Four years ago, researcher Shalva Weil reported that only two Jews remained in Jew Town, in Kochi, India - a once-thriving community that boasted around 3,000 Jewish residents at its peak in the 1950s.
According to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency, as of Sunday, one of those two survivors has passed away. Indian newspapers reported the death of Queenie Hallegua, the last Paradesi, or “foreign,” Jewish woman in Kochi, at the age of 89. Her passing leaves her nephew, Keith Hallegua, as the sole remaining Jew in the city.
Queenie Hallegua served as the warden and managing trustee of the Paradesi Synagogue, a 450-year-old historic landmark, from 2012 to 2018. Until 2011, she was also the managing partner of the S. Koder House, a boutique hotel located in a property once owned by her grandfather, Shabdai Samuel Koder.
Koder, an Iraqi immigrant who arrived in Kochi in the early 20th century, was a prominent figure who later owned the local electric company. The hotel, which Queenie sold to its current owners, continues to attract tourists.
In October 1997, Queenie and her late husband, Sammy, had the honor of hosting Queen Elizabeth and Prince Philip during their visit to the Paradesi Synagogue in the Mattancherry neighborhood.
