Jews and Pirates: Were We the ‘Brains Behind Their Brawn’?
Graphic by Angelie Zaslavsky
The discovery of an ancient cemetery in Jamaica has stirred speculation that Jews used to take part in piracy.
Several Jewish graves were found outside Kingston last week, some of them marked with the skull and crossbones, Yediot Achronot reported Thursday. The classic symbol of piracy suggests there were Jews involved in the notorious trade.
Historians are investigating the find, but one expert who is descended from Jamaica’s 500-year-old Jewish community appears to have made up his mind.
“The major role of Jews and pirates was we were like the brains behind their brawn, i.e. We advised and backed them,” Ed Kritzler wrote on the Web site of the United Congregation of Israelites in Jamaica.
“Jewish merchants, in coded correspondence with converso merchants in the Spanish colonies, were able to ascertain what ship was sailing when, its cargo, route, destination, and what its captain may have secreted in his cabin. Thus informed, they financed and advised the buccaneers, and got first dibs on the booty.”
Arr!
UPDATE: It turns out that Jewish pirates are not only a thing of the past.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
