¡Af der waj! The antifascist jewish left in South America

Abstract

The progressive Jewish movement in South America was formed in the heat of the slogans and transnational initiatives of the Popular Front and its call for Unity to fight fascism, anti-Semitism, and in defense of the Yiddish culture. The creation of the Yidisher Kultur Farband Federation (YKUF) during the Congress of Jewish Culture held in Paris in 1937, and its replica in Buenos Aires in 1941, called Idisher Cultur Farband (ICUF), embodied this atmosphere. The ICUF brought together secular Jewish institutions with a Marxist orientation and collaborated in the creation of new ones. The federation provided them with a political-ideological framework of representation within the community, in its relationship with the communist parties and with society. This paper aims to characterize this "icufist", Yiddishist and pro-Soviet network which, within the framework of an intense international anti-fascist mobilization, transcended languages, and borders.