# Simon Rubinstein (pimp)

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Crimean Jewish immigrant to Argentina, businessman, brothel owner and human trafficker

Simon Rubinstein Born ca. 1880 Odessa, Russian Empire Died 1965 Buenos Aires, Argentina Occupations pimp, factory owner

**Simon Rubinstein** or **Rubenstein** ([fl.](/source/Floruit) 1900-1939) was an [Argentine Jewish](/source/History_of_the_Jews_in_Argentina) businessman and pimp, who headed the criminal organization [Ashkenazum](/source/Ashkenazum), an offshoot of the larger [Zwi Migdal](/source/Zwi_Migdal), in the first half of the 20th century.

## Biography

Rubinstein arrived in [Buenos Aires](/source/Buenos_Aires) from [Odessa](/source/Odessa) 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](/source/Sex_trafficking) thousands of Jewish women from [shtetls](/source/Shtetls) in [Eastern Europe](/source/Eastern_Europe) across the world for sex slavery.[1]

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.[2] He was the owner of most of the *bordellos* in [San Fernando](/source/San_Fernando_de_la_Buena_Vista), a city in the province of [Buenos Aires](/source/Buenos_Aires_Province).[3]

Rubinstein was said to be so well connected that he stored the furniture for a Buenos Aires judge in one of his brothels.[4] 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.[5] 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](/source/Uruguay).

## See also

- [Sexual slavery](/source/Sexual_slavery)

- [Alfonse Pogrom](/source/Alfonse_Pogrom)

- [Raquel Liberman](/source/Raquel_Liberman)

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** Bristow, Edward J. Prostitution and Prejudice: the Jewish Fight against White Slavery, 1870-1939. Schocken Books, 1983.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** Deutsch, Sandra McGee (2010). *Crossing Borders, Claiming a Nation: A History of Argentine Jewish Women, 1880–1955*. Durham: Duke University Press. p. 119. [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [978-0-8223-9260-6](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/978-0-8223-9260-6).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** Guy, Donna J. (1991). [*Sex & Danger in Buenos Aires: Prostitution, Family, and Nation in Argentina*](https://archive.org/details/sexdangerinbueno00guyd/page/120). Lincoln, Nebraska: U of Nebraska Press. pp. [120](https://archive.org/details/sexdangerinbueno00guyd/page/120). [ISBN](/source/ISBN_(identifier)) [0-8032-7048-8](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Special:BookSources/0-8032-7048-8).

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** Vincent, Isabel. Bodies and Souls: the Tragic Plight of Three Jewish Women Forced into Prostitution in the Americas. Vintage Canada, 2007.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** [Kupferboim, Rona. “Argentine Jewry's Dark Secret.” Ynet News, Jewish World, 25 May 2007.](https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3403899,00.html)

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