Jews Of Brazil

 Nadene Goldfoot                                                 

                                          

After World War I of November 11, 1918, many Jews were aware of anti-Semitism and left Germany for Brazil.  Jews had been Brazil testing the waters since 1903, finding it tolerable.

Many German Jews arrived again from 1933 onwards.  Individual immigrants went there after World War II that ended in 1945, having really persecuted Jews from 1933. 

By 1990,, the Jewish population was 150,000.  20% were Sephardim Jews who were mainly merchants, manufacturers, factory and property owners, and professional workers.  The population of Brazil was then 150.7 million.  By contrast, the USA in 1990 was 350.1 million, over double of Brazil's population.  By 2011, 70 Brazilian Jews had moved to Israel.  By 2015, 400 Jews had moved to Israel.  

The history of Jews living in Brazil goes way back.  The Brazilian pioneer in 1503 was Fernando de Noronha, who was thought to have been a Marrano.  That's a Jew who was hiding his Jewish identity because of the 1492 Spanish Inquisition and earlier edict that all Jews had to leave Spain or be killed.   The only way to really leave was by ship to Portugal which many did.  

Later, Marrano (“converso” ) (in Hebrew as "Anusim)  immigrants from Portugal, of which some were actually deported by the Inquisition, fostered the sugar and tobacco industries and rice and cotton plantations.  Inquisitional visitations in 1591.5 and 1618 led many Marranos to emigrate and get out of Portugal, heading for Brazil.  The visitations led to horrible deaths.  

After the Portuguese capture of Recife in 1654, the Jews were forced to leave, with some returning to Holland, where their families had found solace and lived there.  Others found safer land in the West Indies and in New York (New Amsterdam), which is another story in itself.  

By 1822, our Marranos were actually turning to Judaism once again.  That's when Brazil became an independent state.  That change brought European Jews to Brazil, where Jewish communities were founded in Befem, Sao Paolo, Recife, Bahia, Manaos, and in Rio de Janeiero.  

Resource:

additional:  7/16/2024

The New Standard Jewish Encyclopedia