Jewish Immigrants, Local Communities, and International Jewish Organizations in Twentieth Century Latin America and the Caribbean
The JDC Archives, the Brandeis University Initiative on the Jews of the Americas, the Latin American Jewish Studies Association (LAJSA), and the Association for the Social Scientific Study of Jewry (ASSJ) are co-sponsoring a workshop at Brandeis University on May 7-8, 2024. This two-day workshop will bring together scholars working on “Jewish Immigrants, Local Communities, and International Jewish Organizations in Twentieth Century Latin America and the Caribbean: A Triangular Relationship.”
From the early twentieth century to the 1970s, Latin American and Caribbean countries including Argentina, Bolivia, Brazil, Colombia, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Mexico, and Venezuela have been final destinations and transit points for Sephardi, Mizrahi, and Ashkenazi Jewish immigrants and refugees from Europe, North Africa, and the Middle East. The American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee (also known as JDC or “the Joint”), alongside other international Jewish organizations, supported this Jewish immigration to the Americas and facilitated refugees’ integration. JDC is most widely known for its refugee assistance programs that were established together with local Jewish communities, yet ongoing relationships ensued.
The workshop will investigate the triangular relationship between Jewish immigrants, local Jewish communities, and international Jewish organizations in twentieth century Latin American and Caribbean countries. We invite proposals that explore the following questions: