the former

Gibraltar Jewish Evacuee Community

Saintfield

Co. Down, Northern Ireland

JCR-UK is a genealogical and historical website covering all Jewish communities and
congregations throughout the British Isles and Gibraltar, both past and present.

Village of Saintfield

Saintfield (Tamhnaigh Naomh in Irish, meaning 'Field of Saints'), a village in Northern Ireland with a population of just over 3,000, is situated some 15 miles south of Belfast. Since 2015, it has been part of the District of Newry, Mourne and Down and, from 1973 to 2015, it was within the former District of Down. Prior to 1973, it was in County Down, one of the six counties of Northern Ireland (which are now purely traditional counties, no longer with administrative authority).

The Jewish Community in Saintfield

Following the evacuation, primarily to London, of most of Gibraltar's civilian population during the World War II, in July 1944 thousands of these evacuees were moved from London to a number of emergency camps situated throughout Northern Ireland. One of these camps, Camp 4, at Saintfield, County Down, was known as the Jewish camp, as included some 300 Gibraltarian Jews, who established those institutions needed to maintain the community, including a synagogue.

For further details of the Jewish community at the Saintfield Camp, search 'Gibraltar' or 'Saintfield' on the Northern Ireland Jewish Heritage Map, affiliated to JCR-UK. ⁽ⁱ⁾

Congregation Data
Formation:	The synagogue in Camp 4, Saintfield, County Down, was founded by the evacuated Gibraltarian Jews in July 1944 following their move to Northern Ireland from London. Sabbath services were held in the Reflectory, a large Nissen hut used for general recreational purposes.
Closure:	The camp closed in about 1947
Ritual:	Orthodox Sephardi
Spiritual Leaders: *(To view a short profile of a leader whose name appears in blue, hold the cursor over his name.)*	Rev. Benzimra was the resident Gilbraltarian minister responsible for day to day religious services. Rabbi Jacob Shachter of Belfast was authorised by the Government to look after the religious and general welfare of the evacuees.
Cemetery:	The only Jewish cemeteries in Northern Ireland are in Belfast, where a small number of Gibraltar evacuees, who died in the camp, were interred. See Belfast Jewish Cemeteries Information on the Belfast home page. See also Gibraltar Jewish Cemeteries Information on the Gibraltar home page.
Notes & Sources (↵ returns to text above) (i) The Northern Ireland Jewish Heritage Map website and the video link from that site are the sources for all data on this page. ↵

Videos, Online Articles and Other Material
relating to the Saintfield Camp Jewish Community

on third parties' websites

'Saintfield' (article entitled "Between a Rock and a Hard place") on the Northern Ireland Jewish Heritage Map website, affiliated to JCR-UK.
A Synagogue in Saintfield: The Experience of Gibraltarian Evacuees in the Land of Milk -and Snow, Youtube video, presented by Gordon McCoy, part of History Hub Ulster series.

Jewish Communities & Congregations in Northern Ireland

World War II Evacuee Communities

Page created: 12 September 2023
Page most recently amended: 14 September 2023

Based upon research by Steven Jaffe
Formatting by David Shulman

Explanation of Terms | About JCR-UK | JCR-UK home page

Contact JCR-UK Webmaster:
jcr-ukwebmaster@jgsgb.org.uk

Terms and Conditions, Licenses and Restrictions for the use of this website:

This website is owned by JewishGen and the Jewish Genealogical Society of Great Britain. All material found herein is owned by or licensed to us. You may view, download, and print material from this site only for your own personal use. You may not post material from this site on another website without our consent. You may not transmit or distribute material from this website to others. You may not use this website or information found at this site for any commercial purpose.