History of the Jews in Uruguay

Colonial era and 19th century

The arrival of Jews to the Banda Oriental goes back to the 16th century, when conversos began settling there. The Spanish 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.

20th century

Significant Jewish immigration to Uruguay began in the late 19th century, with the arrival of Jews from Brazil 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 the Batlle era.^[6][7] The largest Jewish population was in Montevideo, whose Villa Muñoz neighbourhood received a large amount of the European Jewish immigration that came to Uruguay, which led it to become the Jewish quarter of the capital.^[8] Jewish schools and the first synagogue were established there in 1917 by a small Ashkenazi community.^[9]

The first recorded minyan happened in 1912.^[10] Despite the majority of Ashkenazi immigration, a significant number of Sephardim from the Ottoman Empire settled in the country.^[11] Most of them were poor and working-class, so upon their arrival they lived in tenements located in neighborhoods such as Ciudad Vieja, Palermo and Barrio Sur.^[12] In 1915, 30 Jewish families from Belarus and Bessarabia settled in the rural area of the Paysandú Department and established an agricultural settlement, Colonia 19 de Abril.^[13] Around that time, a Jewish cemetery was also established in the city of La Paz, 20 kilometers from Montevideo.^[14]

As the Jewish community in Uruguay grew during the early 20th century, a number of institutions were established to provide assistance to immigrants and promote community organization.^[15] After World War I, Jewish immigration increased significantly, particularly among Ashkenazi Jews from Eastern and Central Europe, including Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Czechoslovakia, as a result of growing antisemitism and political instability in the region.^[16] The Jewish population continued to expand during the interwar period, with the arrival of additional groups, including Italian, North African and Hungarian Jews.^[17]

Uruguayan Jews initially made a living through small-scale retail and peddling, with some working as craftsmen and artisans.^[18] Over time, many moved into larger commercial activities, becoming owners of large stores and medium-sized businesses.^[19] As a result, the community became predominantly middle class, particularly as a growing proportion of its members were second- and third-generation Uruguayans. Their economic advancement was aided by the creation of Jewish loan and assistance funds, some of which later developed into financial institutions such as the Banco Israelita del Uruguay.^[20][21]

The Uruguayan government's open immigration policy waned during Gabriel Terra's rule in the 1930s.^[22] During the Terra dictatorship (1933–38), a series of laws introduced immigration restrictions and expanded the grounds on which entry into the country could be denied.^[23] Despite these measures, and the refusal of some refugee ships arriving in Montevideo for failing to meet legal requirements, Jewish immigration to Uruguay continued throughout the decade, with an estimated 19,600 Jews arriving between 1927 and 1942.^[24][25] In 1936 the Uruguayan branch of B'nai B'rith was established.^[26]

With the rise of Nazism in Europe and the outbreak of World War II, the arrival of Jewish immigrants from Central and Eastern Europe to Uruguay increased.^[27] A considerable number of these immigrants were Jews from German-speaking Europe from middle-class backgrounds who were largely assimilated into European society and included bank employees, skilled workers, cattle breeders, researchers, lawyers, and physicians.^[28] Throughout the war, several aid organizations were also created, including the Comité Israelita de Ayuda a los Aliados, which supported the Allied cause.

Following their arrival in Uruguay, Jewish immigrants initially established separate organizations based on their origins and religious traditions. In 1940, however, the Israelite Community, the Sephardic Israelite Community, the Nueva Congregación Israelita, and the Hungarian Israelite Community [es] merged to form the Central Israelite Committee of Uruguay (CCIU), which became the main representative organization of the Jewish community in the country.^[29] Further, in 1945 was established the Casa de Cultura Mordejai Anilevich.

At the end of World War II in 1945, Uruguayan immigration law required individuals seeking entry to demonstrate that they had sufficient financial resources to support themselves. In January 1945, however, the government established an exemption from this requirement for individuals with relatives already residing in Uruguay.^[30] As a result, between January and September 1946, approximately 1,578 Jewish survivors of the Holocaust settled in Uruguay, most of whom came from Poland, Germany, and Hungary.^[31]

During the establishment of Israel in 1948 and the subsequent 1948 Arab-Israeli War, which involved the mass exodus of Jews from Arab and Muslim countries, primarily to Israel, more than 18,000 Jews immigrated to Uruguay, including a number of Russian Jews and Hungarian Jews.^[32]

Uruguay, which had supported the creation of a Jewish homeland during the 1920 San Remo conference, was one of the first nations to recognize Israel, and the first Latin American country to do so.^[33] 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 support Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and oppose internationalization of the city.^[34] Its diplomatic mission in Jerusalem was upgraded to the status of an embassy in 1958, but subsequently moved to Tel Aviv after the enactment of the Jerusalem Law.^[35]

In 1952 the American 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.^[36]

The community experienced a serious decline in the 1970s and 1980s as a result of emigration.^[37] By the mid-1990s, there was little Jewish representation in the higher echelons of the military and in Parliament. In 1994, a Holocaust memorial was opened on the Rambla in the Punta Carretas neighborhood.^[38]

21st century

Between 1999 and 2002, as a result of the banking and economic crisis in Uruguay, approximately 2,000 Jews emigrated to Israel. By 2018, it was estimated that around 15,000 Uruguayan Jews and their descendants were living there.^[39]

As of 2009, 20,000-25,000 Jews lived in Uruguay, with 95% residing in Montevideo or its metropolitan area.^[25] Throughout the country, there are prominent organized communities in Punta del Este and Paysandú.^[40] As of 2003, there were 20 synagogues.^[40] Since 1985, when a menorah was first installed in a public space in Montevideo—its lighting ceremony attended by political authorities—this event has been held annually in both Montevideo and Punta del Este.^[41][42]

In 2017, a Holocaust 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.”^[43][44][45] This act of vandalism followed a renovation of the memorial which attempted to clean up the monument from previous acts of antisemitic vandalization.^[46]