Jews in Mexico

Execution of Mariana de Carbajal in 1601.

Jews in Mexico today have ancestry in a variety of countries. The largest sub-group probably descend from Jews who came from Damascus in Syria.

Our knowledge of early New Christian settlement in Mexico is incomplete. Also, Sephardic immigration to Mexico is highly diverse. New Christians of Spanish and Portuguese origins may have been unaware of each other.

Sephardic immigrants from Syria/Lebanon, Turkey and Morocco arrived under different conditions, and later formed a Sephardic Jewish Mexican community.

In Mexico there are Catholic families of apparent Sephardic ancestry, and there are others who believe they have ancestors who were crypto Jews.

Historical Timeline of Jewish Mexico

  • 1521: Spanish conquest of the Aztec Empire by Hernán Cortés. Bernal Díaz del Castillo reports that several soldiers were executed for practicing Judaism but the details are unclear.
  • 1530s: Some New Christians start arriving in Mexico, despite the prohibition on New Christians travelling to Spanish colonies.
  • A disputed hypothesises claims a ‘crypto-Jewish’ migration from Mexico to what is now New Mexico
  • 1649: The Mexican Inquisition actively persecutes New Christians, including Portuguese. Auto-da-fé (public penance of heretics) events are held.
  • 1821: Mexico gains independence from Spain. The new Mexican Constitution does not establish Catholicism as the state religion, allowing greater religious freedom.
  • 1860s-1880s: Small groups of Jews, including some Sephardic Jews from Europe, the Ottoman Empire, and North Africa (particularly Morocco), start to immigrate to Mexico.
  • 1910-1920: Mexican Revolution. During this period of social upheaval, many Jews, including Sephardic Jews from the former Ottoman Empire, settle in Mexico, contributing to the country’s economic development.
  • 1920s: An increase in Jewish immigration from the former Ottoman Empire, especially from regions like Syria, Lebanon, and Turkey. These immigrants establish thriving Sephardic communities in cities such as Mexico City, Guadalajara, and Monterrey.
  • 1930s: The rise of Nazism in Europe leads to a wave of Jewish refugees fleeing to Mexico.
  • 1940s: Post-World War II, more Jews immigrate to Mexico, including Holocaust survivors and Jews from the former Ottoman territories.
Archivo General de la Nación, Mexico City

Resources for Researching the Genealogy of Sephardic Jews in Mexico

‘Souvenir brochure‘ of the 1649 auto-da-fe in Mexico City.