 | |
| Total population | |
|---|---|
| 16,600–22,000 | |
| Regions with significant populations | |
| |
| Languages | |
| Uruguayan Spanish,Hebrew,Yiddish,Ladino | |
| Religion | |
| Judaism |
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| History ofUruguay |
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20th Century |
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Thehistory of theJews inUruguay goes back tocolonial times. In the 1700s, Jews escaping from theInquisition arrived in theBanda Oriental, territory of present-day Uruguay. However, the most important influx of Jews to Uruguay occurred during the end of the 19th century and to a greater extent during the first half of the 20th century, especially duringWorld War I andII.
With an estimated 16,600–22,000 Jews, according to theAmerican Jewish Year Book 2019, Uruguay is home to thefifth-largest Jewish community in Latin America, but the largest in terms of proportion relative to its total population.[1] The country's community is mainly composed ofAshkenazim and includesHolocaust survivors and descendants.[2][3][4]
The arrival of Jews to theBanda Oriental goes back to the 16th century, whenconversos began settling there. TheSpanish Inquisition was not a significant force in the territory, and the first recorded Jewish settlement there was in the 1770s. When the Inquisition ended in 1813, it paved the way for Jews being more accepted in Uruguay throughout the 19th century.
Significant Jewish immigration to Uruguay began in the late 19th century, with the arrival of Jews fromBrazil and Argentina.[5] At the beginning of the 20th century, Uruguay became an attractive destination for Jews due to the secularism and prosperity following the reforms carried out during theBatlle era.[6][7] The largest Jewish population was inMontevideo, whoseVilla Muñoz neighbourhood received a large amount of the European Jewish immigration that came to Uruguay, which led it to become theJewish quarter of the capital.[8] Jewish schools and the first synagogue were established there in 1917 by a smallAshkenazi community.[9]
The first recordedminyan happened in 1912.[10] Despite the majority of Ashkenazi immigration, a significant number ofSephardim from theOttoman Empire settled in the country.[11] Most of them were poor and working-class, so upon their arrival they lived intenements located in neighborhoods such asCiudad Vieja,Palermo andBarrio Sur.[12] In 1915, 30 Jewish families fromBelarus andBessarabia settled in the rural area of thePaysandú Department and established an agricultural settlement, Colonia 19 de Abril.[13] Around that time, aJewish cemetery was also established in the city ofLa Paz, 20 kilometers fromMontevideo.[14]
In the early years of the century, as the Jewish community in Uruguay grew, different institutions were founded to bring it together and help the newcomers settle and adapt.[15] AfterWorld War I, the number of Ashkenazim in Uruguay increased significantly, with the arrival of Jews fromLatvia,Lithuania,Poland,Romania andCzechoslovakia escaping antisemitism.[16] The majority of Jewish immigration to Uruguay took place in the 1920s and 1930s. A large percentage of Jewish immigrants during this period wereGerman Jews andItalian Jews.[17]
Uruguayan Jews initially made a living in small retail trade and peddling, with some becoming craftsmen and artisans.[18] In time, they moved up the economic scale, and many became the owners of large stores or medium-sized businesses. They became primarily middle-class, particularly as many of them were by then second or third-generation Uruguayans. Their economic advancement was aided by the creation of Jewish loan and assistance funds, which evolved into Jewish banks.[19]
The Uruguayan government's open immigration policy waned duringGabriel Terra's rule in the 1930s.[20] During theTerra dictatorship (1933–38), immigration restrictions were imposed with the passing of laws establishing several reasons for refusing entry into the country.[21] However, despite the fact that some refugee ships were refused entry toMontevideo "for failure to meet requirements", the arrival of Jews to Uruguay continued during the 1930s.[22] In 1936 the Uruguayan division ofB'nai B'rith was established.[23]
Once settled in Uruguay, Jews were grouped based on their origin, however in 1940, with the union of theIsraelite Community, theSephardic Israelite Community, theNueva Congregación Israelita, and the Hungarian Israelite Community, theCentral Israelite Committee of Uruguay (CCIU) was formed, as a central and representative organization of the entire community.[24] Further, in 1945 was established theCasa de Cultura Mordejai Anilevich.
With the rise ofNazism in Europe and the subsequent outbreak ofWorld War II, the arrival of Jews fromCentral andEastern Europe to Uruguay increased. TheGerman Jews were mostly middle class, including bank employees, skilled workers, cattle breeders, researchers, lawyers and physicians.[25] Since by the end of the war in 1945, Uruguayan law did not allow the entry into the country of people who could not prove that they had the economic resources to live on their own, in January 1945 the government stipulated that people who had relatives already residing in Uruguay would be exempt from this obligation.[26] Thus, from January to September 1946, approximately 1,578Jewish survivors of the Holocaust settled in the country, most of whom were from Poland, Germany and Hungary.[27]
During the establishment ofIsrael in 1948 and the subsequent1948 Arab-Israeli War, which involved themass exodus of Jews fromArab and Muslim countries, primarily to Israel, more than 18,000 Jews immigrated to Uruguay, including a number ofRussian Jews andHungarian Jews.[28]
Uruguay, which had supported the creation of a Jewish homeland during the 1920San Remo conference, was one of the first nations torecognize Israel, and the firstLatin American country to do so.[29] It was the first Latin American country and fourth country overall in which Israel established a diplomatic mission. It was also one of the few nations to supportJerusalem as the capital of Israel and oppose internationalization of the city.[30] Its diplomatic mission in Jerusalem was upgraded to the status of an embassy in 1958, but subsequently moved toTel Aviv after the enactment of theJerusalem Law.[31]
In 1952 theAmerican Jewish Year Book estimated that Uruguay had about 40,000 Jews. However, in 1960 it was estimated at 50,000, the time in history when there were more Jews in the country.[32]
The community experienced a serious decline in the 1970s and 1980s as a result of emigration.[33] By the mid-1990s, there was little Jewish representation in the higher echelons of the military and in Parliament. In 1994, aHolocaust memorial was opened on theRambla in thePunta Carretas neighborhood.[34]
As of 2009, 20,000-25,000 Jews lived in Uruguay, with 95% residing inMontevideo.[35] Throughout the country, there are prominent organized communities inPunta del Este andPaysandú.[36] As of 2003, there were 20 synagogues, but only six of them held weeklyShabbat services, and one functioned every day.[citation needed]
In 2017, aHolocaust memorial in Montevideo was vandalized with antisemitic graffiti, with phrases such as "The Holocaust of the Jewish people is the biggest lie in history" and “Gas chambers were a fraud.”[37][38][39] This act of vandalism followed a renovation of the memorial which attempted to clean up the monument from previous acts of antisemitic vandalization.[40]
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