Presented by Merrie Blocker, creator of the  baronhirschcommunity.org  blog.

Just click on this link :

https://www.habermaninstitute.org/podcast-archive/2026/4/17/baron-de-hirsch-the-godfather-of-jewish-settlers-in-the-new-world

This lecture will take you into the remarkable stories of the Bronfman and Grossinger families, along with hundreds of thousands of other Jewish immigrants, who got their starts thanks to the billions of dollars Baron Maurice de Hirsch dedicated to giving “a portion of my companions in faith the possibility of finding a new existence.”

From the pampas of Argentina to the rolling hills of southern Brazil, across the United States, and onto the windblown prairies of Canada, his generosity opened doors and transformed countless lives.

His philanthropy founded the New World’s second largest Jewish community in Argentina, sparked multibillion dollar fortunes in Brazil, introduced the first bathroom showers and the first farmers’ credit unions to the United States, helped Saskatchewan and Alberta avoid annexation by the United States, and played a key role in the development of the Jewish Catskills.

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Merrie Blocker is a retired Foreign Service Officer having served in Latin America, Romania, and Central and Southern Asia, including serving as Director of the U.S. Cultural Center in Buenos Aires and Public Affairs Officer in Porto Alegre, Brazil.

In Argentina and Brazil, Merrie learned of the Jewish agricultural colonies sponsored by Baron Maurice de Hirsch. Then while translating On a Clear April Morning, an autographical novel by an immigrant to a Brazilian colony, she began to research the impact throughout the Americas of the Baron’s philanthropy on the lives of hundreds of thousands of Jewish immigrants.

Merrie holds a B.A. in American Studies from Reed College and an MFA in Museum Administration from Syracuse University. She lives in Silver Spring, Maryland, with her husband, architect Ricardo Merlo, and their golden doodle, Rusty. They have three wonderful children and four marvelous grandchildren.