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HISTORY OF THE JEWISH COMMUNITY OF SURINAMEThe Arrival of the Jews Various sources give evidence that the first group of Jews already settled in Suriname in 1639. They came from Holland, Portugal, and Italy. These first Jewish colonists lived in the old capital of Suriname, Thorarica, on the left bank of the Suriname river, approximately 40 kilometers south of Paramaribo. They at once started to lay out a number of sugar plantations. In 1652, together with the Englishman Lord Willoughby, a new group of Jews arrived in Suriname, who settled on the savannah, situated near the Cassipoera creek. This area is nowadays known as "Jodensavanne". In 1664 a third group of Jews arrived in Suriname, when the French took possession of the Dutch colony Cayenne. This group, under the leadership of David Nassy, fled to Suriname and joined the others at Jodensavanne. The Jews from Thorarica also moved southwards to Jodensavanne.
On August 17 1665, the British colonial government granted several very important privileges to the Jewish community in Suriname, including freedom of religion, a private civic guard and the permission to build their own churches and schools. This new law was a relief to this community, which had been persecuted all over the world because of its religious conviction. A start was made immediately with the building of some schools and a wooden synagogue at Cassipoera. This synagogue was consecrated in 1671 by the "Joodse Burgerwacht Compagnie" (Jewish Civic Guard). When Abraham Crijnssen captured Suriname for the Dutch province of Zeeland in 1667, it looked for some time as if the peace of the inhabitants of Jodensavanne would be disturbed again. But the Dutch Commander left the privileges given to them by the English untouched.
In this period, Jodensavanne developed rapidly. It became a small community by its own. Their knowledge of planting and the wealth of the Jews were also beneficial for the country as a whole. Suriname became a flourishing agricultural colony with an important export of sugar and timber. In 1674, the Jews shipped the first 8,000 pounds of sugar to Amsterdam, destined to serve as the dowry for the daughters of a certain J. Brandon there.
In those days, Jodensavanne was the pillar of the entire colony of Suriname. In 1677, a reformatory school of children was founded in the rapidly expanding little community. In comparison to other settlements and plantations in Suriname, Jodensavanne was a prospering township. Besides its elevated location, another favorable condition for the Jews to settle here, was the existence of two natural wells for the fresh-water supply. The water of one of these wells, somewhat brownish in color due to the presence of humid matter, was believed to have medical properties.
In 1694, the community at Jodensavanne consisted of approximately 570 people, who possessed over forty plantations and about 9,000 slaves who worked on these plantations. The planters were considered kings of the colony. This little place on the savanne was the Jerusalem of their dreams. The houses were built on a rectangular terrain 450 feet long and 300 feet wide. The synagogue was situated in the centre on a square, built with red bricks. The synagogue was 90 feet long and 33 feet wide.
The Jews also had a graveyard where they buried their dead with the usual rituals. This graveyard with its numerous grave-stones seems to be one of the most beautiful in South America. As marble could not be found elsewhere in South America, these costly gravestones had to be shipped all the way down from Europe.
For the protection of this prosperous plantation area against attacks from runaway slaves who lived in the surrounding jungle, a start was made with the layout of a line of defense which enclosed the plantations. This defense line consisted of a wide bridle path with military posts at regular distances. This "Cordonpad", which ended in the Atlantic Ocean, started at Jodensavanne. The supply post, established there was called "Post Gelderland". Especially in the neighborhood of Jodensavanne, long stretches of this Cordonpad can still be traced back today.
In the days of prosperity nobody could have foreseen that Jodensavanne would not continue to be a permanent settlement for the Jews in Suriname. During the invasion of the French Admiral Cassard in 1712, who wanted to safeguard the plantations from plundering, he demanded an enormous levy instead. The prosperous Jews had to pay the greater part of it. Enormous quantities of sugar, hard cash, entire sugar mills and many slaves formed the loot with which this pirate disappeared. The country never recovered completely from the resulting total disorganization.
With the development of Paramaribo, many inhabitants of Jodensavanne left to settle in the new capital. At first, the well-to-do villagers left Jodensavanne in order to live on their means in Paramaribo. Some of them went into business in the capital. The reason for this migration most probably was the isolated location of Jodensavanne. After some time, therefore, no more than twenty – mostly poor families – lived at Jodensavanne, who supported themselves mainly by doing small business with the officers and men who occupied the Cordonpad. Many homes where uninhabited and became ramshackle by lack of upkeep.
Only on their festive days, the Jews returned from Paramaribo to Jodensavanne. Especially the elders felt strongly attached to Jodensavannne, even if it were only for the sacred ground in which their ancestors were buried. Not without reason it was called "Jerusalem by the river-side". In spite of the fact that Jodensavanne itself fell more and more in decay, the synagogue, which was already more than a century old by then, was kept up regularly. There are, for instance, rather detailed documents from the years 1824-25 in which extensive repair jobs on the roof are mentioned, as well as a couple of new windows, which had to be placed on the western facade. Proper attention was also given to the interior, as witness the order to make a new "Book Moses locker" and a new seat for the governors.
On October 12, 1785, Jodensavanne again was in the centre of attention in the colony. On that day there was a big celebration in connection with the hundred years existence of the synagogue. The festivities, however, were held one day later than planned since the most important guest, Governor Wichers, was sick on that day. One of the main problems, as a result of the postponements, was how to keep the tremendous amounts of food especially prepared for the 12th in good condition. The more than 1,600 people attending this commemoration included the Governor, councilors of Police and Justice, and other high ranking authorities from Paramaribo. The village, and especially the house of worship, was beautifully illuminated with 150 ship's lanterns and 1,000 Chinese lanterns. In a special divine service, the centenary was commemorated, while a big parade under command of the "burgher" Captain Granada was also one of the highlights of the festive program. A special meal was served for the Governor and other authorities, the dessert consisting of more than 300 dishes of pastry and preserves of native fruits. The festivities concluded with a big ball that lasted from 7 p.m. until 6 a.m. the next morning. During this ball, a special banquet was served at midnight for all.
In 1832 the flourishing period of Jodensavanne came to an end. On the 10th of September of that year, a big fire raged through the village, practically reducing all the houses to ashes. Restoration was out of the question. The colonial authorities left the village completely to Mother Nature. It became an overgrown ruin within no time. After a few years, not much remained to be seen from the large graveyard and the synagogue. The marble gravestones with their beautiful sculpturing, arms and inscriptions were hidden from the eye by the tropical forest, and gradually sank away into the ground.
It was not until 1906 that money and people could be found to clean this historic and valuable ruin. Before then, there was no money for any restoration. During the cleaning activities, people were astonished by the objects found there. This surprise, however, did not last long, because Jodensavanne – with all its glory – was left again to the jungle.
After the outbreak of the Second World War in March 1942 Jodensavanne, as determined by the Dutch Government, became an internment camp for NSBers (members of the pro-Nazi National Socialist Party). No less than 139 NSBers were transferred from the Netherlands East-Indies (Indonesia) and interned at Jodensavanne. One of their tasks was to clean the village. Again the uncovering of the graveyard proved to be a surprise. No one had any idea that it was so large. More than 436 gravestones were uncovered, but only 59 inscriptions could be deciphered. In 1946 the NSBers were released, and again Jodensavanne was neglected.
This situation did not change until 1967, when the TRIS (Troepenmacht in Suriname-Military Forces in Suriname) took the initiative to bring Jodensavanne back to a more proper condition again. For many weeks in succession, the men of the TRIS camped on Jodensavanne to clean it up. In addition to the gravestones already uncovered during the war, another fifteen were discovered, bringing the total number of graves now to 450.
Gravestones were also discovered on the graveyard at Cassipoera. This graveyard, one where now more than 280 gravestones are to be seen, is about eighty meters long and fifty meters wide. The oldest grave found dates back to 1667. From a careful examination, one gets the impression that a piece of ground was reserved for each family. For example, one sees several gravestones bearing the same names in certain area, such as Da Costa, Nassy and de la Parra. These are still well-known names in the present Suriname community.
Besides the graveyards, the remainders of the synagogue were also cleaned. Moreover, the well which in former days supplied the village with drinking-water was found again. At the initiative of Mr. W. J. J. Koole a few years ago, a committee has been formed with the purpose of not only to preserve this historic place for the future, but also to make it available to the many people interested in visiting the area.
The Foundation Joden Savanne was established on October 11, 1971. With financial support from the STICUSA (Foundation for Cultural Co-operation) as recommended by the Royal Committee for Cultural Affairs, the ruins of the synagogue could be preserved. Thanks to the ferry-boat connection which has been realized by the Forestry Department, it is now possible to reach Jodensavanne by car. Thanks to these initiatives, one of the most historic monuments in Suriname and probably in South America, which was hidden in the dense jungle of the Guyanas, has been preserved for the future.
JEWISH LIFE IN SURINAME TODAY The number of Jews in Suriname is now small, only about 70 families – less than one per thousand of the total population of Suriname. However, the influence of the Jews is still noticeable in the community, for instance in the many Jewish family names (Eliazer, Emanuels), in the names of streets and squares (Jodenbreestraat, Sivaplein), in the food (pom), in the customs, and in the language (treef, dyufisi).
In Paramaribo our Community until recently had two Synagogues in use, but for practical reasons, some years ago the two congregations consolidated and one Synagogue was put out of use. The Jewish congregation now uses as its synagogue the one at the Keizerstraat, “NEVE SHALOM”, which was built between 1835-37.
The Jewish population group in Suriname is one of the oldest of the country, and it is practically needless to say that these descendants of colonists from the seventeenth century are completely integrated with the Surinamese community.
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In 1685, a second synagogue was built at Jodensavanne, this time in bricks. It was called "Beracha Ve Shalom" and it is the remnants of this synagogue which have presently been uncovered again. The Jews used the lower lying front part of the synagogue as a court of justice. They had their own jurisdiction for minor civil cases, which gave them the opportunity to deal with cases that involved up to an amount of 10,000 pounds of sugar.
The bankruptcy of the Amsterdam business house Dietz in 1773 can partly be considered as one of the causes, for the decline of` the Jews in Suriname. Moreover, the decrease in value of sugarcane by the introduction of beet sugar in Europe also played an important part in this matter.
