JOURNEY WITH US.

A research guide to ancestry, family history, and genealogy resources for Jews in the Caribbean.

This page may include some affiliate links in an effort to support the continued growth of AoP as a leading research resource in Caribbean genealogy. Thank you for your support!

WHERE DO i BEGIN?

As a first step, we always recommend searching the collections at, FamilySearch. Explore the world's largest collection of family trees, genealogy records, and resources here. All free of charge. 

records.

Uncover the rich lives of your Jewish Caribbean ancestors through census records, court records, deeds, naturalization records, military records, ship passenger lists as well as birth, marriage, and death records.

To contribute a new resource or report a broken link, please message us here.

  • Archives of the Portuguese-Israeli Community | Stadsarchief Amsterdam

    The archives of the Portuguese-Israeli Community are housed at the Amsterdam City Archives. The accession number is 334. The archive covers the period 1582 to 1968 and also includes the archives of the municipality that preceded Kahal Kados Talmud Torah, namely Bet Jacob, Neve Salom and Bet Israel until the unification in 1639.

  • Jeff Malka Sephardic Collection | JewishGen

    Welcome to the Jeff Malka Sephardic Collection. Explore previously inaccessible and/or difficult to access records that Dr. Jeff Malka collected over the course of many years. In total, there are more than 146,000 records in this collection.

  • JewishGen

    JewishGen serves as the global home for Jewish genealogy. Featuring unparalleled access to millions of records, it offers unique search tools, along with opportunities for researchers to connect with others who share similar interests.

  • Knowles Collection | South America and the Caribbean

    This database contains those Jews who were in the records of South America and the Caribbean. These lineage-linked families have been extracted from Jewish records, civil records, and family records.

  • St. Thomas, Virgin Islands : record of Jews from various sources | FamilySearch

    Includes Jewish records from Kingston, Jamaica.

    Contains Kingston, Jamaica marriage records, 1788-1920; West Indies grave registration, 1809-ca. 1850; St. Thomas & Jamaica circumcision records, 1800's; St. Thomas & Jamaica birth records, 1800's-1950; St. Thomas & Jamaica death records, 1796-1824.

Ancestry US

Ancestry US

collections.

Uncover the rich lives of your Jewish Caribbean ancestors through our collection of diverse genealogical resources.

To contribute a new resource or report a broken link, please message us here.

  • Akevoth

    Genealogical and historical research on Dutch Jewry .

    The archived collection contains mainly Ashkenazi and only partly Portuguese/Spanish data.

  • DIGITAL LIBRARY OF THE CARIBBEAN

    The Digital Library of the Caribbean is a cooperative digital library for resources from and about the Caribbean & circum-Caribbean.

  • THE EARLY CARIBBEAN DIGITAL ARCHIVE

    The Early Caribbean Digital Archive is an open access collection of pre-twentieth-century Caribbean texts, maps, and images. Texts include travel narratives, novels, poetry, natural histories, and diaries that have not been brought together before as a single collection focused on the Caribbean. The materials in the archive are primarily authored and published by Europeans, but the ECDA aims to use digital tools to "remix" the archive and foreground the centrality and creativity of enslaved and free African, Afro-creole, and Indigenous peoples in the Caribbean world.

  • HISTORY HUB

    History Hub is a research support community for everyone, including genealogists, historians, and citizen archivists.

  • Malcolm H. Stern Papers. 1882-1994 | American Jewish Archives

    The Malcolm H. Stern Papers describe the life of Malcolm H. Stern as genealogist, historian, teacher and rabbi. The collection includes writings, correspondence, genealogical research, publications, audiotape recordings, microfilms, memorials and tributes.

  • Mongui Maduro Library

    The collection consists of Antilliana and Judaica publications which date back to the 17th century. The original collection of Mongui Maduro forms the basis of the library. New publications are constantly being acquired so that it will continue to be an authorative source on the evolution of the political, social and cultural history of Curaçao in particular and the Dutch Caribbean and Caribbean region in general. Besides books, the collection contains also periodicals published in Curaçao or relating to Curaçao history and Jewish history in Curaçao.

CEMETERIES + MEMORIALS.

Uncover the rich lives of your Jewish Caribbean ancestors through cemetery records, grave records, tombstone inscriptions, and funeral booklets.

To contribute a new resource or report a broken link, please message us here.

  • BillionGraves

    BillionGraves is the world's largest resource for searchable GPS cemetery data, and is growing bigger and better every day. You can help by collecting headstone images from local and other cemeteries, and then by transcribing the personal information found on the images.

  • NIDHE ISRAEL CEMETERY

    The Jewish cemetery is located next to the Nidhe Israel Synagogue 1654 and dates back to the same period. It was originally divided into four separate walled cemeteries, with an additional cemetery in Whites Alley on the block bounded by James and Swan Streets. The oldest tombstone is dated 1658. It currently has about 400 graves. The older grave ledgers are flat and made of marble or granite, as is customary in Separdic graveyards. There are also Ashkenazi graves from the more modern Jewish community of the 20th and 21st centuries, who still bury their members there.

  • TRANSCRIPT OF 298 EPITAPHS FROM THE JEWISH CEMETERY IN ST. THOMAS, W. I., 1837-1916 | FAMILYSEARCH

    Compiled from records in the archives of the Jewish Community in Copenhagen.

HISTORIC IMAGES.

Uncover the rich lives of your Curaçaoan ancestors through early photographs, studio portraits, and historic landscape images.

To contribute a new resource or report a broken link, please message us here.

  • HaChayim HaYehudim Jewish Photo Library

    HaChayim HaYehudim Jewish Photo Library is an archive of images from the Jewish world. Jewish communities in the Caribbean featured include Aruba, Barbados, Cuba, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Nevis, Puerto Rico, St. Croix, St. Eustatius, St. Thomas, and Trinidad.

  • Sephardic Faces 19th Century Curacao | Mongui Maduro Foundation

    The Mongui Maduro Library collection gives an excellent insight into Jewish life on Curaçao over the past 350 years via extensive communal religious and social documentation from the island’s synagogues, as well as the Maduro family’s own collection of photos, invitations, menus, and other objects. Check out this sneakpeek of our collection of “Sephardic Faces”. Many of the photos were taken before 1920, and most names of the people in them are known.

CULTURAL INSTITUTIONS.

Uncover the rich lives of your Jewish Caribbean ancestors through libraries, museums, historical societies, and community cultural centers dedicated to the preservation and promotion of Caribbean culture.

To contribute a new resource or report a broken link, please message us here.

  • ASF Institute of Jewish Experience

    At the American Sephardi Federation we have a calling to ensure that today’s Jews know their history; appreciate the beauty, depth, diversity, and vitality of the Jewish experience; and have a sense of pride for the Jewish contributions to civilization. We celebrate the diversity within the Jewish people, as well as our relationships with our neighbors in our global diasporas.

  • THE BARBADOS JEWISH COMMUNITY

    The Barbados Jewish Community is a thriving inclusive Conservative congregation, worshipping in downtown Bridgetown, Barbados at the Historic Nidhe Israel Synagogue. We welcome members and visitors of all Jewish denominations and we encourage participation from all who seek a connection to Jewish life, our faith and to the Nation of Israel.

  • BRIDGETOWN SYNAGOGUE HISTORIC DISTRICT

    The Synagogue Historic District is located within the heart of Bridgetown, the capital city of Barbados, which was designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site with its Garrison in 2011. This Historic District covers an entire city block that features numerous heritage buildings that boast a rich history dating back to the mid-17th century.

  • Curaçao Jews

    CuracaoJews.org is an initiative of the Jewish Cultural Historical Museum as we approach 400 years of Jewish life recorded on the island of Curaçao.

  • Hebrew Congregation of St Thomas

    Established in 1796, our congregation boasts a rich history that spans centuries. From its humble beginnings in the 1600s with individual Jewish settlers, to the formation of our organized community and the founding of our first Jewish cemetery in the mid-18th century, our roots run deep.

  • Jewish Cultural Historical Museum

    The Jewish Cultural Historical Museum (JCHM) was founded in 1970 to preserve and display objects related to the Jewish community of Curaçao. Today, the museum maintains its original mission and promotes research and record keeping of important objects and history of Jewish Curaçao.

  • LANDHUIS BLOEMHOF

    Landhuis Bloemhof is a cultural center dedicated to the memory of May Henriquez and housed in an eighteenth-century Plantation House. May was a writer and sculptress, a benefactor and promotor of the arts, with a special love for the Papiamentu language, among others she published two books on its use in Jewish circles. See how art, history and nature combine to provide a remarkable experience.

  • Mikvé Israel-Emanuel

    Our Mikvé Israel-Emanuel community dates back to 1651 when the first Jewish families came from Amsterdam in the Netherlands and settled in Curaçao on land assigned to them by the Dutch West India Company to be used exclusively for agricultural purposes. Several generations before, they had left Spain and Portugal to escape the Inquisition and settled in the Dutch republic.

  • Mongui Maduro Foundation

    A foundation, in memory of Salomon (Mongui) Abraham Levy Maduro, and carrying his name, was established on March 5, 1974 by his widow Mrs. Rachel Louise (Lou) L. Maduro and their daughter Mrs. Ena Dankmeijer-Maduro. The Foundation encompasses the plantation house “Rooi Catootje”, its antique furniture and its priceless library, containing a unique collection of “Antilliana” and “Judaica”.

  • NIDHE ISRAEL MIKVAH

    The Mikvah, or ritual bath for purifying the body, was developed by the original Sephardic Jews that built the Nidhe Israel Synagogue in 1654. The bath is located near the Synagogue and dates back to the same period. It was unearthed during an archeological investigation in 2008 that was searching for the original Rabbi’s House.

    Thousands of artifacts were unearthed during the excavation, including pieces of Staffordshire slipware, a shoe buckle, old smoker’s pipes, and a jeweler’s stone mold. Many have been identified, categorized and some are on display in the Nidhe Israel Museum.

  • NIDHE ISRAEL MUSEUM

    The Museum showcases interactive and multimedia displays that interprets the Jewish settlement and life on the island from a historic perspective. It was developed in 2008 in an existing historic building on site dating from around 1700. It consists of two storeys: the museum display on the lower level and the upper level housing an archaeological laboratory, audio-visual room, and small apartment. Many of the artifacts discovered during the 2008 excavation of the site are on display in the museum.

  • Weibel Memorial Museum | St. Thomas Synagogue

    Located in the back foyer of the St. Thomas Synagogue is the Weibel Memorial Museum. Through the efforts of the Bicentennial Committee and members of the Hebrew Congregation it was established in 1995. In the museum you will find images, artifacts and plaques commemorating the history of St. Thomas’ Jewish population, from congregants to governors of the island.

Ancestry US

Ancestry US

BOOKs.

Uncover the rich lives of your Jewish Caribbean ancestors through our collection of books for beginners, research guides, records guides, case studies, memoirs, family histories, oral histories, and photography collections.

To contribute a new resource or report a broken link, please message us here.

In an effort to support independent bookstores and the vital community spaces they create, Ancestors of Paradise will always link to independent booksellers unless a book can only be purchased elsewhere.

BLOGs + ARTICLES.

Uncover the rich lives of your Jewish Caribbean ancestors through blogs and articles on history, culture, and genealogy.

To contribute a new resource or report a broken link, please message us here.

  • Beracha Veshalom Vegmiluth Hasidim Synagogue (St. Thomas Synagogue) | Heritage Matters

    Built in 1833, the Beracha Veshalom Vegemiluth Hasadim Synagogue—also known as the St. Thomas Synagogue—is the second oldest in North America and the oldest in continuous use. Constructed by Sephardic Jews seeking refuge from persecution, the synagogue honors centuries of religious freedom, resilience, and tradition in the U.S. Virgin Islands.

  • CARIBBEAN GENEALOGY | FACEBOOK

    This group is for sharing resources and assisting with research relating to Caribbean ancestry and history.

  • CARIBBEAN GENEALOGY RESEARCH COMMUNITY | FACEBOOK

    Welcome to the Caribbean Research Community! This group was created to give people researching the region a place to ask questions, collaborate, and share research with one another.

  • The Caribbean Virtual Jewish History Tour | The Virtual Jewish World

    The Jewish Virtual Library (JVL) is the most comprehensive online encyclopedia of Jewish history, politics, and culture. With more than 26,000 entries, the JVL is a one-stop shop for students of all ages.

  • Sephardic Genealogy

    Family history of the Spanish and Portuguese Jewish diaspora.

PODCASTs.

Uncover the rich lives of your Jewish Caribbean ancestors through on-topic podcast episodes and series.

To contribute a new resource or report a broken link, please message us here.

  • The History of Jewish-Caribbean Connections in the Caribbean with Ainsley Henriques | Strictly Facts

    Jewish life in the Caribbean extends as far back as the fifteenth century with Jewish-European migration following patterns of trade and colonialism to the region. Ainsley Henriques, Jewish-Jamaican genealogist and Administrator of Kahal Kadosh Sha'are Shalom synagogue in Kingston, Jamaica, joins Strictly Facts to map out this long history and describe how it figures into the Caribbean's ethnic diversity.

  • UNTOLD HISTORIES OF THE ATLANTIC WORLD

    Tianna Mobley is a Ph.D. student of History at Yale University and a Fellow at Humanity in Action. "Untold Histories of the Atlantic World" discusses a range of transatlantic topics such as the Black and Jewish diasporas, indigenous histories, and European colonization. This podcast invites academics, literary scholars, activists, and even interested listeners as guests.

SOCIAL MEDIA.

Uncover the rich lives of your Jewish Caribbean ancestors through social media discussion forums, networks, groups, and pages.

To contribute a new resource or report a broken link, please message us here.

  • Jewish Jamaica Genealogy | Facebook

    The Jewish Jamaica Genealogy group serves to combine the efforts of Jamaicans researching their Jewish ancestry.

  • The Sephardic Diaspora | Facebook

    This group is for people interested in the history and genealogy of the `Men of the Nation` - the men and women descended from Spanish and Portuguese Jews and New Christians. Our focus is on archival research, especially pre-1900.

  • Sociedad Hebraica Luis de Torres | Facebook

    Investigando el legado judío hispano portugués en Cuba y las Américas. Página laica.

    Investigating the Spanish-Portuguese Jewish legacy in Cuba and the Americas. Secular page.

GENEALOGY VIDEOS + TUTORIALS.

Uncover the rich lives of your Jewish Caribbean ancestors through tutorials, lectures, roundtable discussions, and genealogy webinars.

To contribute a new resource or report a broken link, please message us here.

  • Jewish Autonomy in a Slave Society: Suriname in the Atlantic World, 1651-1825 - Aviva Ben-Ur | Sephardic Genealogy

    Aviva Ben-Ur sets the story of Suriname's Jews in the larger context of Atlantic slavery and colonialism and argues that, like other frontier settlements, they achieved and maintained their autonomy through continual negotiation with the colonial government. Drawing on sources in Dutch, English, French, Hebrew, Portuguese, and Spanish, Ben-Ur shows how, from their first permanent settlement in the 1660s to the abolition of their communal autonomy in 1825, Suriname Jews enjoyed virtually the same standing as the ruling white Protestants, with whom they interacted regularly. She also examines the nature of Jewish interactions with enslaved and free people of African descent in the colony. Jews admitted both groups into their community, and Ben-Ur illuminates the ways in which these converts and their descendants experienced Jewishness and autonomy. Lastly, she compares the Jewish settlement with other frontier communities in Suriname, most notably those of Indians and Maroons, to measure the success of their negotiations with the government for communal autonomy. The Jewish experience in Suriname was marked by unparalleled autonomy that nevertheless developed in one of the largest slave colonies in the New World.

  • Beyond Binaries: Jewish Suriname Through the Photographer's Lens | Dr. Laura Leibman | Schusterman Center


    Sometime around 1930-35, Philip Samson had his photo taken at a portrait studio in Paramaribo Suriname wearing a kotomisi and angisa, the traditional dress and headgear of Afro-Surinamese women. At the time, Samson was the “Hulpchazan” (Assistant Hazzan) at the Ashkenazi Neve Shalom Synagogue on Keizerstraat. I use this photo of Samson to start a conversation about how photographs tend to be used in Jewish studies in the Caribbean and elsewhere. Perhaps more than any other form of art, photos are often taken unquestioned as documentary evidence or used to illustrate truths about Jews during specific eras. I argue we should be suspicious about that impulse. Early photographs from Suriname played an important role in navigating and creating racial and ethnic categories, and Jews were a crucial part of the early Surinamese photography industry, a role that has largely been unacknowledged. Through photographs and costumes like the kotomisi, Surinamese Jews helped create, navigate, and challenge racio-ethnic categories.

  • Sephardic Jewish Genetic Genealogy | Sephardic Genealogy

    A short video showing the different available genetic genealogy tests and which to use when researching Sephardic Jewish genealogy.

  • Sephardic DNA Project | Sephardic Genealogy

    The Avotaynu DNA project is compiling a library of Y-DNA from men of patrilineal Jewish heritage to provide evidential data for genealogists and historians. There is no Jewish gene. While most Ashkenazim derive from a relatively small genetic population, Sephardim are have more varied genetic heritage. In this presentation to Sephardic World, Adam Brown assisted by Michael Waas, discuss the project. The genetic census of the Sephardim has already identified people as far apart as Turkey and the Caribbean with shared ancestry, presumably from Spain. The Sephardic DNA project should eventually answer the question of whether large numbers of Ashkenazim have Sephardic ancestry as well as resolving the question of the genetic origins of the bnei anusim in the American southwest.

  • Researching Sephardic DNA | Sephardic Genealogy

    Adam Brown leads the Avotaynu DNA projects, including researching the genetic origins of Western Sephardic men. The project has uncovered families in the eastern Mediterranean and Caribbean with shared ancestry, as well as showing common ancestries of families with different surnames, and proving or disproving that families of the same surname are related.

    DNA research is still in its infancy, and Adam and colleagues are at the cutting edge of genetic genealogy. In his talk, he will give an overview of his work, as well as share recent discoveries. Adam is a good communicator and this meeting will also be of interest to those who do not normally follow DNA research.

  • A Journey through Curacao's Jewish History | Sephardic Genealogy

    Ron Gomes Casseres gave a brief history of the Jewish community of the Caribbean island of Curaçao, the longest surviving Jewish community in the Americas. In the early days there were more Jews in Curaçao than in all of the rest of the Western Hemisphere. Ron discussed the history of the Curaçao Jewish community, its heritage and traditions. He showed sites of Jewish interest, as well as the community’s famous archives dating back to the Eighteenth Century.

    Ron Gomes Casseres descends from Sephardic Jews who first landed in Curaçao in 1690. He was born on the Dutch Caribbean island where he is a leader of the historic Mikvé Israel-Emanuel community. Now retired, one of his interests is the history of his Jewish community and its practices. He has been active in numerous organizations and institutions and was awarded decorations by the Kingdom of the Netherlands and the Government of Japan.

  • The Amsterdam Archives | Sephardic Genealogy

    n the first Sephardic World meeting, Ton Tielen discusses the Sephardic resources available in the Amsterdam City Archives. The Amsterdam archives are probably the single most important depositry of Jewish records relevant to Western Sephardic genealogists.

  • The Jews of Eighteenth Century Jamaica | Sephardic Genealogy

    Many of the records of the Jamaican-Jewish community were lost in a fire in 1882. Using the last wills and testaments composed by Jamaican Jews between 1673 and 1815, Stanley Mirvis has recovered much of this history. Jews were seen as white by enslaved people but as 'other' by the Christian elite. In his talk he will explore the social and familial experiences of Jamaican Jewry.

    Jamaica’s Jews put down roots as traders, planters, pen keepers, physicians, fishermen, and metalworkers. He reveals how their presence shaped the colony as much as they were shaped by it.

  • Sephardim in the Atlantic World | Sephardic Genealogy

    This week we put questions directly to a world expert in Sephardic research. Jessica V Roitman is the newly appointed Professor in Jewish Studies at the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam.

    Her current research focuses on Sephardim in the Atlantic World, including the intersection of colonialism and Judaism. She examines themes such as the self-fashioning of communities, identity and the contacts between various communities in the Caribbean. Jessica obtained her PhD in 2009 from Leiden University.

  • David Baruch Louzada | Sephardic Genealogy

    David Baruch Louzada (1640-1699), like other Sephardim of his generation, was an ordinary person living in extraordinary times. His life has been researched by his descendent, Julian Land. Julian will discuss not just David's family and commercial life, but also his social and communal activities. Julian's research illustrates available resources.

    David Baruch Louzada travels took him to Livorno, France, Amsterdam, and across the Atlantic to Barbados at a time when most people rarely went more than a day's walk from home.

  • Jews of the Caribbean | FamilySearch

    This presentation will guide you through finding the records of your Jewish ancestors who lived in the Caribbean.

  • Genealogy: Searching and Understanding Slave Registers | Prof. Laura Leibman

    Using a specific example of a member of the Brandon family of Barbados, Professor Laura Leibman explains how to find ancestors (or historical figures) in the "Former British Colonial Dependencies, Slave Registers, 1813-1834" Database on Ancestry.com . She also explains how to interpret the registers when you find them and how to use the "Barbados, Church Records, 1637-1849" database on Ancestry.com . Additional tips are given on how to decode nineteenth century abbreviations and handwriting.

  • YouTube thumbnail for an informational video titled 'Exploring the Early Caribbean Digital Archive: A Treasure Trove for Family and Historical Research' by Dis A Fi Mi History Podcast YouTube channel.

    Exploring the Early Caribbean Digital Archive: A Treasure Trove for Family and Historical Research | DIS A FI MI HISTORY PODCAST

    Exploring the Early Caribbean Digital Archive: A Treasure Trove for Family and Historical Research | DIS A FI MI HISTORY PODCAST

    In this episode, we delve into the rich world of the Early Caribbean Digital Archive (ECDA) with the insights of Professors Nicole Aljo and Elizabeth Dillon, alongside their dedicated team.

    We explore the origins and objectives of the ECDA, a publicly accessible archive platform that houses a vast collection of pre-20th century Caribbean materials. Learn about their mission to decolonize and democratize knowledge by surfacing hidden narratives, such as those of enslaved individuals, embedded within historical texts.

    The team also shares their experiences and methodologies in curating and digitizing these invaluable resources, offering a glimpse into some fascinating exhibits like Obeah practices and Jamaican Heirs. Discover how you can navigate the archive, contribute to ongoing projects, and even use these resources for family research and educational purposes.

    Join us for a compelling discussion on the importance of preserving and accessing Caribbean history, both for understanding our past and informing our present.

  • Beth Haim Bleinheim, Curaçao | Jewish Curacao

    No description provided.

  • Short Impressions of Jewish sites | Jewish Curacao

    No description provided.

caribbean FAMILY ties.

Uncover the rich lives of your Jewish Caribbean ancestors through Caribbean communities with shared histories and genealogies.

To contribute a new resource or report a broken link, please message us here.

  • Black and white photograph circa 1930 of two Hindustani families in front of a tree, probably in Paramaribo.

    FIND A GENEALOGIST

    Uncover the rich lives of your Caribbean ancestors through collaboration with a professional genealogist.

    Ancestors of Paradise maintains an ever-growing directory of professional genealogists with expertise in your geographic area of interest. Follow the link below to connect with a professional genealogist for Caribbean and Caribbean Diaspora communities.

    Best of luck on your family history journey!

Ancestry US

Ancestry US

  • Family and donkey in Danish West Indies with sugar canes, 1910.

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