Suppression of Negro Revolts by the Jews of Surinam

Suppression of Negro Revolts by the Jews of Surinam 1690-1722

In Surinam, the Jews were heavy buyers in the African slave markets, and in 1755 even the synagogue purchased 14 slaves from Jewish slave dealer, A. Perera. The synagogue bought a plantation called “Nahamu” (Comfort ye) with its 112 slaves. 

Thousands of enslaved Africans labored for the Jewish plantation masters in the cruelest, most inhuman conditions.

When the Africans organized to seek their God-given freedom, the Jews were leaders in the suppression of these revolts. From 1690 to 1722, writes historian Cecil Roth, the revolts “were largely directed against them, as being the greatest slave-holders of the region.” 

B’nai B’rith leader Simon Wolf was proud of the Jewish militias that fought bloody wars to return the Blacks to slavery. In his 1895 book, The American Jew as Patriot, Soldier, and Citizen, he wrote of this long suppressed Jewish role. Read more here: