{"product_id":"tropical-zion-general-trujillo-fdr-and-the-jews-of-sosua-paperback-3","title":"Tropical Zion: General Trujillo, FDR, and the Jews of Sosúa - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eAllen Wells\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eSeven hundred and fifty Jewish refugees fled Nazi Germany and founded the agricultural settlement of Sosúa in the Dominican Republic, then ruled by one of Latin America's most repressive dictators, General Rafael Trujillo. In \u003ci\u003eTropical Zion\u003c\/i\u003e, Allen Wells, a distinguished historian and the son of a Sosúa settler, tells the compelling story of General Trujillo, Franklin Delano Roosevelt, and those fortunate pioneers who founded a successful employee-owned dairy cooperative on the north shore of the island.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eWhy did a dictator admit these desperate refugees when so few nations would accept those fleeing fascism? Eager to mollify international critics after his army had massacred 15,000 unarmed Haitians, Trujillo sent representatives to Évian, France, in July, 1938 for a conference on refugees from Nazism. Proposed by FDR to deflect criticism from his administration's restrictive immigration policies, the Évian Conference proved an abject failure. The Dominican Republic was the only nation that agreed to open its doors. Obsessed with stemming the tide of Haitian migration across his nation's border, the opportunistic Trujillo sought to \"whiten\" the Dominican populace, welcoming Jewish refugees who were themselves subject to racist scorn in Europe.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eThe Roosevelt administration sanctioned the Sosúa colony. Since the United States did not accept Jewish refugees in significant numbers, it encouraged Latin America to do so. That prodding, paired with FDR's overriding preoccupation with fighting fascism, strengthened U.S. relations with Latin American dictatorships for decades to come. Meanwhile, as Jewish organizations worked to get Jews out of Europe, discussions about the fate of worldwide Jewry exposed fault lines between Zionists and Non-Zionists. Throughout his discussion of these broad dynamics, Wells weaves vivid narratives about the founding of Sosúa, the original settlers and their families, and the life of the unconventional beach-front colony.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003eThis illuminating and irony-laden study deftly integrates twentieth-century Latin American, Jewish, and American history with that of the Holocaust. Readers interested in any of these fields will be rewarded and have their perspectives widened. An admirably researched and crafted book, and a touching one, too.--Peter Hayes, Theodore Zev Weiss Professor of Holocaust Studies, Northwestern University\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eAuthor Biography\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003eAllen Wells is the Roger Howell Jr. Professor of History at Bowdoin College. He is the author of \u003ci\u003eYucatán's Gilded Age: Haciendas, Henequen, and International Harvester, 1860-1915\u003c\/i\u003e; a co-author of \u003ci\u003eSummer of Discontent, Seasons of Upheaval: Elite Politics and Rural Rebellion in Yucatán, 1876-1915\u003c\/i\u003e; and a co-editor of \u003ci\u003eThe Second Conquest of Latin America: Coffee, Henequen, and Oil during the Export Boom, 1850-1930\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 480\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 1.2 x 9 x 6.1 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eIllustrated:\u003c\/strong\u003e Yes\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e January 12, 2009\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":45776779673797,"sku":"9780822344070","price":74.32,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0757\/6718\/5605\/files\/YYthpk0KGu9780822344070_9b362cb2-2f68-4b62-843a-edcbcacfec96.webp?v=1770553105","url":"https:\/\/selloorium.com\/products\/tropical-zion-general-trujillo-fdr-and-the-jews-of-sosua-paperback-3","provider":"Selloorium","version":"1.0","type":"link"}