History of the Jews in Latin America

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For a list of individuals of Jewish origin by country in Latin America, see List of Latin American Jews.

The history of the Jews in the Americas dates back to Christopher Columbus and his first cross-Atlantic voyage on August 3, 1492, when he left Spain and eventually "discovered" the New World. His date of departure was also the day on which the Catholic Monarchs Isabella I of Castile and Ferdinand II of Aragon decreed that the Jews of Spain either had to convert to Catholicism, depart from the country, or face death for defiance of the Monarch.

There were at least seven Jews (either crypto-Jews, Marranos, or sincere Jewish converts to Catholicism) who sailed with Columbus in his first voyage including Rodrigo de Triana, who was the first to sight land (Columbus later assumed credit for this), Maestre Bernal, who served as the expedition's physician, and Luis De Torres, the interpreter, who spoke Hebrew and Arabic, which it was believed would be useful in the Orient - their intended destination.

In the coming years, Jews settled in the new Spanish and Portuguese colonies in the Caribbean, where they believed that they would be safe from the Inquisition. Some took part in the conquest of the "New World," and Bernal Díaz del Castillo describes a number of executions of soldiers in Hernán Cortés's forces during the conquest of Mexico because they were Jews.

By the mid-seventeenth century, the largest Jewish communities in the Western Hemisphere were located in Suriname and Brazil.

Nevertheless, several Jewish communities in the Caribbean, Central, and South America flourished, particularly in those areas under Dutch and English control. By the sixteenth century, fully functioning Jewish communities had organized in Brazil, Suriname, Curaçao, Jamaica, and Barbados. In addition, there were unorganized communities of Jews in the Spanish and Portuguese territories, where the Inquisition was active, including Cuba, Puerto Rico and Mexico, however, these Jews generally concealed their identity from the authorities.

Today, Latin American Jewry is composed of more than 500,000 people, most of whom live in Argentina and Brazil.

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[edit] Argentina

Main article: History of the Jews in Argentina

Jews fleeing the Inquisition settled in Argentina, but assimilated into the Argentine society. Portuguese traders and smugglers in the Virreinato del Río de la Plata were widely considered Jews but no organized community emerged after independence. After 1810, Jews, especially Jews from France, began to settle in Argentina in the mid-19th century. In the late 1800s, just as they did in the United States, many Jews arrived from Eastern Europe, fleeing persecution; they were called "Rusos" (Russians).

Today, around 350,000 Jews live in Argentina, mostly in Buenos Aires, comprising the third largest Jewish community in the Americas, after that of the United States and Canada. They are legally granted the two days of Rosh Hashanah, Yom Kippur, and the first two and last two days of Passover as legal holidays.

[edit] Bolivia

During the 1900s, substantial Jewish settlement began in Bolivia. In 1905, a group of Russian Jews, followed by Argentine's, settled in Bolivia. In 1917, it was estimated that there were only 20 to 25 Jews living in the country. By 1933, when the Nazi era in Germany started, there were 30 Jewish families. The first huge amount of Jewish immigrants was in the 1930s, and there were 7,000 of them estimated at the end of 1942. During of the 1940s, 2,200 Jews emigrated however from Bolivia. But for the ones who remained, have settled their communities in La Paz, Cochabamba, Oruro, Sucre, Tarija, and Potosi. After World War II, a small amonut of Polish Jews came to Bolivia. By 1939, Jewish communities gained greater stability in the country. Today, there are 600 Jews living in La Paz. There are also smaller communities in Santa Cruz

[edit] Brazil

Main article: History of the Jews in Brazil

Jews settled early in Brazil, especially when it was under Dutch rule, setting up a synagogue in Recife - the first synagogue in the Americas - as early as 1636. Most of these Jews had fled Spain and Portugal to the religious freedom of the Netherlands during the re-establishment of the Inquisition in first Portugal, Spain, and again Portugal.

Jews resettled in Brazil in the 1800s after independence, and immigration rose throughout the 19th and early 20th century. Jewish immigration to Brazil was rather low between 1881-1900 although this was the hight of world wide immigration to Brazil. Between 1921 and 1942 world wide immigration to Brazil fall by 21%, but Jewish immigration to Brazil increase by 57,000% largely because of anti-immigration legislation and immigration quotas passed by the United States, Argentina, Canada, and South Africa. Furthermore, the Brazilian government maintained a good relationship with the JCA even though they had passed strict immigration legislation which they did not enforce. Lastly, the Jews in Brazil developed strong support structures and economic opportunities in the Jewish community which were pull factors that attracted Eastern European and Polish Jewish immigration. Posted by JSF (a summary of Jeffery Lesser's article: "The Immigration and Integration of Polish Jews in Brazil")

The Census of 2000 lists approximately 87,000 people who follow Judaism^[1] (estimates put the Jewish population at as high as 250,000^[2]). Brazilian Jews play an active role in politics, sports, academia, trade and industry, and are overall well integrated in all spheres of Brazilian life. The majority of Brazilian Jews live in the state of São Paulo but there are also sizeable communities in Rio de Janeiro, Rio Grande do Sul, Minas Gerais and Paraná.

Some sources believe that Brazil has between 3.5 to 5 million ethnic Jews, but only a few are Judaism followers.^{[citation needed]}

[edit] Chile

See List of Chilean Jews.

Great Synagogue of Santiago, Chile.

Despite being a relatively small community and accounting for no more than 1% of the country's religious minorities, Jews in Chile have achieved prominent positions in the Chilean society and have played a key part in the diverse composition of the country's culture both before and after its independence in 1810. Most of Chilean Jews today reside in Santiago and Valparaíso, but there are significant communities in the north and south of the country. Some of the country's most recognised personalities are Jews. The famous host of Latin TV sensation and longest running TV show in the world 'Sábado Gigante', Mario Kreutzberger - otherwise known as "Don Francisco" - is a Chilean Jew of German origin. Among the Chilean Jews who have achieved recognition in the field of Arts and Culture are Alejandro Jodorowsky, now established in France and best known for his literary and theatrical work. Others include Nissim Sharim (actor), Shlomit Baytelman (actress) and Anita Klesky (actress). Volodia Teitelboim, poet and former leader of the Chilean Communist party is one of the many Jews to have held important political positions in the country. Others include Tomás Hirsch, leader of the radical green-communist coalition and former Presidential candidate in 2005 plus two current state ministers, Karen Poniachick (Minister for Mining) and Clarisa Hardy (Minister for Social Affairs). In the field of Sport, Tennis player Nicolás Massú (gold medallist in Athens 2004 and former top-ten in the ATP rankings) has Jewish background. Many of the country's most important companies - particularly in the retail and commercial field - have been set up by Jews, for example, Gendelman and Hites (commercial retailers) and Rosen (Mattress and Bed Industries).

[edit] Colombia

The first wave of practicing Jews came from Jamaica and Curacao. These Jews started practicing their religion openly at the end of the 18th century, even though it was not officially legal to do so. Once Judaism was made a legal religion, the government granted the Jews a plot of land for a cemetery.

During the early part of the 20th century a large number of Sephardi immigrants came from Greece, Turkey, North Africa and Syria. Shortly after, Jewish immigrants began to arrive from Eastern Europe. A wave of Ashkenazi immigrants came after the rise of Hitler in 1933. From 1939 until the end of World War II immigration was put to a halt by anti-immigrant feelings in the country. The Jewish population grew dramatically in the 1950's and 1960's, when several institutions such as synagogues, schools and social clubs were established throughout the largest cities in the country.

In the present, most of the Jews in Colombia are concentrated in Bogota, with about 5,000 members. There are small communities in Cali, Barranquilla and Medellin. The size of the Ashkenazi and Sephardi population is about the same. There are nine synagogues throughout the country. In Bogota the Ashkenazi, Sephardi and German Jews each run their own religious and cultural institutions. One organization, Confederacion de Asociaciones Judias de Colombia, located in Bogota, is the central organization that unites all Jews and Jewish institutions in Colombia.

Due to the unstable economy and violence against Jews, many have left Colombia. Most have gone to settle in Miami and other parts of the United States.

[edit] Cuba

Main article: History of the Jews in Cuba

Jews, have lived on the island of Cuba for centuries. Some Cubans trace Jewish ancestry to Marranos who fled the Spanish Inquisition, though few of them practice Judaism today. There was significant Jewish immigration to Cuba in the first half of the 20th century. There were 15,000 Jews in Cuba in 1959, but many Jews left Cuba for the United States after the Cuban revolution. In the early 1990s, Operation Cigar was launched, and in the period of five years, more than 400 Cuban Jews secretly immigrated to Israel [1][2]. In February 2007 the New York Times estimated that there are about 1,500 Jews living in Cuba, most of them (about 1,000) living in Havana [3].

[edit] Curaçao

Curaçao has the oldest active Jewish congregation in the Americas - dating to 1651 - and the oldest synagogue of the Americas, in continuous use since its completion in 1732 on the site of a previous synagogue. The Jewish Community of Curaçao also played a key role in supporting early Jewish congregations in the United States in the 18th and 19th centuries, including in New York City and the Touro Synagogue of Newport, Rhode Island.

[edit] Dominican Republic

Sephardic Jewish Merchants arrived in southern Hispanola during the 16th and 17th Centuries, fleeing the outcome of the Spanish Inquisition. Over the centuries, many Jews and their descendants assimilated into the general population and some have converted into the Catholic Religion, although many of the countries Jews still retain elements of the Sephardic culture of their ancestors.

Sosua, meanwhile, is a small town close to Puerto Plata was founded by Ashkenazi Jews fleeing the rising Nazi regime of the 1930s. Rafael Trujillo, the country's dictator, welcomed many Jewish refugees to his island mainly for their skills rather than for religious persecution, and with a hidden motive on his part to encourage European and Middle Eastern immigration instead of Haitians. Present-day Sosua still possesses a synagogue and a museum of Jewish history. Descendants of both Ashkenazic and Sephardic Jews can still be found in many other villages and towns on the north of the island close to Sosua.

[edit] Costa Rica

The first Jews in Costa Rica were probably conversos, who arrived in the 16th and 17th centuries. In the 19th century Sephardic merchants from Curaçao, Jamaica, Panama and the Caribbean followed. They mostly lived in Central Valley and were soon assimilated into the country's general society and eventually gave up Judaism altogether. A third wave of Jewish immigrants came before World War I and especially in the 1930s as Ashkenazi Jews fled a Europe threatened by Nazi Germany. Most of these immigrants came from the Polish town Żelechów. The term Polacos, which was originally a slur referring to these immigrants, has come to mean salesman in colloquial Costa Rican Spanish. The country's first synagogue, the Orthodox Shaarei Zion was built in 1933 in the capital San José (located along 3rd Avenue and 6th Street). Along with a wave of nationalism, there was also some anti-Semitism in Costa Rica in the 1940s, but the co-existence between the Jews and the Catholic majority has only led to few problems. Recently there has been a fourth wave of Jewish immigration consisting primarily of American and Israeli expatriates retiring or doing business in the country. The Jewish community now consists of 2,500 to 3,000 people, most of them living in the capital.^[3] The San Jose suburb of Rohrmoser has a distinct Jewish presence. A couple of synagogues are located here, as well as a kosher deli and restaurant. The Plaza Rohrmoser shopping centre has the only kosher Burger King in the country. The http://www.centroisraelita.com Centro Israelita Sionista (Zionist Israeli Center) is a large Orthodox compound where a synagogue, library, and museum are located.

[edit] Ecuador

Many Jews are from the Sephardi ancestory. Some assum that they were one of the settlers in Ecuador. They came from Germany in 1939, on a ship called the "Koenigstein". During the years 1933-43, there were a population of 2,700 Jewish immigrants. In 1945, there was a population of 3,000. About 85% of them were European refugees. The rise of Jewish immigration to Ecuador was when the Holocaust started. In 1950, there was an estimation of 4,000 persons living in Ecuador. Most of the Jewish communities in Ecuador are from German origin. The majority of Ecuadorian Jews live in Quito and Guayaquil. There is a Jewish school in Quito.

[edit] El Salvador

Main article: History of the Jews in El Salvador

Alsatian-born Bernardo Haas, who was has came to El Salvador in 1868, was believd to be the country's first Jewish immigrant. Another Jews, Leon Libes was documented as the first German Jew in 1888. Sephardic families also arrived from countries such as Turkey, Egypt, Tunisia, and France. De Sola helped to found the first synagogue and became an invaluable member of the Jewish community. In 1936, World War II caused the Jewish community to help their ancestors escape from Europe. Some had their relatives in El Salvador. But some where forced to go into countries such as Brazil, Ecuador, Guatemala, and Panama. On July 30, 1939, President Martinez barred an entry of fifty Jewish refugees Going to El Salvador on the German ship Portland. On Sept 11, 1948, the community started and continues to support a school "Colegio Estado de Israel".

[edit] Guatemala

The Jews in Guatemala are immigrants from Germany and Eastern Europe. that arrived in the 19th century. Many immigrated during World War II. There is approximatley 1,200 Jews living in Guatemala today. Most live in Guatemala city, Quezaltenango, and San Marcos. The group of Jews are Sephardi. Today, the Jewish community in Guatemala are made up of German and Eastern European Jews.

[edit] Honduras

During the 1800s-1980's, Jewish immigrants came to the Honduras, mainly from Russia, Poland, Germany, Hungary, and Romania. There were also immigration from Greece, Turkey, and North Africa, who are from from Sephardi origin. Throughout the 1970s and 80's, it has been absorbed a huge number of Jewish immigrants from Israel. Through the past two decades, the Honduras experienced a resurgence of Jewish life. Communities in Tegucigalpa and San Pedro Sula grew more active. In 1998, the hurricane Mitch destroyed the synagogue, which was part of the Jewish community center in the Honduras. But the Jewish community contributed money to re-build the temple. Most Honduran Jews live in Tegucigalpa.

[edit] Mexico

Main article: History of the Jews in Mexico

There have been Jews in Mexico dating back to as early as 1521. Many Sephardic Jews fled Spain to escape the Inquisition, but no infrastructure was left by them in what is the modern day Mexican Jewish community. Due to the strong Catholic Church presence in Mexico, few Jews migrated there after the Spanish Conquest of Mexico. Then, in the late 1800s, a number of German Jews settled in Mexico as a result of invitations from Maximilian I of Mexico, followed by a huge wave of Ashkenazic Jews fleeing pogroms in Russia and Eastern Europe. A second large wave of immigration occurred as the Ottoman Empire collapsed, leading many Sephardic Jews from Turkey, Morocco, and parts of France to flee. Finally, a wave of immigrants fled the increasing Nazi persecutions in Europe during World War II. Today, there are more than 50,000 Jews in Mexico, the third largest Jewish community in Latin America.

[edit] Nicaragua

Main article: Jewish Nicaraguan

The first Jewish immigrants to arrive in Nicaragua came from Eastern Europe after 1929.^[4] The Jews in Nicaragua were a relatively small community, the majority lived in Managua. The Jews made significant contributions to Nicaragua's economic development while dedicating themselves to farming, manufacturing, and retail sales.^[5] The Jewish community encountered anti-semitism by individuals, the majority who claimed that Nicaraguan Jews were responsible for Israeli arms sales to the Somoza regime. Many of these individuals were part of the Sandinista National Liberation Front (FSLN).^[6] There was much hostility between the Sandinista government, which came into power in 1979, and the Jews. This was mostly due to the Sandinista governments close relationship with the Palestine Liberation Organization.

It was approximated that the highest number of Jews in Nicaragua reached a peak of 250 in 1972. ^[4]However, in fear of persecution and imprisonment by the Sandinista National Liberation Front, all the remaining Jews fled Nicaragua,^[7] they went into exile mainly in the United States, Israel, and other countries in Central America.^[6]

After the Daniel Ortega ran and lost the presidential elections in 1990 a small amount of Jews returned to Nicaragua.^[7] The current Jewish population is estimated at around 50 persons. Prior to 1979 the Jewish community had no rabbi or briss. The Jewish community now includes 3 brises, however, as of 2005, the community does not have an ordained rabbi or a synagogue.^[8]

[edit] Paraguay

Toward the 19th century, Jewish immigrants arrived to Paraguay from countries such as France, Switzerland, Italy. During the World War I Jews from Palestine (Jerusalem), Egypt and Turkey arrived to Paraguay, mostly sephardic Jews. In the 1920s, there was a second wave of immigrants from Ukraine and Poland. Between 1933 and 1939, between 15,000 and 20,000 Jews from Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia took advantage of Paraguay's liberal immigration laws to escape from Nazi-occupied Europe. After World War II, most Jews that arrived in Paraguay were survivors of concentration camps. Today, there are 1,000 Jews mostly living in Paraguay's capital, Asuncion. Most are from German descent

[edit] Peru

see also Peruvian Jews

In Peru, there have been Jews since the Spanish Conquest. At first, they had lived without restrictions because the Inquisition was not active in Peru at the beginning of the Viceroyalty. Then, with the advent of the Inquisition, Jews began to be persecuted, and, in some cases, executed. In this period, Jews were called "marranos", and the converts, "cristianos nuevos" or new Christians. In modern times, before and after the Second World War, some Ashkenazic Jews, south and west slavic and Hungarians mainly, migrated to Peru, mostly to Lima. Today, Peruvian Jews represent an important part of the economics and politics of Peru.

[edit] Puerto Rico

Puerto Rico is currently home to the largest Jewish community in the Caribbean, over 3,000 Jews, supporting four synagogues; three in the capital city of San Juan: one each Reform (http://www.tbspr.org), Conservative, and Chabad, as well as a Satmar Community in the western part of the Island in the Town of Mayaguez known as Toiras Jesed (http://godaven.com/browseminyan.asp?City=Mayaguez ) for Minyanim information. Jews were officially prohibited from settling in Puerto Rico through much of its history, but many managed to settle in the Island as secret Jews and settled in the island’s remote mountainous interior as did the early Jews in all Spanish and Portuguese colonies ( http://www.cryptojews.com/Puerto_Rico_Ezratty.htm ). Many Central and Eastern European Jews came after World War II, but the majority of the current population are descendants of Jews who fled from Cuba (once home to 15,000 Jews) after Fidel Castro's Cuban Revolution in 1959. In the late 1800s during the Spanish-American War many Jewish American servicemen gathered together with local Puerto Rican Jews at the Old Telegraph building in Ponce to hold religious services. Many of those Puerto Rican Jews were descendants of migrants from France, Netherlands, Saint-Barthélemy and Curaçao with surnames that include Bravo, Beauchamp, Duprey, Morenu, Ledeé, Leduc, and Levy.

Like in many former Spanish colonies founded soon after the Spanish Inquisition, there are some Puerto Ricans who are crypto-Jews (some prefer to be called anusim, means 'forced ones' in Hebrew), descendants of forcibly converted Jews. Some of them maintain elements of Jewish traditions, although they themselves are Christian; this includes some members of families with last names like Gómez, Delgado, Méndez, Hernandez, Rodríguez, Toledo, Ramirez, Saez, Cardoso and Aguilar.

[edit] Suriname

Suriname has the oldest Jewish community in the Americas. During the Inquisition in Portugal and Spain around 1500, many Jews fled to Holland and the Dutch colonies to escape torture and condemnation to the stake. Those who were converted to the Catholic fate were called "Marranos." The stadtholder of the King of Portugal gave those who wanted to depart some time to let them settle, and supplied them with 16 ships and safe-conduct to leave for Holland. The Dutch government gave an oppurtinity to settle in Brazil. But most found their home in Recife, and merchants became cocoa growers. But the Portuguese in Brazil forced many Jews to move into the northern Dutch colonies in the Americas, The Guyanas. Jews in settled in Suriname in 1639. A few years, when World War II arrived, many Jewish refugees from Holland and other parts of Europe, fleed to Suriname. Today, 200 Jews live in Suriname.

[edit] Venezuela

Main article: History of the Jews in Venezuela

The history of Venezuelan Jewry most likely began in the middle of the 17th century, when some records suggest that groups of marranos lived in Caracas and Maracaibo.

At the turn of the 19th century, Venezuela and Colombia were fighting against their Spanish colonizers in wars of independence. Simon Bolivar, Venezuela's liberator, found refuge and material support for his army in the homes of Jews from Curaçao.

According to a national census taken at the end of the 19th century, 247 Jews lived in Venezuela as citizens in 1891. In 1907, the Israelite Beneficial Society, which became the Israelite Society of Venezuela in 1919, was created as an organization to bring all the Jews who were scattered through various cities and towns throughout the country together.

By 1943, nearly 600 German Jews had entered the country, with several hundred more becoming citizens after World War II. By 1950, the community had grown to around 6,000 people, even in the face of immigration restrictions.

Currently, there are more than 35,000 Jews living in Venezuela, with more than half living in the capital Caracas. Venezuelan Jewry is split equally between Sephardim and Ashkenazim. All but one of the country's 15 synagogues are Orthodox. The majority of Venezuela's Jews are members of the middle and upper classes.

[edit] Current Jewish populations

Rank (Worldwide)	Country	Jewish Population	% of Jews
5	Argentina	350,000	1%
11	Brazil	2000s: 200,000 1950s¹: 95,125	0.1%
15	Mexico	53,101	0.05%
18	Venezuela	35,375	0.10%
20	Uruguay	30,743	0.9%
24	Chile	20,900	0.1%
31	Panama	10,029	0.3%
44	Colombia	4,600	0.011%
47	Ecuador	4,000	0.09%
48	Peru	2,792	0.01%
48	Costa Rica	2,409	0.06%
49	Guatemala	1,200	0.02%
50	Paraguay	1,000	0.01%
51	Honduras	400	0.41%
52	Jamaica	300	0.09%
N/A	Dominican Republic	250	0.003%
N/A	Suriname	200	0.05%
N/A	Aruba	200	0.50%
N/A	El Salvador	120	0.04%
N/A	Barbados	40	0.00%