Records of the Sociedad Israelita de Paysandú

Records of the Sociedad Israelita de Paysandú (Israelite Society of Paysandú), Uruguay. Includes correspondence, minutes of sessions; reports and other office documents, 1945-1948. Copyright Holder: Sociedad Israelita de Paysandú Historical background: Attempts at Jewish agricultural settlement in Uruguay proved abortive. The first was the "19 de Abril" settlement, founded in Paysandú by 38 families that had previously tried to settle in the ICA settlements in Brazil. They received 9,880 acres of land from the Institute de Colonización of the Uruguayan Republic. Overcoming a difficult beginning, the settlers met with success after a ten-year period, but the settlement gradually lost its Jewish members; during the 1930s, five Jewish families remained, and in 1950 there was only one. (Reference: Jewish Virtual Library Uruguay https://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/uruguay)