Simon Rubinstein or Rubenstein (

fl. ''Floruit'' ( ; usually abbreviated fl. or occasionally flor.; from Latin for 'flourished') denotes a date or period during which a person was known to have been alive or active. In English, the unabbreviated word may also be used as a noun indic ...

1900-1939) was an

Argentine Jew The history of the Jews in Argentina goes back to the early sixteenth century, following the expulsion of Jews from Spain. Sephardic Jews fleeing persecution immigrated with explorers and colonists to settle in what is now Argentina, in spite o ...

ish businessman and pimp, who headed the criminal organization Ashkenazum, an offshoot of the larger

Zwi Migdal Zwi Migdal (, Polish language, Polish: ''Cwi Migdał'') was a organized crime, criminal organisation founded by Jews in Poland in the 19th century, based mainly in Argentina. History The group's main operation was the trafficking of Jewish wo ...

, in the first half of the 20th century.

Biography

Rubinstein arrived in

Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...

from

Odessa ODESSA is an American codename (from the German language, German: ''Organisation der ehemaligen SS-Angehörigen'', meaning: Organization of Former SS Members) coined in 1946 to cover Ratlines (World War II aftermath), Nazi underground escape-pl ...

in the year 1900, and quickly became the owner of a condom factory. He was a very successful businessman and was heavily involved in the silk trade of the country. At some point he became involved with the Zwi Migdal, which trafficked thousands of Jewish women from

shtetls or ( ; , ; pl. ''shtetelekh'') is a Yiddish term for small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jewish populations which existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The term is used in the context of former Eastern European Jewish societ ...

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

across the world for sex slavery. He founded a splinter group of the Zwi Migdal, called the Ashkenazum, and had over 700 agents working for him in Argentina. Members included pimps, madams, ''porteras'' as well as the spouses of the male members. He was the owner of most of the ''bordellos'' in San Fernando, a city in the province of

. Rubinstein was said to be so well connected that he stored the furniture for a Buenos Aires judge in one of his brothels. The Ashkenazum was a financial success, and like the Zwi Migdal, had a plot of land and a cemetery of its own on the outskirts of Buenos Aires.Kupferboim, Rona. “Argentine Jewry's Dark Secret.” Ynet News, Jewish World, 25 May 2007.
/ref> The sex trafficking trade was dismantled after a former member betrayed it to authorities, leading to the conviction and deportation of 108 pimps to

Uruguay Uruguay, officially the Oriental Republic of Uruguay, is a country in South America. It shares borders with Argentina to its west and southwest and Brazil to its north and northeast, while bordering the Río de la Plata to the south and the A ...

References

1880s births 1965 deaths Argentine pimps Jews from the Russian Empire Emigrants from the Russian Empire to Argentina Businesspeople from Buenos Aires {{sex-stub

Biography

See also

References