"The Bahamas were first settled by the British in 1620, but at that time,
relatively few Jews came to the islands. Still, a Jew, Moses Franks, served
as attorney general and chief justice of the islands in the 18th century.
After World War I, a few Jewish families from Poland, Russia, and the United
Kingdom settled in Nassau, the capital. Later Jews came to Freeport on Grand
Bahamas Island."
According to Dave Fox, davefox73@earthlink.net,
many white Bahamians left the islands after the Bahamas gained
independence from Great Britain (1973) when they were made to feel
unwelcome by the new government. However, the attitude of the
government is now more favorable to Americans and Europeans. [1999]
The Congregations of Nassau and Freeport are independent of each other and have separate affiliations.
The Congregation of Nassau is Reform, but there is
no Synagogue. There are some ancient Jewish graves in Nassau. The
Congregation is a member of the Jewish Congregations of Latin America
and the Caribbean. www.ujcl.org
In Freeport there is a Reform Synagogue named after
Luis de Torres, the Converso who served as Columbus's interpreter and
who was the first European to set foot on the soil of the New World.
The Freeport Hebrew Congregation is a member of the Union of American
Hebrew Congregations (U.A.H.C.) www.uahc.org
NASSAU,
New Providence Island:
Jewish Congregation of Nassau,
Secretary: Janine Isaacs. Tel: (242)327-4431 (h), (242)377-2338 (w), gangieval@coralwave.com
Jewish Cemetery: At the corner of Shirley St. and
Lover's Lane, Nassau, New Providence Island, the Jewish Section of the
cemetery is walled-off according to The Jewish Travel Guide, London:
The Jewish Chronicle, 1992. It is located in a separate walled off area
of St. Matthews Anglican Church.
source: Alfred Gorlick bahamabon@mail1.coralwave.com.
Jewish Cemetery: {10279} (5 names) Grand Bahama Memorial
Park, Frobisher Drive, Freeport. Questions should be addressed to the
Freeport Hebrew Congregation, Luis De Torres Synagogue, East Sunrise
Highway, P.O. Box F-1761, Freeport, Bahamas. Jack Turner, the
congregation president in 1998, provided a list of five Jewish burials.
All individuals involved in the creation of this project are volunteers.
The right to make one copy for personal use with full citation is hereby granted;
however, no profit is to be made from the use of this website's information.
No reply will be made to inquiries about specific burials. All information that we possess is on the website. We have no other information so please do not write requesting any on either burial sites or individual burials.