Reflections
Jewish Argentina
Argentina, South America – a name symbolic as a haven for countless Jewish refugees escaping persecution the world over; whether from the dreaded Inquisition in Spain or the fierce pogroms in Russia and Poland, here was a place they could rest their weary souls
Motty Meringer 31/07/2009 09:00
Evidence of the very first Jewish presence in Argentina is obscured behind the mists of time; there are no existing records as to the identity of the first Jewish settlers. It is historically assumed that the first Jews in Argentina were those escaping to American shores from the Spanish Inquisition, whilst it was only during the 19th Century that the Jewish presence significantly increased – mostly due to the influx of refugees from war-torn Europe. The most significant factor leading to the development of the Jewish community was by far the establishment of the organization ‘Yaka’, by Baron Morris Hirsch.
Baron Morris Hirsch was a man of considerable wealth and prestige in Europe. He inherited vast holdings from his father and grandfather before him, both prominent bankers, and he himself owned a lucrative railroad company that was instrumental in connecting Europe to the adjacent Ottoman Empire. From his bountiful assets he donated generously and benevolently to his European brethren who suffered endlessly at the hands of their Christian neighbours. Attempting to assist the communities in Russia and Galicia he offered an enormous sum of two million pounds to the Russian government, with the request that they establish government funded schools in the towns where Jews resided. The government agreed in principle, but refused to allow the Baron’s own emissaries to oversee the project. After the fiasco with the Russian project, the Baron decided to establish his own organisation - ‘Yaka’ (acronym for ‘Organisation for the Settlement of Jews’) - which would allow him to realise his lofty ambitions. In the year 5651 (1891) the fund was established with the initial sum of two million pounds sterling, and a year later he added a further staggering seven million pounds.
The primary activities of Yaka centred on encouraging Russian and Eastern European Jews to relocate to American shores, particularly Argentina. The goal of the organization was the settlement of Jews on agricultural projects in Argentina where they would be able to support themselves respectably. Within a span of five years, over twenty thousand Jews uprooted themselves from Poland, Galicia and Russia and settled in Argentina. As a direct result of this initial influx of Jews, the Jewish community in Argentina expanded rapidly for decades afterwards - and at its prime numbered over half a million Jews.
The first settlement in Argentina to merit Baron Hirsch’s support was the agricultural project ‘Mosesville’, a village founded by Russian refugees approximately two years before the establishment of the Yaka fund. At its zenith, thousands of Jews lived in this small town and many synagogues and Jewish institutions served the community. The town grew steadily and eventually earned the title ‘Jerusalem of Argentina’.
The Jews who had fled to this distant land in their quest to evade the waves of anti- Semitism engulfing Europe, were at times forced to absorb their own share of this selfsame ancient hatred – ‘Esav hates Yaakov’. Of particular note was the violent pogrom in the year 5679 (1919), which caused untold damage to Jewish property. However aside from sporadic incidents here and there, the lives of the Jews in Argentina flowed smoothly along calm waters, until the onset of the Second World War.
These were the golden days of Argentinean Jewry. At that time the community numbered almost half a million Jews, and the main street in Buenos Aires spanned through the ‘Onsa’ Quarter, a neighbourhood populated mainly by Jews. Together with its neighbour the ‘Viza Crespo’ Quarter, it proudly sported the title Ghetto – not necessarily in a derogatory sense, but because of its predominantly Jewish presence. On the streets one could glimpse Hebrew letters displayed on the signs above the store-fronts, proclaiming to one and all the Jewish ownership of the business. In fact until today these neighbourhoods exude a distinctly Jewish flavour and atmosphere.
During the early years of World War II, the Argentinean Ambassador serving in Italy was a man by name of Juan Domingo Peron. He did not stay long in Europe, and when he felt the ground burning under his feet with the approaching war he left Italy and returned to Argentina. However his short stay in Europe was enough to fill him with a profound sympathy for the Fascist movement, as gleaned from Italian Fascist Benito Mussolini. Back home in Argentina, Peron progressed swiftly up the political ladder and was eventually nominated President. So it was that as the war ground to a close and the Nazi vampires scuttled to find a place to hide, Juan Peron welcomed them with open arms and provided asylum to the world’s greatest killers. According to popular opinion, the notorious Dr Joseph Mengele himself found shelter under Peron’s protective umbrella, where he lived out his years in peace and tranquillity. Juan Peron displayed his Fascist views shamelessly with his edict against Jewish immigration to Argentina; paradoxically however, he did seek to foster diplomatic relations with the fledgling Jewish State emerging at the time.
With the official establishment of the Jewish State, waves of mass immigration took place amongst the Jews of Argentina as many realised their dream of living in the Holy Land. There they established their own settlements on the hills of their beloved homeland.
In the early summer of 5720 (1960), the world was taken by storm with the news that Israeli intelligence forces had succeeded in arresting arch-murderer Adolph Eichmann on Argentinean territory. The media looked on dumbfounded as the country was exposed in its disgrace, its true colours revealed for all to see. This historic event undermined ties between Israel and Argentina, and also brought in its wake a new wave of anti-Semitic incidents.
The political climate in Argentina chilled dramatically in the spring of 5736 (1976), as a military overthrow of the government shook the country and the President was ousted from his place. The new military government ruled tyrannically for seven years, during which tens of thousands of Argentinean natives mysteriously disappeared into the unknown. It is estimated that amongst these there were over two thousand Jews who were kidnapped, their fate unknown.
Argentina made the headlines once again with a Jewish connection - on the fourteenth of Adar 1, 5752 (1992), when a bomb exploded in the teeming metropolis of Buenos Aires. The suicide bomber drove a booby-trapped vehicle laden with explosives, and detonated himself near the entrance of the Israeli Embassy. In the ensuing inferno twenty-two Israelis and seven locals were killed, over two hundred others were injured, and a considerable section of the embassy building collapsed.
Three years later - on the tenth of Av 5755 (1995), another terror attack took place against the Jewish community in Buenos Aires, the target this time being the Jewish Community Center. The bomber attacked from inside a car laden with over half a ton of explosives, and the detonation caused the entire front of the building to collapse, leaving a deep crater in its place. In this horrific bloodbath eighty-five Jews were murdered, and over three hundred natives injured.
Hezbollah took credit for both attacks, declaring their loyalty to the Ayatollah rulership in Iran. In wake of these attacks the Argentinean government appealed to Interpol to issue an arrest warrant against the heads of Hezbollah and other senior personalities in Iran; however this did not rule out the fact that a significant number of local police officers could have been involved in assisting the terrorists in their sadistic plans.
These assaults on the Jewish community of Argentina struck deeply into the conscience of the people, and despite the restoration of the community building the internal scars never healed.
The continuous wave of immigration continues unabated until this day, all the more so lately due to the prevailing financial crisis that did not overlook this affluent country. Many Jewish owned banks collapsed, leaving their formerly wealthy owners penniless.
For many years the eminent Yeshiva ‘Daroma’ in Eretz Yisrael has served the South American community, welcoming those immigrants wishing to immerse themselves in the sublime sea of Torah. According to a rough estimation, there are currently a quarter-million Jews remaining in Argentina, mostly concentrated in the capital city Buenos Aires.
Baron Morris Hirsch was a man of considerable wealth and prestige in Europe. He inherited vast holdings from his father and grandfather before him, both prominent bankers, and he himself owned a lucrative railroad company that was instrumental in connecting Europe to the adjacent Ottoman Empire. From his bountiful assets he donated generously and benevolently to his European brethren who suffered endlessly at the hands of their Christian neighbours. Attempting to assist the communities in Russia and Galicia he offered an enormous sum of two million pounds to the Russian government, with the request that they establish government funded schools in the towns where Jews resided. The government agreed in principle, but refused to allow the Baron’s own emissaries to oversee the project. After the fiasco with the Russian project, the Baron decided to establish his own organisation - ‘Yaka’ (acronym for ‘Organisation for the Settlement of Jews’) - which would allow him to realise his lofty ambitions. In the year 5651 (1891) the fund was established with the initial sum of two million pounds sterling, and a year later he added a further staggering seven million pounds.
The primary activities of Yaka centred on encouraging Russian and Eastern European Jews to relocate to American shores, particularly Argentina. The goal of the organization was the settlement of Jews on agricultural projects in Argentina where they would be able to support themselves respectably. Within a span of five years, over twenty thousand Jews uprooted themselves from Poland, Galicia and Russia and settled in Argentina. As a direct result of this initial influx of Jews, the Jewish community in Argentina expanded rapidly for decades afterwards - and at its prime numbered over half a million Jews.
The first settlement in Argentina to merit Baron Hirsch’s support was the agricultural project ‘Mosesville’, a village founded by Russian refugees approximately two years before the establishment of the Yaka fund. At its zenith, thousands of Jews lived in this small town and many synagogues and Jewish institutions served the community. The town grew steadily and eventually earned the title ‘Jerusalem of Argentina’.
The Jews who had fled to this distant land in their quest to evade the waves of anti- Semitism engulfing Europe, were at times forced to absorb their own share of this selfsame ancient hatred – ‘Esav hates Yaakov’. Of particular note was the violent pogrom in the year 5679 (1919), which caused untold damage to Jewish property. However aside from sporadic incidents here and there, the lives of the Jews in Argentina flowed smoothly along calm waters, until the onset of the Second World War.
These were the golden days of Argentinean Jewry. At that time the community numbered almost half a million Jews, and the main street in Buenos Aires spanned through the ‘Onsa’ Quarter, a neighbourhood populated mainly by Jews. Together with its neighbour the ‘Viza Crespo’ Quarter, it proudly sported the title Ghetto – not necessarily in a derogatory sense, but because of its predominantly Jewish presence. On the streets one could glimpse Hebrew letters displayed on the signs above the store-fronts, proclaiming to one and all the Jewish ownership of the business. In fact until today these neighbourhoods exude a distinctly Jewish flavour and atmosphere.
During the early years of World War II, the Argentinean Ambassador serving in Italy was a man by name of Juan Domingo Peron. He did not stay long in Europe, and when he felt the ground burning under his feet with the approaching war he left Italy and returned to Argentina. However his short stay in Europe was enough to fill him with a profound sympathy for the Fascist movement, as gleaned from Italian Fascist Benito Mussolini. Back home in Argentina, Peron progressed swiftly up the political ladder and was eventually nominated President. So it was that as the war ground to a close and the Nazi vampires scuttled to find a place to hide, Juan Peron welcomed them with open arms and provided asylum to the world’s greatest killers. According to popular opinion, the notorious Dr Joseph Mengele himself found shelter under Peron’s protective umbrella, where he lived out his years in peace and tranquillity. Juan Peron displayed his Fascist views shamelessly with his edict against Jewish immigration to Argentina; paradoxically however, he did seek to foster diplomatic relations with the fledgling Jewish State emerging at the time.
With the official establishment of the Jewish State, waves of mass immigration took place amongst the Jews of Argentina as many realised their dream of living in the Holy Land. There they established their own settlements on the hills of their beloved homeland.
In the early summer of 5720 (1960), the world was taken by storm with the news that Israeli intelligence forces had succeeded in arresting arch-murderer Adolph Eichmann on Argentinean territory. The media looked on dumbfounded as the country was exposed in its disgrace, its true colours revealed for all to see. This historic event undermined ties between Israel and Argentina, and also brought in its wake a new wave of anti-Semitic incidents.
The political climate in Argentina chilled dramatically in the spring of 5736 (1976), as a military overthrow of the government shook the country and the President was ousted from his place. The new military government ruled tyrannically for seven years, during which tens of thousands of Argentinean natives mysteriously disappeared into the unknown. It is estimated that amongst these there were over two thousand Jews who were kidnapped, their fate unknown.
Argentina made the headlines once again with a Jewish connection - on the fourteenth of Adar 1, 5752 (1992), when a bomb exploded in the teeming metropolis of Buenos Aires. The suicide bomber drove a booby-trapped vehicle laden with explosives, and detonated himself near the entrance of the Israeli Embassy. In the ensuing inferno twenty-two Israelis and seven locals were killed, over two hundred others were injured, and a considerable section of the embassy building collapsed.
Three years later - on the tenth of Av 5755 (1995), another terror attack took place against the Jewish community in Buenos Aires, the target this time being the Jewish Community Center. The bomber attacked from inside a car laden with over half a ton of explosives, and the detonation caused the entire front of the building to collapse, leaving a deep crater in its place. In this horrific bloodbath eighty-five Jews were murdered, and over three hundred natives injured.
Hezbollah took credit for both attacks, declaring their loyalty to the Ayatollah rulership in Iran. In wake of these attacks the Argentinean government appealed to Interpol to issue an arrest warrant against the heads of Hezbollah and other senior personalities in Iran; however this did not rule out the fact that a significant number of local police officers could have been involved in assisting the terrorists in their sadistic plans.
These assaults on the Jewish community of Argentina struck deeply into the conscience of the people, and despite the restoration of the community building the internal scars never healed.
The continuous wave of immigration continues unabated until this day, all the more so lately due to the prevailing financial crisis that did not overlook this affluent country. Many Jewish owned banks collapsed, leaving their formerly wealthy owners penniless.
For many years the eminent Yeshiva ‘Daroma’ in Eretz Yisrael has served the South American community, welcoming those immigrants wishing to immerse themselves in the sublime sea of Torah. According to a rough estimation, there are currently a quarter-million Jews remaining in Argentina, mostly concentrated in the capital city Buenos Aires.
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The Ancient Community of Bratislava – Pressburg ‘Spiritual capital of Hungary’: the beautiful city of Bratislava, better known by its name ‘Pressburg’. In this ancient Jewish community many renowned Torah personalities lived and lead their people, and its famous Yeshiva drew thousands of students from all corners of Europe
The Jews of Persia – Iran The origins of Iranian-Persian Jewry are rooted deep in the past, going back to the time of the exile of the Ten Tribes during the Bayis Rishon period. From then and until the present day, the Jewish community of Iran has been a continual presence in that country, numbering at the peak of its prosperity close to a quarter of a million souls.