Only six hours by boat from ## West, Florida, U. S. A., there lies a strange, ## city in a young, exotic, tropical republic. The ## is Havana, capital and nerve center of the ## of Cuba, which only some twenty-odd years ## with the help of the United States, freed itself ## Spanish rule.
Into this town of four hundred thousand people, ## during the past two years dragged some five ## six thousand Jewish immigrants from all parts ## Eastern Europe.
They came, these brethren of ours, from Eastern Europe, not with any intention of remaining per##ently in Cuba, but because life in the Ukraine, ## Roumania, in Hungary and in the other countries was made intolerable for them through pog## boycotts, exorbitant taxes and other forms ## persecution, and because they were told by ## of steamship companies in European ports ## once they arrived in Cuba it would be a very ## matter for them to come over to the United ##es, where they could realize their life-long ## of joining their relatives and enjoying the opportunities of the “land where money flows in ## streets.” The new American immigration law, which went into effect a few months ago, has ##de it impossible for them to dream of ever en##ing the Promised Land, has blasted their great## and only hope and has left them despondent and wretched.
These thousands of Jewish immigrants must remain in Cuba, unless they decide to go back to their former homes, which few of them do. But to remain one must work in order to eat and to fire. But where shall they work? In the sugar ## on the tobacco plantations, on the railroads? It is impossible for an East European Jew to endure that harrowing physical labor, and ## if he could endure that travail, working in ##he open under the scorching sun and living in ##rable shacks, he could not compete with the cheap Negro labor that is brought into Cuba from ## other West Indian islands.
Most of the men immigrants have therefore ## to peddling; they are out on the streets of ## Gay Habana,” which certainly does not seem gay ## them, merchanting their petty wares, enduring ## sorts of insults from the natives who call them ##manos”-Germans, competing with each other and thanking God if at the end of the day they ## earned one-half peso, the equivalent of fifty American cents. The women rent sewing machines, which they take to their miserable “homes,” where they can earn three, four or five dollars a week. Most of them are herded together four, six or ## eight in a room, for rent in Havana, as well ## food, clothing and all other necessities, is ## than in New York. A small percentage of ## immigrants receive a meager allowance from ## in the States, but they too must live in ## since the American dollar is worth no more ## the Cuban peso and cannot therefore mean anywheres near as much as it does in some European countries.
In spite of their wretched circumstances, in spitc## the fact that prostitution is very wide-spread in Havana and lures women from all parts of the world, in spite of the fact that their economic ## would be immediately relieved by going into ## of shame-in spite of all that, there are no Jewish prostitutes in Havana. It is a glowing ## to the wholesomeness of the Jewish race, to the power of endurance of its women-a power which however we ought not to stretch to the very ## whose tension we ought to relieve by upholding the economic “morale” of a section of our people that hasn’t forsaken the ethical morals of our forefathers.
The problem of the Havana immigrants is entirely a problem for us American Jews, for while the refugees in the European ports and large centers may look for some little help from the European Jewish communities, the Havana immigrants, helpless as they are in the New World and near as they are to the largest and richest Jewish community, can only expect help from us and from no one else.
What can be done to help these five thousand Jewish wanderers of Havana, who bring the symbol of the universal and centuries-old Jewish tragedy so close to our American shores?
The campaign for a half million dollars which is now being conducted in the United States by the Jewish Committee for the work among refugees in Havana and in Europe deserves the hearty support of every American Jew and Jewish organization. The most important tasks for the Jewish Committee in the near future are the establishment of schools for the children (the public school system in Cuba is very poorly developed, so that this must be undertaken by private organizations) and classes in Spanish and English for the adults; besides, there is great need of a building which should be a combined work-shop and club house for the women immigrants. The women now do their needle work by hand; they might save themselves many hours of arduous toil and earn perhaps more if they could come to a place which provided electric sewing machines for them.
Much has been written in the Jewish press recently about the question of settling a large number of Jews in Mexico. The benefits of a mass immigration of tens of thousands of Jews into Mexico are very doubtful, but I venture to raise the question whether transplanting the five thousand Jews of Havana to Mexico would not perhaps be a solution of their problem. Mexico is a much larger and richer country than Cuba; the climate of its capital city is a far better one than that of Havana, whose humidity is almost unendurable to one who was not born in a tropical climate. Furthermore, Jews of Havana coming into Mexico would find that the language in both countries being the same, whatever of Spanish they learned in Havana would carry them just as far in Mexico. I mention Mexico in connection with the Havana Jews, not because I have any definite facts in regard to Mexico from which I might draw a definite conclusion, but because I deem it advisable to bring the matter to the attention of Jewish leaders and public opinion, which I believe ought to investigate the matter. If found advisable, the cost of transplanting these Havana immigrants would not be large, since Mexico and Cuba are very near to each other.
There is also something which can be done by private American-Jewish enterprise, something which would bring ## profit to the entrepreneur and at the same time solve to a great extent the problem of the immigrants. I refer to the establishment of clothing factories in Havana. Cuba imports practically all of its clothing from the United States; if clothing were manufactured in Havana it could be sold much cheaper than American clothing and still bring a handsome profit to the manufacturer, taking into consideration all the factors involved. From a social point of view, it would mean of course employment for hundreds of Jews. It would perhaps be wise for the “Jewish Committee for Cuba” to establish an information bureau for clothing manufacturers, which would keep them informed in regard to manufacturing opportunities in Havana and other cities and perhaps even give them a direct loan for their business ventures. This is an important aspect of the Havana problem-the lack of garment factories wherein Jews might be employed-and should be very seriously considered.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
