The Murders of Moisés Ville: The Rise and Fall of the Jerusalem of South America

by Javier Sinay, Robert Croll (Translator)

Award-winning journalist Javier Sinay investigates a series of murders from the nineteenth century, unearthing the complex history and legacy of Mois�s Ville, the "Jerusalem of South America," and his personal connection to a defining period of Jewish history in Argentina.When Argentine journalist Javier Sinay discovers an article from 1947 by his great-grandfather detailing twenty-two murders that had occurred in Mois�s Ville at the end of the nineteenth century, he launches into his own investigation that soon turns into something deeper: an exploration of the history of Mois�s Ville, one of the first Jewish agricultural communities in Argentina, and Sinay's own connection to this historically thriving Jewish epicenter.



Seeking refuge from the pogroms of Czarist Russia, a group of Jewish immigrants founded Mois�s Ville in the late 1880s. Like their town's prophetic namesake, these immigrants fled one form of persecution only to encounter a different set of hardships: exploitative land prices, starvation, illness, language barriers, and a series of murders perpetrated by roving gauchos who preyed upon their vulnerability. Sinay, though a descendant of these immigrants, is unfamiliar with this turbulent history, and his research into the spate of violence plunges him into his family's past and their link to Mois�s Ville. He combs through libraries and archives in search of documents about the murders and hires a book detective to track down issues of Der Viderkol, the first Yiddish newspaper in Argentina started by his great-grandfather. He even enrolls in Yiddish classes so he can read the newspaper and other contemporaneous records for himself. Through interviews with his family members, current residents of Mois�s Ville, historians, and archivists, Sinay compiles moving portraits of the victims of these heinous murders and reveals the fascinating and complex history of the town once known as the "Jerusalem of South America.""Sinay acknowledges the impossibility of fully separating legends from facts. . . but his diligence has produced as definitive an account as possible of what actually happened during this bloody period. This nuanced search for truth should have broad appeal."
-- Publishers Weekly , starred review

I greatly admire Javier Sinay's enlightening and humane account of his sleuthing--the disinterment of a violent episode of buried history--now no longer forgotten. Its implications resonate far beyond the borders of Argentina.
--Paul Theroux, author of The Mosquito Coast and Under the Wave at Waimea

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Audiobook, Jewish, True Crime, Crime

343 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Argentine journalist born in 1980.

Reviews

[Ted · Rating 3 out of 5]

This one had great potential. Sadly the author couldn't decide if it should be historical fiction, scholarship, true crime, or a chatty romance novel.

[Alejandro Soifer · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sinay retoma un viejo artículo del primer periódico en iddish que se escribió en la Argentina (creado por su bisabuelo) como excusa para hundirse en la historia de la colonización judía en la Argentina a fines del siglo XIX impulsada por el Barón Hirsch.
La investigación es impecable y da cuenta de varias historias olvidadas a la vez que retoma la formación de las famosas colonias en Santa Fe y Entre Ríos, con especial énfasis en Moisés Ville. Estos primeros años trágicos de integración de los judíos llegados de Europa oriental en un ambiente dominado por los gauchos en vías de extinción y sin ya medio de vida (recordemos que "Martín Fierro" es un largo lamento contrario a la política estatal en relación al gauchaje)le sirve al autor para descubrir la sangre que corrió en toda complicado ensamble social.
Si bien resulta esclarecedor y complementario de los muy buenos trabajos clásicos de divulgación del tema como la obra de Ricardo Feierstein y Eliahu Toker (ambos aparecen entrevistados en el relato) hay ciertos pasajes del texto que, intentando quizás una crónica con anclaje en el tiempo presente, le quita un poco la profundidad que podría obtener. Es lógico: se trata de una crónica y no de un libro de historia, por lo que la necesidad del narrador de involucrarse, investigar desde el presente e intentar encontrar una historia interesante en el "hoy en día de Moisés Ville" lo lleva a ahondar en una subtrama poco interesante (un envenenamiento masivo de perros y gatos en el pueblo; una historia que seguramente se repita en todo conglomerado urbano de nuestro país) y que nada tiene que ver con la investigación de calidad que lleva a cabo respecto de la colonización judía.
Es cierto que es interesante ver cómo se encuentra el día de hoy la primera colonia de los judíos del Barón Hirsch pero ese tipo de microrelatos de la paz pueblerina actual de un pueblo casi fantasma no aportan una perspectiva significativa o necesaria.
Luego, algunos otros pasajes autobiográficos se extienden (quizás en el embriague del narrador por saberse descendiente de sujetos que fueron parte de una historia compleja, rica e interesante) demasiado sobre minucias que apartan el foco de la historia que da sentido al título de la crónica.
En conclusión: un libro que interesará casi exclusivamente a un tipo de lector judío con curiosidad acerca de ese increíble periodo de emigración masiva desde Europa y hacia América, en medio de un clima convulsionado por el compromiso político socialista y el sionismo (aunque de esto en el libro se hace escasa mención). Un relato que ayuda a completar el rompecabezas de la vida judía en nuestro país.

[Carlos Yang · Rating 5 out of 5]

An interesting look at a not-too-well-known history. The murder or my relative is highlighted in one chapter. The hope of finding out more about my family's history drew me to this book to begin with. I was able to find exactly what I was searching for. The author also mentioned speaking to my late grandfather, which was quite emotional for me. Even without a personal connection to the subject matter, one can learn a lot about the Jewish immigration to South America that many people are completely oblivious to.

[Umar Lee · Rating 4 out of 5]

Some fascinating history on the early generations of Jewish settlers to Argentina and some of the violence they faced. The author digs deep into his family history and Yiddish language archives to document the late 19th Century.

[Naomi · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was one of the most poorly written and most poorly structured books I’ve ever read. I read it in English translation, but I imagine the Spanish original was not much different. It was difficult to follow the various storylines and characters, there were many contradictory and incorrect details in the writing, and the author himself seemed to have trouble presenting a clear narrative and guiding themes.
The history of Moises Ville and Jewish agricultural settlement in Argentina is fascinating subject matter. But the supposed premise of Sinay’s book was to focus on a series of murders that took place, which, while utterly gruesome, didn’t otherwise seem all that remarkable. I only forced myself to read/skim to the end so that I could take part in an upcoming book club discussion.

[Shari (Shira) · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was written by the great grandson of one of the major persons of interest in this book. He isn't a very good writer. The book (a book club book) was so hard to read. It relays the story of the emigration of European Jews to Argentina. As the title relays, many of them (most of them?) were murdered. There were graphic descriptions of brutal killings in every chapter. I had to keep putting it down. That's why it took me so long to read it.

[Mich · Rating 4 out of 5]

Javier Sinay, an Argentinian journalist, traces his family’s settlement in Moise Ville in Argentina in the 1880s and explores the murders of 22 settlers from the end of the 18th to the very beginning of the 19th century. The Moises Villa colony was established with the assistance of Baron Hirsch who encouraged Jews to pursue agricultural occupations. Jews escaping from the Russian pogroms came and with the assistance of the Jewish Colonial Association set up their town under harsh conditions, They had to deal with both robbery and murders from the gauchos as well as attacks by indigenous people.
Javier Sinay’s great grandfather Milj wrote about these events in Yiddish in various publications and Javier, who didn’t know Yiddish somehow was able to learn some Yiddish, get some works translated, speak to descendants of early settlers and put together a fascinating story. Eventually the colony died out.
Much of the difficulty in putting together the story was impacted by the bombing in 1994 of the Jewish Community building in Argentina where a lot of the archives were kept and subsequently lost.

[Alejandro · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un muy buen exponente del genero de la crónica, en este caso un libro con muchos intereses para descubir. El principal el recorrer la historia de una de las primeras colonias agricolas judias de nuestro pais. A aquellos dificiles primeros años se le sumaron crimenes productos del encuentro de los colonos judios y los gauchos. El recorrido del autor, se mezcla con la realidad actual del pueblo, viendo que queda de toda esa historia, descubriendo personajes y otros relatos. Pero esta crónica además busca dar cuenta de la historia familiar del autor, sus antepasados y la relacion con el periodismo, la cultura judia en Argentina, entre otros temas.

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I know so little about Argentina. I thought gauchos were sort of like cowboys, but it seems like no, they were more like outlaws. The colonization of this part of Argentina reads as if, in the U.S., mega philanthropists had created all-Jewish communities in Nebraska or Kansas.

This history is fragile. Records simply disappeared. From rural courthouses and archives. In a massive bombing targeting the Jewish community in Buenos Aires in 1994. Because of the difficulty in keeping Yiddish alive.

Maybe if I understood Argentina better, the book's organization would have made more sense to me. But it was still interesting how another country's stories of immigration raised questions about immigration in my own country.

[Rachel · Rating 2 out of 5]

The subject matter was very interesting and I wanted to learn more about the history of Moises Ville, the small commune in Argentina founded in 1889 by Eastern European and Russian Jews escaping pogroms and persecution. But I found that the author’s focus on the murders got in the way of telling the whole story. Between the historical murders and the more present day mystery of the repeated animal poisonings, I had a hard time keeping track of everything and didn’t really connect with the writing or the structure of the book. However, I agree with Kirkus’s review: “The audience may be limited, but this is still a worthy, unique entry in Jewish history.”

[Ellen Rothenberg · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was hard getting through this mainly because it was non-fiction. The author had some very interesting things to say but he needed an editor to cut out a lot of extraneous information. I do understand how difficult it was to find the information but he gave the reader EVERY thing he found out even questionable information. It was like he couldn’t bear to leave any research out of his book. Maybe it was easier in Spanish instead of the translation but I doubt it. I did enjoy a good deal of the book because it added to the information I know about the Jews in Argentina but it was a slog to get through it.

[Carina Tenor · Rating 4 out of 5]

Una profunda investigación del autor nos lleva a entender el contexto peligroso en el que vivían los primeros inmigrantes judíos llegados desde Europa durante fines del siglo XIX, asentados en colonias, pero una de las más conocidas en aquellos tiempos, Moisés Ville.
Relatos de casos estremecedores que atrapan y a la vez conmueven.

[Alex Podolsky · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very good story and an engaging read. Interesting history, clearly based on numerous sources and extensive research. The author's personal connection makes the story more personal. The only quibble I would have is that there is nothing demonstrating that the crimes against the Jewish settlers in Argentina were disproportional in comparison to other contemporary settlers.

[marko · Rating 5 out of 5]

Me ha permitido conocer una de las corrientes de inmigración a la Argentina. Y la trascendente aunque inocente aventura de la publicación de un breve impreso. Queda también la huella de la larga y no siempre redituante labor de investigación para la construcción de una historia, de un texto.

[Lillian · Rating 3 out of 5]

I started this book with a lot of interest about something I knew nothing about. I definitely learned a lot. But halfway through it became very tangled and confusing with characters, dates and events interweaving and I was no longer sure where the focus lay. It tightened up a bit but I feel that the complexity of the material became too difficult. I wish it had been more tightly organized. But still it was well worth reading.