"THE LIGHT COMES FROM THE EAST": STORIES OF COMMUNIST JEWS IN THE RIO DE LA PLATA

The Jewish immigration that arrived at the Rio de La Plata between the end of the 19th century and the Second World War, came mainly from Central Europe. These were families of workers' origin who spoke Yiddish and manifested a secular Judaism. Several had political experience in movements of Marxist origin. In South America, three distinct groups emerged within the Jewish left; the Socialists of the Bund, the Zionist-Marxists, and the Marxist-Leninists. The latter were linked inseparably to the Comintern and then to the Communist Party, until the collapse of the USSR in 1991. Schools, theaters, libraries, cultural and sports centers were concentrated in the Federation Yiddisher Kultur Farband-YKUF or Idisher Cultur Farband-ICUF. They identified themselves as "Judeo-progressive" (di progressive) and, in line with the CPSU, they fought against Zionism, that is, Hebrew nationalism. In this paper we argue that this condensed identity in the YKUF Federation or ICUF in the Rio de La Plata, was unconditional with the Soviet socialist system because it was born with the impact of the Russian Revolution, expanded during the Second World War, and became unbreakable during the Cold War