Cuba Jewish Records: Difference between revisions

During the 16th and 17th centuries, Jews immigrated to Cuba from Portuguese controlled Brazil due to persecution. New Jewish immigrants established trade in Cuba and, by the 18th century, Cuban Jewish trade reached Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Hamburg, Germany.

In the late 1800's, Jews from the Dutch Antilles settled in Cuba. Many Jewish traders pursuing business in the New World set up outposts on the island. In 1898, after the Spanish-American War, Jews established a permanent presence in Cuba. American Ashkenazi Jews born in Romania and elsewhere in Eastern Europe immigrated to Cuba to work for U.S.-owned plantations and businesses. In 1906, 11 American Jews founded Cuba's first synagogue, the United Hebrew Congregation, a Reform synagogue that conducted services in English. This is considered the official beginning of the Cuban Jewish community.

A large number of Jews immigrated to Cuba from 1910 until 1920, including Sephardic Jews from Türkiye. Many Jews came from Eastern Europe and used Cuba as a stopover en route to the United States, which had a strict quota system at that time. Many decided to stay since there was little anti-Semitism in Cuba, as well as good weather. Many of the new immigrants from Europe prospered in Cuban’s garment industry. By 1924, there were 24,000 Jews living in Cuba. (This information is taken from Jewish Virtual Library)

Online Research[edit | edit source]

The website www.jewishcuba.org/ is being phased out but they still have a couple of pages that are of interest to Jewish genealolgy. You will find the idex to the book The The Jewish Community of Cuba: Memory and History. In that index you will find a list of surnames. click here and the index from the book Cuban Jewish Journeys here From the same website you will find a list of Jewish burials here

Books on the Jews of Cuba[edit | edit source]

Nothing beats research for aiding in your search for ancestors. Knowing the historical background can provide a road map of understanding but that's not all! You will likely find research sources on the pages history books. Before purchasing a book check out the FamilySearch Catalog,Google Books or World Cat to see if these books are available online or at a library near you.

Tropical Diaspora: The Jewish Experience in Cuba
by Robert M. Levine
August 20, 1993

An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba
by Ruth Behar, Humberto Mayol

The The Jewish Community of Cuba: Memory and History
by Margalit Bejarano, Haim Avni

Jewish Community of Cuba
by Jay Levinson
Jan 10, 2006

Cuban Jewish Journeys: Searching For Identity Home & History In Miami

by Caroline Bettinger-Lopez
December 15, 2000

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-''[[Europe]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] [[Belarus Genealogy|Belarus]] [[Image:Gotoarrow.png]] Belarus Jewish Research''
+{{CountrySidebar
+|Country=Cuba
+|Name=Cuba
+|Type=Topic
+|Topic Type=Records
+|Records=Jewish Records
+|Rating=Acceptable
+}}{{breadcrumb
+| link1=[[Cuba Genealogy|Cuba]]
+| link2=
+| link3=
+| link4=
+| link5=[[Cuba Jewish Records|Jewish Records]]
+}}
-{{Jewish-sidebar|news=<!-- Add News Items BELOW --> <br>
+{{CountrySidebar
+|Country=Cuba
+|Name=Cuba
+|Type=Topic
+|Topic Type=Records
+|Records=Jewish Records
+|Rating=Acceptable
+}}
+Go to [[Jewish Genealogy Research|Jewish Genealogy Research Main Page]]<br>
+=== Maps of Cuba  ===
+*To view present-day Cuba at Google Maps, click [https://www.google.com/maps/place/Cuba/@21.5414305,-81.7858071,7z/data=!3m1!4b1!4m2!3m1!1s0x88cd49070f7a4cb5:0x798cf7529110a41a here].
+*For a map of Cuba at Wikipedia.org click [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cuba#/media/File:Cuba_rel94.jpg here].
-*[http://www.iajgs.org/members/calendar.html IAJGS Calendar]
+<br>
-*[http://www.ngsgenealogy.org/cs/conference_info 7-10 May 2014 Nat'l Gen. Soc. Conf., Richmond VA] <!-- Add News Items ABOVE -->
-}}
+=== Jewish History in Cuba  ===
-<div style="width: 75%; float: right">
-{| width="100%" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0" border="0" class="FCK__ShowTableBorders"
-|-
-| width="70%" valign="top" | <br>__TOC__
-| valign="top" | <br>[[Image:Israel coat of arms.png|110px|Israel coat of arms.png]]
-|}
-Go to [[Jewish Genealogy Research|Jewish Genealogy Research Main Page]]<br>Go to [[Belarus|Belarus Main Page]]
+During the 16th and 17th centuries, Jews immigrated to Cuba from Portuguese controlled Brazil due to persecution. New Jewish immigrants established trade in Cuba and, by the 18th century, Cuban Jewish trade reached Amsterdam, The Netherlands and Hamburg, Germany.
-=== Maps of Belarus  ===
+In the late 1800's, Jews from the Dutch Antilles settled in Cuba. Many Jewish traders pursuing business in the New World set up outposts on the island. In 1898, after the Spanish-American War, Jews established a permanent presence in Cuba. American Ashkenazi Jews born in Romania and elsewhere in Eastern Europe immigrated to Cuba to work for U.S.-owned plantations and businesses. In 1906, 11 American Jews founded Cuba's first synagogue, the United Hebrew Congregation, a Reform synagogue that conducted services in English. This is considered the official beginning of the Cuban Jewish community.
-*To view present-day Belarus at Google Maps, click [https://maps.google.com/maps?q=belarus&hl=en&ll=53.709714,27.949219&spn=11.721718,33.815918&sll=40.379214,-111.733668&sspn=0.11769,0.264187&hnear=Belarus&t=m&z=6 here].
+A large number of Jews immigrated to Cuba from 1910 until 1920, including Sephardic Jews from Türkiye. Many Jews came from Eastern Europe and used Cuba as a stopover en route to the United States, which had a strict quota system at that time. Many decided to stay since there was little anti-Semitism in Cuba, as well as good weather. Many of the new immigrants from Europe prospered in Cuban’s garment industry. By 1924, there were 24,000 Jews living in Cuba. (This information is taken from [http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/vjw/Cuba.html Jewish Virtual Library])
-*For a map showing the percentage of Jews in the Pale of Settlement and Congress Poland, c. 1905, click [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Map_showing_percentage_of_Jews_in_the_Pale_of_Settlement_and_Congress_Poland,_c._1905.png here].
-*To view an additional historical map showing the historical percentage of Jews in governments, click [http://books.google.com/books?id=sr85AQAAMAAJ&pg=PA531&lpg=PA531&dq=%22percentage+of+jews+in+governments%22+map&source=bl&ots=BK42kcedcz&sig=Eb1EvyRT9xaaOxNAlNit1-q2_yU&hl=en&sa=X&ei=PcwMU5-xMcGBogTyqYKABg&ved=0CC0Q6AEwAQ#v=onepage&q=%22percentage%20of%20jews%20in%20governments%22%20map&f=false here].<br>Definition of "Pale of Settlement" from [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_of_Settlement Wikipedia.org]:<br>The Pale of Settlement (Russian: Черта́ осе́длости, chertá osédlosti, Yiddish: דער תּחום-המושבֿ, der tkhum-ha-moyshəv, Hebrew: תְּחוּם הַמּוֹשָב, tḥùm ha-mosháv‎) was the term given to a region of Imperial Russia in which permanent residency by Jews was allowed and beyond which Jewish permanent residency was generally prohibited. It extended from the eastern pale, or demarcation line, to the western Russian border with the Kingdom of Prussia (later the German Empire) and with Austria-Hungary. The English term "pale" is derived from the Latin word "palus", a stake, extended to mean the area enclosed by a fence or boundary.
-=== Gazetteer of Belarus  ===
+<br>
-Use the JewishGen Communities Database by clicking [http://www.jewishgen.org/Communities/Search.asp here].
+=== Online Research  ===
-=== Jewish History in Belarus  ===
+The website [http://www.jewishcuba.org/ www.jewishcuba.org/] is being phased out but they still have a couple of pages that are of interest to Jewish genealolgy. You will find the idex to the book ''The The Jewish Community of Cuba: Memory and History''. In that index you will find a list of surnames. click [http://jewishcuba.org/famties/bej.html here] and the index from the book ''Cuban Jewish Journeys'' [http://jewishcuba.org/famties/betlop.html here]  From the same website you will find a list of Jewish burials [http://jewishcuba.org/famties/burials.html here]
-*Lithuanian Jews inhabited what is present-day Belarus. To learn of their history, read the Wikipedia.org article ''Lithuanian Jews'', by clicking [http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lithuanian_Jews here]].
-{{Template:Jews in Eastern Europe}}
+=== Books on the Jews of Cuba  ===
-{{Template:JewishGen Family Finder}}
+Nothing beats research for aiding in your search for ancestors. Knowing the historical background can provide a road map of understanding but that's not all! You will likely find research sources on the pages history books. Before purchasing a book check out the FamilySearch Catalog,[https://books.google.com/ Google Books] or [https://www.worldcat.org/ World Cat] to see if these books are available online or at a library near you. <br>
-=== The JewishGen Belarus Database  ===
+'''Tropical Diaspora: The Jewish Experience in Cuba<br>by Robert M. Levine <br>August 20, 1993'''
-*More than 650,000 records from many different sources: vital records, voter lists, business directories, ghetto records. ''Requires free registration.'' To search, click [http://www.jewishgen.org/databases/#Belarus here].
+'''An Island Called Home: Returning to Jewish Cuba<br>by Ruth Behar, Humberto Mayo'''l
-=== Miriam Weiner Routes to Roots Foundation  ===
+'''The The Jewish Community of Cuba: Memory and History<br>by Margalit Bejarano, Haim Avni'''
-*For ''A Genealogical and Family History guide to Jewish and civil records in Eastern Europe'', click [http://www.rtrfoundation.org/ here] and '''hover over Belarus'''.
+'''Jewish Community of Cuba<br>by Jay Levinson<br>Jan 10, 2006'''
-=== Archives of Belarus  ===
+'''Cuban Jewish Journeys: Searching For Identity Home &amp; History In Miami '''
-*View the Archives of Belarus home page by clicking [http://www.archives.gov.by/eng/ here]. Includes a "Contacts" link.
+'''by Caroline Bettinger-Lopez<br>December 15, 2000'''<br><br>
-*Discover over 50 web pages of Jewish information available online at the Archives of Belarus by clicking [http://www.archives.gov.by/eng/index.php?id=search here] to search. Follow up by starting a search for the word '''"Jewish"''' and clicking the '''"Search"''' button.
-=== Help with Belarus Jewish Research  ===
+<br>
-*The JewishGen Belarus Special Interest Group (SIG) includes links, helps, and other resources. Visit this page by clicking [http://www.jewishgen.org/Belarus/resources.htm#top here].
+[[Category:Cuba]] [[Category:Jewish Records]] [[Category:Jewish Records by Country, Region, and City]]
-</div>
-[[Category:Belarus]] [[Category:Jewish_records]] [[Category:Jewish_Research_by_Country,_Region,_and_City]]