The Jewish Diaspora: Latin American Stories

0:00 Intro
4:00 Argentina
13:10 Dominican Republic
27:48 Bolivia
42:42 Mexico
55:00 Common themes across Latin American Jewry
1:08:38 Argentina again
1:14:07 Where do you see the future of Jewish Latin American life heading?
1:18: 27 Q+A
Between 1880 and 1930, Latin America experienced its largest influx of Jewish immigration. These immigrants were fleeing the poverty and persecution that affected them in Europe. During the lead up to WWII, more Jewish immigrants arrived to escape the rise of the Nazi regime. This wave of immigrants often came to the region on tourist visas or by pretending they were Catholic.
These immigrants arrived in a region that had Jewish communities living in a variety of contexts Some had been established three hundred years before, while some had only been there for twenty. Nevertheless, each community was vibrant, and many are still thriving today.
Explore the lives of Jews in Latin America in this conversation between Dr. Marion Kaplan, the Skirball Professor of Modern Jewish History at New York University; Dr. Yael Siman, Associate Professor in the Department of Social and Political Sciences at the Iberoamericana University, Mexico; Dr. Leo Spitzer, the Kathe Tappe Vernon Professor of History Emeritus at Dartmouth College; and Dr. Adriana Brodsky, Professor of History at St. Mary’s College of Maryland. The conversation is moderated by Simon Romero, National Correspondent for The New York Times.
This program is co-presented with the Hispanic Society of America.