Saint Kitts and Nevis

By Ariel Scheib

After being expelled from Brazil in the 17th century, Jews began to settle on the islands of St. Kitts and Nevis about one-third of the way from Puerto Rico to Trinidad and Tobago . The Jewish community numbered between 75 to 100 people during that time. These Sephardic Jews brought to the island the secrets of crystallizing sugar, making Nevis the “Queen of the Caribbees.” It was during this time that the Jews of Nevis constituted 25% of the island’s population. The Jewish community of Nevis erected a synagogue in Charlestown around 1684 and established a Jewish cemetery located on Government Road, which contains graves dating from 1679 to 1768. At the end of the 18th century, most of the Jewish population left the island of Nevis, leaving the Jewish cemetery abandoned.

Sources: “Exploring Nevis”

Resistivity Survey of the Nevis Jewish Cemetery

Map: CIA