History of the Jews in Bolivia

[1] In the 19th century, Jewish merchants (both Sephardim and Ashkenazim) came to Bolivia, most of them taking local women as wives and founding families that merged into the mainstream Catholic society.

Some worked in the silver mines in Potosi and others were among the pioneers that helped found Santa Cruz de la Sierra in 1557.

But the ones who remained have settled their communities primarily in La Paz, but also Cochabamba, Oruro, Santa Cruz, Sucre, Tarija and Potosí.

In recent decades, the Jewish community of Bolivia has declined significantly, many of them migrating to other countries such as Israel, the United States and Argentina.

Working with the Sociedad Colonizadora de Bolivia, Maurice Hochschild helped develop rural agricultural projects for Jewish refugees.

[5] As of 2015, it is estimated that the Jewish community in Bolivia decreased gradually and lacks youth, as they end high school, go to universities abroad, especially in Argentina, Brazil, the United States and Israel, and do not return.

[11] On 12 August 2014, the President of the Chamber of Deputies Marcelo Elío Chávez of the Movement for Socialism criticized Israeli government policies and stated that: "Unfortunately, the Jewish people, who were massacred during World War II, did not learn the lesson and now joins with US imperialism.