The seventieth anniversary of the modern settlement of Jews in Argentina was observed widely by Jewish communities throughout the country this week-end.
It was in 1889 when the first group of Eastern European Jews came to Buenos Aires aboard the S.S. Weser, settling in a newly-established agricultural colony, named Moisesville, in Santa Fe province. The 136 settlers were all from the Ukrainian section of Czarist Russia. With the help of the Jewish Colonization Association, and the backing of the late Baron Maurice de Hirsch, the next five decades saw the establishment of 25 Jewish agricultural colonies, with a total population of 28, 000 settlers.
Meanwhile, large-scale Jewish immigration was directed toward the larger cities. DAIA, the representative body of Argentine Jews, with headquarters in Buenos Aires, was formed in 1934, and now has more than 100 affiliates throughout the country. The Jewish population of Argentina in 1957 was estimated at 360, 000.
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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.
