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News

Sad fate of a 140-year-old Jewish property in Bangladesh

By Joseph Jude Edward

APRIL 20, 2023

This building is located in 3 Strand Road, Chittagong (Chattogram) 4000, Bangladesh. The building is at the entrance of Sadarghat Road approximately 100 meters away from the General Post Office (GPO).

Looking back into the history, in 1881, the Ezekiel family established their business as sugar manufacturers and distillers. Then, on April 18, 1929, David Ezekiel had executed a power of attorney in favor of his nephew, Solomon Ezekiel. At that time David was the proprietor of two businesses, one known as Davidson & Co. that continued on in Calcutta, and the other known as S. Ezekiel & Co. that continued on in Chittagong. Both the businesses traded in general stores and wines and spirits.

The Ezekiel family built the building in Chittagong during the time of the Bengal Presidency, which was officially the Presidency of Fort William and later Bengal Province, a subdivision of the British Empire in India. After the India/Pakistan partition in 1947, their business continued to stay in operation in East Pakistan (now Bangladesh). However, shortly after the India/Pakistan partition in 1947, all the members of this family migrated to other countries. At that time there were only 5 to 6 Jewish families left in the whole of then East Pakistan (now Bangladesh).

Within the Ezekiel & Co. building in Chittagong, there was a store and other family businesses. Their main occupation was sugarcane cultivation and making alcoholic beverages in Jessore, Kushtia and Nadia areas. Davidson & Co (later incorporated as Davidsons Ltd), became the forerunner of Carew & Co under the Pakistan government. After the Independence of Bangladesh, the government of Bangladesh later nationalized the distillery at Darsana in 1973 which is currently known as Carew & Co. (Bangladesh) Ltd.

The Ezekiel & Co, building is over 140 years old. It carries the identity and heritage of a Jewish people who once lived in Chittagong.

The building was reported to be recently demolished, but several individuals from Chittagong have claimed the building is still standing.

Meanwhile, this message from Mrs. Jo Cohen provides more history:

“I found the article on the family very interesting. I had not heard about them before, but this seems to explain Shalva Weil’s assumption that my husband’s family, the Cohens of Rajshahi, sold liquor. She must have confused the two. The Cohens sold bicycles and also repaired bicycles and motorcycles, and sold spare parts and household goods like paraffin lamps and Primus stoves.

My father, Philippe E. Orian, was employed by Carew & Company after WWII to run the sugar factory at Darsana, just over the border of what was then East Pakistan. He set up the distillery and pharmaceutical works. I lived in Darsana as a very small child, and one of my earliest memories is being rushed out of the house by my parents late one night when there was quite a severe earthquake.

We had a big white two storied house with a wide verandah, and a big garden. I remember gul mohur trees, hibiscus, jasmine and plumeria, golden Orioles building their nests in the palm trees beside the lawn, jackfruit, guavas, and huge papayas. Papa was fond of hunting, and I had a small coat made from the skin of hares that he had shot.

We had to come to Calcutta for any shopping, travelling by train. I still remember the green imitation leather that covered the seats, the smell of the smoke from the coal-fired engine and the grit that would get into my eyes, the dip and swoop of the electric wires on poles beside the tracks, and the way we would rush to have a bath when we arrived! I must have been six or seven years old when we left Darsana, and though I visited Bangladesh with my husband, I have never been back. Childhood memories and a good deal of nostalgia are all that remain”.

This video was received that seems to show the building is still standing, but its future fate is unknown:

Resources, Videos

VIDEO: The Lone Caretaker Of Kochi’s Centuries Old Jewish Synagogue

Video

Watch how one man independently maintains and preserves an important part of Jewish history in Kochi, located in the state of Kerala in India.

Cochin Jews, also called Malabar Jews, are the oldest group of Jews in India, with possible roots claimed to date to the time of King Solomon.

They were in Kerala for more than 2000 years. After the formation of Israel in 1948, around 2500 members of the Cochin Jews migrated to Israel

Today there are 27 Jews remaining in Cochin.

The diaspora from Cochin are a community with more than 4000 members in Israel today.

Past Events

Finding Judaism Across Africa and Central America, Intersections with Sephardi and Mizrahi Culture and Practice – March 12, 2023

Finding Judaism Across Africa and Central America, Intersections with Sephardi and Mizrahi Culture and Practice

IN PERSON and ONLINE!
Sunday, March 12 from 10 am – 4 pm EST
Center for Jewish History, 15 W 16th St, New York, NY 10011

Communities across Africa and Central America are returning to their Jewish roots or finding Judaism. They are seeking out religion and a connection to the larger Jewish world, many with a view towards their own Sephardi ancestry and others through an affinity for the Sephardi rites. 

Representatives of these communities, documentarians, and activists will come together to share their experiences and the unique interactions of these communities and the greater Sephardi world traditions. 

Featuring 

  • Professor Tudor Parfitt, distinguished professor at Florida International University, world-renowned scholar and historian of Lost Tribes. Featured on the History channel, BBC, and PBS.
  • Professor Shalva Weil, senior researcher at Hebrew University, world-renowned scholar on Indian Jews, Ethiopian Jews, Lost Tribes, and femicide. 
  • Joseph F. Lovett, producer, director, and writer. Director of Children of the Inquisition, 2019.
  • Jator Abido (Yatov ben Yisrael), Jewish Nigerian Prince, representative to the Sub Sahara Africa Jewish alliance, and civil engineer 
  • Patricio Serno, filmmaker and co-founder of Casa Tova, Mexico
  • Bonita Sussman, President of Kulanu, world traveler, author, and photographer
  • Genie Milgrom, world-renowned genealogist, Crypto-Jewish advocate, and author
  • Dr. Drora Arussy, Senior Director, ASF Institute of Jewish Experience
  • and more!

Register today!

To attend in person in New York City with lunch, the cost is $36.

To attend virtually on zoom, the cost is $15.

Past Events, Videos

VIDEO: Kulanu Canada and Kulanu US present “The Past and Current Story of the Jews of Indonesia”

March 2 – 2023

On March 2, 2023, special guest Yaakov Baruch, Leader of the Indonesian Jewish Community presented as fascinting history of the Jews in Indonesia. Yaakov Baruch was born in Jakarta, the capital of Indonesia, and grew up in Manado. He learned of his maternal Jewish mother’s background while a youth, and began to research his Dutch Jewish roots while in college. Yaakov visited Jewish communities in Singapore and Israel, Europe and America and then chose more in-depth study of Judaism.

In 2000, Yaakov established a synagogue community in Manado and inaugurated the synagogue in 2004, which was attended by Israel TV Channel 10. While there were Jews in Indonesia with Iraqi and Dutch roots, those communities which had existed in other parts of the country no longer exist. In 2019, the Tondano community decided to change its Synagogue “minhag” to that of the Western Sephardic or Spanish and Portuguese Jewish communities. The Shaar Hashamayim Synagogue was consecrated in 2022.