A Critical Period: 1930-1940
The Portuguese association's celebration of 25th
anniversary of the founding of the Repulic of Portugal, October
1935
The 1930s marked momentous change in the arena of international politics, and international political developments produced critical changes in in
Comodoro Rivadavia. As established
associations expanded their services and cultural
activities, new ethnic associations arose, such as the Catamarqueños. Events in Europe, including
the Spanish Civil
War and World War II, stirred emotion and political activity among those in Argentina whose countries of origin were affected.
Thus, the period also marked important changes in many of Comodoro Rivadavia's ethnic associations
who had raised money
to purchase their own buildings. The Album de Comodoro Rivadavia
1934 states that the Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Basque
associations purchased buildings to house their headquarters
during this decade. As a symbol an association's hard work, organizational strength, and economic stability, a headquarter building gave association members great pride. The Album de Comodoro Rivadavia
1934 even printed the cost of purchasing and renovating the buildings, as shown in its
commentary on the Italian association's building: “value
of more or less thirty thousand pesos, therefore, solidly affirming
their finances.”11
As in the previous decade, mutual aid was still
the central concern of ethnic associations in Comodoro Rivadavia.
The Greek association was established in August of 1937 and held
its first dance in order to raise money for poorer members. Out of similar concern for mutual well-being, the Italian association hired reputable, economical doctors to
look after the health of its membership. The German association founded a German-Castilian high school
where eighty students would be taught Spanish and German
in “perfectly designed clean, ventilated, heated,
lighted comfortable classrooms.”12 The new school also offered music lessons in both the violin and
the piano while female students were also taught sewing, knitting
and other handicraft work. Membership welfare was also the driving concern behind new and old associations
who pressured the government and oil company towns for better working and living
conditions. Associations
such as The Lithuanian Worker’s Group, the Instructive Bulgarian-Macedonian
Club and the Ukrainian-Belarusian Committee fought for the rights of their respective ethnic groups.
During
the 1930s, ethnic associations also became
more directly associated with political parties, including communist, socialist
and anarchist factions. Both the dream of a classless society and disillusionment with the divide between elite and working class inspired ethnic association members, as well as their political counterparts in the United States
and Europe. Utilizing cultural mediums to spread their political ideologies, associations
created libraries, held conferences, printed newspapers, promoted
films and theatrical performances, and held other artistic events.
They also began unions and collected money to support members
fired for participating in strikes.
Political activism was not confined within national borders; rather, political movements extended across the globe, especially the Atlantic.
The outbreak of the Spanish Civil War in 1936 divided
inhabitants of Comodoro Rivadavia in addition to the Spaniards. In an interview, Jose Estrada related the story of a
man who was thrown from a balcony during a political
argument over the Spanish Civil War. However, the Spanish association, which did not distinguish among regions and enjoyed high membership numbers, did not experience any internal conflict over the tragic
event.
Neither did any political policy exist that would
formally separate the Spanish association members. Estrada emphasized that members were positively united and held dances,
festivals, and such to collect money, clothes, and medicine to
send to relatives and refugees. Other ethnic associations, mainly
those founded for political reasons, supported the Spanish association;
the Italian Democratic Society held a dance to raise money for
children orphaned by the war.
Nevertheless, other ethnic associations could
not reconcile their political differences. The members of the
German association were gravely divided between the Republic and the Fuehrer, giving rise to various German
organizations. The Argentine authorities carefully
watched members as they divided. Likewise, though the Slovaks had been part of the Czechoslovakian
association founded in the 1920s, they too formed their own organization
in 1935 due to differing political views. Lastly, Comodoro oil company laborers with republican and democratic
ideals broke off from the Mussolini-leaning Italian association to form the Italian Democratic Society in Kilometer 9.
Italian association children celebrate
the anniversary of Mussolini's "March on Rome," 1935
In 1939, the Argentine provincial
government decided to intervene in ethnic associations. Decree N31.321 was passed on May 15, 1939, allowing official regulation
and supervision of all the activities of foreign ethnic associations.
Clearly, there were worries that the migrants' political and social
ties to their home countries would draw
Argentina into the problems of an increasingly divided Europe. The Italian association was but one example of
such a threat, since members of the Italian association with
political ties in Italy sent and received mail containing fascist and nationalist ideology. Ciselli pointed out in photographs
of Italian association members that many wore the
black shirts associated with the fascist party at home.
Still, the 1939 decree most affected the so-called "Soviets,” mainly Lithuanians, Ukrainians and Belarusians. Y.F.P., the
national oil company, placed them in a separate labor camp, and
as laborers, they were given the hardest, most dangerous tasks.
Starting in 1931, the Ukrainian association had began asking for
permission to organize dances, festivals, and artistic evenings even before the Decree was passed.13 For most of these associations, the most important celebration
of the year was the commemoration of the October Revolution that
had formed the Soviet Union in 1917. At the same time, their concerns
remained mainly local since they also organized entertainments
that would benefit their organization, taught Ukrainian ethnic
dances, and held Ukrainian theatre performances.
As in the previous decade, women were rarely mentioned
as active members of Comodoro Rivadavia’s ethnic associations in the 1930s. The German association hired women as language and
handicraft teachers, and youth constituted the majority of language
and handicraft students. Still, photographs reflect the fact that board members at this time were almost exclusively men.
