Hotel Bolivia

Desperate to escape persecution, thousands of Jews fled Nazi-dominated Central Europe to Latin America in the 1930s. Though Argentina, Brazil, Mexico, and Chile had been the traditional receivers of European immigrants, they each closed their doors to foreigners, especially Jews. In the case of Brazil and Argentina, fascist-leaning dictatorships opposed the introduction of Jews for ideological reasons, though most of these debates happened in closed doors outside of the public sphere. In other cases, the lagging wartime economy made it impractical to allow laissez-faire immigration anymore. During the Nazi Anschluss of March 1938, Bolivia remained one of the few countries in the whole world that would allow Jewish refugees. Between 1938-39, they accepted 20,000 refugees from Austria, Germany, and Czechoslovakia. They settled primarily in La Baz, and also in small mining communities throughout the country. Along with Jews, other political dissidents joined them, namely communists and socialists. They arrived in Bolivia with little money and few personal possessions, but collectively sought to recreate the world they had left behind, albeit in a Spanish-speaking nation with a population that was largely of indigenous descent.

 

This book is an important methodological take on immigration because it explores how memory and identity worked for immigrants in Latin America. That is, Spitzer wants to analyze how communities and old lifeways were rebuilt in a strange new home, and how the immigrants came to see themselves in the society that for many, was only a transitory home (hence the title, “Hotel Bolivia”).  Many later immigrated to Chile or Argentina, places that were more “European.” A few managed to return to their homes.

 

Spitzer was born in Bolivia to Austrian refugees a few months after they arrived in the country. In writing the book, he makes extensive use of family photos, letters, memoirs, and saved newspaper clippings, and often interjects his own memories into the narrative. In other cases, he looks at the captions his parents wrote on the back of the family photos, trying to analyze their own mindset to understand what it was like for adults who uprooted their lives and relocated thousands of miles away in Bolivia. You will notice that the text becomes italicized when it turns autobiographical. This shift indicates that he is writing specifically about his family, their experiences, or his memory. Your text begins on page eight when he is looking at two photographs that his parents brought with them to Bolivia. He then describes what was happening in Austria that forced their escape.  On page 20, stop reading when the section ends, and move onto page 27-35, stopping on page 35 when the next section begins.

 

The final section you are reading is pages 107-130. There, you will read about settlement patterns for the Jewish refugee community in Bolivia. It should all be relatively straightforward and very easy to read. Try to remember as much as you can so that we can talk about all of it on Friday. I think you will enjoy it.