<Paraguay, South
American republic.
[First immigration and
community]
A few isolated Jews came to Paraguay from France,
Switzerland, and Italy toward the end of the 19th century
and merged with the native population without ever
establishing a Jewish community.
On the eve of World War I a number of Sephardi Jews
immigrated from Palestine. The families Arditi, Cohenca,
Levi, Mendelzon, and Varzan formed the first
hevra kaddisha (Alianza
Israelita) in 1917 and established the first synagogue with
other Sephardim from Turkey and Greece.
A second immigration in the early 1920s brought Jews from
the Ukraine and Poland who (col. 85)
founded the Ashkenazi community, Unión Hebraica.
[1933-1939: influx of
15-20,000 Jewish refugees from NS Europe - transit station
to other states]
Between 1933 and 1939 between 15,000 and 20,000 Jews from
Germany, Austria, and Czechoslovakia took advantage of
Paraguay's liberal immigration laws to escape from Nazi
Europe. Most of them used Paraguay or their Paraguayan visas
as stepping stones to Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay where
immigration laws were more severe. The small fraction
that remained in Paraguay established the Unión de
Israelitas pro Socorro Mutuo. This group built the main
synagogue, later located within the premises of the Unión
Hebraica.
[[...]] There were some short-lived anti-Semitic decrees in
1936 and some anti-Semitic incidents prior to the
establishment of the strong-arm regime of General Alfredo
Stroessner in 1954. After that time, Jews were not
disturbed.
[[...]]
[since 1945: more
immigrants - emigration to neighboring states - Herzl
Israel - figures]
After world War II a last group of immigrants, mostly
survivors from the concentration camps, arrived. [[...]] The
size of the community is decreasing through emigration to
Argentina and Brazil, but there are also occasional
immigrants from those countries, especially due to marriage.
[[...]] Paraguay voted in 1947 for the UN Resolution on the
partition of Palestine and has been friendly to [[racist
Zionist]] Israel ever since. The population, which lost
two-thirds of its members in the war against an array of
larger nations between 1865 and 1870, tends to empathize
with Israel. An Israel Embassy [[of racist Zionist Israel]]
was established in 1968. The Consejo Representativo
Israelita de Paraguay represents the Jewish community
vis-ŕ-vis the public and authorities. There is also a sports
club, a [[racist Zionist]] *B'nai B'rith, *Wizo chapter, and
a [[racist Zionist]] *Ha-No'ar ha-Ziyyoni movement. In 1968
another youth organization, Centro Israelita Juvenil, was
established.
[[...]]
In 1968 the Jewish community was estimated at some 300
families or 1,000 persons. There is a continuous trickle of
emigrants to [[racist Zionist]] Israel, and some 50 people
have settled there.
[Professions]
Most Paraguayan Jews engage in commerce or industry. There
are about 25 Jewish professionals, most of whom studied in
Paraguay. The community supports a Jewish school, named
"Escuela Integral Estado de Israel", in which Hebrew is
taught in addition to the Paraguayan curriculum. About 50
Jewish students are enrolled at the university, in addition
to others who study abroad.
[Other immigrants in
Paraguay: Arabs, Germans]
The Jewish community is heavily outnumbered by the richer
and more influential Arab colony, whose members engage in
Paraguayan politics and have intermarried with the country's
most important families.
There are also some 40,000 Germans or people of German
descent, many of whom had openly supported the Nazis before
and during World War II. A number of prominent Nazis, among
them Dr. J. *Mengele of *Auschwitz, found temporary shelter
in Paraguay.
[[Jews and Nazis were confronted for decades yet in Paraguay
after 1945]].
Bibliography
-- Associación Filantrópica Israelita, Buenos Aires: Zehn
Jahre Aufbauarbeit in Suedamerika (Germ. and Sp., 1943)>
(col. 86)
