23 Jews deported from Brazil who helped establish New York

About 600 JEWS boarded a ship called the Walk from Recife, Brazil. He was expelled from the country when Brazil was under Portuguese control. This was the end of Dutch rule in Brazil, as well as their freedom of religion.

He wanted to return to his native Netherlands, where the JEWS had gained some freedom through Calvinism (a branch of the Protestant sect of Christianity). 

They arrived two decades ago when the Dutch conquered parts of northeastern Brazil and set their sights on sugar production and trade. 

But a storm knocked them out of the way and their ship was hijacked by pirates.

The group was rescued by a French warship and then left in a Spanish colonial area of ​​Jamaica, where they were imprisoned by Spanish authorities.

However, due to the intervention of the Dutch government, they were released and some of them moved to New Amsterdam for economic reasons. This destination was closer than in Europe. At the time, it was only a small commercial center and was later renamed New York. 

There he formed the first Jewish community in North America and contributed to the city's development. New York is currently the second largest city in the world after Tel Aviv, Israel.

A 1645 photograph of Mauritsad, the center of Dutch Brazil, now called the Brazilian city of Recife

Jewish refugees

The emigration of Jews to Brazil began when Jews from the European peninsula of Iberia, who had been forcibly converted by the Catholic Church and called 'neo-Christians', fled to Europe after its discovery. 

It was the largest colony in Portugal at the time, and here some of them had abandoned Jewish practices, some had kept them secret. 

In February 1630, with the Dutch occupation, some Jews moved from the Netherlands to Brazil. 

Some of them were descendants of people who had fled the Iberian Peninsula to the Netherlands.

This is what historian Daniela Levy wrote in her book, The Jews in the Formation of New York (from Recife to Manhattan: The Jews in the New York Foundation) which took her 10 years to research.

 Levy explained that the Jews who arrived in Brazil were descendants of new Christians who had emigrated to the Netherlands a century after being forcibly converted. 

In this country they returned to Judaism, and they restored their traditions and reorganized themselves as a community.

Mauricio de Nisao founded today's Recife

Many of these Dutch Jews were part of the Dutch East India Company, a trading company founded in 1602 with the aim of ending the economic monopoly of Spain and Portugal. 

In Recife they were already living with relatives there, but they formed a community where they could finally practice their religion in peace. 

Here he devoted himself to trade, engineering, and botany. 

They built schools, synagogues and a cemetery, which strengthened the cultural life of the region.

The first synagogue or synagogue in the United States was built here, which was named Israel. 

The synagogue was set up in a house on a street called Christ Street. 

The street was later renamed Jewish Street. The synagogue was reopened in 2002 after being restored. 

The number of Jews living in Brazil during the Dutch period was estimated at different scales.

Kahal Zar was the first Jewish synagogue in Israel

According to Levy, this was not because the Netherlands was a Calvinist who gave freedom of worship, but because of the military officer Mauricio de Nassau who ruled the colony. 

The Netherlands was a Protestant nation and had opened its doors to other religions. 

And that was when it was liberated from Spain. 

This was the time when new Christians left Portugal and settled there. 

There were some who were hostile to the Jews, but according to Levy, there is generally religious tolerance in Dutch politics. 

Mauricio de Nassau was a great philanthropist. 

He supported the idea that religious tolerance between different religions would be politically and economically beneficial.

To make Recife the capital of the entire continent of America, Nassau made major changes and transformed it into a major city. 

Although he was favored, he was later accused of administrative irregularities and forced to return to Europe in 1644. Then, after the fall of the Nassau administration, the Netherlands demanded a debt waiver for the defaulters, which led to unrest and armed conflict, and in 1654 the Dutch were deported from Brazil. 

Even after the de facto defeat, the Dutch obtained 63 tons of gold from the Portuguese, in return for which the northeastern part was returned to Portugal in the 17th century.

An ancient Jewish cemetery in New York City

Jews who left Brazil now had no alternative refuge. 

He was given a three-month reprieve by then-Governor Francisco Breto de Menezes. 

Some people moved to other places, some decided to return to the Netherlands which started the story we told at the beginning. 

Following the pirate attacks and captivity in Jamaica, 23 of them, including children born in Brazil, fled to New Amsterdam. 

New York City records show that they arrived in September 1654, but according to Levy, they were not well received there.

At the time, the Dutch colony was completely insignificant and almost empty, and was ruled by an extremist Calvinist, Peter Stoivist. 

They set up several obstacles in the way of newcomers. 

According to Levy, the Stoicists did not like Jews and did not want them to come, but the Dutch Jews intervened and the Jews who came were recognized. 

She says the rest of the group, trapped in Jamaica, eventually found 23 people.

A monument to the first Jewish arrival in New Amsterdam

The 23 Jews barely made a living from the business, which later expanded, attracting more Jews to the city. 

Then in 1664 it was renamed New York. Their descendants were granted full citizenship after the American invade of Independence. 

One of them, Benjamin Mendes (1745-1817), founded the New York Stock Exchange. 

A memorial in New York called The Jewish Pilgrim Fathers pays tribute to Henrik, Lucina, Andrews, Costa, Gomes and Ferreira, who helped establish and develop the city. 

The story inspired Brazilian author and journalist Lira Nato, who wrote a new book, Rapid from Earth.

Jews in Brazil

Jewish immigrants began arriving in Brazil in 1810 after the Dutch occupation. 

They came mainly from Morocco. 

They settled in Belem, where they established the second oldest synagogue in Brazil, which is still fully operational today. 

Then the first Jewish cemetery was built there. 

Jewish settlements then accelerated and reached their peak in the first half of the twentieth century after World invade II. 

Northeast as well as south and southeast were important places where most of the migrants came from Europe and some Arab countries.

Brazil is currently the second largest Jewish center in Latin America. 

There are 120,000 Jewish citizens. 

In 2009, a law was passed recognizing the role of Jews in local culture, with March 18 being the national day of Jewish arrival.

Also read : The necklace that was torn apart by the partition of India and Pakistan