"...Caerte ofte vertoninge van de Rivieren van Suriname en Commewijne met verscheyde Creken uyt deselve Spruytende als Para Surinoo en cotteca ende Ander meer geleck die nu tegen woerdich bewoont werden Anno 1672...."

At that time, in London existed a prospering sephardic merchant community, though much smaller than Amsterdam. Soon, the first English Jews tried their luck in the new colony. In 1661, permission was granted to Benjamin de Caseres, Henry de Caseres, and Jacob Fraso, to "live and trade in Barbados and Surinam". In 1662 Henrico de Caseres is named as a resident of Surinam. These early Jewish settlers were merchants, who lived in the capital Thorarica. No Jewish agriculturists had arrived yet.

After the conquest of Dutch Recife by the Portuguese in 1653, many Jews had returned to Holland. In 1660, a group of 152 Jews from Livorno settled in Dutch Cayenne under the leadership of Joseph Nunes de Fonseca, also named David Cohen Nassi. Probably many of these were experienced planters already settled in Brazil before Dutch conquest. Nassi seems to have been born in Pernambuco around 1620.

But Dutch Cayenne was not meant to prosper. Soon, in 1664, it was taken by the French. Nassy and a group of 100 Jews chose to leave Cayenne and settle in Suriname instead. They were actively encouraged by the English to do so, for Suriname desperately needed experienced planters. Nassy and his group probably arrived in 1665.

To make matters more inviting for the newcomers, in the same year a grant was issued assuring all Jewish inhabitants freedom of religion, freedom to plant and trade, and freedom to found a congregation and a Jewish court. 10 acres of land at Thorarica were given to them to build schools, a synagogue, and a cemetery.

How must these people have felt when arriving in Suriname? Within 10 years they had been twice forced to move. They must have felt quite sceptical towards Suriname. But for the English it was a blessing. Some 20 experienced agriculturist families arrived in the country, together with probably some 500 slaves, a crop of sugar, cattle, and complete sugar-mills.

David Nassy and his group did not settle in Thorarica, but went to Cassipora, some miles upstream. They needed free land to start plantations. Soon, they began to set up sugar estates along the Suriname River. At Cassipora a cemetery was established on a hill close to the riverbanks. After some years they expanded to Jodensavanna, a mile from Cassipora, also along the Suriname River.

One can follow their steady progress on the maps of that time. A 1667 English map shows only 8 Jewish plantations, belonging to Nunes, D. Casseres, "Jews", Pereira, Ely, Desijlra (de Silva), Mesa, and Nasserer (Nassi). The 1886 "Labadist" map already records 18 Jewish estates. The 1737 Lavaux map shows the Jewish community at its peak. There are 75 Jewish estates.

In the beginning David's community was called "Congregation of Cayenne". But later it joined the already existent "Portuguese Jewish Congregation of Suriname". According to its archives, this congregation was founded in 5422 (1661/1662). So it must have been founded by the English sephardic community.

In 1667, Suriname was taken by the Dutch Admiral Crijnsen. To the Jews, who had lived most of their lives under Dutch rule, this must have seemed a blessing. And indeed, soon Crijnsen acknowledged all privileges given to them by the English. A year later, governor Lichtenberg even extended these. No wonder then, that when the English settlers departed from Suriname in 1671-1675, only 2 Jews accompanied them.

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