History

Around 1640, the first Jews settled at the Cassipora creek. They had fled from Spain for prosecution by the Inquisition and began the construction of sugarcane plantations on which they also held slaves. At 1650, a second group of Jews, this time from England. A third group, led by David Cohen Nassy, ​​came from Mauritsstad (Brazil) to Suriname. They originally fled from Spain to Dutch Brazil and founded plantations together with the Dutch at the invitation of Governor Johan Maurits. When the Dutch territory was conquered by the Portuguese in 1654, a large part of the Jews fled the area. Some settled in Cayenne (current French Guiana) and Guadeloupe, and others in Suriname. Possibly they lived near Torarica. When the French conquered the Dutch in 1664 Cayenne, many Jews from that area also settled in Suriname.

To attract more planters, the Jewish community in Suriname received freedom of religion on August 17, 1665, possibly also the right to establish a synagogue and a school. When Abraham Crijnssen conquered Suriname in 1667 on the English, he disregarded the rights of the Jews.

After the Peace of Breda in 1667, in which Surinam became the final Dutch area, the Jews in Suriname in 1669 officially received permission to establish their own community with a synagogue and a cemetery. The new agricultural colony, a few kilometers from Cassipora, was later named Jodensavanne. In 1685 a stone synagogue was built which was named Berachah VeShalom ('Blessing and Peace'). In 1691 Jan van Scharphuysen granted Jodensavanne the statutory status of settlement, but returned a decision by his predecessor Cornelis van Aerssen. They had given permission to the planters to release their slaves on Saturday and to work on Sundays instead. In 1694, the community in Jodensavanne counted about 570 souls who had more than 40 plantations and about 9,000 slaves working on these plantations.

In the eighteenth century, the bloom of the community around Jodensavanne reached a peak. Many were joined by a Freemasonry lodge. In 1832, Jodensavanne was destroyed almost entirely by fire. It had already been largely abandoned; The inhabitants were drawn to Paramaribo.