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Argentina Virtual Jewish History Tour

Argentina is the second largest nation in Latin America and boasts the largest Jewish community in the region, with more than 173,000 Jews (the seventh largest Jewish community in the world). From an open-door policy of immigration to the harboring of Nazi war criminals, Argentina’s Jews have faced periods of peaceful coexistence and periods of intense anti-Semitism.

Learn More - Cities of Argentina:
Buenos Aires | Entre Rios | Santa Fe

Early History
Post-World War II
Present Day Argentina
Jewish Community
Relations with Israel
Buenos Aires

Early History

After the expulsion from Spain in 1492, conversos (or secret Jews) settled in Argentina. Most of these immigrants assimilated into the general population, and by the mid-1800s, few Jews were left in Argentina.

Argentina gained its independence from Spain in 1810. Bernardino Rivadavia, Argentina’s first president, supported policies that promoted freedom of immigration and respect for human rights, i.e., he officially abolished the Inquisition. In this atmosphere of tolerance, a second wave of Jewish immigration began in the mid-19th century, with Jewish immigrants arriving from Western Europe, especially from France.

In 1860, the first Jewish wedding was recorded in Buenos Aires. A couple of years later, a minyan met for the High Holiday services, and eventually, the minyan became the Congregacion Israelita de la Republica.

In the late 19th century, a third wave of immigrants fleeing poverty and pogroms in Russia and other Eastern European countries moved to Argentina because of its open-door immigration policy. These Jews became known as “Rusos” and became active in Argentinian society.

In 1889, 824 Russian Jews arrived in Argentina on the S.S. Weser and became gauchos (Argentine cowboys). The gauchos bought land and established a colony, which they named Moiseville. Due to lack of funding, the gauchos appealed to Baron Maurice de Hirsch for funds, and the Baron subsequently founded the Jewish Colonization Association. During its heyday, the Association owned more than 600,000 hectares of land, populated by more than 2,200 Jews. While many of these cooperative ranches are now owned by non-Jews, Jews continue to run some of the properties.

Between 1906 and 1912, Jewish immigration increased by 13,000 immigrants per year. Most of the immigrants were Ashkenazi Jews from Europe, but many Sephardic Jews from Morocco and the Ottoman Empire also settled in Argentina. By 1920, more than 150,000 Jews were living in Argentina.

Anti-Semitic attacks against Jews were infrequent in Argentina before World War I. Following the Russian Revolution, between 1918 and 1930, anti-revolutionary feelings developed into full-blown anti-Semitism against the Rusos. From January 7-13, 1919, a general strike in Buenos Aires led to a pogrom against the Jews. Many were beaten and had their property burned and looted.

Despite anti-Semitic actions against the Jews and increasing xenophobia, Jews became involved in most sectors of Argentine society. Still, they could not work in the government or military, so many became farmers, peddlers, artisans, and shopkeepers. Cultural and religious organizations flourished, and a Yiddish press and theater opened in Buenos Aires, as well as a Jewish hospital and several Zionist organizations.

Before World War II, thousands of people had links to the Nazis, many as members of the German National Socialist Party Foreign Organization (NSDAP/AO). They were tolerated by the pro-Nazi regimes of Argentine Presidents José Félix Uriburu and Agustín Pedro Justo. In 1938, however, Justo’s successor, Roberto Ortiz, established the “Special Commission to Research Anti-Argentine Activities” to eliminate Nazi influence in the country. The commission was disbanded, and its findings were destroyed when Pedro Pablo Ramirez Menchaca came to power in 1943.

Post-World War II


Adolf Eichmann on trial in Israel
after being captured in Argentina

Juan Peron’s rise to power in 1946 worried many Jews because he was a Nazi sympathizer with fascist leanings. Peron halted Jewish immigration to Argentina, introduced Catholic religious instruction in public schools, and allowed Argentina to become a haven for fleeing Nazis. On the other hand, Peron also expressed sympathy for Jewish rights and established diplomatic relations with Israel in 1949. Since then, more than 45,000 Jews have immigrated to Israel from Argentina.

Peron was overthrown in 1955, which was followed by another wave of anti-Semitism. In 1960, Israeli agents abducted Adolf Eichmann from a Buenos Aires suburb. The Eichmann trial in Jerusalem in April 1961 aroused further anti-Jewish sentiment in Argentina.

Argentina was under military rule between 1976 and 1983. During this period, Jews were increasingly targeted for kidnapping and torture by the junta; about 1,000 of the 9,000 known victims of state terrorism were Jews. According to the Jerusalem Post, the Israeli government had a special agreement with the Argentine government to allow Jews arrested for political crimes to immigrate to Israel. Once the military’s power waned in Argentina, anti-Semitic attacks also declined.

Present-Day Argentina

In 1983, Raul Alfonsin was democratically elected as president of Argentina. Alfonsin enjoyed the support of the Jewish population and placed many Jews in high positions.

Carlos Saul Menem was elected president in 1989. His Arab origin and support of Peron worried the Jews; however, he did not follow in Peron’s footsteps. Menem appointed many Jews to his government, visited Israel several times, and offered to help mediate the Israeli-Arab peace process. After a Jewish cemetery was desecrated in Buenos Aires, Menem immediately expressed his outrage to the Jewish community and, within a week, apprehended those responsible.


Gran Templo de Paso, Buenos Aires

President Menem also ordered the release of files relating to Argentina’s role in serving as a haven for Nazi war criminals. A law against racism and anti-Semitism was passed in the Argentine parliament in 1988.

Despite Menem’s sympathetic policies and a democratic regime, the Jews of Argentina were the targets of two major terrorist attacks. The Israeli Embassy was bombed in April 1992, killing 32 people. In 1994, the Jewish community headquarters (AMIA) in Buenos Aires was bombed, killing 87 people and wounding more than 100 others. The community’s archives were destroyed in the bombing, and the event left many emotionally scarred. Though Iran was suspected of involvement, with the help of Argentine police, the culprits have never been found. In 2005, an Argentine prosecutor said the AMIA bombing was carried out by a 21-year-old Lebanese suicide bomber who belonged to Hezbollah.

Jews are active in all sectors of Argentine society, and many are prominent figures in the arts, film, music, and journalism. Some influential Argentine Jews include writer Jacobo Timmerman, owner of a local newspaper who campaigned for human rights; Rene Epelbaum, who founded a protest group for mothers of political prisoners; pianist Daniel Barenboim, and Cesar Milstein, the 1984 Nobel Prize recipient in medicine.

Throughout Argentina’s history, Jews have held a significant stake in the country’s fur, textile, chemical, electronics, and auto industries. Jews founded both Banco Mercantile and Banco Comercial. On the other hand, Jews are still absent from the high ranks of the military, foreign ministry, and judiciary.

Poverty in Argentina is rising, affecting Argentina’s middle class, which is losing its small and medium-sized businesses. Many Jewish business owners have lost their shops and are unable to pay membership or tuition fees to local Jewish institutions and synagogues. These communal institutions now face declining membership and budgets to maintain their activities and services. A much more significant percentage of the budgets of these organizations now has to go to emergency economic relief. In response to the economic decline and lack of funds, the Joint Distribution Committee and the Jewish Agency are training new, young lay leaders to rebuild the community and run the local institutions.

The economic situation has caused about 10,000 Jews to leave Argentina in the last few years. About 6,000 immigrated to Israel. Jewish community leaders hoped that the election of a new president would bring economic stability and cease emigration.

In 2020, an investigation by Argentine investigator Pedro Filipuzzi revealed a list of 12,000 Nazis in Argentina that have money in accounts at the Zurich-based Credit Suisse investment bank. The list was found in an old storage room at the former Buenos Aires Nazi headquarters.

The hope was that Credit Suisse will search for the accounts on the list and provide restitution to surviving Holocaust victims whose funds were looted by the Nazis. The bank provided a statement to the Jerusalem Post, which said, “From about 1997 to 1999, an independent committee chaired by Paul A. Volcker investigated Credit Suisse and about 60 other Swiss banks, searching for accounts possibly or probably owned by victims of Nazi persecution.” The bank said, “The committee concluded that its investigation was “unprecedented ... [and] and intensive and sustained effort by a large staff of forensic accountants [and] ... has provided as full and complete accounting of the status of the accounts in Switzerland of victims of Nazi persecution as is now reasonably feasible. Nonetheless, we will again look into this matter.”

Jewish Community

The vast majority of Jews live in Buenos Aires, with approximately 15-20,000 in Rosario, 5-9,000 in Cordoba, and 20,000 in other small, rural communities, including some areas in the Sante Fe province. There are also significant numbers of Jews in Concordia, La Plata, and Mar del Plata. The majority of these Jews are Ashkenazi, and about 15 percent are Sephardic. Nearly all the Jews speak Spanish — Ladino and Yiddish are rarely spoken. The community was not growing, and many young Jews immigrated to other countries.

Argentina’s Jews have numerous Jewish community organizations. The DAIA (Delegacion de Asociaciones Israelitas Argentinas) was founded in 1939 as the political arm of the Jewish community. The DAIA protects Jewish rights and represents the community in the government. Another organization, the AMIA, originally an Ashkenazic mutual-aid society that provided health and human services to Argentina’s Ashkenazi population, now serves the country’s entire Jewish community.


ACILBA, Buenos Aires

Most of Argentina’s synagogues are traditional, between Conservative and Orthodox. Buenos Aires has 50 Orthodox synagogues, 21 Conservative synagogues, and a few Reform synagogues. Most synagogues built before World War II are still in use today.

 

The Conservative movement became strong in Argentina in 1958 after Rabbi Marshall Meyer took control over Communidad Bet El, the country’s first Conservative synagogue, established in Buenos Aires. His enthusiasm attracted many young adults. Meyer became politically involved, gathered information about political prisoners, and published the material in the newspapers.

President Alfonsin appointed Meyer to a government commission that investigated the disappearances of Jews in the military regime. In 1984, Marshall left the community and moved to New York, where he currently serves as the Rabbi for B’nei Jeshrun, another vanguard synagogue in the Conservative movement.

Today, Communidad Bet El also has a day school, and attendance on a regular Saturday morning reaches up to 800 worshipers.

Argentina boasts more than 70 Jewish educational institutions, including kindergartens, day schools, and elementary and secondary schools. More than 60% of Jewish Argentine youth attend one of these institutions. In Buenos Aires alone, 17,000 Jewish children study in the Jewish educational system.

Communities in other cities also have Jewish social clubs, Sociedad Hebraica for Ashkenazi Jews and Casa Sephardi for Sephardic Jews. Maccabe Sport Federation is also active in Argentina. Plays are performed in Yiddish, Spanish, and Hebrew in several Jewish theaters nationwide.

There are also 18 Jewish cemeteries in Argentina, seven still active. Jewish cemeteries are found in Buenos Aires, Cordoba, Parana, La Plata, Colinas del Tiempo, Rosario, and Sante Fe. La Tablada cemetery in Buenos Aires has been vandalized in anti-Semitic attacks in 1994. Bronze objects were stolen from more than 150 graves.

While Argentina’s Jewish population has many community outlets, one-quarter of the population is living below the poverty line. Even well-educated young people find it next to impossible to find a job. There are groups in Argentina trying to eradicate this problem. Alianza Solidaria (started by the JDC) is an organization fighting poverty among Jews. The Tzedaka Foundation is another organization that devotes its efforts solely to helping the impoverished Argentinian Jews.


Libertad

Even those wealthier Jews who try to help the poor have been unable. In 1998, Banco Patricios collapsed, taking millions of Jewish dollars. The Banco Mayo also failed to help the situation as it too went bankrupt in 1999. Because of these circumstances, many once-wealthy Jewish organizations are now unable to fund charity groups. AMIA, a major benefactor of social programs, is now trying to pay off a $26 million debt.

The DAIA elected an Orthodox Jew to head its organization for the first time in its 80-year history in November 2015. The Delegation encompasses more than 120 Jewish organizations in Argentina and is the political umbrella organization of the Argentine Jewish community. The newly elected President, Ariel Cohen Sabban, previously served as the treasurer of the DAIA.

Rabbi Gabriel Davidovich, the chief rabbi of Argentina, was brutally beaten by a gang who broke into his apartment in the Once neighborhood in the middle of the night on February 25, 2019. The attackers shouted, “We know that you are the AMIA rabbi.”

Davidovich was hospitalized with serious injuries, including nine broken ribs. His wife was restrained but unharmed. The gang stole money and belongings from the apartment. A few days later, graves in the Jewish cemetery in San Luis were vandalized.

On April 5, 2019, Jews leaving a synagogue after Friday night services in the Palermo neighborhood of Buenos Aires were attacked by two people who also made anti-Semitic remarks. A month later, on May 18, Rabbi Elyahu Shaman was attacked leaving his synagogue in the same area. The culprits reportedly shouted racial slurs at Shaman. 

Authorities in Buenos Aires arrested two Iranians in March 2019 traveling on fake Israeli passports and were treating them as possible terror suspects. They were picked up after officials raised the alert level because of the proximity to the anniversary of the March 17, 1992, bombing of the Israeli embassy in Buenos Aires.

In July 2019, the Argentine government’s Financial Information Unit froze the assets of members of Hezbollah a day after the country created a new list of people and entities linked to terrorism, including Hezbollah. The designation of Hezbollah as a terrorist group was the first by any Latin American country.

In June 2020, Argentina adopted the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of anti-Semitism: “Anti-Semitism is a certain perception of Jews, which may be expressed as hatred toward Jews. Rhetorical and physical manifestations of anti-Semitism are directed toward Jewish or non-Jewish individuals and/or their property, toward Jewish community institutions and religious facilities.”

Two people were arrested on April 23, 2021, by the Federal Police Antiterrorist Investigation Unit in the province of Tucuman for planning to attack the local Jewish community. They were caught with firearms, Nazi literature, and objects that identified them with hate groups.

Like other countries, Argentina was ravaged by the Covid-19 pandemic. The situation worsened in 2021 and at the invitation of the Argentinian government, a team from Hadassah Hebrew University Medical Center in Jerusalem traveled to Argentina in May to share its experience in dealing with the pandemic. Hadassah and the Israel Institute for Biological Research developed their own BriLife COVID-19 vaccine, and the team was exploring the possibility of starting a Phase III trial in Argentina. 

In 2023, the Latin American Rabbinical Seminary in Buenos Aires, which is affiliated with the Conservative movement, announced the establishment of the first Jewish university in South America—the Isaac Abarbanel Jewish University Institute. The school will confer bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in subjects ranging from Jewish and religious studies to ethics to ancient manuscripts. 

In January 2024, Argentinian police arrested three people from Syria and Lebanon on suspicion of planning a terrorist attack at the Pan American Maccabi Games in Buenos Aires.

Relations with Israel

Argentina has always had a significant place in Israel’s foreign policy as a prominent Latin American country and a country with a very large Jewish community. From 1947, when Argentina abstained from voting for the UN Partition Plan for Palestine, relations were marked by steady progress. Argentina recognized Israel on February 14, 1949, and diplomatic missions were established in Buenos Aires and Tel Aviv in August and September 1949, respectively.

Argentina’s position varies on several issues affecting Israel. In the annually recurrent UN debates on Palestine refugees, Argentina has for years voted with Israel against attempts to appoint a UN property custodian because it would be an unacceptable interference with national sovereignty. Following the Six-Day War, Argentina was at the forefront of the Latin American nations that opposed Soviet and Arab efforts in the Emergency Session of the UN General Assembly to bring about an unconditional evacuation of the Israel-held territories. On the other hand, she has consistently favored the internationalization of Jerusalem and, after the Six-Day War, voted against the municipal reunification of the city.

In 1960, the capture of Eichmann caused a temporary crisis in relations, which returned to normal after some months. Commercial treaties exist between the two countries. In the 1960s, the trade balance was overwhelmingly in favor of Argentina (due to meat exports ranging from $10 to 15 million a year). The trade balance remained disproportionate in the 1970s (Israel’s imports rose to $17.1 million while exports only reached $1.3 million). The balance changed radically in the 1980s ($42.7 and 35.4 million, respectively) and in the 1990s ($66.7 and 12.3 million). Since 2000, the total scope of bilateral trade was over $100 million a year, except in 2002, when a deep crisis struck the Argentinean economy. The most remarkable year was 2004, with a total of $191.1 million ($136.3 million and $54.8 million). Meat remains the principal Argentinean export product, along with oil and processed food. The primary goods exported by Israel are machinery and chemical products.

In 1957, a cultural exchange agreement was signed. An Israel-Argentina Cultural Institute has been active in Buenos Aires since the 1950s. The Argentina House was established in Jerusalem in 1967 due to a private initiative offering cultural activities to the Israeli public. Technical cooperation between the two countries developed in fields such as rural planning in semi-arid zones and water use.

Since the establishment of diplomatic relations, the Argentinean government has recognized the legitimacy of the special relationship between Israel and the Jews of Argentina. As an immigration country that legitimized the special ties of immigrants to their countries of origin, considered their “madre patria” (motherland), Israel was perceived as the madre patria of the Jews, although they had lived in Argentina at least 60 years before the creation of the State of Israel. This recognition was manifested when the government accepted the right of the Israeli ambassador to intervene on behalf of Argentinean Jewry, demanding that expressions of anti-Semitism should be stopped and prohibited.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Argentina for two days in September 2017 and spoke at the sites of the 1992 and 1994 bombings against the country’s Jewish institutions. During Netanyahu’s visit, Argentinian President Mauricio Macri announced the transfer to Israel of 139,544 formerly classified documents documenting Argentina’s ties to Nazi Germany during World War II. The trove includes scans of photographs as well as documents from the Holocaust and post-war years. In June 2017, the Argentinian Foreign Ministry announced it had recently sent the U.S. Holocaust Museum a collection of 38,779 relevant letters, telegrams, and newspaper articles. While in Argentina, Netanyahu also met with Paraguayan President Horacio Cartes. The Israeli Prime Minister continued his trip to Latin America with visits to Mexico and Columbia before returning home.

Javier Milei was elected president in 2024. He visited Israel on February 5, 2024, and announced he planned to move the country’s embassy to Jerusalem.

Buenos Aires

Much of Buenos Aires Jewish life centers around the Once district (pronounced on-say). One of Once’s well-known synagogues is Yesod Hadat, founded in 1932 by Jews from Aleppo, Syria. It is located on Lavalle 2449.

One also has a Jewish cultural center, which hosts concerts, lectures and a high school, located at Sarmiento 2233. Other Jewish clubs include Hacoaj and C.A.S.A. Sefardita, which have a range of sports and cultural activities.

Argentina’s oldest synagogue, Congregacion Israelita de la Republica Argentina, is known as “Libertad” because it is located at Libertad 733 in Buenos Aires. The Libertad was dedicated in 1932 and houses a small Jewish museum, a good collection of photographs, and Jewish ritual objects.

The Argentine branch of the Jewish Theological Seminary, the Conservative movement’s Rabbinical School, opened in 1962 in Bueno Aires. The seminary ordained the first woman. The seminary acts as a center for interfaith dialogue and trains Conservative rabbis from all over Argentina and Latin America. In 1992, a high school and a graduate school offered adult education lessons and seminars for the community.

Buenos Aires has one of the world’s four remaining Yiddish daily newspapers; others are in Paris, Tel Aviv, Birobidzhan, and Siberia.


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Jeremy Sharon, “Attackers Threaten, Curse Worshipers At Buenos Aires Synagogue,” Jerusalem Post, (April 7, 2019).
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Cassandra Garrison, “Argentina brands Hezbollah terrorist organization, freezes assets,” Reuters, (July 18, 2019).
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Photo Credits: Eichmann from US Holocaust Memorial Museum
Libertad synagogue copyright George Wohlberg.