<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)
