Context on the Shoah

The term Holocaust derives from the Greek holokauston, denoting a religious animal sacrifice by consumption of fire. This name reflects the manner in which many victims of the Holocaust perished: their bodies reduced to ashes in mass crematories. Many figures in the academic and Jewish communities understand this term to be a religious romanticization of the vicious acts carried out by the Nazis. Instead, they use the term Shoah, meaning “Catastrophe” in Hebrew, to encapsulate these events.

Michael Berenbaum, a scholar of Shoah studies, claims that “Germany fought two wars simultaneously: World War II and the racial war against the Jews.” ² The Shoah officially spanned from 1933 to 1945, during which World War II spanned from 1939 to 1945. The Shoah refers to the systematic state-sponsored murder of around six million Jews, along with millions of others, by Nazi Germany.

Adolf Hitler, the leader of the Nazi party, was elected as chancellor in January of 1933. Through pervasive propaganda and rousing speech, Hitler gained avid support from Nazi Germans. In March of 1933, Nazis polled 43.9% of the election votes.³ In 1934, he assumed the title of Führer in addition to his chancellor status. He established an absolute dictatorship and ceased further elections.

Nazism was not completely theorized by Hitler. It draws upon concepts and notions that have existed for centuries, such as Christian Anti-Judaism, philology, anthropology, the theory of evolution, genetics, eugenics, modern antisemitism, and more. Dr. David Silberklang, a Senior Historian and Editor of Yad Vashem Studies, notes that “the Nazi world view claimed to be scientific.” ¹⁴ It asserts the biological and cultural superiority of the “Aryan” race, primarily the North Europeans who are often identifiable by their blonde hair and blue eyes.¹⁰

This belief situated the Jewish people as the anti-race who threatened the safety of the Aryans. Nazi propaganda depicted and exaggerated the stereotypical physical attributes of the Jewish people in complete contrast with the Aryan race. Propaganda images often depicted Jews as inhumane, taking the forms of parasites or devils plotting global domination. Hitler incited Nazism in Germany through this “scientific” racism and a radical sense of nationalism. The murderous events of the Shoah was the Nazi solution to the threat of the Jewish race.

The United States Holocaust Memorial Museum conducted a research project that totalled the various sites of the Shoah. The results revealed that the Germans established 980 concentration camps, 30,000 slave labor camps, 1,150 Jewish ghettos, 1,000 prisoner of war camps, and 500 brothels with sex slaves. ⁸

The focal theme and result of the Shoah was the dehumanization of the Jewish people. Its driving theory and motive portrayed the Jew as a pest. Its execution reduced the Jew to a number out of six million. To counteract this dehumanization, Michael Berenbaum urges his students to unpack and humanize this number by counting to six million one at a time.

Documents as a Means of Mobility

In October of 1938, the passports of all German Jews are invalidated until they are surrendered to the government and returned with the letter “J,” signifying their Jewish identity, is stamped on them. In January of 1939, Jews with non-Jewish names had to supplement their passports with the names “Israel” or “Sara.” ⁷ These adjustments not only separated the Jewish population from the rest of German population, but made it extremely difficult for them to flee the country.

There grew a Jewish need for documents as a means of mobility. Forging was a common solution to this need. Skilled forgers created exit visas, entry visas, passports, etc. Another solution was to pursue international passports. In 1942, El Salvador offered 20,000 passports available to Jews under Nazi occupation.

Although various countries offered entry, there remained the issue of escape, which often required the obtainment of an exit visa, which were difficult to come by themselves. Karl Fink, a Czechoslovakian Shoah survivor, waited in line for days in order to be issued exit visas for him and his wife.⁶

• Juan Perón (1895–1974) of Argentina
• Fulgencio Batista (1901–1973) of Cuba
• François Duvalier (1907–1971) of Haiti
• Anastasio Somoza (1896–1956) of Nicaragua
• Alfredo Stroessner (1912–2006) of Paraguay 
• Getúlio Vargas (1930–45, 1951–54) of Brazil

Although each dictatorship had its own unique characteristics, they were all made possible by the modern developments of the 20th century. The machine gun allowed for physical control of the masses, while technologies like radio and television allowed for immediate and vast influence. Leaders gained tighter control through surveillance technology, such as small cameras and listening devices.¹⁵ Citizens around the world fell victim to their respective dictators. This made finding safe refuge even more difficult for Jewish people fleeing the totalitarianism of Adolf Hitler. Additionally, there existed a dangerous potential for the multitude of fascist dictators to sympathize with Hitler and his actions.¹⁶ Learn more about Latin American dictatorships here.

Immigration of Jewish Refugees and Nazi War Criminals

Jewish immigration to South America was not encouraged nor facilitated by Latin American countries. The governments at the time were dictatorships whose leaders sympathized with european fascist leaders like Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler. Some important figures explain countries of South America’s attitude towards Jewish immigration during and after WWII [18].

Why and how did the attitude towards Jews change?

Growing antisemitism was facilitated by Nazi ideology and racial discrimination. Many also feared the economic competition that the Jewish immigrants would supposedly bring. We may consider the United State’s current exclusion of immigrants predominantly from Muslim countries. Think about the exponential increase of islamophobic messaging from the administration but also from United State’s civilians. Refugees seek refuge from oppressive governments and almost certain death, while the United States turns them away based on bigoted fears that the refugees will create economic competition for “hard working Americans”. Not only are we shutting our borders to those from predominantly islamic countries such as Syria, Iran, Iraq, Somalia, and Libya, the US is shutting its borders to those escaping drought and violence in South and Central America[19]. 

From the US Holocaust Memorial Museum: “During the Great Depression, political leaders and governments throughout the region exploited the economic crisis to develop populist bases. The policies of rulers such as Getulio Vargas (Brazil), Roberto Ortiz (Argentina), Arturo Alessandri (Chile), Lazaro Cardenas (Mexico), and Fulgencio Batista (Cuba) reflected this trend, which encouraged the development of anti-immigrant political parties or platforms and strong press campaigns against immigration”[18] This attitude was reflected in the countries stricter immigration laws.

Most countries in Latin America maintained open immigration policies throughout WWII. For example, Brazil adopted a quota program similar to the United States. The law determined the number of immigrants from any given country must be two percent of the immigrants that arrived from that same country between 1884 and 1933. One caveat of this policy is that Portugal and longtime Latin American residents were exempt. This exemption favored Italians and Spaniards while simultaneously discriminating against Eastern European immigrants[21]. 

Argentina’s immigration policy was heavily influenced by the Peron regime. Especially during the post war, Jewish immigration to Argentina was not encouraged while Italian and Spanish immigration was facilitated in every possible way. On August 14, 1946, Argentina’s director of immigration, Santiago Peralta, explained the country’s new plan to increase the Argentine population by means of immigration. Peralta explained that the ideal immigrants would be selected from the “best racial types”. And with reference to the displaced persons of the War he continued to say, “The misery that is left of war-torn Europe must stay there. Argentina cannot put up with that useless human wreckage.”[21] 

Nazi Sympathy in Latin America post-WWII

Fascist leaning South American leaders who were drawn to the racist regimes of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler supported the immigration of Nazi war criminals to their countries. Not only because they sympathized with their racist and bigoted ideology but also recruited them for their technical military expertise. Juan Peron ordered diplomats to establish “ratlines” or avenues through Spanish and Italian ports to smuggle thousands of former SS officers wanted for their crimes against humanity[20]. 

The fascist regimes used their connections with cardinals  and the guise of the Vatican to forge International Red Cross immigration documents for these war criminals. The Catholic church aided in the immigration of many European Catholics after the war. While some clerics were unwittingly aiding Nazi war criminals escape prosecution, some were fully aware that they were helping smuggle those who had committed crimes against humanity and specifically Jews[20].