History of the Jews in Haiti

The history of the Jews in Haiti (French: Juifs en Haïti; Haitian Creole: Jwif Ayisyen yo) stretches from the beginning of the European settlement until the modern day.

Jews generally preferred to settle on the coastline in port cities, as many were involved in commerce and trade, establishing communities in major industry centers.

[2][5] By the end of the 19th century, approximately thirty mostly Sephardi Jewish families had arrived from Lebanon, Syria, and Egypt; many Jews from the Middle East felt secure emigrating to Haiti, as a law in France had been passed during this period that gave French citizenship to minorities in the Americas.

Professor David Bankier, of the Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, said that after 1938, "the cost [of a visa] was outrageous: If you wanted to go to Haiti, you had to pay $5,000.

"[5] Haiti at the time was still paying reparations on an exorbitant debt with interest fees to France after the Haitian Revolution[8] that could have hindered their efforts to continue issuing these visas for free.

[9] The mid-20th century was a time where a continued departure of Jews from Haiti for the United States and Panama because of the economic conditions and civil violence in the country.

At the time met many family Jewish names such as: Alvarez, Cardozo, Cohen, Dreyfus, Goldman, Hakim, Hillel, Khan, Monsanto, Pereira, Salzmann, Silveira, and Weiner, which most had forgotten their ethno-religious backgrounds.