A Refuge Found: Tracing My Family’s Journey from Luxembourg to Havana and Beyond

A few months ago, I was invited by the JDC Archives to attend a screening of Cuba’s Forgotten Jewels: A Haven in Havana, a compelling documentary that unveils a little-known chapter of WWII history. The film chronicles the journey of Jewish refugees who escaped Nazi-occupied Europe and found a safe haven in Havana, Cuba. Among them were skilled Jewish diamond cutters who transformed the tropical island into an unexpected diamond-polishing center, contributing to a flourishing industry in their new sanctuary. Through these artisans’ resilience, Havana became both a refuge and a vibrant community for Jewish émigrés amidst a time of darkness and upheaval.

This film held special significance for me, as both my father, Moses Koch, and my uncle, René Nussbaum, were refugees working in the diamond industry in Havana during the mid-1940s. After Nazi Germany invaded Luxembourg in 1940, my mother, Margaret Koch, along with my father and uncle, escaped, beginning a harrowing journey that eventually brought them to Havana. Their journey first took them to Lisbon, Portugal, where they spent a year and a half before continuing on to Cuba, where they awaited entry into the United States. After spending four and a half years in Havana, they finally made their way to New York.

Following the film, I reached out to the JDC Archives to request an article about Jewish diamond polishers that the director, Judith Kreith, had mentioned. In my communication, I noted that another uncle, Albert Nussbaum, had been actively involved with the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (JDC) in Luxembourg and Lisbon before and during WWII. As President of the Jewish Consistory of Luxembourg, Albert played a crucial role in coordinating the emigration of Jewish residents after the German occupation. Later, in Lisbon, he became the Director of the JDC’s Transmigration Bureau, where he worked tirelessly to facilitate Jewish emigration from Europe. He eventually left Lisbon in 1942, relocating to the Dominican Republic before settling in the United States.

While I had previously located material about my uncle’s work with the JDC, the JDC Archives shared documents with me that I had not seen before, including letters he wrote from Lisbon to the JDC, requesting financial assistance for refugees awaiting escape from Europe. These letters offered detailed insights into the refugee situation there.

I also explored the Archives’ database to learn more about my parents’ journey and discovered surprising details: the ship they traveled on from Lisbon to Havana was not the one I had thought, and the departure date was different as well. After years of tracing my family’s journey through the war, this new information was both unexpected and invaluable, revealing a wealth of insights not only about my uncle but also about my parents.

Now, as a board member of Gesher Galicia—a nonprofit dedicated to Jewish genealogical and historical research on Galicia, a former province of Austria-Hungary now divided between southeastern Poland and western Ukraine—I am beginning to “mine” the JDC Archives for records related to this region. I hope to uncover material that may not be preserved in Polish or Ukrainian archival records.

The JDC Archives, with its vast collection of documents from countries worldwide—including Cuba, Luxembourg, Portugal, Poland, and Ukraine—serves as an invaluable resource for genealogists tracing family histories across borders. For those exploring Jewish heritage and migration, it offers unparalleled insights into the journeys of families navigating the upheavals of the 20th century.