Mother and Daughter Share the Personal Tale of Cuba’s Jewish History

In 2013, I had the privilege of leading a group of 25 travelers on a Boulder JCC Jewish mission to Cuba. It was a memorable trip that acquainted us with the Jewish communities of Cuba, as well as with all the other splendors and charms of the Caribbean island.

In preparation for the journey, I gathered the participants for several educational programs, designed to help us get to know each other as well as to learn more about what to expect on the trip.

I invited Boulder dance educator and choreographer Judy Kreith, who had been to Cuba many times to study dance and to perform, to offer a few dance classes and to share her insights into the country’s culture and personality with us.

I learned that Judy had been drawn to Cuba by her mother’s history. Marion Kreith, like my grandparents, uncle and aunt, had taken refuge from the Holocaust in Cuba, finding a temporary safe port in the storm. On our trip, I visited my grandfather’s grave in the old Jewish cemetery, and found the apartment where they lived on the grand Avenue of the Presidents, where I had visited them once as a child before Castro came to power and Jews began to flee.

Marion was teenager when she escaped war torn Europe with her family, evading Nazi capture and crossing the Atlantic to an exotic tropical paradise. Perhaps my family knew her family? We will never know whether they attended High Holidays services together in Havana.

Intrigued by Marion’s story, I invited her to come and share her fascinating experience at the Boulder JCC, then on Kalmia Ave. The lunch and learn was extremely well-attended, and Marion’s remarkable story of survival in her exotic refuge was spellbinding. Judy went on to partner with filmmaker Robin Truesdale on a documentary, “Cuba’s Forgotten Jewels: A Haven in Havana,” which weaves Marion’s story with the personal accounts of other refugees who recall their escape to Havana and life in an unfamiliar land.

With a stunning musical score of Jewish melodies and the pulsating music of Havana, the film merges the realities of two vastly different yet intermingled cultures, bringing this colorful and uplifting piece of history to light.

Many Jewish refugees who made it to Havana, including young Marion, found work to support themselves and their families in a newly transported trade of diamond polishing.

Through these firsthand survivor accounts, the film takes us back to 1940s Havana – an era at once tumultuous, heartbreaking, and intoxicating – to reveal an immigration success story.

“Cuba’s Forgotten Jewels,” released in 2017, was shown at the Boulder JCC and at other venues and was screened at numerous film festivals. Judy, who had worked on-site with Cuban historians researching the Jewish refugee history of Cuba, has spoken on this topic to many groups, including a recent conference at the University of Antwerp, Belgium.

Marion, who was born in 1927 in Hamburg, Germany, has lived in Boulder since the 1959, when she moved here with her late husband and CU professor, Frank Kreith, who had escaped the Holocaust on the Kindertransport. Marion and Frank, who died in 2018, attended many of my cultural arts programs at the Boulder JCC and I came to love both of them dearly.

Marion recently appeared on the cover of Hadassah Magazine, where her story was featured alongside that of other survivors.

A year ago, Marion was also honored by the Museum of Boulder, where she gave a talk as part of their Boulder Conversations with Extraordinary People. Judy was by her mother’s side to provide tech support, while Marion delighted the crowd with her sharp wit and strong spirit.

Boulder audiences will once again have the opportunity to view “Cuba’s Forgotten Jewels” and to hear Marion, now 98, tell her story.

The Boulder Public Library will present the 47-minute film on Friday, Oct 10, 2 pm – 3:30 pm in the Canyon Theater at the Main Library.  For more information about the free program, click here.