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The Positive Side of Stereotypes: Jewish Anarchists in Early-Twentieth-Century Buenos AiresAuthor(s): Jose C. MoyaSource: Jewish History, Vol. 18, No. 1, Gender, Ethnicity, and Politics: Latin American JewryRevisited (2004), pp. 19-48Published by: Springer

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Il Jewish Histo 8: 198, 00

I © 2004 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands

The positive side of stereotypes: Jewish anarchists in

early-twentieth-century Bueno Aires

JOSE . MOYAUC, Department of Histo, Los Ageles CA, USA

E-mal: [email protected]

19

Abstract. Duing te late t century and te beginning of te 20t anarcism represented

te most impotant ction of te radical left in te Atlantic world. Tis moement attracted a

disproportionately ig number of Jews During te same period Buenos Aires became bot

an important magnet r Jewis imigration and one of te main centers of anacist actiism

in te world Tis ticle sows how te Jewish presence in te anarcist moement o te

city became in an amazingly sot time and almost ex niilo so isible tat it tued into a

stereotype. Te ticle ten attempts to proide an explanation r tis penomenon tat relies

on a sociological and comparatie perspective and questions notions of Jewis exceptionalism

and arguments based on te escatology and etics of Judaism. Finally it explores ow stereo

types tat nction at one leel as signiers of alterity and mecanisms of exclusion can at

anoter social leel promote acceptance and ceck anti-Semitism.

Drg a ad ar twrs , Jws wr ofd rog aradoxa sros of osv aass adaaas radas. T orado a a a oa v.oa, bo ags srvd, lra, o dr, a s, o xdo asra ad loat o t args. 1 Ts aast sro- rar dd oos or grs a ood ora or rsab (rodo, owrs, vst, ddass, orora, "bs-

ss o, dsralss, rprrs). Isad, Jws wr saassgd xr ros of t ddrs or bgt ars, w,aga ds aar ga, sar laos of rodv, rorg, ar, ad ar. Sar, t aaast ag rarldd rs k os, avsm, oo atoas, ad at-ooa srggs rvd as omgrow ad atothoos . It strssdsad oss ad sbvrso, ad w ovs td b as st-ab as aars.

Sros, of ors, or a r srs of xso. T

a aso o as ogv ass a ad bwdrg dvrsby orgazg kowdg o ras a, aog sd, r raras. Y dg o dgr o w Jws aars srorrsd s of grazao s o a as ask. Tr s -rao abo Jws ao aarst avs rgos (s as







2 SE MY

ot Aica an te Mile East) wee te wee numeous an te move-

ment small o, convesel, in places (suc as Spain, Ital, an Switzelan)wee te movement was wiespea an te Jewis population small. Givente ct tat most o te evience on te topic comes om impessionisticobsevations b contempoaies ate tan om quantitative compaisons ote paticipation o ieent etnic goups, it woul be pecisel in tese twosituations tat an exceptional Jewis peisposition towa anacism woulbecome moe appaent. Tat is, a w emaks b contempoa obsevesabout Jewis involvement in te anacist movement woul be muc moesignicant i mae about, sa, Caio o Rome ate tan Wasaw o ew

Yok.We ave moe inmation places wee bot te Jewis popuation

an te anacist movement wee impotant. As state above, tese stuiesael inclue ata tat actuall sow Jewis une o oveepesentation.But using quaitative souces te ave sown wat seems to be a emakabl ig leve o paticipation among te Askenazim. Vaious istoiansave assete tat in Russia te anacist movement was bo an attaineits igest intensit in te Jewis towns o te weste an soutwesteboeans.

Fom te towns an stetls o te Pal, emigants took tis militanc to tegettos o Euopean an Ameican cities . In onon's East En te unein 188 te Arbeter aynd, appent te st Yiis anacist newspape,wic b 190 eace a ciculation o 000 an a eation o Jewis anacist associations in 1902 Scolas ave oee iveging assessmentso te elative impotance o tese institutions. But te wee active anvisible enoug to convince te wellknown Geman gentile anacist RuoRocke to le Yiis an become te eito o Der Arbeter Fynd an tecommunit's pincipa leae.6 A simila, altoug appent less numeous,

communit existe in Pais.7 Rocke imsel st lee about te existenceo Jewis anacists wile living tee. Te communit o Jewis anacistsin ew Yok's owe East S ie evelope a w eas late tan oon' s buteventuall supasse it in impoance. Anote Geman go, te e JoannMost, became an ea apostle mmigant anacists. But Russian Jewssoon evelope a leaesip tat came to tanscen te immigant milieu. B te eal ecaes o te twentiet centu, Jews, aong wit Italians, aepace Gemans an Boemians as te mainsta o te anacist movementin te uban centes o te East Coast an te MiWest.

Buenos Aies oes an appopiate case to stu tis inteational pe-nomenon. B te outbeak of Wol Wa I, te cit a become te seconlagest metopois in te Atlantic Wo, ate ew Yok, an pobab tesecon most impotant cente o anacist activism, ate Bacelona; an







IS SS I YIY BS S 21

it boaste a lage an expaning Jewish population (1, in 1 an1 2, 1 b 1 3).

Temporall, the most salient ature o Jewsh radcalism in Argentna ists belate appearance oe or two ecaes later than in Loon or New York.Although one ca n isolate pionees, like the German socialist AugustoKuhn, one o the orgazers o the rst Ma Da celebraton n 18, anhis betterknown comrae Enrque Dickman, Jews wee noticeabl absentom the local racal scene until the mile ears o the rst ecae othe twentet centur. A 12 police regstr o 1 anarchsts nclue 38Italans , 14 Spans, a 21 Frenchmen, but onl one Russan, and he oesnot appear to be Jewish. None appeas eithe bere 14 in a atabase osome 3, aarchsts an labo miltants that I have constructe om vioussources. Iaacov Ove oes not menton an i his thoough book that goes upto the same e, an neiter o othe stues.5

The prcpal reason r such belate appearance is the tmg o Jewsharrval in Argentina. ewish transatlantic migrato i general, wt he ex-cton o sporadc crossigs o Sepharim urg te colonal pro ao German streams om the mle o the nineteenth centur, rms part othe "new migratons out o Easte an Southe Europe tat bega, aroun188, some ecaes ater the "ol waves om the weste an northeregions o the contnent. But unlke Italian migration, wch acqure massvemensions n Argentna bere it i so in the U.S., the Jewsh movement toSouth Amerca takes o even late than to the North. B 18 onl ,1mmgrats ha aived in Argentna om the Russian empre, the prncpalsource o th wsh exous at the time, compare to a quarer o a millon tothe U.S. Th ext dcade 1,4 heae r Argenta a hal a millon the U.S. The earl ow to Argentna rst surpasse 1, n 1 an thebulk o the immiants om ussia (141,) ae between te beginnino the centur an he outbreak o orl a 6 Moreove, much o the ealJewish selement in Argentna took place in oganize agricultural colonesso that as late as 1 88 , tee were onl 28 Jews in Buenos Aes. 7

This elatvel late arrival i not stop Jews om a precocous, an om-at, partcipato n a erent sort o "antisocial activit. O 14 pmps na polce le o 183184, no less than 121 (4%) an as man as 1 (2%)wre Jews Te relatonsh o ths group, a others like them, to com-mo mmgraton s not clear. Ulke most mmigrants, who tendd to comeom specc localties through chain mgrato mechansms, the rme amotle crew orgatng in nteen dierent countries. Te lnkages thatmad possble such an extesive tational etwork dered om tose ocommo immgrats n that th clearl coul not have been base primarlon homtown an knshp relations. But some local clusters existe. Sixteen







SE MY

wr bo i Costatiopl, t i arsaw, t i Ossa, i i Via,

ight i Loo. Itriguigl, all thos bo i Turk ha Ashkazic, rathrtha Spharic, suams, which suggsts mil tis with East Europ.Ni pairs shar suams. Mor tha hal wr marri a hal o thsha b i Argtia r mor tha v ars, sugstig th xistc omil coctios. About a oz ha aiv i th 80s, makig thmvritabl piors o Jwish mmgratio i Argta. It is i likl thatma o thm pla that rol: that through lttrs, rmttacs, a viststh st to thir homtows a milis th irmato a assi stac thatma latr immigratio, a thus th growth o Argt Jwish aarchism,

possibl.as this th ol possibl coctio btw Jwsh prstituto rigs

a aarchism? Ulik orthoox Marxism, whch viw th proltarat asth ol rvolutioar class, achism mbrac all sorts o margal groups .Th mr titls o wspaprs llustrat such a rc. Ista o thusual "orkr or "roltariat o socalist wspaprs, aarchists vrwhr us a broa arra o ttls that coot iclusivss: Universal

[Moscow], Mother Earth [Nw York], El Oprimido [Th Oprss BuosArs, Nw York, a Algciras, Spa], f Grido def Popolo [Th Cr o

th opl Turi] , El Esclavo [Th Sav Tampa, Floria], Espartaco[Barcloa a Ro Jairo], Los Parias [Lima], A Plebe [Sao aulo]. Thmrac was ampl ough to clu th lumpproltariat, ptt lquts, a ruas (a trm that, coictall, rtai i Argtia tsorigial Frctalia mag o pmp. Aarchst rhtorc lvat, istao saiig or ismissig, as socialists ormall i, th "rgs o socit.A toral publish i Spash, Italia, a Frch b o o th arlistaarchist paprs i Buos Airs o its rst issu i 890 a titl "hoar w a what will w o, phras it this wa: " ar th vagrats,

th malctors, th rabbl, th scum o socit, th sublimat coosiv oth prst social orr. This ma hav rct th aarchist pchatr shockig rhtoric. But th polic cosisttl maitai that aarchstmostratos, ulk thir socalist coutrparts, attract all sorts o "atsocial lmts that wr ot part o th movmt or margall rlatto it Commo lquts ot couch thir activts i th laguag oaarchism a hug arou aarchist ctrs. olic ras o aarchists attms iclu ptt crimials a pmps. Durig ormal tms, th ti th putativ os o thos apprh. But i 90990 th rais

cam so massv that th stopp og this , makig t icult at tims tortat btw aarchsts a pimps amog th hurs o iviualsbig arrst th Jwsh quartr. Som pimps wr port alog wth







EIS NISS IN EY-EIEENUY BU ENS I ES 23

the moe than thee hune anachists who wee expelle om Agentinauing the st ecae o the twentieth centu.

h woul the authoities pick onl these w specic pimps epo-taton? Coul it be that the ha some elationship with anacsm? Someocuments suggest this was so. A week ate the passage o the ResiencLaw, whc allowe the eportation o angeous egnes, on Novembe3, 190, the polce contacte a "peson om the ewsh communt whoconentall gave inmation about thee chaactes that ha aplie Agentne ctzensp. Accong to him o he, the st invual an a pos-ttuton house, the secon "mpote women posttution, an te thha given up pimping an now impote lamps nstea o women. The epen-tant pimp, howeve, appeae thee eas late in a police list o anachists. These schemes to avoi eportation b pocuing natualizaton papes wee,accong te Bitish ambassao, quite common among "unesables, es-peciall pimps an anachists. A 190 inteal epot b the Agentinepolice connete anachsm an postituton at a ieent level. It wetat almost ever a new anacst goups appeae "wth thunering namesbettng the volent msson. Te wee mae up b a "egn, emagogc,an setous element tat el the conagaton the have alea povokeb makng te apotheosis o cime an posttuton as integal pts o humanemancipaton.

A Bitsh plomatic spatch o 1 909 suggeste an even close connectonbetween pimps an anarchists. It state:

is Majest' s Consul eceive one [a lette] some as ago puort-ing to ave been ssue b an Anacstcal [sc] Socet, winghm that he has been conemne to be blown up b means oa bomb within the ear, because he has not enee sucientl

enegetc assstance to Russans, beaes o Britis passports. Thelette sas that he is to be blown up "b means o one o the bombsnow n cculaton, one o which is intene the esent othe Republic. It is possble that the lette is a hoax, but t has beenplace n the hans o the police, an the unation o the chagema exst in the ct that two Russians, beaes o Bitish passpots,an believe to be connecte wth the Whte Slave tac have beenaested ecentl.

Te "Russans tue out to be Elshbo ews, and two weeks late an-ote eport ed te ome Oce tat seve o tem, exelled as mps,wee aboard te S . S .R . de Grmolle on te wa to Lodo.5 Te matteeaced te hgest levels o govemet, nvolvg Secetar o State S E-wa Ge an Wnston Cuchill. 6 Te Btsh authorities woe that the







SE MY

Agentine Govement ma "make a pactice o sening to this count an-

one whom the wish to expel an who sas he was bo hee The obsevethat the names o those expelle wee "eign an wante to kow how theAgentine authoties ascetaine thei bithlace7 The Agentine FoeignMiniste, Victorino e la laza, espone that his govement tie to veithe nationalit o epotees with ocuments that cetie thei bithlace, anthat when these wee not available, it elie on thei own eclaations, oublechecking them, wheneve possible, though othe invstigations Such conce at the highest level o govement suggests that, egaless o whethethe anachist lette was a hoax, it was taken seiousl Foeign Ministes a

heas o state o not usuall become involve in cases conceing a wcommon pimps About the same time, the Fench embass i Agentina alsoinme its govement o the exulsion o a Fench Jewish anarchist as apimp an a thie; an the Fench Ministe o the Inteio calle collaboa-tion between the police ces o the two counties to epess anachism anwhite slave

One ma wone whethe the Agentie olice was siml tig to tanish the anachist movement b associating it with postitution But the ctthe i so in inteal memos that wee neve mae public inicates that thiswas not the case Iee, the ha no incentive to o so The expulsio lawo 1 90 specicall tagete anachists An, ate two assassination attemptson Agetine pesients, a successl one on the Chie o olice, an a strngo bombs that kille seveal police oces, "anachist was eitel a moeamming tag in thei ees an in those o the uppe an mile classes than "pimp

The connection between Jewish postitution ngs an anachism, how-eve, was neithe consequential no mutual That is, some pimps ma havegavitate towa a movement that was a constant pesence in the wongclass neighbohoos o the cit, incluing the Jewish quate o "Once, anan iolog that enounce bougeois moalit an selighteousness In-ee, anachism's contempt social conventions an ecoum must haveha a natual aeal a goup that as raitionall eesente, moe sotha ostitutes, quintessetial ignomin in coventional poriet But theevese was ot true Although anchists, a othe evolutionies, have attimes engage in criminal activities o establishe ties with ciminal gousto aise s the cause, thee is no such evience in this case Even xeno-obic wites, such as Fancisco Stach, who enounce Jewish immigation("the socalle Rusos as the most udesiable element, ll o anachists,imps, an postitutes all caable o cimial acts, i not maintai that mal ties existe between the st an the last two goups Some anachists,pticulal o the iniviualist o Nietzschean tpe, i ismiss conemna







EIS ISS IN EY-ENIEEY BES IES

tions o postitution as staitlace an phaisaical, as one moe example olibeal societ's inabilit to accept iniviual eeom an ieence whenit ul conicte with accepte moes. But the majot shae the com-mon view expesse b the entie ieological spectum om consevativeCatholics to socialists o postitutes as victims an pimps as exploites.Anachist apologies elinquenc embace cimes iecte at the powe-elite an pope ( example, assassinations o political leaes o thet,ene as expopation but not those that victimize the ispossesse.imping was usuall place in the latte catego.

The Des aai povie the backgoun the st, an a ve i-eent, expession o common inteest between anachists an the Jewishcommunit in Buenos Aies. As in Fance itsel, man anachists oiginallviewe the aai as a ispute within the bougeoisie an hesitate to suppotan m oce. But as it became evient that Des' enounces epe-sente a sion o just about eve goup abhoe b inteationalist a-icals, thei support Des became unequivocal. In an aticle o Au-gust 1, 1899 title Montjuich Deus, the newspape El Rbld blamethe same block o ces the inmies commie against anarchistsin the inamous Bacelona pison an against Des: national chauvinism,militabougeois coruption, an the Jesuit eaction. It uge the peopleo Bacelona an ais to eman justice with chemist. The allusion tobombs was clea to eaes but the ct that the ontpage aticle appeaenext to an eulog to Sato Caseio (the assassin o Fench esient SaiCot mae it moe poignant. In subsequent enunciations, the newspapebegan to goup the antiDes ak ces une the geneic ubic oantisemitas. Anothe anachst newspape in Buenos Aies, L' Avvenie,maintaie hat as a people iven b a sense o justice athe than politics, an-archists ha suppoe Deus long bee political oppotunists jumpe onthe Desist banwagon. A subsequent ticle title "L' Antisemitismoague that this movement, espite its name, coul not sping om acialanimosit, since Jews ha mixe with othe Euopeans so long that theewas little Semitic o aciall istinct about them. Instea, the aticle lo-cate the souc o antiSemitism in eligious obscuantism an its moeeincaation: patiotism. Capitalists manipulate these supestitions to usea histoicallpesecute people as scapegoats popula esentment an toweaken wokes' soliait. Anachists thus ha the ut to illuminate thepeople an pevent such statagems. Thee eas late, when news o EmieZola's eath, on Octobe 1, 190, eache Buenos Aies, labo unions oga-nize a meeting in his memo. Fou to ve thousan people mache thoughthe cit's steets. The Fench ambassao noe the ion that while anachistsspeakes, who claime Zola as one o thei own, stesse the antieligiosit







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o his oeuvre, a neral service was hel at a snagogue in recognition o hissuccessul intervention in the Dres aair.

Jewish anarchist activism in the cit became more visible in 1 90 In Rus-sia, the outbreak o revolution in Januar o that ear prouce an upsurgeo both anarchist militanc an ocial repression. More so than the pogromso 1903, which were genericall antiSemitic an attracte limite attentionom the inteational let, those o 190 targete raicals specicall anshocke revolutionaries everwhere.5 Anchists in particular lt that theBloo Suna massacre in St. etersburg wul be avenge b the ispos-sesse an lea to their long awaite, an apocalptic, Social Revolution.olice spies in Buenos Aires reporte a rsh o activit in anarchist circles. 6On Januar 2, the group Caballers del Ideal organize a meeting thatpacke the house. Orators, accoring to the inrmer, outi each otherin teatening that the agger an sweet namite woul soon avenge theirllen Russian comraes. In the mist o the panemonium characteristico these anarchist gatherings, the calle r a street emonstration twoas later r workers to engage in revolutionar gmnasics. There, theUrguaan anarchist Virginia Bolten enounce Czarist atrocities an com-pare the Argentine govement to the Russian autocrac a rhetorical evicethat became a leitmotiv o anarchist iscourse. That same a, ve thousanpeople marche in Bolten's hometown, Montevieo, to enounce the Russianmassacre.7 On Februar , ur hunre leaers [cabecillas] met in BuenosAires. One o them calle r another street emonstration, urging his com-raes to go arme, so that the coul take targetpractice on the police aniea ismisse b the next speaker who questione the nee r hangunstoa, when chemistr is reail available to the entire proletariat.

Two as later an attempte militar revolt, the onl one to occur between1890 an 1930, put a teporar hol on the planne emonstration an onall letist militanc. The Raical art, which orchestrate the uprising, was espite its name, which inicate going back to roots rather than extremism a mainstream organization that woul win the presienc eleven ears later.But rumors ha it that the Raicals planne to arm socialists an anarchistsuring the revolt. Three as ater the outbreak o the revolt, the Argentineresient himsel tol the British ambassaor that bombs ha been unin anarchist centers an that the anarchists ha planne to seize the arsenal,break open the prisons, an capture him an his ministers, escribing the sit-uation as trs grave. The letist press an most historians later eniesuch a connection. But regarless o whether it existe, it woul not have beenout o character r a group thirsting r irect action to take avantage othe situation. Bans o me anarchists roame the streets hoping to tua bourgeois revolt into a revolutionar upheaval. Authorities clampe own,







EIS ISTS I EY-TETIETETU Y BUES I ES

arresing ndreds and deporing wenyve. Alog e revol was pdown in less an a week, e sae of siege lased more an ree mons,prevening sree demonsraions , inlding ose on May Da y iself.

Unde over of e apparen alm, anariss onined ei aivismwiin e iy (indoo meeings wee aually no proibied during e saeof siege), om exile in Monevideo, and as e aoriies laer disovered even om wiin prison. On May 14 alone ey eld wenyr meeingsa labo nion alls and alled r a sree demonsraion on May 1s oproes e abses ommied by e govemen dring e sae of siege, aproposal a e soialiss oined. Te aoriies graned e permi neondiion a no ags oer an e "naional emblem a nies s allmig be waved. No a grop likely o be moved by s parioi appeals,many among e iry osand marers raised eir red and blak banners.Wen e polie red o preven is, e marers responded wi sous of"down wi e Cossaks, again revealing e impa of e 190 RssianRevolion, and wi someing more leal an words.

Wo began e sooing was, as sual, disped. B e resl providessome evidene of Jews' piipaion in e movemen dring a period weneir reen arrival and inabiliy o wrie in Spanis led o eir presene goingnreorded in ommon isorial sores s as newspapers. Tree of ereen persons wonded (oer an r polie oers), and one of e wokilled, were Jewis. Bease i is igly nlikely a in e mids of ermoil, e polie wold, o old, ave aimed eir gns a Jews, a gropa was no pysially disinguisable om oer proesers, e numbersms be random. Tis does no mean a beause a r of e asualieswere Jewis is proporion applis o all e demonsraors. Te sooingook plae in Plaza Lavalle, a neigborood wee many of e ely Jewis avals ad seled. Two of e wounded were merely nine yeas old andall laimed ey were ere by oinidene. On e oer and, neier edeniion nor e meaning of ildood was e same a enry ago as i isoday. Nineyearold "ildren ofen worked, spen a large proporion ofei ime on e sees, and pariipaed in "adul aiviies. Conempo-ry poograps ofen sow yong boys and girls in see demonsraions.And all e wonded, Jewis o no, laimed a ey were a e sie byoinidene. wold ave been odd ad ey old e aoriies oerwise,inriminaing emselves in e sooing of polie. Ts e eniiy of easalies may indeed indiae a relaively ig Jewis presene in loal an-arism already by 190 A newspaper in Monevideo, edied by an anarisexpelled om Argenina, alluded o is onneion wi e llowing line"Exiles, orred, anged, viims of San Peersbrg and Warsaw: add o eblak lis e name of Benos Aires!







28 SE MY

Polie epos povide e evidene of e Jewis pesene in e move-

men in 190. Among ose aesed a e May 21s demonsaion wasJlio Hesenbam, a 23yea old, Rssianbo iemake wo adaived in 1 903 and iling o "widaw om subvesive aiviies, ase ad pomised aoriies in 1 904 beame e s Jewis anis de-poed om Agenina. Anoe of e poeses, David Besein, a 24yeaold daylaboe wo ad aived rig afe e Russian Bloody Snday ofJanay 190 via Hambg, is ime evaded aoiies, b ve yeas lae,e was expelled. On Sepembe 29, Jos Weisman, a 33yea old sevedoeand oalis om Triese, appeaed as an oao wi oe aniss a a

onfeene in e Ceno Esela Modea, a sool oganized on e pin-iples of e mous Caalan anais pedagoge Faniso Fee, and laea same day, a a enion of e soe leks' nion. On Oobe , BeadoSeage, a 21yea old Rssianbo immigan desbed by e polie as apailaly exaled and eloqen anais , addessed a gop of en sikes.Tweny days lae, anaiss ed a neal ma a omade so d-ing e en srike ino an oasion o "vipeae e Rssian govemen e massae of Jews. In Deembe, deeives epoed n meeings of eSoiedad Rsa de Desaollo Inelleal y de Sooos Mos, desibed as

nonsbvesive, wi ms be e Yiddise AbeeFaband, a mal aidsoiey nded in 189, and of e Agpain Rsa Amigo de los Obeos,desibed as anais. Te lae ms be e Abee Fend, a gop ndedin 1 90 by immigans wo ad been in London and inened ee by PeeKopokin and Rdolf Roke.5

Te ove e Deembe 2, 190 isse of aras y Caretas, e mag-azine wi e lages ilaion in Benos Aies, oes a dieen so ofevidene abo e impa of e Rssian Revolion of a yea and e in-eased aival of Jewis anaiss . Unde e apion "Los Inmiganes, e

illsaion sows a line of longaied and beaded immigans disembakingom a sip. On e dok, a polie ofe waes wi spise wile a guewi a op a epesening Agenina o is pesiden exlaims: "Onwad,Rssian genlemen. Come in, yo will nd yoselves ig a ome. Tes Rssian on e line olds a siase samped OdesaBenos Aies wi one and, and a bomb in e oe.

Te aes on Ma 2, 190 of wenywo Jewis anaiss ayingweapons povides a ae, og inomplee, demogapi poai of aivissding is peiod.6 All wee lised as being bo in Rssia (alog oneappeas in a dieen domen wi "Isael as is biplae). Tei ageseeed e yol aae of e movemen Te younges was sixeen,e oldes iy, and e median age wenyee. Tei plae of es-idene, oweve, diveged om e nom. Wile mos anaiss esided in







EIS NISTS IN ETENETET B NS I ES 29

e soue disis of e iy, paiulaly in e eavily Ialian and Spanisneigbooods of La Boa and Baaas, all bu wo of e Jewis anaisaesed lived in e olde Jewis neigboood of Plaza Lavalle o in eJewis quare en ming o e no of Plaza One. Tis suggess eieen aival in e ouny and ees e a Jews, wi a segegaionindex of 4., wee a e ime e mos segegaed goup in e iy afe eSiioLebanese (SI 49). Alog ese indies wee ig, i mus be noeda ey wee lowe an ose of e Jewis populaion in No Ameianiies, London, and Pais, and a ey delined se.7

In 10 a ZionisSoialis oganizaion, e Poale Sion, was unded inBenos Aies. Is wo leades, alman Sokin and Leon Jazanovi weedenoned as anariss and expelled in 1910. Bu neie ad been aivein e anis movemen, and Jazanovi, wo ad been a membe of eSoialis Pay in Russia, l a e denuniaion ad ome om e JewisColonizaion Assoiaion, wi he ad baled in is eos o adializeJewis agilal seles. Te elaionsip of Jewis anaiss wi isassoiaion is diul o deemine Te Ialian isoian Fuio Biagini laimsa some of e anaiss "developed a sinee sympay e soialis

Zionism of e Poale Sion.

Anaiss onsideed emselves e ue soialiss, ofen desibing emselves as evoluionay o libeaiansoialissas opposed o e "legaliaian o "auoiaian soialiss of e Pay. Teyonsanly denoned e Soialis Pary's emism and paiipaion inpaliameny poliis and ompeed wi soialiss e allegiane of ewoking lass. B ey also oopeaed wi em, and wi oe poges-sive gos, in e sggle agains ommon enemies. On Apil 1, 190, examle, e Libeal Pary oganized an anileial demonsaion aendedby abou ee ousand pesons. Te polie noed e pesene of soial

iss and paualy o anais agiaos wo sang evoluiony songs andsoued "viva la anaqua . . . down wi e polie . . . les bu e onvenswi ey aemped o do].5 Ineesingly, e poes ook plae in eJewis neigboood of One, and i inluded e paiipaion of e Jewisanais group "Ruso Compaeo de los obeos (Abee Fiend) led byBois London o Gelman, one of ose aesed in e aid of e peviousmon.

Anoe of e individals aesed arms possession in e Mar 190aid, Abram rensein, a nineeenye old boilermke, sed is af o

move on qikly o bigge "ings. On Sepembe 1 of e llowing yea,e Spanis embassy in Benos Aies elegaped Madrid a is"dangeos anaris ad depared Barelona o join is omades inei bombing amaign.5 We do no know if e aomplised is paivegoal in Belona e Spanis auoiies wee no able o nd im. Bu







30 SE MY

e soon reed o Benos Aires. On anary 18, 1908,Cas y Caretas

prined is poograp and an arile desribing im as e nder of egrop Banda Negra and as e inroder of anaris errorism in Argenina.Te polie ad arresed im, ogeer wi ve oer Spanis, Ialian, andArgenine anariss (wi, as m as is rip o Barelona, sows owosmopolian e movemen was) a e eadqarers of e boilermakers'nion. Te magazine inlded pires of e emial laboraory and eae of weapons and bombs a e polie ad nd. Te Blak Gang adplanned o se eir "emisry o blow p e pbli waers bilding and

e main elerial power plan in e iySpanis aoriies were searing again r anoer ewis anaris omArgenina laer on in 1908. On Mar 1, ey reeived a elegram omBenos Aires reporing a onversaion overeard in a af abo a "rsopoao by e name of Hago or aobo Hanover raveling wi an Argeninepasspor o Vigo and Madrid o assassinae King Alnso XIII. Two days laer,ey boarded e seamer as sopped in Lisbon, b ey old no nd imamong e six ndred or so reing immigrans. Te apain, owever, didremember a all man wi a sor dark msae regisered nder e name of

Aye Anever, wom e og was Spanis bease e spoke a langagewell and wo ad rerieved e money e ad kep in e sadeposi box aday. He laer elegraped Spanis polie "man no on board. How Hanoverreaed Vigo s is nknown. B polie arresed im ere wo days laer.He ed o o be a 24year old eleriian bo in Warsaw, wo laimede was going o Madrid o visi a Candida Mendez de Samper, wom ead me in Benos Aires. Te Spanis deeives did no nd any anarisdomens on im and soon reeived a elegram om Benos Aires sayinga Hanover did no ave a previos reord and a e denniaion may

ave been bo of a personal vendea.5

Apparenly, e Spanis diplomas'resear was less an orog. Argenine or reords do inlde an enryr Hanover, alog e aal domens ave been desroyed.5 Waevere ase, is, and varios oer examples like i sow a some of e ewis anariss in Argenina dring is early period were ransnaional radialswose range of aion ransended e bondaries of e River Plae.

Te prined page provided a veile r bo ransnaional and loal onneions. In 190, e Arbeer Friend grop nded Das Arbeter Lebn, ers Yiddislangage anaris periodial in Argenina. Tis monly, di

reed by A. Sapiro, lased only a w mons. In 1908 Pedro Springbergand E. Edelsein pblised anoer anaris periodial, e Lebn n Freiei.Tis one also ad a sor li, and on Jne of e same year e polie reporedabo a meeing of e Grpo Rso La Proesa. 5 Te meeing inlded epresenaion of wo plays, El cristo modeo and Resurreci6n de os hroes.







EIS NISS IN EY- ENI ET-ENUY BU ENS I ES 3 I

Te repor does no indiae weer ese were performed in Yiddis, be prpose of e meeing was o plan e pbliaion of a seion in alangage in e anaris daily Protest, wi began to appear e nextyear Arond e same ime (e rs iaion I enonered daes om 1908)a Jewis library, e Biblioea Rsa, was nded, wi, alog sallyidenied as anaris, seems o ave ongregaed elling by e speakersa is nions lefiss of dieren sripes (soialiss , syndialiss, ndiss,and anariss) .5 5

By 190, ere were also rade nions, or "resisane soieies, as an-ariss alled em, a were eier ofially or de o Jewis On Feb-rary 23, a polie spy repored on a meeing of abo one ndred srik-ing amakers a a nion all, saing ta e old no inrm on e sb-sane of e speees bease ey were delivered in Rssian 56 Rereneso e Rssian langage also appeared in Prens, Benos Aires' prinipaldaily, wi noed dring e anris May Day demonsraions of 1908 and1910 a "Jewis agiaors agiadores israelias] gave speees r eir o-naionals in Rssian Som Jewis radials did prer o se a langageas an indiaion of eir ineaionalis, or a least nonparilaris, lass-onsiosness. 57 B sine immigrans also ame om regions wiin andoside e Czaris empire were Rssian was no widely spoken, e lan-gage eard by te polie inrmer and e reporers of Prens ms avebeen Yiddis Jewis anarism beame pilarly visible dring e MayDay demonsraion of 1909 and e disrbanes and repression a llowi From April 24, e polie ad repored a ig level of aiviy among"sbversives. Dozens of meeings were aking plae daily in nion alls andanaris eners. On e 2, a sree mar agains e rising prie of breadaraed feen ndred pariipans Anariss were reporedly songp on blles, and at 1 AM on May 1s, tey were sill meeing, planningow o bring pbli ransporaion to a al by bombing e ramways. Sill,polie arresed less an a dozen milians bere May Day, wi seemslax ompared o prevenive measres aken in Eropean iies 5 On MayDay, eig osand people mared in a parade sponsored by e SoialisPary a began a 3 PM and ended wo ors laer in "absole orderTe anaris m drew as many as 30,000 people and ended, soon af-er i ad begn, in a sooo a left ve dead and ry wonded.5 Assal, e polie blamed e anariss B is ime, aording o pressrepors, ey were more spei, mainaining a e rs sos ad omeom a grop of Rssian anariss6 Tey also nd banners abandonedby ree grops of demonsraors: e nion of waiters, a of masons, and"an assoiaion of Rssian anariss alled Burevestnik" a me a alleLavalle 21 9, in e ear of e Jewis qer6 Te banners of e laer ad







SE MY

insribed in "Hebrew ebreo] "Dea o Capial and Long Live e Anaro

Commniss.6 Referring o ese "anaris ropies lef on e aspal,e Buenos Aires Held (May 4, 1909) proposed a e only way o dealwi ese genry is o prolaim a sae of siege and rs em o o Rssia,were ere are poliemen arelly rained o deal wi wolves and wildbeass.

Mos of e res of e loal press , aording o reign diplomas, blamede polie r e evens alog e Amerian and Briis ambassadorsobserved a is was e opposiion press and dended e ond of epolie .6 Anariss laimed, wi lile diplomay b onsiderable logi,

a ad ey sared e sooing, polie asalies wold ave been iger(r polie ofers, and ve polie orses, inlding one so wi veblles, ad been wonded).6 Woever sared e gnplay, e ivilian asalies wom e Fren miniser observed were mosly soo in e bakas ey were eeing were prinipally, if no enirely, proesers, no asalbysanders. All of em resided more an ve bloks away om e sene ofe sooing, and reeqarers more an en. Te anes a any of emwere ere on workrelaed bsiness, on a day a ad beome a de ooliday, were low. Treeqarer of em were in eir eens and wenies,wi also s e demograpi prole of e anaris movemen. Of e vedemonsraors killed one was Jewis, as were six of e irysix wonded,wi again sggess , a e pariipaion of Jews in e anaris movemenwas disproporionaely ig, as ad also been e ase dring e evns of190.

Te May Day mayem was llowed by a week of proess, rios, andrepression a ame o be known in Argenine isory as e Semana Roa.65Te anaris and soialis labor deraions alled a general srike a paralyzed e iy and m of e onry. On May 4, sixy o eigy osandpeople mared dring e nerals r ose killed on May rs. On May 10,e Amerian Carge d' Aaires inrmed e Sae Deparmen a "r elas nine days e iy of Benos Aires as been nder e dominion of mobLaw.66 La Prensa (May 38, 1909) alled aenion o e omnipreseneof "anarqisas rsos dring e proess and rios and o e zeal of eirmiliany. Close o a osand people were arresed. Hmidiy as renderedillegible m of e relevan domenaion, and so e eniiy of osearresed is difl o deermine. B e polie arives onain an inrigingrepor daed May 8, 1909. I saes:

Trog ondenial sores I ave leed a e arer Car

old e anaris Ramn Marnez a e ad me wi Mr. BenioVillaneva e inerim presiden of e Argenine Senae], womanised is desire o solve e presen labor oni and o a







EIS RISS I ERYEIEEURY BU ES IRES

ee promised o prore e reopening of all workers' alls re-enly losed, e repeal of e Mniipal Code of penalies [on ardrivers], and e release of all ose deained, wi e exepion ofe Rssians.

I may seem implasible a e Presiden of e Argenine Senae woldold a sere meeing wi a mble arer. B ransporaion workers, inensed by e mniipal ordinane menioned in e repor, ad been ebakbone of e srike, and e a Benio Villaneva was rying o

negoiae a solion o e oni beame pbli knowledge soon afer is . Iis less apparen weer Villaneva aally menioned exlding "Rssiansom e proposed release of deainees, and if so, wy. Possibly, e areror e ondenial inrman made p e alleged saemen abo Rssians.B wa inenive old ey ave ad o inven s a spei deail? Ife iniden indeed ook plae, does is indiae a e govemen, orseors wiin i, onsidered Jewis anariss more dangeros an eirgenile "oreligioniss?67 Up o is poin ere was lile grond r s an inerpreaion, b, en, predie is rarely gronded on raional analysis.

A more allaing moive old ave been e desire o promoe splis wiine workinglass. Te polie ad admied, in ineal domens, o singis ai dring previos ommoions wen ey seleively repressed an-iss raer an soialiss, oping o exploi in is ase ideologial raeran enolral dierenes.6

If is was e inen, i did no work. Sbseqen polie repors desribee rmaion of a negoiaing ommission of anaris and soialis grops,wi demanded and obained e release of all ose deained afer May rs .Drin ti perod a new ant ewi roup ad emered e "grpo

rso proviimas del primero de mayo. On May 23, abo 10 of em, "ofbo sexes, me o wa a Yiddis version of e Fren anaris wrierOave Mirbea's play The Bad Shepherds.9

A workers' demand dring e Semana Roa a was no me ad been eremoval of e ief of polie Ramn Faln. One of e Yiddis baners on-saed by polie dring e May Day proes reommended e assassinaionof "Cos saks. On November 14, 1909, a Yiddisspeaking eenager wo adaken par in e May ay proess llled e nme demand of e SemanaRoa. Bere dying, e "Big Cossak spposedly exlimed "e anariss

naly go me. Enriqe Mler, e ofer wo sbded e bomber, delareda e ried o ommi siide raer an srrender a deail a added oe ara wi soon enirled im. 7 Te deainee resed o give is name,saying only a e ad avenged e workers llen on May ay and a esill ad pleny of bombs lef o row a e polie.







4 JOSEC. MOYA

Sbseqen inerrogaions of bo e deainee and oers revealed ais name was Simon Radowisky, e was eigeen years old, and e ad beenbo in a sel in e provine of Kiev. In Rssia, e ad worked as a smi and meani sine e age of en. Dring e 190 Revolion, a e ageof reen, e was so, wonded, and arresed as an anaris, spending sixmons in ail. He migraed o Argenina in April 1908, and, like mos oerarrivals, e a rs sayed wiin e onnes of e immigran ommniy.He ad ome o oin a broer, worked in a Jewisowned meal sop, nda enemen room in e Jewis qarer, and eqened e radial BiblioeaRsa.7 B e began o move beyond ose bondaries sooner an mosarrivals . Wiin a year e lef is ob o work a an Ialianowned sop weree salary was iger, nd nonJewis anaris roommaes and aqainanes, and leed sfien Spanis so a is inerrogaion, nlike aof oer Rssian immigrans, was onded wio an inerpreer. 7 Appar-enly, e read Spanislangage newspapers reglarly, bease e ad leedof e wereabos of e Cief of Polie on e day of e assassinaionwile reading e loal daily La Argentina. Some mons laer, e wroe aleer in proper Spanis o e Direor of e Naional Prison, reaeningo go on a nger srike, if e was no ransed o a iliy were eold work o relieve e boredom; e leer onains a w orograpialerrors, b ese are ones ommonly nd in similar domens wrien byworkinglass naive speakers.7 Belonging o wa old be desribed as aranseni ideologial ommniy seems o ave iliaed e inegraionof arrivals like Radowisky ino is new os soiey, or a leas ino a widermilie beyond e onnes of immigran neworks.

Te inerrogaion of anoer winess sggess a gendered dimension oe proess. Soa Lisisky, a wenyve year old seamsress, ad also beenailed in Rssia as an anaris and now resided in One. Se did no denyer poliial views , wi se aribed o er reading and ineres in maleemanipaion, sressing a women sold srggle and in and wi menr ese ideals, wi se also reed o as "agrarian soialism (a syn-onym of Tolsoyan anarism) a envisioned a re o an egaliarian rralsoiey and denoned poliial violene. Ye, despie er belief in maleemanipaion, se desribed a raer loisered exisene. Se did no leavee ome ofen, bease ere was a elepone in e enemen bilding, andse sed i o order groeries delivered o er aparmen. Se did no goo wi er sband, Pablo Karasine, anoer RssianJewis anaris,bease e wold ome ome om work, ea, and leave r e BiblioeaRsa. Besides, e was very ealos and aed so nasily owards male visiorsa ey sopped oming. Her ineraion wi e oside world was limiedo delivering dresses o er liens, mos of wom lived in broels (anoer







JEWI SH ANA RH ISTS IN EARLY-TWENTIETH-ENTURY BU ENOS AIRES

instane of ontats between anarists and prostitution). Unlike te interro-gated males, wo at least aknowledged knowing Radowisky, or of im, selaimed se ad never seen im nor any of is aquaintanes. Se noted tatteir suames indiated tat many of tem were etni Russians, and tattere was a big division between tese Russians and (Russian) Jews.

Yet it would be well to take delarations made dring an interrogationabot te assassination of a polie ief wit more tan a grain of salt. Lisi-sky was learly trying to distane erself om anyting aving to do wit tease and om er usband, wo ad been augt a week bere tring toblow up a r were a neral mass was being eld r Carlos de Borbn.Tis and some ontraditions in er testimony imply tat se exaggeratedte selusion of er daily li. Se ad maintained tat se always orderedomedelivery of groeries and tat er relationsip wit er usband wasstrained to te point tat se ad asked im to leave te ouse. But te dayse was arrested se ad been sopping r groeries to prepare od to taketo er ailed usband and atally tried to visit im tree times tat day. Sead laimed tat male visitors ad stopped oming to er ouse. But sealso mentioned a disussion tere wit a Jewis anarist wo, during teprotests against Franiso Ferrer's exeution, barely a mont bere, ad ar-gued tat demonstrations were not enoug and tat more violent means werereqired. Not surprisingly, se laimed to ave kiked tis anarist out of teouse r expressing su violent views and asked im never to ome bak.Noneteless, it is likely tat owever mu se exaggerated er selusion,er daily routine plaed er more in te ome and er immediate ommunitytan did tat of er male oreligionists. To wit: altoug Lisisky ad beenin Argentina a year longer tan Radowisky, se needed an interpreter duringte inteogation.

Te proseutor's presentation of te ase illustrates ontemporary ofialatttudes towards Jews and radialism. Te proseutor rst asserted tat teassassination of te ief of polie and Alberto Lartigau, is twentyyear oldpersonal seretary, represented te most savage example of wat a poliespokesperson ad dened as "neomystiism and "today is known as terror-ism. Te at was te more einous beause it ad taken plae in a demoraywose eonomi and politial opportunities and liberal laws annulled "evente pretext of te revolutionary explosions in wi te lower depts of Eu-ropean soieties relieve teir aste atreds in onditions tat are ompletelyreign to or soial organization.7 He ten asserted tat:

Simon Radowisk belongs to tat aste of elots tat germintein te Russian steppes, dragging teir miserable lives between tearsness of nature and an inrior soial] ondition. Parias of tepolitial absolutisms of tat milieu, subeted to te disretionary







OEC OYA

powes o he mase, peseued and massaed by he ignoane

and naiism o a people ha see in he Jew an enemy o soiey,hey nally emigae, like Radowisky, ae having sueed sen-enes he mee o possing sbvesive ideas. And whenhei eny ino a ee soiey, like ous, geneously eus o hemhei ighs o men, opening o hem wide hoizons o egeneaionand pospeiy, when hey should onside hese soieies as a uepomise land, he insin o peveiy in hem buss ou, poolydisguised unde he peex o vindiaions ha no longe have anyusiaion, pepeaing assassinaion, devasaion, nd disode.

Rahe han aniSemiism o ove lass peudie, his language oe-sponded o a sandad libeal disouse in ounies o immigaion abouOld Wold miseies and epessions, New Wold libeies and oppouniies,and ungael adial immigans; a disouse ha ould have been as easilyhead in a New Yok o Chiago ouoom. The poseuo added ha "ex-essive developmen o he lowe mandible, peeminene o he zygomaiand supailial ahes, depession o he ehead, ligh ial asymmeyonsiued he somai haaeisis ha evealed in Radowisky "he im-

inal ype. Again, i would be speious o ead hese phenologial "obse-vaions as an eo o aialize Jews; hey wee quie ommon, one ouldeven say de igueu, in onempoay iminology and applied egadlesso ehni bakgond. Ye, pehaps one an dee in he ex he inipienonsuion o he Jewish adial seeoype as a mehanism o exlusionlike ha disussed a he beginning o hi aile.

Indeed, he Radowisky aai, added o he bombing aemp he pevi-ous week by ablo Kaashine and he evens o he Semana Roa, seem ohave emened, in a supisingly sho peiod, he assoiaion o Jews wih

anahism in he Agenine poliial imaginaion. Even bee he ideniy ohe assassin o he polie hie was esabished, diplomas om he U.K. heU.S . , Fane, Spain, and Bazil had inmed hei home govemens, basedon loal polie epos, ha he was, o appeaed o be, Russian.75 The deee he sae o siege sen by he esiden o Congess on he day o heassassinaion used language simila o ha o he poseuo abou ungaelimmigans bu i also eed o Radowisky' s and Kaashine' s deeds as pao a "sinise plan. The polie invesigaions eneed on a onspiay by agoup o Russian anahiss eed o as "La Comuna. Some o he puaive

membes o his abal wee aually whie ussians. Bu he em "uso hadbeome so idenied wih Jews ha hese ehni dieenes wen unnoied.The sae o siege pevened he loal pess om pining anyhing abou hepolie epession llowing he assassinaion, bu lees om anahiss ohei iends in onevideo e o massive deenions ha inluded "he







EIS ISS I E-EIE-E B ES ES 37

maoit o the Russian comaes. I hae not et tanse the suiing aest ecos om the peio into a atabase. Yet a cuso look at themateial suces to show that the asts wee indee massie an that Jewswee highl oeepesente. Data on expulsions pode a measue o theten. Jews accounte none o the 8 anachists epoe om Agentinabee 190; f of the 19 expelle between 190 an 908; ad 8of the 1 expeled durg 19091910, epesetng 22% of those expelledat a tme whe Jews made up onl 2% of the egbo popuaton ofthe ct. Ths was b far the highest elatie ate of deporaton ay ethnico atioal goup uig those yeas. Appaentl, more wee bashed omthe county wthout beng ociall depote. On Mach 8, 1910, "a Russianwho eclied to gie hs name tol the Ameican consul in Buenos Aiesthat Agetie authorties had paid the captais o two shps, one sailngom Buenos Aie to ew ork a the othe om La Pata to Pensacola, sipouds each of ie Russan anachists (all suerig om tachoa! ) theywee takg o board as seamen.77 The ietcation of Jews wth aachismbecame so stog that eve those who suppoe Jewish mmgratio lt theneed to specf that anachists an eolutionaes must be excluded.7

To etu to the questions we aise at the start: what was the relatioshpbetween the stereotpe o Jews as anachists an social ealt, ad coulsuch a stereotype ncton onl as a signie o altet ano a mechansm excluso. To begin wth, it shoul be pointe out that the existence othe steeotpe oes not necessail suppot the notion o Jewsh "exception-alism. Anothe group in Buenos Aies was also consstentl dentie asaarchist, somethg that oes an oppotunt to place the Jewish case incompaate pespectie. Less than a month befe the Raowisk aai, theAmeican ambassado note that Agentines blame the eents of the Semanaoa on atalans an t that the ange pose b the aical minot com-ig out of Baceloa oset the benets o Spanish mmigation n geneal.The newspaper La Tribuna (May 8, 1909) complaine that if auhoties inot stop the et of eg anachists, the image of Agentina oeseaswoul soo chage om a lan o oppotunt to "a coe o Russia o abanch of Baceloa. Two das afte the assassnation o Falcn, The Times

o London aitaie that "the bombthowig par cosists o eignesecruite om Euope a that most o the 1 1 ,000 mlitant aachsts kownto the police Buenos Aies wee "Italians, Russians, o Cataloians.

The meto of Italans is neithe supising no paculal tellng. Theaccouted, after all, fr more tha half of the fegbo populao of thecty. But Catalas were a small moty that represete, lke Russa Jews,oly about wo ercent of the mmgrat poulaton. Istuctvely, they weeoten ee to as "the Jews o Spain an ha been taitonally imaged







38 JOSEC MOYA

though the same paadoxical steeotypes of apacious capitalists and anti-capitalist adicals In what is often consideed the st antiSemitic novel inAgentina La bolsa, the two mise chaactes ae a Catalan and a ew Thege of the Cataan aachist also became a stock chaacte i Agentinetheate ring the abo ots and ghtwing eaction of May 90 andof the "Tagic Weekof anuary 99 Catalans became along with ewsthe main tagets of nativist vigiantes Right afte the "Tagic Week theSpanish embassy in Rio de aeio eported that the Bazilian govement hadestricted enies into the contry aing an avalanche of anachist eeesom Agentina paticuarly Russians and Catalans who wee consideed themost dangeous because they had led the evolt

To be sue the maoity of anachists in Buenos Aies wee neithe ewishno Catalan It wold have been almost impossible this to have been tesince togethe Catalans and ews epesented less that ve pecent of theeigbo and less than thee pecent of the tota poplation of the cityBt this does not mean that the steeotypes simpy eected antiSemitismand antiCatalanism ews and Catalas each accounted abot a tenth of athe anchists expelled om Agentina between the passing of the ResidencyLaw in 1902 and the outbeak of Wold Wa I by f the highest elativepopotions of any ethnic goups It could be agued that this still may havebeen a sign of disciminatoy behavio om the authoities athe eectingthe eative participation of membes of these two goups in the anachistmovement Bt Catalans wee also as we saw was the case with ews highloveepesented among casualties durng anachist demonstations ad distubances and once again as with the ews it would be had to attibutethis esult to police discimination Like ews Cataans wee not physicallydistinguishable om othe demonstatos less so in the heat of steet tmoil

o can steeotypes explain the ct that ews and Cataans had com-mitted the most visible acts of anachist teorism in the county The ctthat thee of these had taken place within a span of a month (Octobe toovembe 4 909) inceased thei impact on the public and the identi-cation of ews and Catalans with anachism in both the ofcial and popularimaginay 5 That the pepetatos wee ecent immigants with a history ofanchist activism in thei home counties buttessed the notion that adicalis was a peeisting and essentia chaactestic of ews and Catalansathe than the esult of thei expeiences in the new and Ad the widespead

imag of Barceona since the 890s and Rssia since 90 as hotbeds ofevoltion ment einced the notion The steeotypes could have beeand wee indeed used as mechanisms of exclusion but at the most pimaryevel they epesented geneaized and simplied accounts that nonethelesscoesponded to socia eality







EWISH ANARCHISTS IN EALY-TWENTIETHCENTURY B ENOS A IRES 39

What could explan, hen, ths dsproporonatel hgh partcpaon amongthe two groups? For Jews, a lne of argument has centered on the overlap ofJudasm's eschatolog and ethcs and the anarchst worldvew. A hsoran ofJewsh anarchsm argued that "the prophetc exgenc of socal ustce, themodel o lberaton of Exodus, and the messanc dea created an ant rlbertaran socalsm. 6 Lke smlar arguments based on ntellectual hstor,Weber's dea of he lnk between Protestantsm and captalsm would be aparallel case, ths one s dfcult to conrm or ree emprcall. Logcall, ts not amss. Anarchsm dd contan, to a greater degree than socalsm, a pro-nounced transcendenal element. Its demand r socal justce was as absoluteas ts nvocaon o ndvdual lbert and usuall expressed n he rghteoustone of a jeremad. Its th n the regeneratng power of the "Socal Rev-oluton bore a stkng resemblance to the relgous noton of redempton.The revoluton tself had clear apocalptc overtones. And anarchsts' proph-eses about the mmnent comng of the lbertaran utopa were mllenaranb denton.

There are, however, a leas two problems wth the argument (besdes hegenerc one relaed o he ntensel dspuable noton of collectve mental-es or atudes). One s that t fals to explan the ntense ptcpaon ofnonJewsh groups, lke the Catalans (or the lack of partcpaon of non-Ashkenazc Jews r tha mater). The other s that all the quassprual tratsof anarchsm mentoned above are as akn o Chrstan as the are to Jewsheschatolog. Indeed, eschaologcal notons such as redempton, salvaton,messanc hope, he Second Comng, and the Last Judgment rm the vercore of Chrsolog and of much of Chrsan theolog n general. And f thephlosophcal afnt of anarchsm s to JudeoChrstan prncples n general,how could ths explan the hgh partcpaton of Jews and Catalans and therelatve lac o partcpaton o countless othe udeohstan groups,ncludng man wth a smlar hstor of emgraton. In Buenos Ares, rexample, Brsh and German gentles were more numerous than Jews andCatalans up to the earl ears of the 0th centur and Lebanese Marontesbecame as numerous later. But the partcpaton of all of these groups n thelocal anarchst movement was nsgncant.

It seems that the best explanaton r Jewsh, and Catalan, anarchst ml-tanc les n two more mundane cts. One s somewhat auologcal. Thespl came om regons where the anarchst movement was partcularldeveloped. Although less ntensvel and vsbl than Jews and Catalans,other mmgrants who orgnated om smlar regons, lke southe An-dalusans and Tuscans, were also overrepresened n the Argentne anarchstmovemen. In the case of Jews, the Russan Revoluton of 190 must haveradcalzed man on both sdes of the Atlantc and produced a stream of







40 JOSEC MOYA

anachist egees to Agentina an othe host societies he Agentine elites

enion o anchism as an impote isease as clealy selseing Buthe ecent aal o Jewish immigants uing this peo an the hisoies othe ew dozen whom I was able to cull sucent bogaphcal nmaoincae that he adcalsm ha inee pemgatoy oos 7 hose ootsthen und a le sol i a local anachst moemet tha by he tme o hearral had aeady become one o he mos ban in he Atlanc wodTher al tu he enegzed he moemen

he second explanaton has to do wh he goups' socooccupaonalmakeup ompae to almost all othe immigant goups boh Jews a

atalans wee highly uneepesene among unskile laboes an coywokes and hghly oeepesented among skille wokes an aisans Itwas precsely hs class o leate typogaphes alos bakers shoemakesand so on woking ndependently o n small and meum shops that maeup he bulk o the anachist moemen jus about eeywhee In BuenosAes nnetyeght pecen o he anachsts were lerae Sixty pecen weesklled wokes a popoto twce as hgh as that o he cty's labor cen geeal he only ohe sgcant occupaoal goups were pot adtanspotaton wokes a to a lesse egee stoe cleks joualists an

students Samples hat I hae gathee in Italan a Geman achies show asmla occupaonal sucue anachsts n Euope

Not only dd he steeoype o Jews as anachsts captue a basc ealyalbet n an exaggeated m but it also had a pose se The magean the ealtes behn t no oubt inensie antiJewish elngs amoghe uling goups an much o the natie an immigant mleclass But ithad the oppose eect on the woking class majoity In Lonon o n NewYok the anachst leanigs o Jews sepaate them om the mansteamae unions an om a nate woking class that was much less aical

In Buenos Aies theequates o the wokng class was eignbo ananachsts had playe the key ole in its oganzaion Moeoe he othe mpotant labo oganzes wee he socalsts wo may hae ague endlesslywh anchsts about actcs bu shaed a smla son and entely dd nothol against them a isceal anmosty In this context the steeoype maeJews moe not less acceptable I unemine athe than bolstee populaantSemsm I made Jews the object o emulaton ot ejecon Anachspamphlets ewspapes and speeches ae replee wh appeals to llow theexample o "our Russan [o ou aala] comades

In ths lgh the Radows aar takes on a deet meag BecauseAgenne law exemped mors om he deah penaly Radowsky was coemne o li in pison somethng tha tue his eeom into one o maingoals o anachsts n Agenna On Januay 9 1 , they dug a unel unde







WI H AARCHIT I A TWTETHCTR B O A IRE 4 J

the ntionl pententi. Slo Plns Vell n Fncisco Solno Regis,

who h tie to ssssinte two eent gentine pesents, escpe nwee nee he of gn. Rowisk h been sent to he pison's prntngshop w mintes bee n lost ths oppotnt, bt no the next, olmost not. On Noembe 1918, nchsts se bot to hm ot ofthe ntonl penitent, which h been moe to Tie el Fego; etthe Chilen polce cpe them lte. The cmpgn nee stoppe. Genel stikes wee clle n Rowsk's sppot. Moe thn ozen booksn thosns of newsppe tcles n leets ppee to elogize "oSimn. In none of these books o ticles e the wos mee o ssssin

the common tems emploe n the "bogeois pess se. Rowskws lws he "enge, the "etlto, the "jstice ge el jstceo],the "mt of Ush the town whee the pson ws loce], the "lbertrn sint snto ct] On M 1918, thosns of pmphlets llethe sees ccsing the snt's jiles of sexl ssm. Othe cconts gien opposte twist ht the chsm, the knness, the msticl mgnetism ofthis libern Jewsh) St. Fncs h te hm into heo jiles ncommon cmnls lke. Gphc tsts contibte hnes of sketches nepoctions of photogphs.

The consstenc n ntenst of the nchst hgiogph h the eseeect. Rowsk becme mt of the wokng clss n genel he thnof nchiss. Een bogeos jolsts begn o we of him smphetcll, whch, n t, ose the emph of mn wihn he mle clsses.Eenll, popl pesse eche sch pont th Pesent Ygoenpone owsk in 1930, espite Ygoen's s of mlt cop. Inhs lght, Rowsk's cime becme nothe the on the collectie Jewishcp the thn sgm.

Ths n the genel steeotpe o ews s nchsts ctll oes mchto expln the ele bsence of wokngclss nSemsm n gentnng the st th of the twenteth cent. Whethe, n how, ths ttitechnge fte the nos of ntonlsm nto the lbo moement rng the1940s is n mpotnt qestion. It is lso one tht is beon this pesentess's scope.

Notes

ontempoy dctone of ot llutte t ncton of te teeotype Fo exmpleAtde Bunt Dictionnaire francais-argot: L'Argot de xe sicle (: Flmmon

1 0 1 ) lt fteen tem f moe tn ny ote etnc oup wc depte te

iety eem to e te connotton of otee

2 Te teeotype w exploted een wtn te lbo moement A ood exmple of t

cn be und n booet on te peil of ncm written unde te peudonym of







42 JOSEC MOYA

Mx Nomd nd publied by te Retil Wolele nd in Store Food mployee

Union in New York in 1 44 titled The Jewish Conspicy. For te ender dimenion ofte tereotype ee Nomi Seperd A Price Below Rubies: Jewish Women as Rebels and

Radicals (London: Weidenld & Nicolon 13)

3 In le nctionlit nd more totlizin denition Rolnd Brte mintined tt

"All ocil intitution of lnue re repetin mcine: cool port dertiin

populr on new ll continully repet te me tructure te me menin often

te me word: te tereotype i politicl ct te mjor ure of ideoloy. The

Pleasure of the Text (New York: Hill & Wn 175) 2

4 ul Aric The Russian Anarchists (rinceton: rinceton Unierity re 167) 17

4044 Furio Biini Nati A/trove: movimiento anarchico ebraico t Mosca e New

York (i: BFS 1 ) 6 1 Jontn Frnkel Pphecy and Politics: Socialism, Nationalism, and the Russian Jews, 1862-1917 (mbride: mbride Unierity re 1 1 )

230 ric Hberer Jews and Revolution in Nineteenth Centu Russia (mbride:

mbride Unierity re 1 5)

5 Willim J. Fimn Jewish Radicals: From Czarist Stet[ t London Ghetto (New York:

nteon Book 175) tree te diproportionte weit of Jew in London nr

cit moement. Geore Woodcock Anarchism: A Histo of Libertarian Ideas and

Movements (New York 162) 24 mintin tt tey ied more recruit to te

moement tn ll te ret of te Briti popultion. But H. Olier, The teationa

Anarchist Movement in Late ctorian London (New York: St. Mrtin re 13)

wile ilitin te comopolitn nture of te moement doe not priilee teir pr

ticiption oer tt of entile Germn Itlin Ruin Spni nd Frenc exptritedeotin only w line to Jewi militncy (pp. 5 202 1 505 1 6566)

6 Min Grur An Anarchist "Rabbi : The Le and Teachings ofRudoRocker (New York:

St. Mrtin re 17) Altou Rocker w well nown in intetionl nrcit

circle teorit of nrco-yndiclim e cquired leendry tture mon Jew

i nrcit. Two of te erliet book publied in Yiddi by nrcit in Bueno

Aire were hi i paramentarishe tetigayt in der arayter bevegung-tensistem oder

diktatur? rlimentry Actiity in t Worker Moement: Soiet or icttorip](120) nd Bolshevizm un anarkhizm (122)

7 Ricrd . Sonn Anarchism and Cutural Politics in Fin de Sicle Fnce (Lincoln nd

London: Unierity of Nebrk re) more to y bout nti-Semitim tn boutJew but doe rer (pp. 467) to "coniderble number of Jewi nrcit mot of

tem immirnt om te Europe] mon te proletrit nd te litterteur.

Rudolf Rocker L juentud de un rebelde (Bueno Aire 1 47) 30

Furio Biini "L nrci el etto: Appunti per un tori del moimiento nrcico di

linu yiddi neli Stti Uniti in Antonio onno ed. America anarchica 1850-1930

(Rome: iero Lcit editore 1 0) 2 14

10 Tee leder included te poet i d deltdt one of te rt editor of wt becme

te lret Yiddi nrcit newpper in te world te Fye Arbeter Shtime; Alexnder

Berkmn wo in 1 2 ttempted to inte teel mnte Henry ly Frick nd

d lon intetionl creer een fter pendin two decde in prion; nd Emm

Goldmn wo purced te reoler in 1 2 nd lter becme te betknown nrcit

in te U.S. See Ori Kritz The Poetics of Anarchy: avid Edelshtat's Revolutiona Po

et (New York: . Ln 17); Kennet . Wenzer Anarchists Adrt: Emma Goldman

and Alexander Berkman (St. Jme NY: Brndywine re 16); nd ndce Flk

ed. Emma Goldman: A Guide to her Le and ocumenta Sources (Alexndri VA:







EWISH ANARCHISTS IN EARLY-TWENTIETH-CENTURY BU ENOS AIR ES 43

hdwyckHeley 15) For lmic tretment ee Steen Fichler nd Joel Sucher

The Free Voce of Labor: The Jewsh Anarchsts 60-minute documentry produced bythe Pcic Street Film ollectie in 1.

1 1 The U. S. hd n utochthonou trdition of indiidulit nrchim with it root in theProtetnt upper-ddle cl of New nlnd. A m moement howeer it wlwy n immirnt phenomenon nd tied to the ocilit rther thn indiidulit

current in nrchim.

1 2. Richrd Yot "The eelopment of Arentine Anrchim A SocioIdeoloicl Anly

i (Ph. . i. Unierity of WiconinMdion 1 75) bein cteoriclly on the iue "The Arentine nrchit moement w the lret mot coherent libertrin eort

of it time lthouh w line lter he wonder whether "Bueno Aire or Brcelon

w in it time more the cl point of world nrchit thouht. If the ttention of theintetionl pre i n indiction the Arentine cpitl cme in econd. I checked The

Tmes of London om 10 to 114 nd it contined more nrchit relted rticle on

Bueno Aire thn on ny other plce with the exception of Brcelon.

13. Bueno Aire municipl cenue of 10, ol. I pp. 317; nd 136 ol. III pp. 25

2. ihty percent of the city Jewih popultion in 1 0 w rein-bo proportion

tht declined to 3% by 136.

14 Archio de l Polic (hcbuco St . Bueno Aire) [AP om now on] Polic de l

pitl iiin de neticione Seccin Orden Socil Antecedente de Anrquit

102, No. l .

1 5 El anarqusmo y e l movmento obrero en A rgentna (Mexico Silo Veintiuno 17);

Edrdo J. Bilky La OR.A. y el movmento obrero, 1901910 2 ol. (Bueno Aire

entro ditor de Amric Ltin 15); G. Zroz Ruir Anarqusmo argentno,

1871902 (Mdrid dicione de l Torre 16); Jun Surino Anarqustas: Cultu y

poltca lbertara en Buenos Ares, 1891910 (Bueno Aire Mnntil 2001)

16 . I t i etimted tht bout qurter of million Jew rried in Arentin between 1 0

nd 140

1 7 Censo genel de la cud de Buenos Ares 17, Vol. II p. 22.

1 entro de tudio de l Polic (Llle St . 2625, Bueno Aire) Polic de l pitl

iiin de Ineticione Plnill de rune 1 3 1 4 The record did not he

inrmtion on reliion. But they included the indiidul e mritl ttu plce

nd country of birth lenth of reidence in Arentin rt nd mily nme nd ttime thoe of teir prent which I ued to identify Jew. The 121 I identied uch

were reltiely cler ce (e.. Moie Zukermn bo in Glitzi to Abrhm nd

ther). The 2 identied likely Jewih hd more mbiuou re or ume (e. . Muricio Shimn o m Vienn with no inrmtion on prent) . If nythin the method

undercount the number of Jew ince it exclude thoe without typicl nmin ptte.

1 . Thirtyix hd been bo in Rui 25 in Autro-Hunry 21 in Turkey 1 in Polnd

16 in Rumni 1 3 in Enlnd nd the ret in Germny Frnce Greece ypt Bulri

Arentin Autrli Brzil the U.S. Itly Hollnd Switzerlnd nd Indi.

20. El Persegudo, Voz de os Explotados My 1 , 1 0 My ULA colleue rlo Ginzbur

lt tht the ue of certin term uet tht the Itlin erion of the editoril mut hebeen the oriinl "Noi imo i bondi i pltonieri i rndi l cnli i mlttori

i precipitto putrido i ublimto cooio dell die ornizzzione ocile. The ct

tht two-tird of the pper w written in tht lnue upport hi opinion. "Sublimte

i ued in the text in it chemicl menin the pycholoicl ene of the term did not

exit yet.







44 OEC MOYA

1. APC, Polica de la Capital, Divisin de nvestigaciones, Seccin Guardia, Copiador de

Notas, December, 1 0 ; and Idem, Orden Social, Copiador de notas n. 1 1 05 .. Public Record Oce [PRO], London, FO 37 1 85 Sept. 0 1 10 . El Diario October

7 1 05 made similar claims about people who made a lucrative business of obtaining

citizenship papers r anarchists and other dagerous characters.

3 . APC, Polica de la Capital, Divisin de Investigaciones, Seccin Orden Social, Copiador

de notas n. 1 1 January 9April 7 1 05.

4. PRO, London, FO 37 1 58 1 0 p. 1 .

5 . PRO, London, FO 36 7 1 1 0 December 6 1 0.

6. PRO, London, FO 37 1 83 January and April 14 1 10

7. RO, London, FO 37 1 83 December 6 1 0.

8. PRO, London, FO 37 1 85 June 30 1 1 0. See also FO 371 85 September 0 1 10 .. Archives des Ministere des Aaires Etrangeres, Paris, Correspodence Politique et Com

merciale (Nouvelle Serie), Argentina, Politique Interieur, 3 1 1 01 1 7 pp. 560 and

68.

30. Francisco Stach, L defensa social y la inmigci6n (Buenos Aires, 1 1 6 68.

3 1 . El Rebe/de: Peri6dico Anarquista [Buenos Aires], September 3 17 18.

3 . L' Avvenire: Periodico Comunista-Anarchico [Buenos Aires], October 16 1 88.

33. L Avvenire, September 1 0 1 8. For other articles on the Dreys aair see is sues ofAugust 7 and September 3 1 8.

34 Archives des Ministere des Aaires Etrangeres, aris, Corespondence Politique et Com

merciale (Nouvelle Serie), Argentina, Politique Etranger, 1 0 pp. 333 .35. Avrich, The Russian Anarchists 1718 4 60.

36 . APC, Polica de la Capital, Divisin de Investigaciones, Seccin Orden Social, Copiadorde notas n. 1 1 January 9April 7 1 05.

37 El Obrero Montevideo, February 1 1 1 05.

38. PRO, London, FO 6 40 p. 4 1 .

3. In a colum devoted to news om vaious couties ad under the ironic title of "RusiaArgentina, the ewspaper LAgitatore Indivudualista Anarchico om Baia Blaca, inthe south of the province of Buenos Aires, claimed hat about 300 had been arested and

60 to 70 expelled to Montevideo (March 30 105 p. 4. But inteal police sources only

list 5 individuals expelled.40. At least oe policeman, in a loud discussion with a fellow ocer on a tramway, blamed his

own istitution r provoing the shooting. Such isubordinate iterpretation was quicky

repored to a distict sheri.

41. Archivo General de la Nacin, Buenos Aires, Ministerio del Iterior, legajo 15 letter

om the Chief o olice to the Minister of the Interior, May 4 105.

4. Eugee F Sor, From Pale to Pampa: A Social Histo of Jews in Buenos Aires (New

York: Holmes & Meier, 18 666.

43 . El Obrero May 7 105.

44. AC, olica de la Capita, ivisin Ivesigaciones, eccin Orden ocia, Reuiones

Sociogicas, 105.45 . Furio Biagii, Nati A/trove 15.

46. The pricipa void here is the absece of women. They played a importat role in the

local anarchist movement but, r reasons that I have discussed elsewhere, were ess

likely to appear in police records. See Jose C. Moya, "Italias in Buenos Aires ' Aarchist

Movement: Gender Ideology and Women's Participation, in Dona Gabaccia and Franca







EWISH ANARCHISTS IN ERLYTWENTIETH-CENTUR Y B UENOS AIR ES 45

acovetta, eds., Wome, Gede d o Lve Worker o he Word

(Toronto: University of Toronto Press, 00.

47. Jose C. Moya, Cou d Sger Sph mmgr Bueo Are, 150-1930

(Berkeley: University of Caliia Press, 18 chater 4. The sereation index indi

cates the percentae of a iven rou (n this case Jews) who would have to move in orderr the rou to be completely interated residentially with the rest of the oulation.

48. David Schers, "Inmirantes y oltica: Los rimeros asos del Partido Sionista Social

ista Poalei S ion en la rentina, 110116 in £udo erdpro de Amer

L y e Crbe [Tel viv], vol. 3 r. (JulyDec 1.

4. Biaini, N A/rove 15.

50. rchivo General de la Nacin, Buenos ires, rchivo de Fiueroa lcorta, non-cata

loued. I thank Dr. Ola Bordi and archivist Liliana Cresi r makin this documentaccessible. The anarchist attemt to bu the convent of Caballido durin the rotest

resulted in a shootout that led to eihty arrests and le three wounded. olice ocer was

shot in the chest but the bullet miraculously hit his ocket watch. The humorous maazine

C y Cre [ril 1 106 n. 34] ublished a hotorah of the watch with the

incrusted bullet and a comic stri on "Preventive means r all tyes of demonstrations.

One of the cartoons included a man with a hue ocket watch and the cation "Buy a

1 caliber watch, the best shield aainst olice bullets. This bullet in articular was not

likely to have come om the olice, unless they were shootin each other. But the ct that

the maazine described it as such s in line with its osition that olice excesses caused

the turmoil.

5 1 . rchivo del Ministerio de suntos Exteriores, Madrid, Poltica Intea, Orden Pblico,leajo 750.

5. Ibid., leajo 754. similar case is that of Russianbo Greorio Fleischmann, who

was deorted om rentina in 11 and arehended in Spain with his wi because

the British embassy in Madrid denounced him as danerous. The Sanish authorities

were oin to exel hi when word arrived om Buenos ires that an rentine colonel

vouched fr Fleischmann as a hilosohical anarchist and an honest erson.

53. rchivo de Tribunales, Buenos ire, Divisin ntecedentes Judiciales, cards in le

cabinet. Hantover aain aears in the olice arrest records durin the turmoil of May1 10 . PC, Polica de la Capital, Divisin nvestiaciones, Seccin Guardia, Entrada de

Presos, vol. 16.54. PC, Polica de la Capital, Divisin nvestiaciones, Seccn Orden Social, Reuniones

Sociolicas, 108.

55. Ibid., These "poular libraries were not eculiar to Jews and anarchists. Other ethnic and ideoloical rous also unded many and they existed i most workin-classneihborhoods of the city.

56. Ibd., Coiador de Notas, Febrero 107.

57. ccordin to P. Katz, an early secretary of Buenos ires s Poalei Sion quoted in David

Schers "Inmirantes y oltica . . . , the use of Russian and dereciation of Yidish was

articularly noticeable amon socialists.

58 . The Parisian olice, r examle, normally arrested scores of radicals bere May Day andactually rohibited street demonstrations. Prefecture de Police, Paris, Cabinet du Pret,

rchives, PP, Serie B, I , carton 168 (manifstations du er mai, 1813.

5. L e May 1 0 reorted hiher casualties: 8 dead and 105 wounded.







46 JOSEC. MOYA

60 L Prens May 3 10. The day bere he paper had quoed police as sayig he rs

shos had come om he aarchis ai-miliaris group Luz l so/o If boh saemeswere correc i would mea ha may Russias beloged o ha group

61 APC Polica de la Capial Divisi de vesigacioes Secci Guardia Copiador de

Noas May 10

62. AarchoCommuism which evisioed a ure sociey where resources would be allo

caed accordig o eed isead of produciviy as proposed by aarcho-colleciviss had

become he domia srai of aarchis ideology i Argeia ad i he Alaic world

i geeral sice he early 1 0s

63 Archives des Miisere des Aaires rageres Paris Correspodece Poliique e Com

merciale (Nouvelle Serie) Argeia Poliique Ierieur 2 10310 pp 153156.

Naioal Archives NARA College Park Marylad M62 2005. PRO Lodo FO36 26 May 1 2 1 0.

64 L Prens May 2 1 0

65 How he erm Red Week origiaed is o clear bu he daily El Tempo used i already i

May 10

66 NARA M62 2005 May 1 0 1 0.

67 This was acually he erm mos commoly used by coemporary aarchiss ad social

iss o refer o heir comrades I dees afer all o oly hose who have he samereligio bu also hose who share a ideal or ideology

6. APC Polica de la Capial Divisi de Ivesigacioes Secci Orde Social Copiador

de oas . 1 1 February 26 1 056 Idem May 1 0. Alhough oher lefiss such as socialiss ad sydicaliss also used

heaer as a didacic ool he pracice was much more commo amog aarchiss Moya

"Ialias i Bueos Aires' Aarchis Moveme.

70 Archivo Geeral de la Naci Bueos Aires Tribuales Crimiales R-5 p 10 .

7 1 I he aual repor se o Lodo by he Briish ambassador (PRO 37 1 1 24 p . 4 of herepor) he wroe ha i had bee proved ha Radowisky ad his broher ha paricipaedi he rioig of he Semaa Roja ad ha he broher had bee coed i a asylum rhe isae.

72. The Briish ambassador was "assured ha he Radowisky spoke very pure Spaish uder

he sress of his rs emoios PRO FO 371 5 p. 476

73 Archivo Geeral de la Naci Bueos Aires Tribuales Crimiales R-5 pp 53 5 3. 5 630 204 236

74 Ibid., pp. 161 72

75 PRO FO 371 5 elegraph of November 1 5 1 0 NARA M 62 451 /61 Arcives

des Miisere des Aaires rageres Paris Correspodece Pliique e Commerciale

(Nouvelle Serie) Argeia Poliique Ierieur 2 elegram . 32 Archivo del Miiserio

de Asuos eriores Madrid Polica Iea Orde Plico legajo H2750 Archivo

Hisrico do Miiso das Relacos eriores Rio de Jaerio Misses Diplomaicas

Brasileiras Bueos Aires 206-2-06

76 L Nuev Sen Moevideo November 1 1 0 The leers also meio ha he

police occupied he oces of he aarchis daily La Proesa desroyig is priig pressad ag he moey ha had bee colleced by he "commiee pro-Russia revoluioaries.

77 NARA M 62 234/2







EWISH ANARCHISTS IN EARLYTWENTIETHCENTURY B UENOS A IRES 47

8. A good example is the exminister of agriculture Damin M. Torino El problem e

mgte y el problem gro e l rget (Buenos Aires 112) 3031. Heund "much good in Jeish immigrants and maintained that "The Je is dangerous or

damaging only in poor and lethargic countries. t is a microbe that hms eak and tiredorganisms but adapts ell to potent and virile ones. His laborious intelligence and commercial instinct strains the socia bric of eak peoples ho see in them a hip. Among

peoples ho on the contrary are endoed ith similar aptitudes or even superior ones

to that of the Je he competes ith equal rivals and his arriva yields in these prosperous

environments nothing but extra vitality. He considered Argentina such an environment

but explained that this ecome of course did not extend to Jeish anarchists.

. NARA M 862 81/16 August 23 10. A report of May 15 110 (NARA M 51

) aso stated that Argentine authorities ared that Cataan anarchists ould try toassassinate the Innta sabel de Borbn then visiting Argentina fr the ceebration of

the independence centennial (the rst member of the Spanish royal miy to have done

so) as revenge r the execution of Francisco Ferrer.

80. The Tmes November 16 and 1 10 p. 5 c. 6.

81. Julin Martel La bolsa [181] (Buenos Aires Plus Ultra 15) 21216. ronically

Martels real suame as the unmistakably Catalan Mir.

82. Moya Couss Strgers

83 . Mara ns Barbero and Feando Devoto Los colsts, 1911932 (Buenos Aires

Centro ditor de Amrica Latina 1 83 ) 0. Although have no t fund any corroborating

source a letter of May 1 110 sent by an taian anarchist in Buenos Aires to a compan

ion in taly claimed that "the Russian anarchist grup that as attacked dended itself

heroicay frcing the assailants to retreat ith many ounded and some dead. Terrore

ell Repubblc rget (Castellammare taly Camillo di Sciullo editore 1 1 0) 2 1 .

The repression of the Tragic Week did not stop the development of Jeish anarchism in

the city. Soon after it the idishe Ratsionalistishe Geelshaft began printing hat seemto be the rst iddishlanguage anarchist books published in Argentina. See The Kte

Shrpley Lb sh rchst Bblogphy (London 18).

8. Archivo de! Ministerio de Asuntos xteriores Madrid Poltica nterna Orden Pbico

legajo H25 3. The ambassador added that althouh the restriction as "in open opposition to the letter of the Brailian] Constitution it has been highly praised by the press

and politicians ho declare that hen its unders rote the policy of open doors to allthe orld they could not have conceived that there ould exist individuals hose only

purpose ould b to ruin it and destroy it.

85 . On August 1 2 1 05 Salvador Planes Virella a 23 yearold typographer om Barcelonahad attempted on the li of President Quintana. On October 1 10 Jos Matabosch

a 22 yearold mason and Pascual Primo Valero a bookbinder of the same age bothom Barcelona planted a bomb on the Spanish consulate in protest r the execution

of Francisco Ferrer in Barceona. To eeks ater Pablo Karaschine tried to bo up a

church r the same reason. And on November 1 Radoisky killed the chief of poice

and his secretary. On May 25 1 1 0 a bomb exploded in the Cathedral. The bomber as

not caught but as rumored to be Jeish. xactly a month later another bomb exploded

during an opera perrmance at the Colon Theater. One of the to accused as Russian.

86. Furio Biagini Nt /trove 22 and f

8 . he degree to hich this is true fr immigrant groups that had been in Argentina onger

than Jes is more difcut to determine. About haf of a group of 220 talians r hom

as abe to nd documents in talian archives had been identied as anarchists by the






48 OEC MOY

talia police bere they emigrated to Argetia. This however likely uderestimates

the proportio with a history of pre-migratory radicaism sice it does ot iclude thosewho were ideologically aarchists but had ot bee arrested or ivestigated by the police

bere they left the country.

. I a random sample of 17 5 Italia aarchists I took om the Caselario Poitico Cetralle

at Rome's Archivio Cetralle dello Stato 54% were skilled workers. ata om a three

volume le o 1 465 uropea aarchists assembled by the Germa police aroud 1 00

ad held at Hamburg's Staatsarchiv shows a simiar proportio of skilled workers ( 57 %)

fr the 44 Italias i the le with occupatios listed ad higher proportios fr most

other groups Germas 7% (N 60); Austrias 73% (N = 6); Bohemas 63%

(N = 65) rech 4% (N 66).

. Allarme fglio aarchico di propaganda e d' agitazioe Bueos Aires October 0 adNoveber 13 1. The geeral strike was called poigatly o November 14 the

aiversary of Radowis 's assas siation of the Chief of Police.

0. A good example is the book writte by the Spaish aarchist militat ad histora iego

Abad de Satilla Simon Radowitz el vengador y el mrtir (Beos Aires .RA .

17).

moya - positive side of stereotypes

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