Contemporary Period.
x
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Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Chile, vol. 5,
col. 462, map of the Jewish communities in 1970
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[[There are indications about Jewish research about natives
in this article. But there is no indication that natives
have certain rights]].
[Political life]
[Places of Jewish
settlements]
There were about 30,000 Jews in Chile in 1970; yet a poll
conducted in 1965 among the Jewish organizations found only
8,450 affiliated members. Over 90% of Chilean Jewry live in
Santiago, but organized communities exist in Valparaiso,
Vina del Mar, Concepción (col. 465)
Temuco, Valdivia, Coquimbo, Ovalle, Copapó, La Serena, and
Arica. Most belong to the middle and upper-middle classes
and engage in commerce, industry, and the free professions.
Jewish communal life in cities other than Santiago generally
centers on one or two organizations whereas in Santiago it
revolves around a variety of frameworks.
[Anti-Semitic and Nazi
organizations are both legal in Chile]
[[In 1944 and 1945 some 1,000 Nazi Germans fled from Europe
to South America, also to Chile. So, Nazis and Jews were
meeting in Chile once again, as in other South American
countries]].
The Comité Representativo [["Representative Committee"]] is
an umbrella organization combating anti-Semitism, which has
not disappeared in Chile. Nazi organizations and their
newspapers are legal and since 1948 became stronger with the
help of the numerous and economically and politically
influential Arab population. The Federación Sionista
[["Zionist Federation"]] channels [[racist Zionist]]
pro-Israel activities and also serves as an umbrella
organization for the various [[racist]] Zionist parties and
organizations, simultaneously supporting local educational
and cultural activities. The oldest of the community
organizations, the Círculo Israelita [["Israelite Circle"]],
owns the block of principal buildings of the community. The
Ashkenazi
kehillah
[[congregation]] (previously Jevra Kedisha) tries to follow
in the footsteps of the Ashkenazi community of *Buenos Aires
(see *A.M.I.A.).
Sociedad Cultural Israelita B'ne Jisroel, the congregation
of German Jews, and the Comunidad Israelita Sefardi
[["Sephardi Israelite Community"]], which since 1935 unites
all the Sephardim, offer their respective communities all
the communal services. Aside from these there are various
Landsmannschaften [["territorial associations"]]: Polish
Jews (founded 1932), Hungarian Jews (founded 1937), and
others, active particularly in cultural and social fields.
[Further Jewish
organizations in Chile]
Among the fraternal and women's organizations are WIZO
(founded 1926), and the Organización Feminina Pioneras
[["Women Pioneer Organization"]] (founded 1948), which
organizes hundreds of women not only in the area of aid to
[[Herzl]] Israel but also in local education. Four [[racist
Zionist]] B'nai B'rith lodges in Santiago, one in
Valparaíso, and one in Concepción are also active. Bikkur
Holim continues to be the principal welfare organization,
and the Policlínica likewise continues to serve the general
community. In addition, a home for the aged (Hogar Israelita
de Ancianos [["Israelite Old Age Home"]]) was founded in
1951. Activities in sport and culture are organized around
the Club Atlético Israelita Macabí, active since 1948 and,
in particular, the Estado Israelita, which from 1952 united
a large part of the Jewish community in cultural and sports
activities in luxurious buildings in the suburbs of
Santiago.
[Cultural life]
[Jewish schools in Chile
since 1914]
Jewish education in Chile, which began in a small school
established in Santiago in 1914, is under the supervision of
the Education Committee. This committee operated from 1944,
and in 1967, within the framework of the three schools in
Santiago, there were 1,217 students, and 140 in Valparaíso.
These are comprehensive day schools, in which even the
secular subjects are taught in Hebrew. There is also a
Teachers' Seminary, and in 1965 a seminar on Jewish art was
introduced at the University of Chile, which laid the
groundwork for a Department of Jewish Studies officially
opened in 1968 under the chairmanship of the anthropologist
(col. 466)
Bernardo Berdichevsky. In the area of informal education,
[[racist]] Zionist youth movements such as *Hashomer
ha-Za'ir, *Betar, Ha-Noar Ha-Ziyyoni are active. The Centro
Universitario Sionista [["Zionist University Center"]]
(founded 1950) attracts over 700 Jewish university students
(according to 1965 estimate). But all these educational
facilities reach only 20-30% of Chilean Jewish youth.
Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): Chile, vol.5, col.466, B'ne
Jisroel synagogue,
Santiago, Innenraum mit Versammlung
[Jewish press and writings
in Chile]
The Jewish press in Chile began to appear as early as 1919
with
Nuestro Ideal [[Our
Ideal]] and
Renascimiento
[[Rebirth]]. In 1970 the following papers appeared:
Mundo Judío [["Jewish
World"]], a weekly (founded 1935) published by the
[[racist]] Zionist Federation; and
Dos Yidishe Vort [["The Yiddish Word"]]
(founded in 1937), a Yiddish-Spanish weekly supported by the
kehillah
[[congregation]] and the Círculo [["Circle"]]. In the
literary field, achievements are disappointing; however,
special mention should be made of the historical writings of
Guenther Boehm and Guenther Friedland, the poems of Ana
Albala de Levy, and the writings (in Yiddish) of Jacobo
*Pilovsky.
Jews in Public Life.
Some Jews, e.g., Natalio Berman (Communist deputy), Angel
Faivovich (radical senator), Jacobo Schaulsohn (radical
deputy), and Volodia Teitelboim (Communist senator), have
participated in the political life of the country. From
1966, only Teitelboim remained active; however, he had no
connection with Jewish life or its problems. In the field of
science, Alejandro Lipschuetz' studies on South American
Indians gained international recognition. Among the lawyers
in prominent positions are David Stichkin, twice rector of
the University of Concepción, and Gil Sinay, president of
the Representative Committee of the Jewish Community of
Chile (1968). Efrain Friedmann, director of the Chilean
Atomic Research Committee; Jaime Wisnaik, director of the
Department of Engineering of the Catholic University of
Santiago; and Grete Mostny, director of the Museum of
Natural History, are well known in the field of science.
In music and the arts, Victor Tevah, ex-director of the
National Symphony Orchestra, composer Leon Schidlowsky,
ex-director of the Institute for the Musical Extension of
the State University, and the painters Dinora Doudtchitzky,
Kurt Herdan, Francisco Otta, and Abraham Freifeld stand out.
[G.B. / H.A.] (col. 467)
Relations with [[racist
Zionist]] Israel.
[[Zionist policy is bribe policy in the UN. About 50% of the
state's institutions of the "USA" are kept by Jewish
Zionists and by this there is "US" protection for racist
Zionist Israel in the UN]].
Chilean public opinion has often shown a marked interest and
sympathy for [[racist]] Zionism and the [[racist Zionist]]
State of Israel. In 1945 a Pro-Palestine Committee was
founded in Santiago, and its prominent member, Senator
Gabriel Gonzalez Videla (later president of Chile), was
among those who sponsored the organization of the
International Christian Conference for Palestine, which took
place in Washington in 1945. In spite of his past record of
goodwill toward Jewish aspirations, as president Videla gave
in to the internal pressure of the Arab community (100,000
citizens of Arab descent live in Chile and are known for
their financial and political influence) and instructed his
delegation to the UN General Assembly to abstain from voting
on the resolution to partition Palestine in 1947. Senator
Humberto Alvarez, second-ranking member of this delegation,
resigned in protest against that decision.
This disappointment at a critical moment did not affect the
cordial relations between Chile and [[racist Zionist]]
Israel, however, and Chile recognized Israel in February
1949 and supported her admission to the UN. In 1950 a
nonresident minister opened the legation of the State of
[[racist Zionist]] Israel in Santiago, and Chile established
its diplomatic representation in Israel in 1957. In November
1958 both raised their missions to the status of embassies,
and in March 1965 the Embassy of Chile was transferred from
Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.
Chile abstained from voting on the UN resolution in favour
to the internationalization of Jerusalem (col. 467)
(Dec. 9, 1949) but voted against the reunification of
Jerusalem after the *Six-Day War (July 14, 1967). In the
General Assembly of the UN (July 4, 1967) it gave its full
support to the resolution of the Latin American Bloc in the
aftermath of the Six-Day War. The Chilean-Israel Institute
for Culture, inspired by Alvarez and Carlos Vergara Bravo,
is known for its diverse activities.
Commercial relations are not impressive, showing a total
export of $69,000 from Chile to Israel and an import from
Israel of $124,000 (statistics of 1967). In the framework of
the Israel government's international scheme, an
agricultural mission from Israel is active in Chile in the
fields of settlement and marketing. The team, sponsored by
an agreement between the Organization of American States and
Israel for rural development, cooperates closely with CORA
(Corporación de la Reforma Agraria [["Agrarian Reform
Corporation"]]) and participates in rural project planning.
The Israel company *Tahal is employed in the study of
geological and hydraulic resources, as well as in rural
development schemes in Chile.
[[The natives of Chile, the Mapuches, are never mentioned in
this article, resp. it can be admitted that these Jewish
Zionist activities in Chile are even fighting the rights and
above all the territorial rights of the Mapuches]].
[SH. ER.]> (col. 468)
[[The Palestinians who are driven away within the Herzl
program of the book "The Jewish State" by the Jewish army of
Herzl Free Mason CIA Israel since 1948 and 1967 and the
atomic bombs of Herzl Israel which are haeded against the
Arabs are not mentioned]].
Bibliography
COLONIAL PERIOD
-- Roth, Marranos, 163-5, 259, 398-9
-- H.C.Lea; Inquisition in the Spanish Dependencies (1908)
-- G. Boehm: Los Judíos en Chile durante la Colonia (1948)
-- idem: Nuevos antecedentes para una historia de los Judíos
en Chile colonial (1963)
-- idem: Piratas Judíos en Chile (1945)
-- C.J. Larrain de Castro: Los Judíos en Chile colonial
(1943)
-- A. Fuenzalida Grandón: Apellidos Judíos en la historia de
Chile (1944)
CONTEMPORARY PERIOD
-- J. Beller: Jews in Latin America (1969), 144-60
-- J. Shatzky: Yidishe Yishuvim in Lateyn Amerike (1952),
129-42
-- Asociación Filantrópica Israelita Buenos Aires: Zehn
Jahre Aufbauarbeit in Suedamerika (Sp. and Ger., 1943),
230-49
-- M. Sendery: Historia de la Colectividad Israelita de
Chile ... 1956
-- A. Salpeter, in: Bi-Tefuzot ha-Golah, 5 (Spring 1963),
97-99
-- G. Boehm, in: Judaica, no. 154 (1946), 151-3
-- A. Monk and J. Isaacson (eds.): Comunidades Judías de
Latinoamérica (1968), 71-81> (col. 468)
Encyclopaedia
Judaica: Chile, sources
|
Encyclopaedia Judaica (1971): Chile, vol. 5, col.
465-466 |
Encyclopaedia Judaica 1971: Chile, vol. 5,
col. 467-468
|