The capital and largest city of Mozambique, situated in the extreme south of the country and facing the Indian Ocean. Most of the Jews lived in Lourenco Marques [Maputo] since settlement at the turn of the century by South African Jewish refugees exiled by President Kruger's government for their pro-British activities. In 1926 a synagogue was consecrated in Lourenco Marques.
Maputo Synagogue. [January 2004] 27 June 2013 The Jewish community of Maputo, Mozambique, in southern Africa, recently gathered in the city's historic synagogue to celebrate the return of the congregation's Sefer Torah/ [December 2013]
Cemiterjo Comunal Israelita : Avenida Latino Coelho. (1880 or 1848?] -1960). Cleaned up and well maintained since 1996 [?] through donations of the interested Jewish residents, this cemetery has some entirely Portuguese names reflecting Mozambique's status as a Portuguese colony until 1975. The majority of the estimated 150 or so names are "English" or "East European" names, not Portuguese. Many must have been South African Jews (generally immigrants from Lithuania to South Africa from about 1880-1940) who settled in Laurenco Marques rather than South Africa itself. Years of death ranged from about 1880 to 1960 or so. Source: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it., Washington, D.C. Sixty-four markers, dating 1901 to 1965, have clear names and death years , except for two that show neither words nor letters. Of those two, one is illegible, the other broken in small pieces. Source: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. [February 2002]
Cemetery or synagogue contact is This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. FAX: 27-11-8802962. (Supplied by Mausenbaum, FAX: 2121 27282226292621.) This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..
1975 Mozambican independence saw the departure of the Jewish community. The cemetery's avenue of frangipani and a towering mango tree fell into disrepair and was vandalized. The synagogue became a warehouse. In 1989, a local non-Jewish businessman organized a campaign to return the synagogue to the few Jews left in the country. Restoration work began. (Mozambique's haroset is based on local cashews.) The community met on Sunday mornings since 1992 to remove tons of trash from the cemetery, plant new trees, and build walls. Source: [September 2002]