No official anti-Semitism, little discrimination and generally liberal government policies in Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras were reported by Dr. Abraham Coralnik, recently returned from a tour of investigation for three Jewish immigrant societies, in an interview.
Dr. Coralnik, editorial writer for The Day, had been sent to South and Central America by the HIAS, the ICA and the Emigdireckt, the Jewish immigrant aid societies of New York, London and Paris, respectively, to investigate possibilities for settlement by German-Jewish refugees.
Mexico, Guatemala and Honduras would welcome several thousand workers whose efforts could aid materially in the development of these countries, Dr. Coralnik asserted, but “it should be clearly understood that a large immigration under the present conditions of the world market is absolutely impossible. It would not be permitted by the respective governments.”
“SELECTED IMMIGRATION”
“On the other hand,” he pointed out, “a selected immigration of qualified people such as skilled artisans, agriculturists or industrialists could be effected after proper negotiation.”
Dr. Coralnik ascribed anti-Semitic agitation in Mexico to “the agitation of a certain group of merchants and promoters who were incensed by the competition of newly-arrived Jews with their more modern business methods, in addition, the Nazis allied themselves with certain political groups among the Mexicans and tried to make trouble for the Jews.”
“The enlightened intellectual class,” he said, “understands that anti-Semitic discrimination and the racial question are not applicable to those countries in which there already exists a great problem between the Indians and the Whites.”
The Jewish problem does not exist in Guatemala, Dr. Coralnik declared, and the government suppresses Nazism, which is represented by wealthy German plantation owners.
Dr. Coralnik’s research in Honduras was incomplete because of the hurricane, which broke out while he was in Tegucigalpa, the capital.
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The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
