Sometimes, the most remarkable chapters of
Jewish history unfold in the most unlikely places. One such place is
Ecuador, a small country straddling the equator on South America’s
Pacific coast that quietly played a role disproportionate to its size in
offering refuge to Jews during one of the darkest chapters of the 20th
century.
At a time when nation after nation shut
its doors to Jews fleeing Nazi persecution, Ecuador, despite limited
resources, became an unexpected haven. In doing so, it joined a small
group of Latin American countries, including Bolivia and the Dominican
Republic, that provided limited but vital refuge during the Holocaust
era.
Like much of Latin America, Ecuador’s
earliest encounters with Jews date back to the colonial era. Following
the expulsions from Spain and Portugal at the close of the 15th century,
conversos—Iberian Jews forced to convert to Catholicism —made their way
to the New World. Some settled in territories that would later become
Ecuador, though the reach of the Spanish Inquisition ensured that any
lingering Jewish identity remained hidden and precarious.
For centuries thereafter, overt Jewish
life in Ecuador was minimal. It was not until the late 19th and early
20th centuries that a small number of Jewish merchants and entrepreneurs
began arriving, laying the groundwork for what would eventually become
an organized community.
In the 1920s, a handful of Ashkenazi Jews
from Eastern Europe arrived, often as merchants or peddlers,
establishing small businesses in urban areas. By the late 1930s,
Ecuador’s government began issuing visas more liberally to Jewish
refugees, frequently requiring applicants to obtain visas nominally tied
to agricultural work, though in practice most ultimately settled in
cities and entered commerce or the professions.
Guayaquil, Ecuador
The equator at Mitad del Mundoin in Ecuador. (I straddled the equator there on August 9, 2002 with my right foot in the South and my left foot in the North - ed.)
The true turning point came in the 1930s
as Nazi persecution spread across Europe. With country after country
slamming its doors shut to desperate Jewish refugees, Ecuador became an
unlikely sanctuary.
Beginning in 1933, Jews from Germany,
Austria and other parts of Central Europe began seeking refuge there. By
the end of World War II, approximately 2,500 to 3,000 European Jews had
found haven in Ecuador, and by the early 1950s, the community numbered
around 4,000 people.
Their journey to Ecuador was rarely easy.
Immigration policies fluctuated, bureaucratic hurdles abounded and
economic conditions in a developing nation were often uncertain. Yet
compared with the near-total closure of much of the world, Ecuador still
offered something invaluable: a chance to survive.
Most of the newcomers
settled in Quito, the country’s capital high in the Andes Mountains, and in the
coastal port city of Guayaquil. There they began the difficult task of
rebuilding their lives.
Gradually, the foundations of organized
Jewish communal life took root. Synagogues were established, social
organizations were formed, and Jewish schools began educating the next
generation. Institutions such as the Comunidad Judía del Ecuador worked
to help organize religious and communal life, ensuring that Jewish
identity could endure even far from traditional centers of Jewish life.
Among those who rebuilt their lives in
Ecuador was the Hungarian-Jewish artist Olga Fisch, who arrived in Quito
in 1939 after fleeing Nazi persecution. Fascinated by Ecuador’s
indigenous culture, she later founded a gallery that helped introduce
Ecuadorian folk art to international audiences. Like many Jewish
refugees who found shelter in Ecuador, she rebuilt her life far from
home while contributing meaningfully to the society that had given her
refuge.
Ecuador’s contribution to Jewish survival during the Holocaust era was not limited to providing refuge on its own soil.
In one remarkable episode, an Ecuadorian
diplomat demonstrated extraordinary moral courage in the face of Nazi
barbarity. Manuel Antonio Muñoz Borrero, Ecuador’s consul in Stockholm
during World War II, issued dozens of Ecuadorian passports and documents
to try and protect Jews from deportation and death.
Possession of such documents could
transform a Jew from a target of deportation into a foreign national
eligible for internment or prisoner exchange rather than immediate
extermination. For his actions, Muñoz Borrero was recognized in 2011 by Yad Vashem as a Righteous Among the Nations, the first Ecuadorian to receive that honor.
In the decades following World War II,
Ecuador’s Jewish community continued to develop and contribute to
economic and cultural life. Jewish immigrants established businesses,
entered professions such as medicine and engineering, and integrated
into Ecuadorian society while maintaining their religious and cultural
heritage.
Yet like many Jewish communities in Latin
America, Ecuador’s began to shrink in the latter half of the 20th
century. Fiscal challenges, political instability and the attraction of
larger Jewish centers prompted many to emigrate, particularly to Israel,
the United States and Canada.
These days, Ecuador’s Jewish population is
estimated at between 600 and 800 people, mainly concentrated in Quito
with a smaller presence in Guayaquil. Despite its modest size, the
community maintains synagogues, educational institutions and communal
organizations that preserve Jewish life in the country.
Ecuador’s relationship with the Jewish
people is also reflected in its diplomatic ties with Israel. In November
1947, the Latin American country voted in favor of the U.N. partition
plan that paved the way for the establishment of the Jewish state.
Diplomatic relations between the two countries were formally established
in 1950, and cooperation has since developed in fields ranging from
agriculture to technology.
In recent years, bilateral ties have
deepened. In May 2025, Ecuadorian President Daniel Noboa made a historic
visit to Israel—the first by an Ecuadorian president—where he met with
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and opened an innovation and
trade office with diplomatic status in Jerusalem. Ecuador has also
designated Hamas, Hezbollah and Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps
as terrorist organizations, aligning closely with Israeli security
priorities.
At the same time, renewed interest in
Jewish heritage has emerged in Ecuador. Families tracing their ancestry
have uncovered connections to converso roots dating back centuries,
echoing a broader phenomenon across Latin America in which descendants
of forced converts are rediscovering Jewish identity.
Recent developments have also brought
recognition to Ecuador’s wartime history. In 2018, the country
posthumously restored the diplomatic credentials of Muñoz Borrero, which
had been revoked in 1942 after he issued passports to help save Jews
from Nazi persecution.
Taken together, these threads form a
remarkable tapestry. Ecuador may never have been home to a large Jewish
population, but at a crucial moment in history, it offered refuge when
it was desperately needed.
When so much of the
world turned its back on Jews fleeing Nazi persecution, Ecuador chose a
different path. Thousands of lives were saved as a result, and the story of
Ecuador’s Jews deserves to be remembered not as a footnote in Jewish history
but as a testament to the enduring power of refuge, resilience and moral
courage.