Memorias Cubanas 3 : Dean Esther Levine

As told by Sarah Guidi, Erin Murphy and Caitrin O’Sullivan

     Between 1960 and 1962, about 14,000 Cuban children were sent to the United States out of fear of the new Castro regime. Fidel Castro had made announcements that children would be sent to Russia to be indoctrinated, or sent away to teach illiterate Cubans. Most parents were desperate to save their children from this fate, and religious organizations across the world quickly responded to help remove children from Cuba. This movement came to be known as Operación Pedro Pan (Operation Peter Pan). When Esther Levine (née Levis) was eleven years old, she left Cuba through this movement and became part of Cuban history.

     Esther Levis’s story began even before she was born. Her ancestors came from a line of Jews that were expelled from Spain during the Spanish Inquisition in the late fifteenth century. They found refuge in Turkey where they lived within a tightly knit Sephardic Jewish community speaking a derivation of the Spanish language called ladino. Her parents, who were born in Turkey, moved to Cuba with their respective families when they were young children. Speaking ladino helped them adapt quickly to the new culture and the slightly different version of Spanish spoken in Cuba. They loved their new home and quickly adopted it as their own. Esther’s parents eventually met, married and had four girls, Esther being the youngest.

     When Esther recalls her childhood in Cuba she describes it as ordinary and happy. What most stands out in her mind was the togetherness of her extended family. While most people wouldn’t associate Cuba with the Jewish religion, Esther and her family belonged to a community of about 15,000 Jews. She remembers practicing her faith in an open and integrated environment that was free of prejudice. Her life changed dramatically in March of 1961. Fearing Castro’s plans for Cuban children, Esther’s parents decided that she would leave Cuba for the United States.

     While Esther doesn’t remember the details of the day that she left, she recalls the preparation in the days before her departure. She left with her older sister who was sixteen at the time, who also doesn’t remember that day. When the sisters reflect on it now, they believe they have blocked out details of the day because of the extreme pain it caused. They escaped Cuba with the help of a Jewish network whose goal was to help relocate Jewish Cuban children. Organizations of other religious denominations aided children of their respective religions. Esther and her sister left Cuba on a plane full of children destined for Curacao, an island off the coast of Venezuela. There, the children were temporarily placed with Jewish families while their paperwork was being prepared so that they could fly to Miami. Esther and her sister stayed in Curaçao for two weeks before they flew to Miami and settled more permanently with another Jewish family. The girls were immediately enrolled in school despite not speaking a word of English. Every high school student knows how hard it is to study Shakespeare, so imagine how hard it must have been for Esther’s sixteen-year-old sister, who did not speak a word of English. Meanwhile, Esther was experiencing her own difficulties. Convinced that her parents would come any day to bring her back to Cuba, she didn’t see the point in learning English. Since the family she was staying with didn’t speak any Spanish, she refused to speak altogether for a period of time.

     Esther and her sister spent six months in Miami before their parents arrived and moved them to Providence where they ultimately settled. Esther's father was sixty-one and her mother fifty-one when they came to the United States, and they found it hard to adjust to life there. They had led a comfortable life in Cuba, but had very little money when they moved to Providence. Despite facing hard times in the U.S., Esther remembers her parents as proud people who didn’t let the difficulties of their life here ruin their spirit. Learning English was especially difficult for her parents. Esther, on the other hand, did what she had to in order to learn English. Since English as a Second Language (ESL) programs did not exist while she was in school, she learned the language on her own. Compared to her older sisters and parents, she was at a good age to learn English. Her Cuban roots made her feel different enough from the children in her environment that she was determined to speak English well, without an accent.

     Because her parents struggled financially, Esther had to rely on her own intelligence and dedication to get to college. She received a full scholarship to Brown University where she excelled in her studies. She went on to become a Spanish professor and Assistant Dean at the College of the Holy Cross. Since she was a little girl, she had aspired to be a teacher; therefore she finds her roles as professor and advisor very fulfilling. When questioned about how her Cuban ethnicity has influenced her profession today, she replied simply, “I think that’s clear.”

     As a Spanish professor at Holy Cross, Dean Levine’s roots have definitely played a large role in her career. Clearly, she speaks Spanish in her classroom as well as with her family, students, and other Cubans that she knows or meets. When she meets Cubans, she notes a “special bond” that exists between them, and they often automatically start speaking Spanish. They can identify with the exile experience without talking about it, which allows them to skip over the polite conversation in order to talk on a deeper, more meaningful level.

     Dean Levine stresses the importance and the freedom of being impossible to label. She notes that she is not easily recognizable as Cuban and thinks it’s good for people to not fall victim to stereotyping. Dean Levine identifies herself as Cuban, American, Cuban-American, and Jewish. Depending on the situation, she relates more strongly with one or more of these aspects of her character. She is a U.S. citizen but believes that her soul is Cuban, although her Jewish faith is a large part of her identity. Her rich heritage prevents her from fitting neatly into one category or ethnic group.

     Most people believed that Castro’s reign in Cuba would end shortly after it began. Cubans who left for the United States swore they would not return to Cuba until after he died. However, as the years went by and Castro remained firmly in power, their hope diminished and some, like Esther Levine, decided to return anyway. Upon her return, Dean Levine was able to visit her old house and school. Much of what she saw was the same, but in poor condition. Many of the buildings were run-down and the roads were badly maintained. The dilapidated buildings contrasted sharply with the extravagant hotels that were placed among them, further emphasizing the inequality of wealth that currently exists in Cuba. The trip validated many memories for Dean Levine; she needed to see that the images in her memory and her life in Cuba had really happened.

     Dean Levine no longer wishes to return to Cuba to live; her life now is here, in the United States, with her family. She says when Castro dies, and if things improve, she would consider buying a condo on the beach; but all she can do is wait along with everyone else to see what becomes of Cuba. What is to become of Cuba when Castro dies? Dean Levine is uncertain, but comments that Fidel’s brother does not have the same charisma as Fidel. Whatever happens, she knows that Cubans in Cuba won't want the Cubans in Miami making the decisions for them. Dean Levine says that Cubans have not lost their incredible spirit and continue being the welcoming and lively people they have always been. Despite their difficult situation, Cubans do what they can with what they have, just as Dean Levine, her family, and many others did upon arrival in the United States.