Don't Praise Trujillo in DR

[Meemselle]

Right, so trujilllo was making people whiter here according to you , LOL....would you like to explain the case of the japanese that got here on similar condicitions?

With great respect, I suggest you consult one of the best of the scholarly research works focussed on the Sosua Colony. "Tropical Zion" by Allen Wells, gives the full history of recruitment efforts in Europe, DORSA, and includes first person interviews with original settlers and their children, born in the DR.

Trujillo expected that single Jewish men would intermarry with Dominicans. Some did. But intermarriage, at that time in history--even for the most secular Jews, as most of the colonists were---was sort of not a thing. Once World War 2 was over and the colonists could get visas to go to the US, Canada, or back to Europe, many did. They were not farmers; they were professionals, craftsmen, teachers, but not farmers. And imagine Sosua in 1940. They mostly came from cities in Austria, Luxembourg, etc. They were given, basically, "40 acres and a mule" here, and they made the best of it. And when they could emigrate, they went.

It's not about "Trujillo...making people whiter here according to" me. Do your own damn research.

Japanese settlers did not come to the DR until after WW2 was over. Trujillo signed an agreement with Japan in 1956 to allow Japanese nationals to emigrate to the DR. Once again, he did it to curry international favor, but there were approx. 8 settlements totalling about 1,000 people, and when Trujillo was assassinated in 1961, and civil war broke out, all of the promises made to the Japanese colonists were not honored. The horrible experience that the Japanese colonists endured put a damper on more widespread Japanese immigration to the island.

 

[Meemselle]

Trujillo made no bones about the fact that he was bringing Japanese workers to the island to work in the rice biz, bc it presented another opportunity, whether tacit or outright, to remove Haitians from the population.

The Japanese settlers sued their own government for damages, on the grounds that they came here under false promises. They won. Japan paid damages to the settlers. There are currently less than 1,000 Japanese settlers in the country, and most are based in the Jarabacoa/Constanza/La Vega area.

 

[Commander Ooh La La USN]

Trujillo made no bones about the fact that he was bringing Japanese workers to the island to work in the rice biz, bc it presented another opportunity, whether tacit or outright, to remove Haitians from the population.

The Japanese settlers sued their own government for damages, on the grounds that they came here under false promises. They won. Japan paid damages to the settlers. There are currently less than 1,000 Japanese settlers in the country, and most are based in the Jarabacoa/Constanza/La Vega area.

When you talk to people in the region who visibly look Asian they will deny or be ignorant of that history. In this hemisphere alot of Chinese people settled in Venezuela and alot of Japanese folks settled in Ecuador and Peru so it is reasonable that DR was a stopping point for some.

 

[Lucifer]

When you talk to people in the region who visibly look Asian they will deny or be ignorant of that history. In this hemisphere alot of Chinese people settled in Venezuela and alot of Japanese folks settled in Ecuador and Peru so it is reasonable that DR was a stopping point for some.

And yet, the largest Japanese community outside of Japan is in Brazil.

 

[bob saunders]

And yet, the largest Japanese community outside of Japan is in Brazil.

In fact many of the Japanese that came to the DR ended up in South America. My wife qent to school with anumber of the Japanese chilsren in Jarabacoa and the Hidaka family are intermarried into my wife's family. There areonly a few families left in Jarabacoa but a few more in Constanza. There are some Jewish families that were here long before el fefe.

 

[airgordo]

With great respect, I suggest you consult one of the best of the scholarly research works focussed on the Sosua Colony. "Tropical Zion" by Allen Wells, gives the full history of recruitment efforts in Europe, DORSA, and includes first person interviews with original settlers and their children, born in the DR.

Trujillo expected that single Jewish men would intermarry with Dominicans. Some did. But intermarriage, at that time in history--even for the most secular Jews, as most of the colonists were---was sort of not a thing. Once World War 2 was over and the colonists could get visas to go to the US, Canada, or back to Europe, many did. They were not farmers; they were professionals, craftsmen, teachers, but not farmers. And imagine Sosua in 1940. They mostly came from cities in Austria, Luxembourg, etc. They were given, basically, "40 acres and a mule" here, and they made the best of it. And when they could emigrate, they went.

It's not about "Trujillo...making people whiter here according to" me. Do your own damn research.

Japanese settlers did not come to the DR until after WW2 was over. Trujillo signed an agreement with Japan in 1956 to allow Japanese nationals to emigrate to the DR. Once again, he did it to curry international favor, but there were approx. 8 settlements totalling about 1,000 people, and when Trujillo was assassinated in 1961, and civil war broke out, all of the promises made to the Japanese colonists were not honored. The horrible experience that the Japanese colonists endured put a damper on more widespread Japanese immigration to the island.

IT was YOU the one that wrote this:

One of Trujillo's miscalculations was that Jewish men would marry Dominican women on a large scale and "lighten and brighten" the local population.

When you or anybody says that something, there has to be EVIDENCE of such a thing, at least it has to be on the ground of the common sense, your argument is easily destroyed by the FACTS, such as the insignificance of the amount of "whites" imported by Trujillo to "make us Whiter" and the FACT that he did Import NON-WHITES such as the Japanese...so, with all respect, the FACTS and the common sense don't back your theory. When you find a research that can actually provide an answer to those two simple questions then you might have a case.

 

[frank recktenwald]

IT was YOU the one that wrote this:

One of Trujillo's miscalculations was that Jewish men would marry Dominican women on a large scale and "lighten and brighten" the local population.

When you or anybody says that something, there has to be EVIDENCE of such a thing, at least it has to be on the ground of the common sense, your argument is easily destroyed by the FACTS, such as the insignificance of the amount of "whites" imported by Trujillo to "make us Whiter" and the FACT that he did Import NON-WHITES such as the Japanese...so, with all respect, the FACTS and the common sense don't back your theory. When you find a research that can actually provide an answer to those two simple questions then you might have a case.

The Japanese are not really dark are they? In those days they were considered to be yellow which is lighter than black

 

[frank12]

Meemselle,

Remind me to tell you an absurd, funny story about waiting on, and meeting, the Japanese owners of "Samurai" Japanese Sushi restaurant in Santo Domingo. I met them in Cabarete back in 2008. They are older then me, but born and raised here in the DR. Maybe when i get the time, i'll write the story and put in my thread. It's a funny story that demonstrates just how stupid i can be when i least expect it.

Frank

 

[ExDR]

Trujillo's motivation for allowing Jewish refugees into the Dominican Republic was basically sinister. He wanted to deflect international condemnation for the mass murder of Haitians residing in the Dominican Republic a year earlier. Trujillo was the subject of particularly pointed attacks from Franklin Delano Roosevelt. Trujillo feared that his growing isolation would lead to his regime's downfall.

Taking in Jewish refugees accomplished several things: He gained positive publicity from segments of the foreign press; he could use the Austrian and German Jews to accelerate his plans to whiten the Dominican Republic; and he could make a quite profit off of American Jewish groups who funded the refugees. There is a lot of written on this matter; it's best to research it for yourself.

There is a lot that can be written about Trujillo's relationship with the Jews. I wrote about this 10-11 years ago, but I believe the threads have all been deleted. A few quick comments:

Trujillo admired Hitler. He used to watch newsreels and read everything he could on him. Trujillo adopted Jack boots and even wool great coats (which aroused a lot of comments in this country's tropical climate) in his attempt to copy Hitler's style. Trujillo's only real criticism of Hitler was Hitler's refusal to bemedal himself (Hitler wore only the medals he was awarded during World War One, which included two Iron Crosses). Trujillo's daughter, Flor de Oro and her husband, the egregious Profirio Rubrosa, were invited by Hitler to share his box at the 1936 Olympic Games in Germany.

More needs to be said about Rubirosa. Profirio was implicated in the murder of a wealthy Polish Jewish goldsmith and jewelry store owner. (Rubirosa almost certainly murdered the hapless victim personally) and pocketed a fortune in gold and jewelry. When a Dominican diplomat telegraphed Trujillo with the details of the murder, Trujillo fired the diplomat.

Rubirosa was involved in "helping" Jews escape Hitler. From memory he was selling visas to them. He would brag later" I made a lot of money off the Jews back then. Didn't everybody?"

Trujillo made no attempt to redress this situation.

I find it hard to believe that an investigation of the Dominican episode would inspire the Israeli government to award "Righteous among nations" to the Dominican Republic, Profirio Rubirosa, or Trujillo.

If anyone deserves any mention at all, it would be Flor de Oro. Flor de Oro had attended a posh girls school in France with some very well connected students, including an Afghan princess and several European Jewish girls. One of them, wearing the uniform of one her maids, made her way to Flor's residence in Berlin and begged for help escaping Germany. (From memory) Flor appealed directly to her father, and he finally agreed to issue a transit visa.

The Dominican people themselves had nothing to do with it. Why should they be honored?

The Dominican Jewish colony was used (and "we allowed ourselves to be used"-Jewish refugee in a post Trujillo Era interview) by Trujillo to gain political dividends until the day he died. But that's another story...

Very good post and lots of facts. While he did a lot of good (roads, crime, education) it was all for his gain and not so much for the people. He knew he had to do something about the recent Haitian massacre in the Batey's or possible have the US invade.

 

[airgordo]

The Japanese are not really dark are they? In those days they were considered to be yellow which is lighter than black

There is even another one to add, if Trujilllo wanted to make us more white, WHY he never stopped importing blacks?....as i say, that theory falls appart with very little small effort

 

[Ogre of the Caribbean]

Flouting the law...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IYU-BwHN64

 

[mofongoloco]

Trujillo sold many thousands of visas.  only a small percentage actually found sanctuary.  It wasn't a purely humanitarian effort.  Somebody had to pay for Porfirio rubirosa's high class travel and polo horses.

Ai, Rubi.  I can't decide who I hate more.  Zsa Zsa or Doris duke.  Cuz they stole my man.

 

[mofongoloco]

There is even another one to add, if Trujilllo wanted to make us more white, WHY he never stopped importing blacks?....as i say, that theory falls appart with very little small effort

it wasn't just Trujillo who used talcum powder on his face.  People still do it to this day.  First time I saw it I was mystified.  for about three seconds.

 

[Ogre of the Caribbean]

Technical difficulties?

[video=youtube;7IYU-BwHN64]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7IYU-BwHN64[/video]


Okay. Now the video should work.