My cousin who lives in South Korea sent me a link about someone who came across an abandoned Jewish cemetery deep in the jungle in Belize. Truly there are few physical boundaries today.
The pictures are not very clear, but the woman who wrote the post, Megan Wood, was traveling in Belize and came across an abandoned cemetery which had broken gravestones on the ground. I can’t see it myself, but she says in real life it was clear the image engraved on the gravestone was that of a Star of David.
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| Broken gravestone in the jungle of Belize (from meganlwood.com) |
Belize never had a major Jewish community, although some refugees from Sint Eustatius were believed to have settled there after their community was destroyed by the British military which took over that island in 1781. Jamaican Jewish traders were also know to trade at the Belize port.
The IAJGS International Jewish Cemetery Project (IJCP) lists two mentions of burial locations of Jews in Belize, adding up to only 5 graves, but certainly not this cemetery in the middle of nowhere.
The Jewish Online Worldwide Burial Register (JOWBR) lists 4 out of the 5 graves mentioned in the IJCP, but doesn’t list the names on the graves.
Who were these Jews and what were they doing far into the jungle of Belize?
From the JTA Archive: Jewish refugeee project purchases land in Belize (1940)
http://archive.jta.org/article/1940/04/10/2850477/1000acre-tract-chosen-for-honduras-refugee-project
Fascinating article from the JTA Archives. This one provides additional information on this attempt to build a refugee colony in then British Honduras (now Belize):
http://archive.jta.org/article/1940/09/29/2852210/british-honduras-refugee-project-awaits-arrival-of-80-families
That settlement was built in the Cayo district, however, and these graves seem to have been found in the Belize district to the East. The graves also seem older than would be found from a settlement started in 1940, but who knows.
This article online also mentions two German Jewish doctors who fled to British Honduras in the 1930s, but were deported by the British when the war broke out because they were German:
http://www.belizefirst.com/soldier.html
The National Archives in Great Britain references collections that mention Jewish refugees in British Honduras here:
http://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/records/research-guides/refugees-minorities.htm
as does this page on the web site of the Greek Ministry of Foreign Affairs, referencing also British archives:
http://www2.mfa.gr/www.mfa.gr/Articles/en-US/14_02_06_NXEN17.htm
There are three collections titled:
Jewish refugees from Europe: possibility of settling in British Honduras
for 1938,1939 and 1940…
Are there any records of this refugee settlement after 1940?
It’s unclear from the story how old these graves really are, but don’t forget that many or most of the white people who moved to the new world from Spain were conversos or secret Jews. Perhaps this cemetery is a secret place where secret Jews buried their dead. Currently there is a big movement in Latin America and even in New Mexico toward researching and returning to Jewish roots. Very interesting. I’d love to hear more.
This could possibly be the cemetery in Bolton Bank. There is literally NOTHING in Bolton Bank. The entire area is up for sale now and, though only a few kilometers from Belize City, if you were on foot, you are “deep” in the jungle. The link to the original article is no longer working so I can’t read all of the details. But, if Bolton Bank is sold to developers for a luxury resort (which is what is currently in works) the Jewish cemetery will likely disappear with the development. It’s an unfortunate fact that Belize has very little concern for preserving sites like this. They put very little effort into preserving the Mayan ruins which are responsible for so much of their tourism revenue. They’re definitely not going to step up to preserve a small Jewish burial ground.
I am a Belizean living in the US I am trying to see what can be done there is also a cemetery in the south of Belize found by Megan Wood. It’s very difficult as the person selling that land has no regards for it as he is an Arab or from the Middle East please see my post on Belize National Historical Society on Facebook. We are sorry that the Jews were turned away by the colonial government at the time. I was also told that a few Belizeans tried to hide the two Jewish Doctors on the second floor of the old post office Paslow Building. In addition to this I brought to the attention to my people that Dr. Antoni Gosinki a Polish doctor who came to Belize saved many lives at Mauthausen. He was one that testified against the Nazi at the Nuremberg trial. I need help and will be sending a letter to the Israeli government to stop the sale of this land
Unfortunately the photos were not preserved, but the original article can be read on the Internet Archive: Update: Abandoned Jewish Cemetery in Belize. In the article it mentions that Mike Heusner, owner and operator of Belize River Lodge, was looking to move the stones somewhere safe. That was almost ten years ago, but maybe you can reach him and see if anything was done.
I have visited this cemetery. Got to it by going up the Belize river to the river bank across from around mile 8 and mile 9 on the northern highway. Most of the surnames on the graves were Levy and there were several children buried there. I was told it was a yellow fever cemetery which would explain why it was far from any population center.
Do you by any chance have photos of the cemetery? As the original article and photos no longer exist, it would be great to be able to post some photos of the cemetery.