attention, all tombstones without
crosses are Jewish ones. There
are many Christian graves here
nowadays. Never mind. The place
is Jewish." He showed me the
tombstones one by one: Pardo
from Amsterdam, Marchena from
Curacao, and so forth. We as-
cended the steps to a large mau-
soleum with a high monument of
Christ. "Look here," said Mr. Lo-
pez, "all tombstones have crosses,
but this one has not. Here rests
my father. HO was buried with
full observation of the Jewish
rites, in his tallith. I put a trian-
gle over his name, because he was
a Mason." I looked puzzled and
asked myself: should I take off
my hat to honor the Christian
tombs or keep it on as we Jews
do in the cemetery? Then walk-
ing home my Dominican mentor
told me the whole story. Later I
spoke to many Jewish descend-
ants in Ciudad Trujillo and made
inquiries in the modern Archivo
Nacional.
This is what I found out.
When in 1799 the Spanish Real
Audiencia — a kind of supreme
court—moved from San Domingo
to Cuba, Jews could enter the
country freely' and some Saphar-
dic Jews came over from Curacao
(Dutch), Jamaica (British), and
St. Tomas (Danish) to Santo Do-
mingo. They were good merchants
and in a short time they made
fortunes. But political conditions
were uncertain in Santo Domin-
go; besides, they were orthodox
people and worried about their
spiritual welfare, because there
was no real Jewish community in
Santo Domingo. When they grew
older, they longed for the Jewish
life which existed on the i s lands
they had left. Therefore many
families left Santo Domingo, but
often at least one or two younger
members of the family stayed on
to continue business.
This younger generation settled
quickly in the new country. Cut
off from strong Jewish centers,
they began to lose connection
with the faith of their fathers.
There was no synagogue, no rab-
bi in Santo Domingo. People were
young and among the Dominican
Creoles there were beautiful girls.
It is not strange that they began
to mingle. The parents in Cura.
cao or St. Tomas were deeply
shocked. They objected and ar-
gued, and grave dissensions often
resulted between father and son.
Sometimes the Dominicans dis-
agreed to; they mistrusted any
other religion than Catholicism.
But the young folk had no scru-
ples and strange things happened,
as for Instance, one young cou-
ple married with a double cere-
mony, Christian and Jewish, to
satisfy both the parents. It should
be remembered that the 19th cen-
tury was the time of religious
liberalism. Masonry began to play
an important part in the life of
the Dominican Republic. People
discarded dogmatic doctrines and
clung to a liberal belief in gene.
ral human love. Religious prob-
lems were not in vogue, general.
ly, for the principal interest of
the island was the struggle for
independence, which it only got in
1844. And • in this struggle the
Jews participated wholeheartedly.
The door towards assimilation
was open. The Jews were white,
good patriots, punctual payers
and not very. scrupulous in regard
to their own religion. The Domi-
nican people liked and esteemed
them. So did the Government.
There is a letter in the National
Archives of Ciudad Trujillo, an
answer of President Santana
(1846) to an anti-Semitic peti.
tion of some envious competitors,
Friday, September 27, 1946
DETROIT JEWISH CHRONICLE and The Legal Chronicle
Page Sixteen
which contains not only a warm
apology of the Jews, but extols
them as an example for the Do-
minicans. Few countries are able
to show a similar governmental
document.
favorable—c-undi-
Under
tions, assimilation progressed rap-
idly and radically. The Dominican
Jews by no means represent the
disagreeable type of apostate who
only wants to hide all traces of
his Jewishness. They never con-
cealed their descent. Nevertheless,
they were freethinkers. Although
the first generation which settled
in the Dominican Republic never
were converted, they did not at-
tach great importance to the fact
that their children accepted Cath-
olicism. The more devout Dr3ni-
nican wives wanted it and the
Jewish husbands tolerated it. At
least Catholicism was the gene-
rally recognized national religion
in the Dominican Republic. There.
fore the second generation was
christened, but remained proud of
belonging to the Hebrew "race."
The grandsons of the first Jewish
Immigrants reached the highest
political and even clerical posi-
tions. Though Catholics, they
called themselves and all people
called them "hebreos."
Today, there are few traces of
this Sephardic immigration. The
assimilation was complete and
without repercussions. The actual
descendants of the Sephardic im-
migrants know little about their
history. But when you speak to
them or to their non-Hebrew
compatriots, you will learn that
these hebreos were always con-
sidered an aristocratic caste of
the Dominican population, indus-
trious and honorable men.
Courtesy of "Congress Weekly"
SAMUELS BROS.
Restaurant
1 2493 Russell St.
LaGuardia Assails
Use of German Police
As DP Camp Guards
Rosh Hashonah Greetings To All
•
By VICTOR FRIEDMAN
GENEVA, (JTA) — The use of
"armed Nazis" to guard Jewish
DP camps in the American zone
MARSHALL £ RENCHARD
of Germany was assailed here by
UNRRA Director Fiorello La-
Guardia, addressing the Council
MERCHANT TAILORS
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LaGuardia, who toured t h e
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408.412 DAVID WHITNEY BUILDING
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did not believe that any Germans
should be armed for a genera.
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protested to U. S. Commander
Lieut. Gen. Joseph T. McNarney.
The UNRRA director appealed H LE SHONO TOVO TIKOSEVU!
to the nations represented at the
Council not to abandon the 830,-
000 displaced persons in Europe P- Rosh Hashonah
in the period between the'ending
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Greetings and Best Wish to You All
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