I endorse Alberto Chester´´statement on the 'Polacas" (as the jewish prostitutes were called ).
The women mainly came from Poland,Lithuania, Ukraine, living in Shtetls in very poor conditions,
plagued by waves of hunger and anti-semitic terror.
Zwi Magdal´s pimps had little difficulty to recruit them, often promissing to marry them. Once crossing the Atlantic , the women were forced to work at the establishments of the criminal organizantion, mainly in Rio de Janeiro, Buenos Aires and New York. Women from Germany, Austria and Czech Republic didn´t take part of these groups
Sexually exploited, Polacas knew that, according to Jewish Law, they were considered impure and sinful and thus be buried by the wall of the cemetery, at the side of suicidals .
This became a major concern to them To prevent this misfortune and to guarantee their pensions, Polacas of Rio de Janeiro created a Mutual Assistance Fund (Associação Beneficente Funerária e Religiosa Israelita,)
Thanks to this Fund, the Jewish prostitutes founded their own synagogue and purchased land for their cemetery, which became the first Jewish cemetery in Rio de Janeiro.
Clarifying Mrs, Mitchell´s doubt, nowadays Inhauma Cemetery is open for use by the community at large, but the 700 graves of those Jewish women and their relatives are catalogued (by name) and cared by the local Chevra Kadisha.
I would like to ask Mrs. Mitchell what led her to make those statements about the Polacas. Instead of books like the
one she cited "Sex and Danger in the City of Buenos Aires", she should read books by recognized experts in Social Studies and History.
Finally, this is not a matter of national pride, but about showing respect for the memory of Jews.
Yvonne Stern
Rio de Janeiro
