Jews in Argentina

The history of the Jews in Argentina goes back to the early sixteenth century, following the Jewish expulsion from Spain. Sephardi Jews fleeing persecution immigrated with explorers and colonists to settle in what is now Argentina, in spite of being forbidden from travelling to the American colonies. In addition, many of the Portuguese traders in the Viceroyalty of the Río de la Plata were Jewish. An organized Jewish community, however, did not develop until after Argentina gained independence from Spain in 1816. By mid-century, Jews from France and other parts of Western Europe, fleeing the social and economic disruptions of revolutions, began to settle in Argentina.

Reflecting the composition of the later immigration waves, the current Jewish population is 80% Ashkenazi; while Sephardi and Mizrahi are a minority. Argentina has the largest Jewish population of any country in Latin America, although numerous Jews left during the 1970s and 1980s to escape the repression of the military ''junta'', emigrating to Israel, West Europe (especially Spain), and North America.

The Jewish population in Argentina is the largest in Latin America, the third largest in the Americas, and the world's seventh largest outside Israel.

During a major emigration wave in the 2000s, more than 10,000 Argentine Jews settled in Israel.

History

Early years

Some Spanish conversos, or secret Jews, settled in Argentina during the Spanish colonial period (16th–19th century), had assimilated into the Argentine population. After Argentina gained independence, the General Assembly of 1813 officially abolished the Inquisition. The second wave of Jewish immigration from Europe began in the mid-19th century, during revolutions and extensive social disruption. Much of the Great European immigration wave to Argentina came from Western Europe, especially Italy.

In 1860, the first Jewish wedding was recorded in Buenos Aires. A minyan was organized for High Holiday services a few years later, leading to the establishment of the Congregación Israelita de la República.

Agricultural settlement

In the late 19th century, Ashkenazi immigrants fleeing poverty and pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe settled in Argentina, attracted by its open-door immigration policy. These Jews became known as ''rusos'', "Russians". In 1889, a group of 824 Russian Jews arrived in Argentina on the '' S.S. Weser'' and became gauchos (Argentine cowboys). They bought land and established a colony named Moises ville. In dire economic straits, they appealed to the German Jewish philanthropist Baron Maurice de Hirsch, who founded the Jewish Colonization Association. In its heyday, the Association owned more than 600,000 hectares of land. Between 1906 and 1912, some 13,000 Jews immigrated to Argentina every year, mostly from Europe, but also from Morocco and the Ottoman Empire. By 1920, more than 150,000 Jews were living in Argentina.

After the death of his son and heir, de Hirsch devoted himself to Jewish philanthropy and alleviating Jewish suffering in Eastern Europe. He developed a plan to bring Jews to Argentina as autonomous agricultural settlers. This meshed with Argentina's campaign to attract immigrants. The 1853 constitution guaranteed religious freedom, and the country had vast, unpopulated land reserves. Under President Domingo F. Sarmiento, a policy of mass immigration was encouraged; it provided relief to refugees fleeing the violent pogroms in the Russian Empire in 1881.

Jewish agricultural settlements were established in the provinces of Buenos Aires (Lapin, Rivera), Entre Ríos (San Gregorio, Villa Domínguez, Carmel, Ingeniero Sajaroff, Villa Clara, and Villaguay), and Santa Fe (Moisés Ville). The national census of 1895 recorded that, of the 6,085 people who identified as Jewish, 3,880 (about 64%) lived in Entre Ríos.

Despite antisemitism and increasing xenophobia, Jews became involved in most sectors of Argentine society. Many settled in cities, especially Buenos Aires. As they were prohibited from positions in the government or military, many became farmers, peddlers, artisans, and shopkeepers.

20th century

World War II and antisemitism

Argentina kept its doors open to Jewish immigration until 1938, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazis in Germany began to take more actions against Jews, and tensions rose across Europe in preparation for war. The government imposed new regulations on immigration; it was severely curtailed at a time of increasing persecution of Jews and the outbreak of World War II, when Jews sought a safe haven from the Nazis. Six million Jews died in Europe during the Holocaust.

Juan Domingo Perón's rise to power in 1946 in Argentina after the war worried many Jews in the country. As Minister of War, he had signed Argentina's declaration of war against the Axis Powers, but as a nationalist, he had earlier expressed sympathy for them. He was known to admire the Italian Fascist leader, Benito Mussolini. Perón introduced Catholic religious instruction in Argentine public schools; he allowed Nazis fleeing prosecution in Germany to immigrate to the country. Perón also expressed sympathy for Jewish rights and in 1949 established diplomatic relations with Israel. Perón's government was the first in Argentina to allow Jewish citizens to hold office.

Among the most notable Nazis who immigrated to Argentina was Adolf Eichmann

HOME


Content is Copyleft
Website design, code, and AI is Copyrighted (c) 2014-2017 by Stephen Payne


Consider donating to Wikimedia



As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases