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Jews in the Jungle:
The Community of Suriname
Sunday, June 23
USA 12:00 pm PT / 3:00 pm ET
UK 8:00 pm / France 9:00 pm / Israel 10:00 pm
The talk will last approximately 90 minutes
About this talk
Jacob Steinberg tells the surprising and fascinating story of the oldest existing Jewish community in all of the Americas.
This story begins with the establishment of the Jewish community in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, by Portuguese and Spanish Jews in the late 16th century. Thousands of them moved to Dutch Brazil (Recife) in search of better opportunities and three groups continued to what is Suriname today, clearing the jungle and starting sugar plantations.
The community flourished for more than 100 years in the Jewish Savannah where they achieved complete autonomy. With the collapse of the sugar-based economy, the community moved to the new Capital city Paramaribo. Jacob will describe the role of the community in saving Jews during WW2 and the life today of this small and isolated Jewish community in Suriname.
About Jacob
After graduating from University in Israel, Jacob Steinberg travelled around the world for five years. Later on, he spent three decades as a Project Finance executive, financing infrastructure projects in Africa, South America, South East Asia and Eastern Europe, where he met small and isolated Jewish communities. He got involved with Kulanu Canada, a non-profit organization that supports such communities.
Jacob is personally involved in supporting the Suriname Jewish Community and in 2016 he raised the funds to build a Memorial Monument for the 104 Surinamese Jews who died in the Holocaust.
Jacob is an avid sportsman who played for 14 years in the Ontario Australian Rules Football league. He loves travelling and is very interested in Jewish history.
