The B'nai B'rith magazine · 1927-07-01 · 10 (7.1927) · p. Seite 428

The Jew at Home in Mexico HE slow, measured pad of hoofs penetrates the sleep of a man huddled against the front of his mud hut. It seems miraculous that an inert portion of the yellow wall has come to life. From beneath the drooping sombrero a face appears, dark as an Indian's, but not so bulbous. The face turns lazily towards the sound. At once it grows tense with interest. This is no ordinary man that is approaching atop a mule. A strained balance is apparent in his position. Despite the heat, the bearded stranger wears a coat and a derby, which the native sometimes sees on rare visits to the city. He is perched between two large bundles. The native calls to his wife who appears in the doorway followed by a train of children. They smile broadly at the stranger's awkwardness in dismounting. He greets them in Spanish spoken with a peculiar foreign accent. Mexicans like their foreigners. "From where do you come—who are you?" the Mexican asks cordially. "I come from over the sea. I am a Jew," the stranger answers. Judio! Judio! The family chatter excitedly among themselves. Judio! It is a name that the Christians of Mexico call each other when they mean "usurer." This Mexican family had never before seen a Jew. In obstinate silence they watch the Jew unpack his bundles. Then their faces light up with the brilliance that is revealed—handsome knives; shining pots, light as a feather, that will not break; mirrors—you see them in the city but never out here; the children look at a mirror for the first time and they grimace at their reflections. How much for these knives? What can you pay—one peso for three knives? So cheap—one peso for three such fine knives? Why, the foreigner is no usurer. Come back again. Come often. The Mexicans like their Judio. He visits them many times bringing them ordinary useful articles which are new to them. And so cheap. * * * The Jewish immigrant first appeared in large numbers on the Mexican scene in 1924, just after the enactment of the American Immigration Law. He has been followed by his family, his friends and relatives from Poland, Lithuania and Russia, until today six thousand Jews are scattered throughout the Mexican Republic. Most of them live in Mexico City. There were always Jews in Mexico. A few of them would come off the boats each year, and in their bewilderment, would go for assistance to Joseph L. Weinberger, a business man of Vera Cruz, who has been a resident of Mexico for t w e n t y-five years. But in 1924 the immigration prob- 1 e m became so overwhelming that an immigrants' bureau was opened in Mexico City with Mr. Weinberger in charge. Since July, 1926, the bureau has been maintained with the assistance of the Emergency Refugee Committee. * * * Mr. Weinberger delivered a report of the work of the bureau before a joint meeting of representatives of the B'nai B'rith and of the Emergency Refugee Committee in New York last month. It tells of industries and trades established by the Jewish immigrants in Mexico with the help of the bureau. For instance, there are thirty-eight shoe manufacturers who last year produced 200,000 pairs of shoes. The report further tells of the work of the bureau in adjusting the domestic life of the immigrants. Nearly all of the Jews are self-supporting. You ask an immigrant how goes it with him, and he answers with a shrug of the shoulders: "Machman a leben." Which means he is infinitely better off than he was in the old country, and that he would not return even if he had a chance. * * * All in the report is about what Mexico has done for the Jew. On his way through Cincinnati, Mr. Weinberger told the other side of the story—what the Jew has done for Mexico. The Jew is a civilizing and energizing force in Mexico. Into the remotest parts of the Republic he carries the 428 "Judio! Judio! The Mexicans like their Judio." simple yet necess a r y articles o f household use which in their minor way give the Mexican a glimpse of something better to hope for. The Jew sets the pace of competition in industry, educat i o n and culture which quickens the leisurely progress of the Latin Republic. His children are taking the scholarship honors. Two hundred and fifty of them are enrolled in the public schools of Mexico City. He has his dramatic performances, his concerts and his newspaper. The Mexican does not resent the activities of the stranger. He fraternizes with him, and even at the concerts in the Y. M. H. A., Mexicans may be seen sitting with their Jewish friends. Picturesque Yiddish words have found their way into the smalltalk of the Mexicans, and lo and behold! the herring, Lithuanian delicacy, is now sold in Mexican shops where it never before had been heard of. The Jews who are in Mexico like the country. Physically they are better, and spiritually and materially they are more contented than they were in the old home. Bringing their families to Mexico, they have definitely severed connections with Europe, and they have quite willingly given up their early desires to enter the United States. Many of them have become Mexican citizens. But for all this, further immigration to Mexico is not encouraged by leaders of the B'nai B'rith and the Emergency Refugee Committee. Mexico at present is incapable of absorbing large masses of immigrants, and if the Jews in Mexico are fairly well off, it is because there is such a comparatively small number of them.