The Guardian

Revealed: how the Caribbean became a haven for Jews fleeing Nazi tyranny

Thousands of refugees rebuilt their lives on Trinidad and other islands. Their little-known story is now told in a new book
Group photograph of about 50 children with their Hebrew and Jewish religion teacher Fanny Lapscher in Port of Spain. Photograph: Courtesy of Joanna Newman

All cemeteries have stories to tell, and the one on Mucurapo Road in Port of Spain, Trinidad, is no exception. Among the names carved on headstones are Irene and Oscar Huth, Erna Marx, Karl Falkenstein, Willi Schwarz and Otto Gumprich. Hebrew inscriptions are adorned with a Star of David.

Five years ago, Hans Stecher joined his mother, father and aunt in the Jewish section of Mucurapo cemetery. Aged 90 when he died, he was the last of about 600 Jewish refugees from Nazi Europe who

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