Jewish Immigrants, Nationalism and Finance Sourcing in Argentina

Igal Aisenberg, Ph.D, Tel Aviv University, Research Fellow, Sverdlin Institute for Latin America History and Culture in the fields of business history and contemporary Jewish economics. His last publications include articles in Investigaciones y Ensayos (1923), Latin America Jewish Studies (2024), and Temas de Historia Argentina y Americana (2025).

• Preface and AcknowledgmentsList of Tables and FiguresAbbreviationsIntroduction1 Argentine Antisemitism and Jewish Businesses: Peaceful Coexistence2 The Asymmetric Development of Jewish Businesses and Banks3 New and Recent Historiographical Contributions4 Sources5 Methodology6 Structure1 Jewish Immigrants in Argentina: Capitalists or Proletarians?1 Introduction1.1 International Migration Push-Pull and Network Theories1.2 Economic Distress and Antisemitism as Drivers of Russian–Polish Jewish Immigration1.3 The Profile and Occupational Structure of Jewish Migrants in the Russian Empire1.4 Interwar Poland: Occupational Structural Change or Merely New Passports1.5 The Decline and Collapse of Jewish Entrepreneurs in Russia and Poland1.6 Ottoman Jews: Protected by the Millet and Favored by the Tanzimat2 Conclusion: Strong Push Drivers and a Feeble Network Left Behind2 Jewish Industrialists in a Willing-Reluctant Immigration Host Country1 Introduction1.1 Centennial Nationalism, Rusos and Turcos1.2 From Centennial Cultural Nationalism to Philo-Fascist Antisemitism1.3 Industrialization, 1930s–40s: Jewish Immigrant Occupations and Finance1.4 The RCCII: an Official Jewish Business Chronicle1.5 Industrialization and Successful Jewish Industrialists, 1943–551.6 Relativizing the Ethnic Racism Discourse: Before and after the BCIA and Perón2 Conclusion: Toxic Atmosphere, Unfulfilled Threats, and Gradual Integration3 Jewish Argentine Financial Institutions: East European Offspring1 Introduction1.1 A Pale Reflection of Past Grandeur1.2 Ethnic Banks and the Power of the Network: BIRP and BERP1.3 Jewish Immigrants after WWI: Financing Peddlers, Small Shops, and Craftsmen1.4 Jewish Financial Power in Argentina: Real or Imagined?1.5 From Jewish Credit Funds to Banks: Too Many and Too Small1.6 Jewish Banks: Modus Operandi and Governing Standards1.7 Enough and to Spare: Two “Big Banks” and a Plethora of Credit Cooperatives1.8 The Predicted End of BIRD1.9 Only in Argentina? the Fall of Jewish East European Banks in the United States2 Conclusion: Too Many Jewish Banks, Too Few Bankers, No Rothschilds4 Argentina’s Jewish Immigrants as Leading Industrial Entrepreneurs1 Introduction1.1 Family Owned, Controlled, and Managed: the Oldest Type of Business Organization1.2 Jewish Industrialists as Schumpeterian Capitalist-Entrepreneurs1.3 Ordinary Men and Extraordinary Achievements: Immigrants as Self-Made Men1.4 Case Study #1: The Rags to Riches Story of Aleppo’s Teubal1.5 Case Study #2: La Bernalesa & Hilanderías Gaby Salomón: Salonica’s Different Other1.6 Case Study #3: The (Almost) Unknown Story of Levin Hnos2 Conclusion: Outstanding Uphill Buildout, Lackluster Ending5 Not Only Textiles: Jewish Manufacturers of Machines, Steel Tubing and Forestry Products 1 Introduction1.1 Case Study #4: Muzykansky’s Famatex: Mastery, Timing, Boldness, and Luck1.2 Case Study #5: Silbert: Blacksmith Apprentice in Kyiv, Steel Industrialist in Buenos Aires1.3 Case Study #6: Weisburd and the Agro-Export Model: Not Only Livestock Raising and Farming1.4 Fritz Mandl and Oskar Kon: the Relevance of Two Irrelevant Cases2 Conclusion: Skills Transferability and Bold Pioneering, Not Brazen OpportunismEpilogueBibliographyIndex