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Nearly two months after devastating earthquakes tore through Venezuela, more than 100 Jewish households are still waiting for repairs to their homes.
Three members of the country’s Jewish community were killed after the earthquakes struck on 24 June and at least 15 Jewish families lost their homes. Many others were displaced after apartments were left too badly damaged to live in.
Now, new accounts from survivors reveal the lasting impact of the disaster on Venezuela’s Jewish population – a community of just 4,000 people – and how neighbours have taken each other in while families wait to go home.
Among them is 59-year-old English teacher Sol Bendayan De Bretto, who was with her 90-year-old father in their sixth-floor apartment in San Bernardino when the earthquake struck.
Their home suffered extensive structural damage, and the pair escaped down a staircase covered in rubble. They are now staying with friends while World Jewish Relief (WJR) and the Hebraica Jewish Community Centre work on repairs.
“The sound was horrible… there’s a building that fell down completely like half a block from here… everything was white outside, and we were very scared,” she said.
Bendayan De Bretto is used to being the person helping in an emergency. As a Hatzalah volunteer, she is normally there for others, but the experience left her struggling to process what had happened.
“I belong to Hatzalah, and I’m always there for everybody. But when this happened, I couldn’t even talk to anybody. I shut down for two weeks.”
What she wants now is to return to the ordinary life she had before the disaster.
I shut down for two weeks
“I used to stand on my balcony and feed the macaws… I would love to be able to come back to my house and have a regular life again.”
She said the support she has received from the Jewish community has been extraordinary.
“The support from our community is amazing, amazing. We help each other a lot. Thank you for your support.”
Another resident forced from her home is Berta Manzilla, a biology and chemistry professor at Maor Hatora College in Caracas.
She was taking notes at home when her phone suddenly displayed a danger warning moments before the earthquake struck.
“I was in the house at the time of the earthquake, taking notes, and my phone turned black and said, ‘Danger’. I grabbed the wallet, and my biggest concern was that the exit door would lock,” she said.
The small wallet contained her medicines and documents. She grabbed it and fled.
“I remained calm because I knew that my life depended on my way of acting. I couldn’t afford to feel fear.”
The damage made her apartment impossible to live in.
“The amount of debris did not allow one to stay. There were even walls that could fall on the beds, and this was not habitable.”
Manzilla has since been staying with members of the Jewish community while WJR and Hebraica work on repairs.
“I feel supported by the Jewish community. Thanks to the people in the community who have allowed me to be in their homes.”
For Rebecca Franco, the earthquakes struck just before what should have been a happy family occasion.
The 89-year-old was preparing to celebrate her birthday, and a cake had already been ordered. Instead, the interior walls of the apartment where she had lived for decades were destroyed, forcing her to leave.
She is now staying with her daughter while engineers assess the damage.
Her daughter recalled: “We had already ordered the cake so that they would sing her happy birthday on Thursday, a day after the earthquake… she was very happy that she was going to celebrate it.”
The three survivors are among more than 100 Jewish households still requiring repairs, according to an update this week from the Hebraica Jewish Community Centre.
Their stories were gathered during a recent visit to Venezuela’s Jewish community by World Jewish Relief, which is working with Hebraica to help displaced residents to return home.
The disaster hit a community already a fraction of its former size. Venezuela was once home to around 40,000 Jews, but years of political and economic instability prompted many to leave. Today, around 4,000 remain.
San Bernardino, where many Jewish residents live, was particularly badly affected.
James Silverman, WJR’s head of humanitarian programmes, recently visited Venezuela to assess the damage and the continuing needs on the ground.
“It was much larger than I had anticipated, and it was much more severe than I had anticipated,” he said.
But while the Jewish community was dealing with damage to its own homes and the loss of three of its members, it also became part of the wider relief effort.
Hebraica says it opened its doors to around 1,500 people from within and beyond the Jewish community immediately after the earthquakes, providing a safe place for those who had fled damaged buildings.
Ezra Klein, director of the Hebraica Jewish Community Centre in Caracas, said the community had been able to offer immediate refuge but could not rebuild damaged homes alone.
“When a sudden crisis strikes, the Jewish community is there for each other… We were able to provide a safe haven when the earthquake first happened, but we are unable to fix people’s houses alone… When we see the help of international organisations such as World Jewish Relief, CADENA, IsraAID, Keren Hayesod and others… we feel safe.”
World Jewish Relief says it has provided aid to more than 4,000 displaced Venezuelans, including clean water systems and filters, emergency shelter, hygiene kits, solar lamps, mosquito nets and psychosocial support for children, alongside repairs to damaged homes.
The Jewish community is there for each other
“The needs are constantly shifting… a chronic need that has remained within the Jewish community is home repair,” Silverman said.
The needs extend far beyond the Jewish community. Nearly two months after the earthquakes, thousands of Venezuelan families remain displaced, with some still living in tents exposed to heat and mosquitoes, while thousands of homes remain uninhabitable.
Silverman warned that the effects of the disaster would continue to be felt for months.
“It is extremely severe… the needs will remain for a fairly long time.”
World Jewish Relief is continuing its emergency appeal to provide humanitarian support across Venezuela and help members of the Jewish community repair damaged homes.
To support World Jewish Relief’s earthquake response, visit the charity’s Venezuela emergency appeal.
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