Position 17:08.6N 62:38.0W
PASSEPARTOUT
Christopher & Nirit Slaney
Sat 5 Mar 2011 21:48
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A surprise on Nevis
On Saturday March 5th we end a two day visit to Nevis
and head north to Saba. The beautiful little island of Nevis has been a
remarkable stopover. The people are very welcoming and proud of their island and
its heritage. Despite a population of only 11,000 it has an air of
prosperity and at night the streets and beach-bars come alive with music.
Setting out from an old plantation house now converted into a smart 16 room inn,
we explored the lower slopes of its landmark volcano until the planted
woodland gave way to rain forest. Monkeys kept us entertained as we marveled at
an ancient cobble stone road now mostly overgrown. Who built and and where did
it lead to?
But the biggest surprise was in Charlestown, the
island's capital. The first thing we noticed on the map handed out at the
tourist office was the annotation, "Jewish Cemetery". We found it easily
and spent some time examining the gravestones. There are eight of them still in
position and with some or all of their inscriptions still legible, but from the
size of the area I guess many more have either crumbled away or been removed.
The earliest dates from April 1 1647. The one in best condition records the
final resting place of "Rachel Gideon, departed this life 1703/4". Were they
unsure of the Gregorian date? The inscriptions are in a mixture of English,
Hebrew and Portuguese. Someone maintains the cemetery in good condition.
The grass is trim, the surrounding wall well looked after and there are dozens
of small pebbles on each grave indicating someone remembers the
deceased.
I did a little research at the local public library and
found just a few references to Nevis' Jewish community. Two main accounts given
in local history books differ as to the origins of the Jews of Nevis. One local
historian writes that they arrived in the mid-1600's from Brazil after being
expelled from that country by the Portuguese. This could be supported by
Portuguese inscriptions in the cemetery. Another version notes that Jewish
merchants arrived to the Caribbean from Amsterdam. Dutch settlers and traders
were certainly very active in these islands from the 17th century onwards,
just north of Nevis are the islands of Eustatia, Saba and Sint Maarten which are
still governed mainly from The Netherlands. Many Jews who were expelled from
Spain in the 15th century found refuge in Amsterdam, so it's not
unreasonable to place some of them in the Caribbean one hundred years
later.
The local history books credit the Jewish community
with introducing to Nevis the 'secret' process by which cane syrup is
distilled into crystalline sugar. The trick is to distill the syrup in a series
of copper vessels adding lime at the end of remove impurities. It's said they
brought this knowledge from Brazil where the Spanish and Portuguese had been
trying to keep the technique a secret from other European sugar growing
colonies.
We stood in the cemetery and tried to imagine what it
was like here in 1700 when the Jewish population was at its height. What was
shabbat like in Charlestown and where did the young men go to look for brides?
Only one historical document in the library gave an indication of the size of
the community; 4 families and 15 people in total at its height. There is no
record of when and why the Jews left but by 1770 the island's sugar cultivation,
battered by cheaper production in Brazil and falling prices was in a steep,
irrevocable decline. I imagine that the Jewish merchants, a good barometer of
trading conditions, realized which way the business was going, sold up and
shipped out.
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