70 Years Later: The Man Who Saved 9,000 Jews in the Holocaust Revealed

More than 70 years after World War II ended, another story of rescuing thousands of Jews during the Holocaust has been revealed. Bolivian media uncovered the story of the "Bolivian Schindler," Mauricio Hochschild, a German immigrant and a coal mining icon, who helped thousands of Jews escape from Nazi Germany during the 1930s.

Hochschild's efforts were uncovered thanks to a trove of documents and photographs documenting his crucial role in saving the lives of at least 9,000 Jews. The documents revealed that in many cases, Hochschild personally funded the initial travel and living expenses.

Many were surprised by the new revelations, given that at the time Hochschild was considered a ruthless businessman and was even thought of as the "bad guy" of the local mining industry. "These documents are going to change many things in Bolivian history. There will be political consequences," claimed Ergar Ramirez, director of the Bolivian Mining Corporation archive, as due to his wealth, Hochschild was considered an influential figure in local politics.

Hochschild was born in 1881, in Biblis, western Germany, and emigrated to South America in 1921. He used his extensive political connections in Bolivia to persuade the local president, Germán Busch, to issue special visas for immigrants fleeing Europe following the rise of the Nazis. Hochschild succeeded in convincing the president that these immigrants could contribute to the Bolivian workforce.

To further his humanitarian efforts, Hochschild established two organizations: "The Society for the Protection of Jewish Immigrants" and "The Bolivian Settlement Association," which ran an agricultural project in Nor Yungas, where he purchased properties and estates used for the accommodation of the Jews.

Some immigrants integrated into Hochschild's businesses, and he built schools for their children. In one of the uncovered documents, a letter from the immigrants to Hochschild requested "to expand the educational complex due to the number of children here and those willing to come."

After regulatory changes in the 1940s, Hochschild refused to comply with the new laws and was sent to prison. Following his release, he emigrated to the U.S. and never returned to Bolivia. He died in Paris in 1965 as the owner of a mining empire, without his secret being revealed: a Righteous Among the Nations to whom tens of thousands owe their lives.