- Thread starter Matilda
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Interesting article about the Sosua Jews
If that dairy business wound up being the famous Sosua Dairy....
I read it sold recently for $250M..... quarter of a billion
Pretty scrappy refugees , huh?
I read it sold recently for $250M..... quarter of a billion
Pretty scrappy refugees , huh?
According to an article in the Sosúa News QUOTE:
n early 2004, the Mexican company Sigma acquired the dairy and meat factory 'Productus Sosúa.
The company was founded by the Jewish community in 1943. In the beginning the factory processed milk into dairy products like cheese, butter and yoghurt and sold them. In 1945 the factory was expanded with the production of meat products. As the last director and co-owner Herman Strauss could not find a successor, the shareholders decided to sell the company in early 2000. The Mexican company Sigma bought it and thus became the new owner. Soon the production of meat was relocated, and Sigma recently announced that it will stop buying the milk which is delivered daily by 23 farmers in the immediate area of Sosúa. It is about 25,000 liters per day. For farmers, this is a disaster because Sigma is almost the only buyer for their milk. Previously Sigma bargained a reduction of 2 to 3 pesos a liter of milk.
The past year was dramatic. The months-long drought in the summer of 2015 made it very difficult to survive for many farmers. The meadows were withered and farmers were forced to buy fodder. For this, they had to borrow a lot of money. The threat now of Sigma to stop buying their milk will be catastrophic for many farmers bringing them financial doom. UNQUOTE
Hermann Strauss himself passed away in February 2017
n early 2004, the Mexican company Sigma acquired the dairy and meat factory 'Productus Sosúa.
The company was founded by the Jewish community in 1943. In the beginning the factory processed milk into dairy products like cheese, butter and yoghurt and sold them. In 1945 the factory was expanded with the production of meat products. As the last director and co-owner Herman Strauss could not find a successor, the shareholders decided to sell the company in early 2000. The Mexican company Sigma bought it and thus became the new owner. Soon the production of meat was relocated, and Sigma recently announced that it will stop buying the milk which is delivered daily by 23 farmers in the immediate area of Sosúa. It is about 25,000 liters per day. For farmers, this is a disaster because Sigma is almost the only buyer for their milk. Previously Sigma bargained a reduction of 2 to 3 pesos a liter of milk.
The past year was dramatic. The months-long drought in the summer of 2015 made it very difficult to survive for many farmers. The meadows were withered and farmers were forced to buy fodder. For this, they had to borrow a lot of money. The threat now of Sigma to stop buying their milk will be catastrophic for many farmers bringing them financial doom. UNQUOTE
Hermann Strauss himself passed away in February 2017
Many years ago I had several women from Sosua in my History class in the UCMM (now PUCMM) extension in POP. One of them was Judith and the other I can't remember. Judith was a typical blue haired lady with a vitality that defied description.
One day I happen to mention the wonderful series of history books published by Will Durrant and his wife Ariel. Within two weeks she had had them Fedexed down to her from NYC and was devouring them!. The other woman told me how she had walked across Russia and China and embarked from Shanghai to get to the DR.
I certainly knew Mr Hess and of course most of the families still there in 1962...
Most of the children went to New York, but a few stayed here and prospered. Abelito Wachsman and his wife are both descendants. He is a VP of León Jimenes, I believe. Henry Krause lives in Santiago and dabbles in food service, but his passion is the FIA Formula 1 circuit where he is an International Steward and travels the world as an FIA race steward. I have not talked to Kurt Wellisch in Sosua in years, but he is certainly one of those farmer getting screwed by the Mexicans. An old Peace Corps buddy, who served in POP, married the daughter of one of the families, Anita, and they are living happily in Costa Rica now. Anita was one of the first persons to try and teach English on and through the use of television. It was a long time ago..
I will probably begin a boycott of Productos Sosúa...***k 'em!
Cordially,
HB
One day I happen to mention the wonderful series of history books published by Will Durrant and his wife Ariel. Within two weeks she had had them Fedexed down to her from NYC and was devouring them!. The other woman told me how she had walked across Russia and China and embarked from Shanghai to get to the DR.
I certainly knew Mr Hess and of course most of the families still there in 1962...
Most of the children went to New York, but a few stayed here and prospered. Abelito Wachsman and his wife are both descendants. He is a VP of León Jimenes, I believe. Henry Krause lives in Santiago and dabbles in food service, but his passion is the FIA Formula 1 circuit where he is an International Steward and travels the world as an FIA race steward. I have not talked to Kurt Wellisch in Sosua in years, but he is certainly one of those farmer getting screwed by the Mexicans. An old Peace Corps buddy, who served in POP, married the daughter of one of the families, Anita, and they are living happily in Costa Rica now. Anita was one of the first persons to try and teach English on and through the use of television. It was a long time ago..
I will probably begin a boycott of Productos Sosúa...***k 'em!
Cordially,
HB
Jews are not really known to be farmers, if Trujillo would have had them set up merchant and trading companies there would have been a much larger Jewish population in the DR and the country most probably would have been in a better shape now.
Panama has many Jews who own businesses and therefore employ a lot of Panamanians.
Panama has many Jews who own businesses and therefore employ a lot of Panamanians.
I wonder if they ever being discriminated in DR, since it is always the same cheap nonsense excuse all over the World where they live.
Frank, the first part of your statement is not really correct. The original Jewish settlers of Sosua were trained in farming, particularly dairy farming by instructors who came from the kibbutz movements in Israel prior to and after the establishment of that state. More recently Jewish agricultural experts from Israel have assisted DR farmers and the various growers' organisations with innovations in fruit, vegetable, cereal and other branches of food production, harvesting, packaging and marketing. The State of Israel was for many years a major player in all aspects of agriculture and today is one of the leaders in agricultural development and technology, particulalry irrigation and water management in arid regions.
HB, we have Wellisch's in Cabrera.... an excellent family from what I see and know.
I find the whole story fascinating and have passed it along to my Jewish friends who's ears perked up..
Never having knowledge of it.
As far as dictating jobs and location, that's common for a major immigrant influx.
Canada sent many to the Prairies to farm.... they're still there spawning hockey players with European names
hahahaha
They are sent where they're needed and can contribute the fastest....it seems
In Ontario Canada even freshly graduated doctors used to be sent to 'undoctored' sectors in order to to be granted a licence.
After the stipulated time in 'purgatory' they were allowed to enter the mainstream...
I find the whole story fascinating and have passed it along to my Jewish friends who's ears perked up..
Never having knowledge of it.
As far as dictating jobs and location, that's common for a major immigrant influx.
Canada sent many to the Prairies to farm.... they're still there spawning hockey players with European names
hahahaha
They are sent where they're needed and can contribute the fastest....it seems
In Ontario Canada even freshly graduated doctors used to be sent to 'undoctored' sectors in order to to be granted a licence.
After the stipulated time in 'purgatory' they were allowed to enter the mainstream...
This is also covered in great detail in the book "Why The Cocks Fight" by Michele Wucker. Its a pretty good book that covers a lot of the history between the Dominican Republic and Haiti. It also covers a lot of detail of the Trujillo years.
According to my DR friends they say its quite factual but as usual that depends on what side of the road you are standing on.
Its currently available on amazon in print or electronic version.
According to my DR friends they say its quite factual but as usual that depends on what side of the road you are standing on.
Its currently available on amazon in print or electronic version.
I didn't know they were trained farmers but for some reason they didn't stay.
I know of one Israeli farmer who opened a bar in Boca Chica about 4 years ago, don't know if he's still there though.
i support productos sosua. you gotta read more on north coast milk saga. milk sigma stopped buying milk from small, unreliable suppliers because it was not viable from financial point of view. they still buy from larger suppliers (who, in return, buy from individual producers) who can deliver larger quantities and better quality. there's also been a lot of cases of milk being "doctored" by farmers with addition of chlorine and other substances. the company simply wants to keep their production line clean.
Thanks D... that's the explanation....
a better supply chain, basically centralizing the system to fewer collection points.
Collect in bulk not piecemeal ...... normal practice for efficiency.
They haven't stopped buying milk....
a better supply chain, basically centralizing the system to fewer collection points.
Collect in bulk not piecemeal ...... normal practice for efficiency.
They haven't stopped buying milk....
You mean Trujillo allowing highly educated and reasonably motivated men getting at chance at breaking many of his monopolies?
Do you know that Trujillo had a temper, right?
Just checking... lol
The Italian ambassador Amadeo Barletta gave it a try at building a successful car import/distribution company and a successful tobacco company. Trujillo was fine with the car company, but once Barletta began to chip away at his tobacco monopoly the guy had to leave the country to preserve his life. He wasn't killed because of his connections to Musolini, instead he was put in jail until Musolini threatened to bomb the living daylights out of Ciudad Trujillo (SD) if his diplomat was not given his liberty. In the end, Barletta moved to Cuba where he continued with his successful businesses and Trujillo's tobacco monopoly was left in peace.
Her book is too biased towards to the Haitians. She also ignores a lot of background information (historical) that isn't convenient for the purpose of her book. I like to think she was simply unaware of that when she published her book, but there is a small possibility she knew something about this and simply decided not to include it in the book since it neutralizes the purpose of her book which is: Haitians are innocent victims because Dominicans are bad.
I stayed in the Sosua area many times between 2014-2016 and the little Sosua Jewish Museum near the beach was never open. I must have walked past it 25 times and the security guard would always say it was closed. I would have made a donation and still would if someone can send me their email contact.
Its been open more now as it is part of one of the cruise ship excursions.
http://en.turismojudaico.com/contenido/28/Sinagoga-y-museo-de-sosúa
http://en.turismojudaico.com/contenido/28/Sinagoga-y-museo-de-sosúa