Argentine Jewish leaders who visited Germany last month offered to cooperate with non-governmental German institutions to combat right-wing extremism, according to Ruben Beraja, president of the Argentine Jewish federation, known as the DAIA.
Beraja said 12 Jewish experts are setting up a database on Nazis who found haven in Argentina, based on secret files dating to the time of World War II that were recently made available to the public by Argentine President Carlos Menem.
Beraja said right-wing extremists in Argentina imitate their German counterparts. “After every violent act in Germany, we receive threats on the telephone and swastikas are smeared on the streets,” he said.
The president of the Jewish Charity Association in Argentina, Norberto Lichtenstein, said Argentine Jews are deeply concerned about anti-Semitic acts in Germany, and especially over whether the silent majority of Germans will fight such activities.
Beraja and other Argentine Jewish leaders came to Germany as guests of the Bonn government. They met with German Foreign Minister Klaus Kinkel; the president of Parliament, Rita Sussmuth; the two candidates for the upcoming presidential election, Roman Herzog and Johannes Rau; and the head of the Jewish community, Ignatz Bubis.
Beraja also announced that Argentina’s first Jewish university will be opened this year, in cooperation with Bar-IIan University in Israel.
Beraja said the university is expected to help maintain Jewish tradition among young people, something particularly important as mixed marriages between Jews and non-Jews in Argentina have reached 25 percent.
He said this is the most serious problem for Argentina’s 325,000 Jews.
The new university, to be known as Hebrew-Argentine-Bar-Ilan University, will be open to members of all faiths. It will offer a Jewish curriculum as well as courses in liberal arts and science, Beraja said.
The university will begin operating with 100 students but will expand to 1,000 students over the next three years, he said.
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