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In 1889, a group of Jewish families fleeing Russian pogroms arrived in Argentina, hoping for a new life\u2014or at least a safe place to reside for a while before making their way to Israel. Mois\xe9s Ville, the town they founded, some 400 miles from Buenos Aires, was one of the first Jewish agricultural communities in Argentina and over the next 50 years would come to be called the \u201cJerusalem of South America,\u201d replete with theaters, libraries, and two synagogues. But this sunny story of life in the new world has a dark underside, as Argentinian journalist Javier Sinay learned one day, upon reading a 1947 Yiddish newspaper article written by his own great-grandfather. The article detailed 22 murders of Jewish colonists in swift succession, all in the last decade of the 19th century. Why these people were killed\u2014and what it says about the complex history of this once grand town\u2014is the subject of Sinay\u2019s new book, The Murders of Mois\xe9s Ville, translated from the Spanish by Robert Croll. Sinay joins us to talk about how a story from 100 years ago changed the way he saw his country, and his own relationship to Judaism.

Go beyond the episode: 

• Javier Sinay\u2019s new book, The Murders of Mois\xe9s Ville
• It\u2019s never too late to connect with the language of your ancestors, as Phyllis Rose writes in \u201cMy Mother\u2019s Yiddish\u201d
• Journey further afield into the driving forces of Latin America in our interview with Marie Arana
• View historical images from Mois\xe9s Ville on our website

Tune in every week to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek. Follow us on Twitter @TheAmScho or on Facebook.

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Have suggestions for projects you\u2019d like us to catch up on, or writers you want to hear from? Send us a note: podcast [at] theamericanscholar [dot] org. And rate us on iTunes! Our theme music was composed by Nathan Prillaman.

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