"In the newly conquered or acquired territories there was a great need for settlers, and the colonial authority also encouraged Jews to make the crossing. Especially Sephardic Jews, fleeing the Inquisition in Spain and Portugal, made grateful use of this. They were not only willing to travel to the Dutch colonies in America, they also wanted to stay there."
The privileges that lured the first Jewish settlers to the Caribbean colony of Curaçao included rights they did not have in Europe. Roitman: "For example, they were allowed to serve in the vigilante group, could claim protection from the government and, moreover, practice their religion freely without fear of persecution."
Oldest synagogue
"As early as 1650, Portuguese Jews in Willemstad founded the congregation Mikvé Israel, 'Hope of Israel' in Hebrew. Later, in 1732, the Jewish community there built the Mikvé Israel Emanuelsynagogue, the oldest synagogue on the American continent that is still in use today. The sand on the floor reminds of the time when they themselves experienced slavery."
The article 'Jews who fled in the colonies could preserve their culture' is part of the series 'Our colonial past in fifty objects' by de Volkskrant. Read the full article here.
Photo: Getty