History of the Jews in the Dominican Republic

[1] This was followed by new waves of migrants dating from the 1700s[2] and again in the period before and during World War II,[3][4][5] reaching a peak in the late 1930s and early 1940s, as Jewish refugees fled the conditions in Europe brought on by WWII.

[7] General Gregorio Luperón, who had served as President of the Dominican Republic and was living in exile in Paris in 1882, proposed the country as a refuge for Jews escaping pogroms in Russia.

[7] Luperón's motivations for proposing this plan seem to have stemmed from a combination of humanitarian concern and a desire to promote the economic development of the Dominican Republic.

These figures included Alliance Israélite Universelle, The prominent Rothschild banking family, and the Jewish community in the United States, particularly in New York.

Others raised practical concerns about the plan, particularly the need for financial support, land allocation, and employment opportunities for potential settlers.

The Dominican Republic was the only sovereign country willing to accept mass Jewish immigration immediately prior and during World War II, the only alternative being the Shanghai International Settlement.

[11] Trujillo then offered his personal estate in Sosúa to the Dominican Republic Settlement Association (DORSA), established by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) to manage the resettlement project.

However, crop-based agriculture proved largely unsuccessful due to poor soil, unpredictable rainfall, and limited market access.

The current population of known Jews in the Dominican Republic is close to 3,000,[14] with the majority living in the capital, Santo Domingo, and others residing in Sosúa.

[citation needed] A great deal of research on the subject of Dominican Jewry was done by Rabbi Henry Zvi Ucko[16] who had been a writer and teacher in Germany until political conditions and growing anti-Semitism forced him to emigrate[when?].

His travels eventually took him to the Dominican Republic, where he organized a congregation in Santo Domingo (Ciudad Trujillo) and began researching the history of Jews in the country.

More recently, the publication of the book "Once Jews" has made easily available information on many early Jewish settlers in the Dominican Republic.