Trujillo, Rafael

Dictator of the Dominican Republic from 1930 until his assassination in 1961. Trujillo seized power in the military revolt against President Horacio Vásquez in 1930. Trujillo remained in absolute control of the Dominican Republic for 31 years, officially serving as president from 1930 to 1938 and again from 1942 to 1952.

Trujillo's regime was marked by authoritarian rule, political repression, and human rights abuses. Haitians living in the Dominican Republic under his regime suffered acutely, as Trujillo encouraged anti-Haitian prejudice among Dominicans and, in 1937, ordered the massacre of thousands of Haitian migrants. Despite all of this, Trujillo extended an invitation to 100,000 Jewish refugees fleeing the Holocaust in Europe at the 1938 Evian conference. He was the only world leader to concretely commit to accepting Jewish refugees. Ultimately, only some 800 Jewish refugees settled in the Dominican Republic during World War II.