In 1763, Comte d’Estaing captured Grenada for the French. Until his arrival, Jewish existence was tolerable and a semi-legal way was found to permit Jewish residence despite the “Black Code”.  He levied severe taxes and wanted to make the Jews responsible for supplying water, ships and other utilities at their own expense.

David Laurence Friedman, known by many as Mott Green, was not new to Grenada when he decided to move permanently to the island. As a boy, Mott was a frequent visitor to Grenada as his father, the director of medical services at Coney Island Hospital in New York, taught on the island each winter, often bringing his family along.

He eventually relocated to Grenada from Oregon and founded the Grenada Chocolate Company in 1999. He achieved the first ever sustainable, ethical chocolate operation that brought the tasty treat from the tree directly to the consumer.

The Grenadian government was overthrown in 1983, as part of a military coup and Communist elements seized control, President Ronald Reagan initiated Operation Urgent Fury, where the U.S. Armed Forces entered Grenada, in part to protect the lives of the American medical students at St. George’s.

There are roughly 500 Jewish medical students at Grenada’s St. George Medical School. Another two dozen Jewish families live in the area, mostly relocated professionals and university personnel.