Refugees:
About 3,000 refugees from German-speaking countries, roughly half of them Jews.

Political situation:
Republic; progressive politics; political reforms; anti-fascist foreign policy. May 1942: Entry into the war on the side of the Allies.

Conditions of entry:
Visa requirement; restrictive immigration policy for Jewish refugees; proof of substantial financial resources had to be presented before they were allowed to settle; asylum was granted to many political refugees; work ban in trade sector.

In the spring of 1939, after the end of the Spanish Civil War, Mexico accepted thousands of refugees who had fought in Spain against the fascist Franco dictatorship. "Spanish fighters" from German-speaking countries also benefitted from this; these were followed by further, mostly Communist, exiles. Mexico became a centre of Communist emigration. Communist intellectuals set up the El Libro Libre publishing house and the "Freies Deutschland" magazine, which became important exile media. They also formed the Heinrich-Heine-Klub [Heinrich Heine Club] in November 1941. Music evenings, lectures, readings, and performances were held in German which also attracted bourgeois Jewish circles.