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Chapter 21 A Tale of Courage and Fortitude Ivonne Strauss de Milz as told to Marjorie Agosín 264 my name is ivonne Strauss de Milz. I’ve lived in the Dominican Republic all my life, in the small settlement of Sosua and in the city of Santo Domingo, but I have felt most deeply connected to the community in Sosua. Sosua is where my paternal grandparents settled when they arrived in 1947 after seven years as refugees in Shanghai, where theywentwhentheyhadtoleaveAustria.Myfatherwaseightyearsold when they reached Sosua. He was only one when they ¶ed from Vienna because my grandfather would otherwise have been interned in a labor camp. My mother and her parents also came from Austria, but a little later, in 1950, when she was twelve years old. Thus my parents spent part of their childhood and all of their adolescence in Sosua and have remained very attached to the community all their lives, although they moved to Santo Domingo when they were adults. They have very happy memories of growing up in Sosua, and although all their childrenwereborninSantoDomingo , theyhavecontinued togoback and forth and really live in both places. We all feel profoundly Dominican, and we are all very grateful to be part of this beautiful country’s history and to be able to contribute to it. But now I’d like to tell you some You are reading copyrighted material published by Ohio University Press/Swallow Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. a tale of courage and fortitude 265 things about Sosua and what it has meant to me to be part of this community , which is unique in Latin American and even in world history. In the late nineteen thirties, when there was great concern about Nazi terrorism in Europe, a meeting was held in Evian, France, to discuss the problem of safety for Jewish populations. At this meeting, the only country to offer asylum to Jews was the Dominican Republic. An agreement was signed between the Dominican Republic and the DORSA (Dominican Republic Settlement Association) to enable Jews from many different European countries to come here. These refugees were guaranteed an opportunity to live their lives free of persecution and discrimination. The Dominican Republic already had a precedent for this: years before, the Luperon government had offered visas to Jews persecuted by pogroms in Czarist Russia. The ¤rst group of refugees from Europe arrived in May 1940 from Germany via Luxembourg, and then various other groups came, including the 1947 group from Shanghai which included my grandparents and my father. Altogether, perhaps seven hundred people came. Most of those who were able to reach Sosua, a small agricultural village setasideforJewishrefugees, came from neutral placeslike Switzerland , Luxembourg, and, after the war was over, Shanghai. Other Jews who became aware of the possibility of coming to the Dominican Republic were not able to save themselves, since it was already too late to reach the countries that would offer them transit asylum. I think that the Dominican Republic is unique in its history and is distinguished by its profound belief in democracy and tolerance of religious diversity. The evidence of this is that in those years when no one was letting Jews into American countries, this small Caribbean island opened its door to Jews. I also want to tell you that Sosua’s history is really unique in this region. Groups of Jews had come to the other Caribbean islands, especially Curaçao, a community founded by Portuguese and Dutch Jews. But the case of Sosua is different because here the government invited a persecuted group to come to its shores, and no other country has done this. You are reading copyrighted material published by Ohio University Press/Swallow Press. Unauthorized posting, copying, or distributing of this work except as permitted under U.S. copyright law is illegal and injures the author and publisher. ivonne strauss de milz, as told to marjorie agosín 266 I’ll tell you how this community was formed. I’m basing this story on conversations I’ve had with my father, who has clear memories of arriving in Sosua when he was eight years old. He lives here now, as do some of the other founders of the community. There are about ¤fteen original families left. I mentioned that several ships arrived. The ¤rst one brought German Jews, and, two years later, another immigrant...

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