The island of Sint Eustatius belongs to Caribbean Netherlands, the municipality in the Caribbean Sea that is part of the Netherlands. Between 17th and 19th centuries, island changed hands twenty-one times between the Netherlands, Britain and France, before becoming dependent solely on the former. At its peak, population on Sint Eustatius reached about 10,000 people. Most of them were merchants engaged in commercial and maritime interests. It is estimated that almost 10% of population were Jews.
In 1739, Jews living in Sint Eustatius built a synagogue known as Honen Dalim. The two-story building has walls made of yellow bricks brought from the Netherlands and stones from local volcanic rock. Building attested to the wealth of the local Jewish community and expressed their influence on the island. Both the Sephardic Jews and the Jews of Ashkenazi used the synagogue. Another place that reminds of the former Jewish presence on the island is the Old Jewish Cemetery where the oldest tomb stone dates back to 1742.
