Encyclopaedia Judaica
Jews
in Bolivia
Marranos - customs -
Inquisition - constitution 1880 - Jewish immigration - constitution
1938 - restrictions but further immigration - old Nazis and emigration
since 1945 -
Herzl Israel
<BOLIVIA, South
American republic.
[[There is no indication about the natives in Bolivia in the
Encyclopaedia
Judaica]].
[Marrano immigration - Jewish
customs in the Bolivian population - Inquisition stops Marrano
existence - constitution of 1880]
The origins of Jewish settlement in Bolivia can be traced back to the
Colonial period, when Marranos from Spain arrived in the country (which
then formed part of the Viceroyalty of Peru). Some worked in the silver
mines of Potosí, others are known to have been among the pioneers who
founded the city of Santa Cruz de la Sierra in 1557 under the
leadership of Nuflo de Chávez.
Indeed, certain customs still maintained by old families in that
region, e.g., lighting candles on Friday nights and sitting on the
ground in mourning when a close relative dies, suggest their possible
Jewish ancestry.
The only extant documents for the period are those of the Inquisition,
which was established in Peru in 1570 and whose appearance signaled the
incipient demise of the Marrano community.> (col. 1187)
<Bolivia was traditionally governed by conservative constitutions,
and
not until 1880 did a more democratic trend appear.> (col. 1188)
[since 1900: Jewish settlements -
Jewish immigration from Russia, Argentina, Turkey, and Near East]
<There is a similar paucity of information regarding 18th- and
19th-century Jewish immigration to Bolivia. It was not until the
present century that substantial Jewish settlement took place there. In
1905 a group of Russian Jews that settled in Bolivia was followed by
another group from Argentina and later by several Sephardi families
from Turkey and the Near East.
The Jewish community nonetheless remained minuscule. It was estimated
that in 1917 there were only 20 to 25 Jews in the country, and by 1933,
at the beginning of the Nazi era in Germany, only 30 (col. 1187)
Jewish families lived there. The first tide of Jewish immigration came
in the early 1930s. [[...]]
The majority settled in La Paz, but by 1939-40 communities had arisen
in outlying cities such as Cochabamba, Oruro, Sucre, Tarija, and Potosí
and with them the nascent communal organizations that thereafter served
the needs of the Jewish population. [[...]]
The 1938
Constitution recognized Roman Catholicism as the official state
religion, but guaranteed general freedom of religion. [[...]]
[1933-1939: immigration - abuse of
agricultural visas - May
1940: suspension of visas - immigration is going on all the time]
Bolivia's policy on Jewish immigration during World War II vacillated
between the granting of mass visas and the total embargo on entry
permits. In 1939 the liberal immigration policy was modified, as it had
been in other Latin American countries. This move was in keeping with
the policy of barring entry to nationals of the Axis powers. In
addition, a certain amount of discontent was engendered with the
discovery that most of the Jewish immigrants who had entered the
country on an agricultural visa were actually involved in commerce and
industry. In May 1940 [[when Hitler's victory against France could be
foreseen]] all Jewish visas were suspended indefinitely; nevertheless,
immigration did not cease.> (col. 1188)
[Economy]
<Although most of the Jewish immigrants to Bolivia received entry
visas as agricultural workers, the majority of them established
themselves in commerce and industry. Several colonization projects were
attempted, however under the auspices of the Sociedad Colonizadora de
Bolivia [["Colonization Association of Bolivia"]] (Socobo), founded in
1940, and with the help of the tin magnate
Mauricio *Hochschild. The latter spent almost $1,000,000 between 1940
and 1945 on an agricultural development project at Coroico; but, like
the one in the Chaparé jungles, it failed.
Climatic conditions were exceedingly difficult, and there was a dearth
of roads to suitable markets. The early years of the Jewish community
in Bolivia were marked by difficult economic conditions, especially for
those who did not own business enterprises.
Between January 1939 and December 1942 $160,000 were disbursed for
relief by the *American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee, by the
Sociedad de Protección de los Inmigrantes Israelitas [[Israelite
Immigrant Protection Association]], and by Mauricio
Hochschild. The majority of the immigrants entered manufacturing and
trade and ultimately played a prominent role in the development of
industry, imports and exports, and in the free professions.
[Community structures]
By the fall of 1939, when immigration had reached its peak, organized
Jewish communities had been established in Bolivia. The first
organization to be founded (col. 1188)
was the Círculo Israelita [["Israelite Circle"]] (1935) by East
European Jews, followed by the German Comunidad Israelita de Bolivia
[["Bolivian Israelite Community"]]. During the next few years other
organizations were formed, such as B'nai B'rith [["Sons of the
Covenant"]], the Federación Sionista Unida de Bolivia [["United Zionist
Federation of Bolivia"]], etc. The representative roof organization is
the Comité Central Judío de Bolivia [["Central Jewish Committee of
Bolivia"]].
Under the auspices of these groups, various communal services have been
established: the Hevra Kaddisha [[Jewish burial society]], the
Cementerio Israelita [[Jewish cemetery]], Bikkur Holim [["visiting of
the sick"]], the house for the aged, Wizo [[Women's International
Zionist Organization]], and Macabi [[Jewish sport]].> (col. 1189)
<It was estimated that by the end of 1942 there
were 7,000 new immigrants of whom approximately 2,200 emigrated from
Bolivia by the end of the 1940s.> (col. 1188)
[since 1945: little Polish Jewish
immigration]
<After World War II a small wave of Polish Jews who had fled to the
Far
East after 1939 and abandoned Shanghai in the wake of the communist
takeover arrived in Bolivia. The major part of the group remained in La
Paz, and was incorporated into the existing kehillah [[congregation]].
[[Since 1944 there were also old Nazi representatives arriving in
Bolivia as in all South
American countries, so Jews and Nazis met again and the struggle did
not come to an end. The consequences were the following]]:
[since 1950: Jewish emigration
movement -
1952: national revolution provokes more Jewish emigration]
In the early 1950s the demographic trend was reversed and
there was not only a decline in immigration but also a consistent
exodus, which resulted from a variety of factors, including the
political instability in the country. The 1952 revolution that brought
to power the National Revolutionary Party (which had been close to the
Nazis during the war), aroused anxieties in the Jewish community. These
fears were allayed, however, when Jewish rights were not affected.
Economic insecurity, health hazards caused by climatic difficulties,
and the lack of adequate facilities for higher education also motivated
the emigration trend.> (col. 1188)
[[There is no indication where the emigrants are going]].
<The Jewish
community's relations with the Catholic Church are casual, yet cordial,
but there is no intergroup organization servicing the two bodies.>
(col. 1188)
<The Jewish press in Bolivia consists of sporadic papers and
bulletins published by the Colegio Boliviano Israelita [["Bolivian
Israelite College"]], B'nai B'rith [["Sons of the Covenant"]],
and the Federación Sionista Unida [["United Zionist
Federation"]].
[[...]]
[La Paz 1970]
<The La Paz community maintains the Colegio Israelita [["Israelite
College"]], a comprehensive school with kindergarten, primary, and
secondary grades. Its student body is mixed because the high level of
the school attracts also non-Jewish students. Jewish education was one
of the prime victims of the emigration trend, and student enrollment,
especially in the lower grades, declined drastically.
[Cochabamba 1920s-1970 - Isaac
Antaki]
The community of Cochabamba, which has a Jewish population of about
600, is the second largest in the country. Its history is inextricably
linked with its founder, an Alexandrian Jew [[from Egypt]] named Isaac
Antaki, who arrived in the 1920s. He established a large textile
factory and also built the synagogue which serves the Ashkenazi and
Sephardi communities. The Jewish population of the city reached its
peak after World War II, but afterward large numbers began to emigrate.
The community never managed to establish a Jewish school, and only a
kindergarten exists.> (col. 1189)
Table. Jews in Bolivia
|
Year
|
number
of Jews
|
source
|
remark
|
1917
|
20-25
|
col. 1187
|
from Russia, Argentina,
Turkey, and Near East
|
1933
|
30
families
|
col.
1187-1188
|
|
|
|
col. 1187
|
NS times, immigration from
Germany
|
end of
1942
|
7,000
|
col. 1188
|
|
1946-1950
(end of 1940s)
|
-2,200
approx.
|
col. 1188
|
little immigration from
Polish Jews coming from Shanghai, considerable emigration
|
since
1950
|
|
col. 1188
|
more emigration
|
since
1952
|
|
col. 1188
|
national revolution and more
emigration
|
1968
|
1,700
|
col. 1189
|
|
| Table
by Michael Palomino;
from: Bolivia; In: Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971, vol. 4 |
Relations with [[Herzl]] Israel.
["Friendly attitude to Israel" -
embassies - cooperation]
Bolivia was among the supporters of the 1947 UN resolution on the
partition of Palestine. Subsequently, a Bolivian representative was
named to the Palestine Commission.
[[By the Herzl plan for a "Jewish State" according to the book "The
Jewish State" all Arabs should be driven away as the natives in the
"USA" had been driven away. But since the 1920s since the detection of
the oil in the Arab countries this plan is nothing worth, but the
Zionists did not change. Israel was found without definition of border
lines as Herzl is not indicating any border lines. The dreams of a
"Greater Israel" go to the Euphrates according to First Mose chapter 15
phrase 18. The partition resolution of Palestine in 1947 was the first
step for an eternal war in the Middle East]].
In ensuing debates at the United Nations, notably those on the refugee
problem, despite changing governments and resultant differences of
policy, Bolivia was remarkably consistent in maintaining a friendly
attitude to Israel. Israel's first minister presented his credentials
in 1957, and an embassy was established in 1964; Bolivia, in turn,
established its embassy in Jerusalem in the same year.
The two countries engaged in a variety of assistance programs. A
technical cooperation agreement between the two countries, signed in
1962, provides for an agricultural mission of Nahal officers that has
been active in Bolivia in cooperation with the Bolivian army in the
fields of agricultural settlement and training. Bolivian students on
scholarships in Israel included irrigation engineers and youth leaders.
An effort in the private sphere is a joint study in medicinal tropical
plants undertaken by the School of Pharmacology of the Hebrew
University of Jerusalem and its Bolivian counterpart. In 1968 there
were 1,700 Jews in Bolivia.
Bibliography
-- Mangan, in: Commentary, 14 (1952), 99-106
-- N. Lorch: Ha-Nahar ha-Lohesh (1969), passim
-- Asociación Filantrópica Israelita, Buenos Aires: Zehn Jahre
Aufbauarbeit in Suedamerika (Gerl. and Sp., 1943), 172-98
-- "Enciclopedia Judaica Castellana" and its volume on contemporary
Jewry
-- J. Shatzky: Comunidades Judías en Latinoamérica (1952), 64-69
-- A. Monk and J. Isaacson: Comunidades Judías de Latinoamérica (1968),
36-40
[N.L.]> (col. 1189)
