On Being Jewish in Jamaica, British West Indies - 1942 #WWII #Refugees

“Ema - The Heart and Soul of Jewish Jamaica”*

features the charming Evelyn Matalon, beloved mother of David Matalon and Ainsley Henriques, speaking to her granddaughter Anna Ruth Henriques on the occasion of her 100th birthday. (Click here)

In November 2017, Dr. Diana Cooper-Clark arranged a reunion for WWII refugees who had been evacuated to Gibraltar Camp in Kingston, Jamaica, BWI starting in February 1942.

Compassionate participants gathered within the walls of the Orange Street Cemetery to say Kaddish, the Jewish prayer for the dead, for Yvonne, Hala Krakowiak’s first child, who died at the age of four years old at the camp in June 1942. (Click here).

In subsequent years, Hala told Joan her second child about the generosity of the Jamaican Jewish Community, in particular, the Matalon and Henriques families during the time she and Ignas awaited visas to enter the United States (February 8, 1942 - October 2, 1943).

Joan describes her feelings about her parents’ heart-wrenching experience to Amy Wachtel @NightNurse1Love who poses questions in the most delicate manner. (Click here)

*“Ema - The Heart and Soul of Jewish Jamaica” was compiled by the Team @CornerstoneJamaica, headed by Gary Robinson, for the Jewish Jamaican Heritage Project.

Participants: Dr. Diana Cooper-Clark, Ainsley Henriques, Margret Thompson, Robert Jacovitz - Chair of the Advisory Council - Sousa Mendes Foundation, Anna Ruth Henriques, Gary Robinson and his team, Amy Wachtel (without Aristotle), Kathyrn Cates and other dedicated people.