Sosua

Sosua is a small town in the Puerto Plata province of the Dominican Republic. Located approximately 4 miles (6.4 km) from the Puerto Plata International Airport, the town is accessed primarily by Camino Cinco, or Highway 5, which runs much of the length of the country's North coastline. The town is divided into three sectors El Batey, which is the main section where most tourists visit, Sosua Abajo, and Los Charamicos. At the 1938 Evian Conference Rafael Trujillo offered to accept up to 100,000 Jewish refugees; about 800 German and Austrian Jewish refugees received visas by the Dominican government between 1940 and 1945 and settled in Sosua. The government provided them with land and resources with which they created a dairy and cheese factory, named Productos Sosua, still in existence today. Descendants of the original settlers still live in Sosua, where they maintain a synagogue and a museum. The town was little known until tourism took off in the island in the mid 80's. Sosua Abajo, which translates roughly to "Lower Sosua", is located on the western side of Sosua in a valley nearby a river that flows into Sosua Bay. Mainly a rural area of Sosua, Sosua Abajo houses many of the workers who commute to the El Batey area, nearby Cabarete Bay and Playa Dorada.