Lower California Is Not for Sale!

Title: Lower California Is Not for Sale!

Location: Baja California, Mexico

Document: The Jewish Forum

Time: February 1938

Jewish conditions today are desperate. A way must be found out of the impasse.

That madhouse called Europe, lately encouraged in its madness by the vacillating policy of England and France, is no safe place for the Jew. For Jews first to escape from Germany to Austria, from Austria to Czechoslovakia and Hungary, and from these countries into G-d knows what other trap, will merely aggravate the condition.

It is time that Jews be permitted to direct their destiny by constructive work and live as human beings, without being hounded, in at least one spot in the world, where they might give expression to their idealism — the idealism of the Prophets and Sages of Israel, the idealism that has given birth to an era called the age of civilization. In return for the blessings the Jew has conferred on mankind, the world owes him the privilege of breathing G-d’s air unmolested. Why continue to keep him as a scapegoat?

Demonstrations and protests seem to have exhausted their effectiveness. The conscience of the world appears to be dormant. The ancient home of the Jew would have been the solution if the Mandatory Power had kept its promise. Treaties no longer seem to be sacred. While the Jew will never forsake his spiritual attachment to the Land of Israel, and while his zeal for the Holy Land and his undying courage will continue to impel him to every sacrifice in support of the heroes who are building the Jewish Homeland, his immediate task is to find a place of safety.

—Isaac Rosengarten, the Jewish Forum

IN 1938, as the sun set on the European continent for the Jewish People, and the darkness of impending war and virulent anti-Semitism encroached, a bold initiative was put forth in the hopeful pages of the Jewish Forum. It wasn’t just an ordinary rescue mission but a daring proposition to purchase or lease the region known as Baja California (“Lower California,” a Mexican territory south of the US state of California). The aim was to transform its vast wilderness into a sanctuary, a potential Jewish homeland where refugees could seek solace and security.

This ambitious plan was not hatched in isolation. In an era when Jewish activists desperately searched for safe havens, similar proposals had been envisaged for locations as diverse as Madagascar, Asiatic Russia, and the Kimberley region of Western Australia. Each plan offered a glimmer of hope against the backdrop of closed doors and limited options for Jewish emigrants facing imminent peril.

This Baja California project was the brainchild of Dr. George Richter, a member of the Committee of One Hundred, who first presented the plan in the Jewish Forum after visiting the arid landscapes of the area. Financing such a dream would require an international effort, possibly involving the kind of substantial backing that had supported American ventures like the purchase of Alaska. To kick off the initiative, Jewish Forum editor Isaac Rosengarten formed a group called Selah Inc. to raise funds and awareness.

In PR materials and countless articles, Rosengarten and others proposed developing Baja’s potential in agriculture, mining, and fisheries, to sustain the community. The pitch was poetic. In one editorial, Rosengarten wrote: