SANTO DOMINGO. – A new exhibit at the Museum of Jewish Heritage in New York City honours the struggles of Jewish refugees who fled Germany and Austria in the late 1930s and the generosity of the Dominican people who welcomed them when no one else would.

Entitled Sosúa: A Refuge for Jews in the Dominican Republic, the bilingual exhibit features stories, film segments and artefacts from the refugee agricultural settlement established by the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and the Dominican government on the abandoned banana plantation on the island’s north shore that would become the thriving town of Sosúa.

Original settlers, most of whom came from cities, remember challenges like learning to milk cows, cultivate the land, and speak Spanish. But they also worked with locals to build a community school, a combined Dominican and Jewish children’s choir, and a synagogue.

Museum Director Dr. David Marwell said in a statement the exhibition shows that Jews who were turned away by other countries found “a haven” in the Dominican Republic. “Despite the indifference and intolerance many Jews faced in Europe from their neighbors, none of the Jewish settlers to Sosúa interviewed for this exhibition experienced anti-Semitism in the Dominican Republic … This is a positive story, and one that should be told.”

Sosúa runs until July 25th.  For more information about the exhibit visit the MJH’s website.