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Antisemitism in Chile started in early Chilean history during Spanish colonization and settlement. Now on the decline, antisemitism has resurfaced throughout the country's history to include the 20th-centuryNazism of some Chileans with German heritage. Chileans today have a positive view of the country's estimated 32,000 Jews or less than 1% of the population.[citation needed]
Jewish presence inChile is as old as thehistory of that country. Over time, Chile has received several contingents of Jewish immigrants. Currently, the Jewish community in Chile comes mainly from the migrations occurred in the 19th and 20th centuries, mostly ofAshkenazi background.Chile is home to the third-largest Jewish community inSouth America.[1]
The first Jews arrived in Chile with theSpanishconquistadors. These were Jewish converts toCatholicism because, at the time of theInquisition, had to hide their Jewish origin living. Most of this immigration occurred in the early years of the conquest, fleeing religious persecution in Spain, since in the Americas is not yet the court of the Inquisition installed.[2] Diego García de Cáceres, faithful friend and executor of the founder of Santiago,Pedro de Valdivia, was one of them.
In colonial times, the most prominent Jewish character in Chile was the surgeonFrancisco Maldonado da Silva, one of the first directors of the San Juan de Dios Hospital. Maldonado da Silva was anArgentine Jew born inSan Miguel de Tucumán into aSephardic family fromPortugal.[3] He was accused to the Tribunal of the Inquisition by his sisters, devoutChristians, from attempting to convert them toJudaism. Maldonado declared openly Jew, causing him the conviction to be burned alive in 1639. According to a 2010 book, he was imprisoned because he tried to convert his two sisters, who had converted to Catholicism, and they denounced him.[4]
From 1840, decades after the abolition of the Inquisition in Chile, began the Jewish immigration to the country. The first Jews who arrived in Valparaíso were from Europe, especially from Germany and France. One of them, Manuel de Lima y Sola, was a man who became one of the founding members of the Fire Department of Valparaíso in 1851 and one of the founders of the Chilean freemasonry to create the first Masonic lodge, the "Unión Fraternal" two years later.[5]
Between the Spanish people which arrived to Chile during the Inquisition were Jews which had been sent away from their home land. The inquisition has been active in Chile until 1813. In that period, many Jews were executed. One of them was Francisco Maldonado De-Silva, a doctor who declared in public about his Jewish religion, and was executed only because of that. De-Silva's life story was published in the book “la gesta marrano”.[3] With Chile's independence, Jewish prayers were allowed in public only in 1856. The first official Jewish organization was established in 1909.
In 2006, footballerRodrigo Goldberg faced antisemitic abuse fromPalestino fans during a match, due to his Jewish heritage.[6] In 2024, he was once again targeted with antisemitic slurs, this time on social media, which led him to leave hisX account inactive.[7]
On 23 August 2025,Santiago's oldest synagogue, Bicur Joilim, was attacked while people were praying inside, the fourth such attack in two years. The incident follows similar events at Jewish places of worship inViña del Mar,Temuco, andConcepción. The Chilean Jewish community accused authorities of downplaying and denying the antisemitic reality in Chile, which has led to inaction. Organizations such as theUN and theUnited States Department of State have warned of rising antisemitism in the country, reflected in profanities, hate speech, and harassment.[8]
Nazism in Chile has a long history dating back to the 1930s. Nazist cells are currently active in many Chilean cities, especially the capital,Santiago, and thesouthern cities with German heritage.[9]
After the dissolution of theNational Socialist Movement of Chile (MNSCH) in 1938, notable former members of MNSCH migrated intoPartido Agrario Laborista (PAL), obtaining high charges.[10] Not all former MNSCH members joined the PAL; some continued to form parties of the MNSCH line until 1952.[10] A new old-school Nazi party was formed in 1964 by school teacher Franz Pfeiffer.[10] Among the activities of this group were the organization of aMiss Nazi beauty contest and the formation of a Chilean branch of theKu Klux Klan.[10] The party disbanded in 1970. Pfeiffer attempted to restart it in 1983 in the wake of a wave of protest against thePinochet Regime.[10]
Historically Nazism had also detractors in Chile. Example of this is thetelegram sent by members of theCongress of Chile toAdolf Hitler after theKristallnacht (1938) in which they denounced the persecution ofJews.[11]
Even before theNazi takeover of Germany in 1933 there was aGerman Chilean youth organization with strong Nazi influence. Nazi Germany pursued a policy ofNazification of the German Chilean community.[12] These communities and their organizations were considered a cornerstone to extend the Nazi ideology across the world by Nazi Germany. It is widely known that albeit there were discrepancies most German Chileans were passive supporters of Nazi Germany. Nazism was widespread among the German Lutheran Church hierarchy in Chile. A local chapter of theNazi Party was started in Chile.[12]
While Nazi Germany did pursue a policy of Nazification of overseas German communities,[13] the German community in Chile did not act as an extension of the German state to any significant degree.[14]
