"There are Jews in Cuba?"

People ask Dr. Joseph Shuman this question innocently enough when they find out he's from Cuba, but few are prepared for his dramatic story.

It begins with his mother and father fleeing Eastern Europe. Both witnessed horrifying pogroms-violent riots in which Jews were murdered and their homes and businesses destroyed. To escape the terror, they emigrated in the 1920s, landing in Cuba, which had fewer immigration restrictions than the United States.

Many immigrants stayed only as long as they had to before heading to the United States. Shuman's...