The Museum of Jewish Heritage located at 36 Battery Place, New York will be presenting a bilingual exhibition in English and in Spanish in association with the Jewish Museum in Sosua, Puerto Plata. The exhibition opened on 17 February. The exhibition is titled: Sosua – A Refuge for Jews in the Dominican Republic and will be on view for six months. Plans are for it to travel to other venues in the US and eventually become a permanent exhibition at the Jewish museum in Sosua. The exhibition brings to light the stories of Jewish refugees who made their home in Puerto Plata in the late 1930s. The settlers were mostly urban Austrian and German Jews who were professionals or craftsmen. In the late 1930s, when most of the world’s nations were unwilling to help Jewish people trying to flee from Nazi persecution in Europe, the DR became the exception and opened its doors. A few hundred Jewish refugees ended up settling in the DR. “We are often told about Jews being turned away from country after country, but this exhibition will tell the story of Jews who found a haven, half-a-world away,” Museum Director Dr. David G. Marwell said. “Despite the indifference and intolerance many Jews faced in Europe from their neighbors, none of the Jewish settlers in Sosua interviewed for this exhibition experienced anti-Semitism in the Dominican Republic. On the contrary, their dealings with their Dominican counterparts were congenial and friendly. This is a positive story, and one that should be told.”
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