Haitian Parsley Massacre Overview

The Haitian Parsley Massacre, also known as the 1937 Parsley Massacre or the Haitian Massacre, was a mass killing carried out by the Dominican Army under the orders of Dominican dictator Rafael Trujillo in early October 1937.

On October 2, 1937, thousands of Haitian civilians living near the border were systematically executed over a period of several days. The massacre occurred primarily in the border region between the Dominican Republic and Haiti, particularly in the towns of Dajabón and surrounding areas.

The justification given by Trujillo's regime was to create a Dominican national identity and to purge the country of Haitian immigrants and people of Haitian descent. The massacre derived its name from the method soldiers used to differentiate Haitians; they asked suspects to pronounce the Spanish word "perejil" (parsley). Those who mispronounced the word were identified as Haitian and killed.

Estimates of the death toll vary, but it is believed that between 15,000 and 30,000 Haitian men, women, and children were killed during the massacre.

The event significantly strained relations between Haiti and the Dominican Republic and remains a critical point of historical trauma and diplomatic tension between the two countries.