So, in a world where Jews didn't have an Israel to go to, would the surviving Central European Jews move to Argentina and Brazil, followed by Middle Eastern Jews around the 1970s and Soviet Jews in the 80s and '90s? Or would the problems both nations faced drive future migrants to places like Canada and Australia?
Most Likely Destination of Jewish Refugees and Fate of Judaism After Holocaust with No Israel?
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So, in a world where Jews didn't have an Israel to go to, would the surviving Central European Jews move to Argentina and Brazil, followed by Middle Eastern Jews around the 1970s and Soviet Jews in the 80s and '90s? Or would the problems both nations faced drive future migrants to places like Canada and Australia?
Maybe probably. The yishuv was already a thing so theres that.
I recently looked up something interesting. Percentage-wise, Jews comprised 10% or more of all immigrants to the USA between 1933 and 1949 except for 1944 at 8.4%, which was amazingly still higher than Brazil (0.3% in 1944), Canada (1.5% in 1945), and Argentina (0.3% in 1947). Also, in 1948 (when Israel was established IOTL), it was 10.3% for the USA, which is more or less what it was in 1933 when Hitler came to power in Germany with it increasing to over 52% in 1939 and 1940 before emigration from Germany was banned in 1941. Realistically, I could see Jews comprising 8-10% of immigrants to the USA between 1946 and 1959/60 or so. Sources include: Welcoming the Undesirables: Brazil and the Jewish Question by Jeff Lesser and the American Jewish Yearbook. As for Australia, the Department of Immigration and Border Protection (DIBP) notes that there was a 25% limit on Jewish refugees as a percent of refugees on any given vessel disembarking in Australia): https://www.homeaffairs.gov.au/news-subsite/files/immigration-history.pdf
But could the plight of Jews have driven the Australian government to amend the White Australia policy slightly? At the very least, would the Australian government have welcomed Jewish talent for Australian development?
Not too sure of that. About 17,000 Jews arrived in Australia between the end of WW2 and 1954, which would account for 10% of the refugees admitted to Australia, assuming they all counted as refugees. I think more could have come without making amends to the policy. IIRC, I think the 25% quota came after WW2.
Gukpard
Gone Fishin'
Peron Argentina is the crazy state where you get a concentration camp commander settled in a house right next to the house of a jewish family he tried to murder.
I wonder such stories and the drama and comedy they produce could be genres onto themselves?
Gukpard
Gone Fishin'
Just check the movie "Operation Finale", one of the reasons why Adolf Eichmann was discovered in Argentina is because a jewish girl tried to date his son.
Wow? Really.
But in all seriousness, I feel that such a thing could result in personal horror stories. One sad story was that a Holocaust survivor was so traumatized by Amon Goeth that Ralph Fiennes' scary performance left her shaken. It'd be like having a serial killer next door to you. I wonder if such a thing would result in a movement by Argentines to punish the war criminals in their nation
Gukpard
Gone Fishin'
Not with Perón
Like, THIS is how peronist propaganda was like:
Even the non peronists still have to deal with the fact that those exilees have a lot of technical skill, the first Argentinian jet was designed by Kurt Tank who is one of the guys who designed the ME262, so it will be very hard to see a crack down on former nazis.
Was Kurt Tank directly involved in any war crimes? I read his Wikipedia article, and it doesn't assert that he did the same things Wernher von Braun did.
Not with Peron around, but perhaps around the 1980s, maybe you could see Argentine politicians doing some introspection if Argentina absorbed a large Jewish community.
Gukpard
Gone Fishin'
Might happen if you don't have peronists in power.
Maybe by the 2030s in this timeline, after the final WWII veterans die and there is no one left to punish or to take advantage from and there is no peronism you might see Argentina cracking down in their legacies.
So overall, most Argentine politicians felt not a single drop of guilt over letting Nazis in? Even if Argentina's Jewish community was slightly larger?
Gukpard
Gone Fishin'
I tried to tag every argentinian I know like @juan82ml or @Thanksforallthefish but I cannot, so I don't know...
Just now I noticed that I managed to tag thanksforallthe fish, good!
Or is WW2 unimportant for Argentines since they didn't join it? Thus, Hitler and his crimes aren't something that the average Argentine worries about.
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