An anti-fascist struggle conditioned by ethnic concerns: Jewish self-defense groups in 1960s South America

ABSTRACT

Following the kidnapping of Nazi war criminal Adolf Eichmann in Buenos Aires in May 1960 and the antisemitic wave it provoked in South America throughout the 1960s, Jewish-Argentines, Jewish-Uruguayans and Jewish-Chileans organized themselves into armed self-defense groups and trained in response to growing xenophobia and racism. This little-researched history highlights the efforts of Jewish youth to break away from communal political traditions. They defied the practice of their parents and grandparents who preferred peaceful compromise over direct confrontation with either state officials or extreme right-wing organizations. These Jewish youngsters defined organizations like the Argentine Tacuara or Juventud Uruguaya de Pie as neo-Nazi. They took as a role model the ghetto fighters and the partisans of World War II and were now prepared to resort to violence in their struggle against antisemitism. Based on an oral history project, the article describes how they not only guarded community institutions but also attacked nationalist bullies, printing houses of antisemitic literature and Arab diplomatic legations. However, as this article argues, they did not collaborate with leftist anti-fascist groups, since they were also concerned in promoting Zionism and immigration to Israel.

RESUMEN

luego del secuestro del criminal de guerra nazi Adolf Eichmann en Buenos Aires en mayo de 1960 y de la ola antisemita que provocó en Sudamérica a lo largo de la década de 1960, argentinos, uruguayos y chilenos de origen judío se organizaron y entrenaron en grupos armados de auto-defensa en respuesta a la creciente xenofobia y racismo. Esta historia, escasamente explorada, ilumina los esfuerzos de la juventud judía por romper con las tradiciones políticas comunitarias. Estos jóvenes judíos desafiaron la práctica de sus padres y abuelos, quienes preferían compromisos pacíficos en lugar de la confrontación directa tanto con los agentes del estado como con las organizaciones de extrema derecha. Definieron como neo-nazis a organizaciones como Tacuara en Argentina o la Juventud Uruguaya de Pie. Eligieron como modelo a los combatientes del gueto y los partisanos de la Segunda Guerra Mundial, y se prepararon ahora para recurrir a la violencia en su lucha contra el antisemitismo. Este artículo, basado en un proyecto de historia oral, describe la manera en que estos jóvenes no sólo protegieron las instituciones de la comunidad sino también atacaron a matones nacionalistas, casas editoriales que publicaban literatura antisemita y delegaciones diplomáticas árabes. El artículo también muestra que, desafortunadamente, estos grupos no colaboraron con grupos antifascistas de izquierda, debido a su preocupación por promover el Sionisimo y la inmigración a Israel.

KEYWORDS:

• Jews
• Argentina
• Uruguay
• Chile
• self-defense
• antisemitism
• neo-Nazis

PALABRAS CLAVES:

• judíos
• Argentina
• Chile
• Uruguay
• auto-defensa
• antisemitismo
• neo-nazis

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. Liskofski (1961, 209–13). For the Argentine case, see DAIA, “Informe de la labor cumplida por el Consejo Directivo de la DAIA (November 1958–November 1960)”, 8–16; Yagupsky to Desser, 9 January 1960, and Yagupsky to Segal, 9 January 1960, American Jewish Committee (AJC) Files, New York, Box 2.

2. Robert McClintock to State Department, 18 April 1962, National Archives (College Park, MD), Documents of the Dept. of State, Record Group 59 (hereafter NA) 735.00/4-1862; Harry Hoyt to State Department, 13 June 1962, NA 735.00/6-1362; Mundo Israelita, 5 May 1962; Primera Plana, 4 December 1962 Bardini (2002), Gutman (2003) and Padrón (2017).

3. McClintock to State Department, 18 April 1962, NA 735.00\4-1862.

4. “Nazi Youths in Chile to Go on Trial for Attacks on Synagogues”, Jewish Telegraphic Agency (hereafter JTA), 27 November 1963; “Nazi Leader in Chile Sentenced to Jail for Anti-Jewish Bombing”, JTA, 13 September 1963.

5. Ernst Munter’s testimony, Memoria Viva, accessed 13 July 2022, https://mviva.org/testimonios/munter-ernesto-3/.

6. Documents of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Israel State Archives, Jerusalem (hereinafter MFA), 4058/15.

7. “Despliegue policial por asalto a la embajada”, Las Últimas Noticias, 25 February 1966.

8. “Cuidador frustró asalto a la embajada de la RUA”, La Tercera de la hora, 22 February 1966; “Pistoleros espías roban documentos en embajada”, Mundo Árabe, 1 February 1966; “Comandos foráneos en Chile”, Mundo Árabe, 1 March 1966.

9. “Idioma extraño hablan asaltantes de embajada”, Las Últimas Noticias, 26 February 1966.

10. Embassy in Santiago to the Ministry in Jerusalem, 23 February 1966, MFA 4058/15. In a note from the embassy in Buenos Aires to the embassy in Rio, the three were simply characterized as “members of the organization of Jewish self-defense”. See Buenos Aires embassy to Rio, 25 February, MFA 1618/9.

11. Embassy in Santiago to MFA, 26 February 1966, MFA 4058/15.

12. Embassy in Santiago to MFA, 24 February 1966, MFA 4058/15; “Espías extranjeros asaltaron embajada”, La Tercera de la hora, 24 February 1966.

13. MFA to the embassy in Santiago, 26 February 1966; MFA, Latin American Division, to New York and Santiago, 1 March 1966, MFA 4058/15. The same position was adopted by the Israeli embassy in Argentina, following an exchange of fire that occurred in mid-1962, just nine days after the first attack on Graciela Sirota, between a group of young Jews and members of the Federal Police. One policeman was killed during this incident. See the report of the JTA, “Shooting between Jewish Defenders and Secret Police in Argentina”, Lamerchav, 2 July 1962, 2 [in Hebrew]; “Police in Argentina Attacked Young Jews”, Al Hamishmar, 2 July 1962, 1 [in Hebrew].

14. The idea to float bonds issued by Israel’s government was conceived by Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben Gurion. After Israel’s war of independence, the country was short on economic resources and did not have access to capital markets. Israel turned to diaspora Jews for help. The objective was to issue bonds and raise funding for immigrant absorption and the construction of national infrastructure. In this way, Ben Gurion also hoped to engage diaspora Jewry as active partners in building the new Jewish state.

15. MFA, Latin American Division, to New York and Santiago, 1 March 1966, MFA 4058/15.

16. Naor to MFA, 4 March 1966, MFA 4058/15.

17. “Uri Naor: ¿De qué comandos me habla?”, La Tarde de la hora, 1 March 1966.

18. “No hay detenidos por asalto a la embajada”, La Tarde de la hora, 28 February 1966. Indeed, the Jewish self-defense organization of Argentina attacked the offices of the Arab League in Buenos Aires. See Rein, Jewish Self-Defense in South America, chap. 4.

19. “Atentados antisemitas”, La Mañana, 14 June 1960; “Murió un joven terrorista y dos están gravemente heridos”, El Plata, 14 June 1960; “Terrorismo en la ciudad”, Acción, 14 June 1960.

20. “Threat Campaign Against Buenos Aires Jews. Young Man Dies While Preparing Bomb to be Planted in Israeli Embassy in Uruguay”, Ma’ariv, 15 June 1960, 1 [in Hebrew]; Broquetas (2010), 49.

21. “Bomb in the Uruguayan Capital Intended for Israeli Embassy”, Yediot Ahronot, 15 June 1960 [in Hebrew]; “They Planned to Damage the Israeli Embassy”, Haaretz, 16 June 1960 [in Hebrew]; Bohoslavsky, Broquetas, and Gomes (2018).

22. “Otro atentado de los nazis”, El Popular, 20 June 1960.

23. “Safeguarding Jewish Institutions in Uruguay”, Ma’ariv, 17 June 1960, 1 [in Hebrew]; “The Jewish Community of Uruguay”, MFA 236/13 [in Hebrew].

24. Julio Ring’s handwritten Curriculum Vitæ, submitted to the Mossad in 1974, from the Ring family archive.

25. Tzvi Tuchman in interview with the author, 20 October 2020.

26. “G. Meir leaves for United Jewish Appeal Mission”, Lamerjav, 8 May 1968, 1 [in Hebrew].

27. “A Eichmann. Hicieron un insólito intento de homenaje”, La Mañana, 3 March 1960.

28. “Discriminación racial”, El Debate, 11 June 1962; “Fascists in Uruguay Mourn Eichmann”, Kol Ha’am, 12 June 1962, 1 [in Hebrew].

29. “Así empezó el fascismo”, Acción, 6 October 1962. The first issue of FEDAN’s publication, Centinela, printed an article denying the Jewish Holocaust: “Juicio o parodia”, 11 March 1961.

30. Jewish Telegraphic Agency, 30 July 1962, 1. See also “Anti-Semitic Violence Flares in South America”, Rhode Island Herald, 10 August 1962; New Jersey Jewish News, 3 August 1962.

31. “Jews of Montevideo Established Self-Defense After Murder of Elderly Jew”, Davar, 27 July 1962, 1 [in Hebrew]; “Uruguay Jews Fear for the Future”, Hatzofe, 25 October 1963, 13 [in Hebrew]; Excerpts from a letter from Natalio Mazar, Buenos Aires, 26 July 1962, AJC Files.

32. “Impunes fascistas siguen sus bárbaros atentados”, El Popular, 21 June 1962.

33. See the detailed report of the press attaché to the Israeli embassy in Montevideo, “La Escoba Revolutionary Movement, or Revolutionary Party”, Abraham Sarlouis to the Director-General, 25 April 1960, Israel State Archives (Jerusalem), Uruguay-Antisemitism files.

34. “Montevideo Jews Establish Self-Defense After Murder of Elderly Jew”, Davar, 27 July 1962, 1 [in Hebrew].

35. “Montevideo Jews Establish Self-Defense Units After Samuel Zalzberg’s Assassination”, Herut, 26 July 1962, 1 [in Hebrew].

36. “Panic Among Uruguayan Jews After Murder of an Old Man: A Self-Defense is Being Organized – Students Will Strike Tomorrow”, Hatzofe, 26 July 1962, 1 [in Hebrew].

37. “Remains of Young Man Killed in Antisemitic Attack Brought on Olim Ship”, Hatzofe, 1 April 1963, 4 [in Hebrew]; “Parents from South America Fulfill Will of Their Son”, Ma’ariv, 1 April 1963, 16 [in Hebrew].

38. Raquel Oberlander, Sussy Cienzar, and Israel Diament, “Betar en Uruguay” (Tel Aviv: Jabotinsky Institute), Reference Code: Betar-19, 13. For some reason, in the booklet on the history of Betar, Said’s death is dated 1967.

39. Interview, June 2019. On student mobilizations, see Markarian (2017) and Jung (2017).

40. Marcos Mendiuk in interview with the author, 2 August 2020. There are several testimonies of self-defense activists from Argentina admitting they had thrown Molotov cocktails in the 1960s and 1970s (for instance, D.R. in interview with the author, 17 July 2022). For Brazil, see Grossman (2018), 62–4.

41. Leonardo Senkman in interview with the author, 24 September 2020. The Guardia Restauradora Nacionalista emphasized that their only enemies were the “reds”. See “‘Reds are Our Only Enemies,’ Vow Right-Wing Nationalists”, Buenos Aires Herald, 26 March 1964.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Raanan Rein

Raanan Rein is the Elías Sourasky Professor of Latin American and Spanish History at Tel Aviv University. He is the author of numerous books, including Jewish Self Defense in South America: Facing Anti-Semitism with a Club in Hand (2023); Populism and Ethnicity: Peronism and the Jews of Argentina (2020); and Fútbol, Jews, and the Making of Argentina (2015).