
especially shoes, turned to the respective factories which
were owned partly by Jews. Many others worked as unskilled
manual labourers. In 1925-29 the number of Jewish labourers in
Havana was estimated at 1,000.
They joined the existing professional unions, particularly in
the shoe and furniture fields, and some became union leaders
and organized strikes, especially in plants owned by Jews.
Unions were also established by Jewish peddlers and barbers.
In the 1920s, agricultural settlement was attempted in Finca
Paso Real Calabrazo by the Jewish Committee, but soon
failed.> (col. 1149)
[January 1919: Cuban
Palestine Jewish National Home resolution - anti-Semitism]
<In January 1919 the Cuban Senate approved a resolution in
favour of the Jewish National Home in Palestine. A letter
written by community leader Blis, through whose efforts the
resolution was adopted, was read in the Senate (May 12, 1919)
to honor the Jewish community. Nevertheless, against the
background of the economic crisis, anti-Semitism increased in
the 1920s and during the 1930s [[after the stock exchange
collapse of 1929]] it spread rapidly with the radicalization
in Cuban nationalism.> (col. 1148)
[Cultural life]
[Centro Israelita with
Zionist flag with Star of David - anti-Zionist Jewish
cultural activities]
During the 1920s the Centro Israelita [["Israelite Center"]]
centralized a diversified range of activities: aside from
welfare assistance to immigrants, a clinic, a library, an
evening language school, a student center and a drama club.
Despite the fact that its membership was not solely Zionist,
the organization adopted the Zionist anthem and flag and the
Star of David as its symbols.
[[Herzl Zionism had its base on the book "The Jewish State"
which states that "Jewish State" would be needed and for
this "Jewish State" all Arabs could be driven away as in the
"USA" were all natives driven away. It meant an eternal war
against the Arabs. The Zionists did not want to see this, but
the anti-Zionist saw this war trap very well]].
At the same time there were some other Ashkenazi Jewish
organizations during the 1920s. The Kultur Fareyn [[Cultural Association]],
founded in 1926, united leftist Jews and developed a cultural
program. Governed by the Communists, this organization staged
anti-religious demonstrations and parties on the eve of the
Day of Atonement; after one such incident in 1931, it was
closed by the authorities and its members were tried for
revolutionary activity.
In 1934 the organizations was revived as the Yidishe
Gezelshaft far Kunst un Kultur [[Yiddish Association for Art
and Culture]], and for a while it joined forces with the
Centro Israelita [[Israelite Center]] (1939), only to split
away again and form the Folks Tsenter [[Folks Center]] in
opposition to it.
[1925: Religious Jews found
"Adas Isroel" - Keneset Israel in 1929 - Asociación Sionista
since 1929 - more associations]
The religious Jews established the Adas Isroel in 1925, from
which the "Keneset Israel" organization split in 1929 only to
rejoin it many years later as the Kehillah Ashkenazit Ahdut
Israel [[Ashkenazi Congregation Ahdut Israel]].
From 1929 the Zionists maintained the Asociación Sionista
[[Zionist Association]] and later the Unión Sionista de
Cuba [[Zionist Union of Cuba]], which was an important
force in the 1920s (col. 1147)
and 1930s and which split into the various parties only in the
1940s Other organizations included Idishe Froien Fareyn
(Asociación femenina Hebrea de Cuba, [[Hebrew Women
Association of Cuba]] 1926), an anti-tuberculosis committee
(1927), the *ORT vocational school (1935), and a *B'nai B'rith
lodge (1943).> (col. 1148)
