Overt Anti-semitism Minor Factor in So. America, A.J.C. Leaders Report

The 650,000 Jews in South America “suffer little actual discrimination or overt anti-Semitism, “leaders of the American Jewish Committee reported here today in a detailed account of their findings on a recent 15,000 mile trip through South America. They told a press conference that there were no significant “organized anti-Semitic movements” on the continent.

The reporters, Irving Engel, president of the AJC, Jacob Blaustein, honorary president, and Dr. John Slawson, executive vice president, said that Jews, largely naturalized citizens of the South American lands, suffered especially from the extensive discrimination against naturalized citizens which exists in some countries in the governmental, professional and economic areas.

They noted that in a number of the countries, individual Jews participate fully in the political and intellectual life of the nation, making discernable contributions. Among the examples cited were: six Jews serving as members of the elected Parliament of Argentina, a Jew as a provincial governor in that country, and a substantial number of Jews on the faculties of the University of Buenos Aires.

The Committee leaders said that immigration facilities for refugees of all faiths indicate that some South American governments “still maintain restrictive policies in practice.” They hailed the role of the Brazilian Government and the Catholic Church in that country in the recent liberalization of immigration policies which recently allowed 5,000 Jews from Egypt and Hungary to enter the country.

The AJC delegation found the great majority of South Americans with little knowledge of Jews and Judaism, and recommended a “comprehensive program of intergroup relations” to change the situation.

For the Jewish communities themselves, which the Committee leaders found to be vitally interested in Jewish education, they stressed that the preservation of Jewish identity was an important problem, particularly with regard to the youth. They saw a great interest generally in “the concept of full participation in community life with the retention of their Jewish religion-cultural identity in keeping with the American pattern.”

Their trip took them to four countries: Argentina, with an estimated 450,000 Jews; Brazil, 140,000; Chile, 40,000; and Peru, 4,500. Beside conferring with Jewish community leaders, Messrs. Engel, Blaustein and Slawson met with government leaders, including Argentine President Arturo Frondizi, Roman Catholic Church dignitaries and United States Embassy officials.

The purposes of the mission, the AJC delegation said, were to consult on the status of Jews, their civil and religious rights and the degree of their participation in the national life of their respective countries; to study religious, educational, welfare and cultural facilities of the Jewish communities and their relationship with Israel and with Jewish communities in other parts of the world; and to explore facilities for the absorption of refugees of all faiths fleeing religious or political persecution.