dChan - Q Origins Project Archive

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https://amp.theguardian.com/world/2019/dec/07/trinidad-cemetery-jewish-refugees-holocaust-forgotten-story

All cemeteries have stories to tell, and the one on Mucurapo Road in Port of Spain, Trinidad, is no exception. Among the names carved on headstones are Irene and Oscar Huth, Erna Marx, Karl Falkenstein, Willi Schwarz and Otto Gumprich. Hebrew inscriptions are adorned with a Star of David.

Five years ago, Hans Stecher joined his mother, father and aunt in the Jewish section of Mucurapo cemetery. Aged 90 when he died, he was the last of about 600 Jewish refugees from Nazi Europe who ended up in Trinidad as they sought sanctuary from persecution and violence.

In Port of Spain, Trinidad’s capital, the refugees founded a synagogue in a rented house. They opened cafes and started drama and football clubs. The local authorities allotted them a section of the Mucurapo cemetery. Although many intended the Caribbean to be a temporary stopover, “they began putting down roots,” said Newman.

The response of local people was mixed, she said. “There was grumbling about overcrowding and competition, and disquiet about Jewish businesses and peddlers undercutting the locals. But newspapers carried reports of atrocities and persecution in Europe, so people were aware of their plight. Some saw an echo of their own history of slavery in the persecution of Jews.”

Calypsos were a “rich reflection of public opinion”. One by Charlie “Gorrilla” Grant began: “Tell me what you think of a dictator / Trampling the Jews like Adolf Hitler / Tumbling them out of Germany / Some running for refuge in the West Indies.”