History of the Jews in Puerto Rico Very few American Jews settled in Puerto Rico after it was ceded by Spain to the United States under the terms of the 1898 Treaty of Paris, which ended the Spanish–American War. The first large group of Jews to settle in Puerto Rico were refugees fleeing German–occupied Europe in the 1930s and 1940s. The second influx came in the 1950s, when thousands of Cuban Jews (most of Eastern-European descent) fled after Fidel Castro came to power. The majority immigrated to Miami, Florida, but a sizable portion chose to establish and integrate themselves on the neighboring island because of Puerto Rico's
Military history of Puerto Rico the first American undersea spy missions of the cold war. The mission was cut short when one the "Cochino"s 4,000-pound batteries caught fire. Commander Benitez directed the firefighting, trying both to save the ship and his crew from the toxic gases. The crew members of the "Tusk" rescued all except one "Cochino" crew member and convinced Commander Benitez, who was the last man on the "Cochino", to board the "Tusk". The "Cochino" sank off the coast of Norway two minutes after Benitez's departure. Benitez retired as a rear admiral from the Navy in 1957. Sixty-one thousand Puerto Ricans served in