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Jodensavanne

Jodensavanne was a Jewish plantation community in Suriname, South America, and was for a time the centre of Jewish life in the colony. It was established in the 1600s by Sephardi Jews and became more developed and wealthy after a group of Jews fleeing persecution in Brazil settled there in the 1660s. It was located in what is now Para District, about 50 km (31 mi) south of the capital Paramaribo, on the Suriname River. Sugarcane plantations were established by forcing Black African people to work as slaves. At its height in around 1700, Jodensavanne was home to roughly 500 plantation owners and 9000 enslaved people. The colony faced regular attacks from Indigenous people, slave revolts, and even raids from the French navy. The community eventually relocated to the capital of Paramaribo. Clearing of grave sites and maintenance of the synagogue ruins has been attempted at various times from the 1940s to the 21st century.

History
In 1639, the English, who controlled Suriname at the time, allowed Sephardi Jews from the Netherlands, Portugal and Italy to settle in the area. They came first to the old capital Torarica. The British attempted to keep this group from moving again by guaranteeing them privileges including the right to operate their own court and to have freedom of religion. Part of the reason that these Jewish colonists were preparing for more permanent settlement was that, unlike Christian colonists who often hoped to get rich running a plantation and return to Europe, residents of Jodensavanne did not have anywhere in Europe to return to. Again in 1690 there was a slave revolt on the plantation of an owner named Immanuel Machado, who was killed and whose former slaves fled to a Maroon community. French sailors, aware of the richness of the community, also raided it in 1712. The construction of this synagogue marked the move of the centre of Jewish life in the region from Torarica to Jodensavanne. This first synagogue contained a separate section for women, an archive for the community, and silver detailing on the wooden building. Before the construction of the Beracha ve Shalom, there had been no synagogue of major architectural significance in the Americas. The centennial celebration of the Synagogue, celebrated in October 1785, was said to have an attendance of more than 1500 persons, many of whom sailed in from Paramaribo, since by that time only twenty or so Jewish families were still living in Jodensavanne. In the eighteenth century, Suriname was rocked by a series of crises which hit Jewish plantations, some of which were among the oldest in the colony, particularly hard. Expenses tended to increase as a result of: a hefty tribute levied by the Cassard expedition; the collapse of a major Amsterdam sugarcane importer in 1773; and the accrual of real estate loans. The introduction of sugar beet cultivation in Europe from 1784 and the depletion of soils on the oldest plantations both decreased revenues. Security conditions deteriorated as a result of ongoing Maroon Wars, while the growth of Paramaribo as the colony's exclusive trading port, nearer to the coast, acted to pull Jews away from Jodensavanne. By 1790, Jodensavanne's population was approximated to be around twenty-two, excluding slaves. This dropped to less than ten by the early 19th century. The settlement continued in its reduced state until it was destroyed by fire during a slave revolt in 1832. However, some Indonesian nationalists were also deported to Jodensavanne, most famously Ernest Douwes Dekker. Historian Natalie Zemon Davis is working on a history of 18th century Jodensavanne, focusing on David Cohen Nassy (born 1747), and relations between black and white people within the Jewish community. An article titled 'Regaining Jerusalem' was published in 2016 by Davis, detailing a celebration of Passover within Jodensavanne. ==Current situation==
Current situation
As of the current day, all that remains at the site of Jodensavanne are the remnants of the Berache ve Shalom Synagogue, alongside three cemeteries, of which the headstones are primarily inscribed with Hebrew and Portuguese. The Jodensavanne is located near the indigenous village of Redi Doti, in the Carolina resort, and connected to the outside world with the Carolinabrug which leads to the Avobakaweg onto Paramaribo or via the Desiré Delano Bouterse Highway to the airport. == Population ==
Population
Jodensavanne's population has not been clearly established. Sources such as the Essai Historique, assert the population to be held at approximately one thousand in 1677; in contrast, historians such as Harry Friedenwald have argued for a lack of strong Jewish presence, an assertion that would imply a less populated Jodensavanne. There were around 70 existing plantations along the Suriname River in 1750, most of which bearing 'Jewish' names, such as the thousand-acre properties owned by one Solomon Meza. These plantations were marked and identified through an 18th-century map titled, "Algemeene Kaart van de Colonie of Provintie van Surinam", drawn by engineer Alexander de Lavaux, a Berlin native who served in Prussian forces. There were several cemeteries located within Jodensavanne, of which the most heavily used, and first existing cemetery is known as the Cassipora Cemetery. Named in due part to the Cassipora Creek that stems from the Surinam river, it is expected to hold approximately two hundred tombstones, the earliest of which being from the early 17th century, and the most recent believed to have been constructed in 1840. The headstones here are primarily inscribed with Hebrew, Portuguese, and Dutch, and there exist several ohelim in the area as well, an indication of the Jewish community structures within the settlement. ==See also==
Source: Wikipedia ↗
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