Jews have been present in El Salvador since the early 19th century, starting with Sephardic Jews and continuing with the arrival of refugees from Europe during World War II. El Salvador has the second largest community in Central America, the majority established in San Salvador, which is the second city with the most Jews in Central America, behind Panama City. History of the Jews in El Salvador Already since colonial times there is a record of Jews in Latin America, in El Salvador there is a record of several Jewish immigrations from Portugal, after the independence of El Salvador, it is believed that the first Jewish immigrant was Bernardo Haas, born in Alsace. Subsequently, the first documented German Jew arrived in the country in 1888, according to academic Jessica Alpert. France and Central Europe were the main countries of origin of this contemporary Jewish migration. Business partnership with Catholic conservative landlords during the 1930s hampered Jewish security, but the situation improved after World War II, and many Jews arrived, many thanks to the work of Colonel Castellanos who saved over 40,000 Jews from Central Europe by giving them visas and Salvadoran nationality. On Sept. 11, 1948, El Salvador recognized the State of Israel, and in 1956 the Instituto Cultural El Salvador-Israel was founded. Jerusalén is a municipality in the La Paz department of El Salvador. It was named by the Cordova family, more specifically by Juan Cordova. They were Sephardic Jews who were expelled from Spain. Other Sephardic Jews are Escalante's, Figueroas, Figueiras, Perla, Galeas, Galeanos, Gomar, López, Perez, Taher and Taheri among others, some of them became members and founders of the Seventh-day Adventist church in the area of Morazan. Right before the Salvadoran Civil War, the Jewish community was actively involved in organizing a Zionist Organization, of which Ernesto Liebes and Carlos Bernhard were its main leaders. Members of the community were also involved. According to American writer Jane Hunter in her book Israeli Foreign Policy: South Africa and Central America, in facilitating the sale of arms from Israel in El Salvador, particularly the sale of 18 Dassault Ouragan jetfighters aircraft in 1973, of which Liebes was perceived by guerrilla groups as the primary representative. Prior to the Civil War, there were about 300 Jews in El Salvador, most of whom lived in the capital. During the Civil War many Jews left the country after the kidnap and