Not many people can be named who were able to change or create the preconditions for fundamental changes in the fate of their people. One of these extraordinary personalities who left their mark on history is Theodor Herzl, whose biography this article describes.
Childhood
The future famous public figure and ideologist of Zionism Theodor (Binyamin Ze'ev) Herzl was born in May 1860 into a wealthy Jewish family in Budapest.
His mother Jeanette Diamant, married to Herzl, taught the boy German from childhood. However, Theodore, although he grew up in an assimilated family, was interested in the history of the Jewish people from childhood. One day he even wrote a poem about how the Messiah took him to heaven and showed him to Moses, exclaiming that this was the boy he had been waiting for.
While studying at an evangelical gymnasium, Herzl had a conflict with a teacher who expressed anti-Semitic views, and in high school he began writing reviews of performances in one of the Budapest newspapers.
In Vienna
In 1878, Theodor Herzl's family moved from Budapest to the capital of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, where he entered the law faculty of the university. During his student years, the future ideologist of political Zionism was practically not interested in the Jewish question. Moreover, he considered the assimilation of his people a good thing and hoped that progress would eradicate anti-Semitism. However, he was extremely unpleasantly impressed by the book “On the Jewish Question” by E. Dühring, published in 1881, as well as the response it found in wide circles of Viennese society.
Around the same period, Theodor Herzl left the Albia student society because he did not agree with the anti-Semitic statements of its members.
First steps in adult life
After graduating from university, Theodor Herzl began working in the courts of Vienna and Salzburg. Soon the young man experienced all the delights of discrimination based on nationality and became convinced that, despite all his knowledge and professional skills, he could never become a judge. As a result, it was decided to leave for Vienna and say goodbye to jurisprudence, especially since Herzl had experience in literary activity.
Dreyfus affair
After abandoning his career as a lawyer, Herzl tried himself as a playwright and wrote several plays commissioned by theaters in Vienna and Berlin. Somewhat later, he became a Paris correspondent for one of the capital's liberal newspapers. In France, Herzl wrote reports on parliamentary meetings and described the social life of Paris. His essays enjoyed great success among Viennese readers. Perhaps he would have become a famous writer if not for the so-called Dreyfus trial. During this trial, an innocent French officer was accused of spying for Germany on the basis of false documents, since he was a Jew. The Dreyfus trial split society. It became a litmus test that showed how deeply anti-Semitism was rooted among the French bourgeoisie. Herzl was greatly impressed when thousands of Parisians took to the streets and chanted: “Death to the Jews!” And all this happened in a country where a hundred years ago universal equality and brotherhood were proclaimed! Herzl subsequently admitted that it was the Dreyfus trial that made him a convinced Zionist.
Ideas
In 1895, Theodor Herzl, whose biography is presented in this article, began writing a book about the need to create a Jewish state. It was published in Vienna in February 1896, published in German, and then translated into Hebrew, English, French, Russian and Romanian.
In his work, Theodor Herzl pointed out that no amount of emigration could end the suffering of his people. According to his ideas, the only possible solution to the Jewish question was the creation of an independent state and exodus from Europe. At the same time, Herzl demanded that the great powers recognize the right of his people to resettle, give appropriate international guarantees and grant sovereignty over territory that would be sufficient for the needs of Jewry.
Meeting with Moritz Hirsch
At first, Herzl assumed that part of Argentina could be chosen as the location for the creation of a new state. However, it soon became clear to him how important Eretz Yisrael (Land of Israel) was for his people. At the same time, Herzl did not intend to implement his ideas, since he considered himself only a writer. He decided to offer the role of leader of the Zionist movement to the Parisian banker Baron Moritz Hirsch. The latter, several years before the publication of Herzl’s book, acquired land in Argentina and began to resettle Jews from Russia there in order to save them from constant pogroms. During a personal meeting, the hero of our story expressed the opinion that the baron had wasted his money, and then asked Hirsch to convene the World Jewish Congress and become the political leader of the Zionists. However, the banker showed no interest and even laughed it off.
Formation of the Zionist movement
Herzl was not supported by other wealthy Jews, including Baron Edmond Rothschild. The latter even called him a dangerous adventurer. In addition, some Jews considered assimilation the only solution to their problems. There were also those who believed that excessive noise would only hinder the settlement of Eretz Israel. Nevertheless, soon well-known representatives of the Jewish intelligentsia and public figures began to rally around Herzl: Menachem Usyshkin, Max Nordau, Israel Zangwill and others. He was also supported by the rabbis of London, Paris and Bialystok.
Subsequently, the first President of Israel, Chaim Weizmann, recalled how inspired he and his peers were by Herzl’s ideas and his very personality. From all over Europe he received letters asking him to lead the Zionist movement.
Trip to Turkey
At the end of the 19th century, the lands of Eretz Israel were still part of the Ottoman Empire. In the summer of 1896, Herzl traveled to its capital, Istanbul, and met with the Grand Vizier. According to his plan, Jews around the world would have to pay Turkey a large sum in exchange for permission to carry out the resettlement of Jews in Eretz Israel.
Sultan Abdul Hamid II did not accept Herzl, but he did not lose hope. With his own funds, he founded the newspaper “Die Welt” and himself financed the activities of Zionist organizations. As a result, in the 9 years that passed from the time he wrote “The Jewish State” until his death, Herzl had almost nothing left, although in his youth he was a fairly rich man.
World Zionist Congress
Initially, delegates from all Jewish communities were to gather in Munich. However, local rabbis feared discontent among their fellow German citizens. Then it was decided to hold the event in the Swiss city of Basel. The Congress began its work at the end of August 1897. 204 delegates from 17 countries arrived in Basel, including 66 participants from the Russian Empire. They were representatives of various professions and religious movements. In addition, Jewish Christians were among the participants.
The Congress lasted 3 days. As a result, the so-called Basel Zionist program was adopted. She proclaimed the need to create a state for the Jewish people in Palestine. In addition, for the first time in 2000 years, he had his own political force - the World Zionist Organization. As one might expect, Herzl was elected president. Until the end of his life, he himself believed that the Jewish state was created at the Basel Congress.
Empty hopes
Knowing about the close ties between Germany and Turkey, Herzl asked for an audience with Wilhelm II. It took place in Jerusalem, where the monarch went on a visit in 1898. Wilhelm promised Herzl to convey his request to the Turkish Sultan. And although the monarch kept his word, his efforts came to nothing. The Sultan spoke out unequivocally against Zionism, although he admitted that Herzl was an interesting and worthy person.
Uganda
Having lost hope of finding a common language with the Turkish government, Herzl asked Great Britain for help. Unexpectedly, he was asked to consider the colonial province of Uganda as a territory for resettlement of Jews. To decide on this issue, the 6th Zionist Congress was convened in 1903. On the one hand, the delegates were shocked and delighted by the support of Great Britain, but on the other hand, they could not come to terms with the idea of giving up the dream of creating a state in Palestine. As a result, the proposal to resettle in Uganda was rejected.
last years of life
Theodor Herzl, whose memory is carefully preserved in Israel, had a heart defect. By the age of 40, his condition had worsened, and he no longer hoped to live to see the creation of the Jewish state. Nevertheless, he did not give up and continued his activities, meeting with influential politicians from whom he hoped to receive support. In addition, he convinced the Pope that the Zionists did not pose a threat to the property of the church in Palestine.
Herzl died in early July 1904, without seeing the realization of his dream and the completion of his life’s work.
Memory
Theodor Herzl, whose books were translated into many languages, bequeathed to bury him next to his father, and after the creation of the Jewish state, transport the ashes to Palestine. In 1949, his will was fulfilled. Today he rests in Jerusalem, on a mountain named in his honor. In addition, the city of Herzliya reminds us of the founder of Zionism.
Israel honors the memory of the great son of the Jewish people in other ways. For example, his image is present on banknotes; streets and squares of many cities are named after him.
"Old New Land"
Long before Herzliya (Israel) appeared on the map of the Middle East, a politician published a utopian novel in which he described life in the Jewish State 20 years after its creation. Perhaps in his dreams the settlements looked exactly like the city that was later named in his honor. However, the social structure and life in it, according to Herzl’s idea, should have been somewhat different. In particular, he believed that people should work no more than 7 hours a day.
Now you know who Theodor Herzl is. The Jewish state, which today is one of the most prosperous in the Middle East, arose in no small part due to his dedication. The people of Israel do not forget about Herzl. This country even celebrates a national day in his memory.
The idea that I want to present in this essay is already very old. I'm talking about the restoration of the Jewish state. The world, filled with indignation against the Jews, awakens the sleeping thought, calling it to reasoning. I am not inventing anything, which can be easily verified, so to speak, with my own eyes from my entire research, in general, and at each point in particular. I am not inventing either the situation of the Jews, which has become part of history, or the means for saving them. The data that I premise is, in fact, clear to everyone and can be tangible almost with one’s hands. But if I wanted to give some name to this attempt to resolve the Jewish question, I would call it not a fantasy, but a “Combination” in the highest sense of the word. Regarding such a concept as utopia, I must first say a few words, by which I actually want to protect superficial researchers from the mistake they may fall into. In fact, there is no shame in what humane utopias write. On the contrary, I would have been able to cope with my desire even more easily if I had presented my plan to my readers - who, of course, would be interested in this - in the form of an unapologetically description of some novel, and it still would not have been such a love utopia such as was usually imagined before and after Thomas More. I am deeply convinced that the situation of Jews in various countries is sad enough, even too sad to make some trinkets out of it. To understand the difference between my construction and some kind of utopia, I will point to a very interesting book of recent years, the work of Dr. T. Hertzk, “A Free Country.” This is a whole series of fairly meaningful fantasies, proposed by a completely modern national-economic mind, but just as applicable to life as the mountains of the equator on which this aerial community is located. The Free Country is a mechanism with many wheels and teeth interlocking with each other, but nothing indicates to me that they can be used; even if I see this “Free Country” society already founded, I will still consider it a joke.
Thus, the entire inconsistency of these fantasies is clearly visible from the previous one. The project I have proposed is, in essence, a petition with preventive force. I only draw the wheels and teeth for building a machine solely in the hope that there will be better mechanics than me who, fully relying on my many years of experience and using the material I offer, will do this job better than me.I fully rely on coercive force as the best mover, for in this case this force can do a lot. And what is the best engine, the best force, if not Jewish need? After all, the need for invention is cunning! Who will deny that this force is not fundamental? One has only to remember the steam that is formed in the boiler due to heating to understand the full significance of the coercive force. Having accumulated in the cauldron, it lifts the lid and even breaks it if it does not find a way out. This pair is those Palestinian and other societies that are created to fight anti-Semitism. So, intending to deal with this issue in more detail in the chapter on the causes of anti-Semitism, I repeat here only that this force, having any form it pleases, but intelligently directed, is powerful enough to move a large machine, while requiring people and wealth. I am deeply convinced that I am right, but I do not know whether they will admit that I am right. The first who are affected by this movement will hardly see their end, full of glory, but already by instinct they will achieve sublime confidence and a happy consciousness of their inner free existence. But so that no utopia can be suspected in this project, I also want to be careful in the main details of the outline. At the same time, I am fully prepared for the fact that senseless ridicule will try to cartoonishly weaken everything I have prefaced; It’s not even far to look for an example. So, one Jew, a rather dull Jew in all other respects, a Jew to whom I explained all of the above, said: “everything presented as a future good is only a sign of utopia,” but this is wrong. Every minister, for example, of finance deals in his budgets with estimated figures, and not only with those, the prototype of which he already had in past years, but also with such figures that he hopes to receive when introducing some new tax, because it is impossible talk about the budget without knowing approximately the figures of its income and expenses, but will therefore all financial enterprises be considered utopias when it is known that it is impossible to accurately determine the outcome? But I make a more severe and, if you like, strange requirement for my readers. I ask educated people, to whom I mainly address and to whom the interests of the Jewish people are dear, to remember and study some old thoughts; I appeal to the best Jews who were actively involved in resolving the Jewish question, inviting them to categorically recognize their attempts as erroneous and invalid. When presenting my idea, I will have to fight the danger, because if I hide everything that lies ahead in the future, then it will seem that I myself do not believe in the possibility of their implementation, but if I speak against reality, then all this, perhaps, will seem nonsense , an empty dream; Therefore, I affirm that I believe in the possibility of fulfilling my thought, even if I am not able to find its final form. A Jewish state is a global need and therefore it will be created. But if this idea is the property of only one person, then it will actually seem strange, and if many Jews agree with this at the same time, then it will turn out to be quite possible, and implementation will not present any particular difficulties. The whole thing depends on the number of followers, so perhaps our young people or teenagers, our younger generation, for whom all paths are already closed, and who in the new state will find full opportunity to achieve honor, freedom and happiness, perhaps, I say I, they will take care of spreading this idea.
With the publication of this work, I personally consider my task completed, and I will take up the pen again only if my opponents force me to do so, or if I again have to refute or eliminate errors. If what I am writing here now is not yet confirmed; if the suffering of the Jews, perhaps, is not yet so great, and I am ahead of my time, then we will wait and see. It now depends on the Jews themselves to ensure that this work does not turn out to be just a fiction. If the present generation is still too deaf, then another, more elevated, better one will come. Jews who want it will have their own state, having fully deserved it.
INTRODUCTION
The political-economic view of people standing at the center of practical life is often little understood by us, and only in this way can we explain why Jews believe in their inability and blindly repeat after the anti-Semites: “we... live thanks to our neighboring farmers; if they weren’t around us, we would have to starve.” This is one of those unfortunate points that our weakened self-awareness points to when we make unfair complaints. What exactly is the situation with these neighbors? As far as the old physiocratic narrow-mindedness indicates, it rests on the childhood misconception that in village life such things are encountered all the time. We are not so far from life that we do not know that the world is constantly changing thanks to the continuous conquests in the field of knowledge and technology. In our amazing time of all kinds of technical successes, even the spiritually undeveloped, mentally poor man can already observe around him with his closed eyes new possessions - the fruits of an enterprising spirit. Work without enterprise is stationary work, old work, a typical example of which is agriculture, which remains in the same position in which it was many thousands of years ago under our grandfathers. In many cases, material well-being was achieved solely thanks to enterprise. Now they are almost ashamed to admit such a banal truth, but if we were all exclusively entrepreneurs, we would not need farmers at all. We are not given a number of permanent possessions, and we are conquering more and more every day. We now have slaves with supernatural powers, whose appearance in the cultural world has caused mortal competition for manual labor - I'm talking about machines. True, we also need workers to set the machines in motion, but for these needs we have enough hands, even too many. Only those who are unfamiliar with their situation in many areas of Eastern Europe will dare to assert that Jews are not capable of manual labor, or do not want to do it. I do not want to undertake any defense of the Jews in this essay, for everything sensible, as well as everything sentimental, has already been said on this issue. Now it is not enough to have the right arguments in mind and heart; the listener must be able, first of all, to understand what is said, otherwise it will be a voice crying in the wilderness, but if the listeners are already very far ahead, then the whole sermon is in vain. I believe that people can succeed in life, reaching the highest levels, but I think that this will only be possible after a slow and desperate struggle. If we wanted to wait for the middle class to ennoble itself, as Lessing dreamed of when he wrote his “Nathan the Wise,” then neither our lives nor the lives of our children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren would be enough, but here, from a completely different direction, it comes to us help the spirit of the times. The last century has brought us a lot of valuable discoveries, with the help of technical data acquired through labor, and this fabulous success has not yet lost its significance for humanity. Although the remoteness of distances on the earth's surface has already been eliminated, we still suffer from the inconvenience caused by overcrowding. Despite the fact that ways have now been found to sail quickly and safely on giant steamships across hitherto unfamiliar seas and to build reliable railways that bring us to the top of the mountain, which we previously could hardly reach with severe fatigue in our legs; despite the fact that we now know everything that happened in countries that had not yet been discovered, when Europe kept the Jews imprisoned in “ghettos”, and the enlightened time came a century ago, we still suffer and we endure without finding any means to resolve the Jewish question. Isn't this an anachronism?
So, I think that electric light was found not in order to illuminate the decoration of luxurious rooms everywhere, but so that by its light the world issues of mankind could be resolved, of which one, and by no means the least important, is the Jewish one. By resolving it, we are doing a good deed not only for ourselves, but for many other workers burdened with the adversities of life.
The Jewish question exists, and it would be madness not to recognize it. This is the unfortunate legacy of the Middle Ages, which the cultural peoples now barely manage to cope with with all their magnanimous desire, revealed in the fact that they gave us emancipation, but it was not able to eliminate the existing order of things, and the Jewish question inevitably arises where only we gather in significant numbers, and where it is not there, it is brought there by emigrating Jews. We, of course, strive to go where we are not persecuted, but with our appearance comes persecution. This will continue even in highly enlightened countries like France until the Jewish question is politically resolved. The unfortunate Jews are now importing anti-Semitism into England, just as they imported it into America. I would like to disassemble and understand anti-Semitism, which turns out to be too complicated a phenomenon, I consider it as a Jew, but without any shadow of hatred or fear. I would like to understand that in anti-Semitism there is naked ridicule, general envy, innate prejudice, religious intolerance, and what is an imaginary necessary defense; Considering at the same time the Jewish question is a social question and a religious question, to the extent that it has motives for such a name, in order to resolve this national question, I find it necessary and propose to make it a world question with a political overtone, and then let the cultural peoples resolve it.
We are a unique people, a special people.
Everywhere we quite honestly tried to enter into relations with the peoples around us, preserving only the religion of our ancestors, but we were not allowed to do this. It is in vain that we are loyal and ready for anything, and in some countries even excessive patriots; in vain do we sacrifice our blood and property to them, like our fellow citizens; We work in vain, trying to glorify our fatherland with successes in the field of fine arts and knowledge; We work in vain, trying to increase their wealth by developing trade and industry, all in vain. In our fatherlands, in which we have lived for centuries, we are looked at as strangers, very often even by those whose ancestors had not yet thought about the country in which the groans of our ancestors were already heard and for which they shed their blood. The majority can, of course, decide who is considered more likely to be a stranger in the country. Such a question is generally decided by force, like all questions that arise during mass public relations. I don’t value our good, inherited right at all, when I have to express all this as a person outside the law. At present, and as far as can be seen in the future, might rules over right. It means that we are trying in vain everywhere to be zealous patriots, like the Huguenots were, who were forced to move out. If only they would leave us alone...
But I'm sure they won't leave us alone. They don’t want to leave us alone, and we cannot be exterminated by oppression and persecution. No people in history have endured as much torment and suffering as we have. Those who mocked the Jews, of course, chose our weaknesses as a target for their ridicule, and Jews with a strong will in vain returned to their root, to their trunk, when persecution arose, which could be observed immediately after emancipation, for the Jews, standing spiritually and materially much higher, they imagined emancipation in a completely different way. Given some long-term politically favorable situation we would probably all assimilate everywhere, but I think that would be uncommendable. A citizen who wishes for the good of his nation to reduce the Jewish race must first of all think about the duration of our politically favorable situation, for only in this case can assimilation occur, otherwise no state legislation can change this: the old reasons and displeasure are against us. Whoever wants to think about this, whoever wants to be convinced of this, should only become more closely acquainted with the spirit of the people, whose fairy tales and proverbs are all saturated with anti-Semitism. True, the people are, first of all, big children, who, of course, can be re-educated, but this re-education, at best, will take quite a long time, so that, as I have already said, we will be able to find help much sooner in another way.
Assimilation, by which I mean not only external changes, for example, dress, language or habits and manners of life, but also an equalization in thoughts, in feelings, in the understanding of the arts, can occur through mixing, which can only be accepted by the majority as a necessity. Under no circumstances can such a measure be introduced through regulations, circularly. And there are examples right there. The Hungarian liberals, who recently acted in this way, are now in a very interesting error, worthy of attention; the supposed confusion can, again, be illustrated by the first case that comes along: a baptized Jew marries a Jewish woman. The struggle which has lately been waged concerning marriages has greatly aggravated the relations between Christians and Jews in Hungary, so that it has done more harm than good to the mixing of races. Anyone who really wants the destruction of the Jews can see the possibility of this in incest, but in order for the Jews to do this, they must acquire enough economic strength to overcome the old social prejudice. An example is the aristocracy, where mixing is observed most often in a certain proportion. The old nobility gilds its coats of arms, aged by time, with Jewish gold, and at the same time Jewish surnames are destroyed, but how does this phenomenon appear in the middle classes, where the Jewish question is mainly concentrated, since the Jews are a people with a predominant middle element? Here, the necessary achievement of power, equivalent to the property qualification of the Jews, is already in a false position, and if the current power of the Jews already causes such cries of danger and rage from anti-Semites, then what kind of antics should we expect from them with the further growth of this power. Concessions in this case cannot be expected, because this would be the enslavement of the majority by the minority, which recently was still considered nothing, and which has no significance either in the administrative or military departments. So, I think that the absorption of the Jews is incredible even with great success on the part of the rest of the citizens. People will immediately agree with me on this where anti-Semitism reigns, but where Jews currently feel relatively well, they will probably be brutally attacked and challenged, not agreeing with my assumptions. They will only believe them when they are again visited by ridicule and oppression, and the longer anti-Semitism waits, the more severe it will appear. The accumulation of emigrating Jews, drawn by the obvious safety, as well as the movement arising among local Jews, will then have a combined effect, causing a violent reaction. and nothing could be simpler than such a conclusion. But that I do not want to upset anyone, I say only on the basis of known, well-founded data, but I will be allowed to explain below, having first touched upon those objections and the enmity that may arise towards me among Jews living at the moment under favorable conditions. As far as this, of course, concerns private interests, the representatives of which feel dejected solely due to the limitations of their minds or cowardice; then one can only pass them by with contemptuous ridicule, for the interests of the poor and oppressed are much more important. But I will try to explain to everyone in detail his legal capacity and benefit, wishing to prevent the possibility of any false idea, due to which, for example, the Jews, who now enjoy all the benefits and advantages of a good life, might suffer some harm if my plan is carried out. . There will be serious objections that I am preventing the assimilation of Jews where they want to carry it out and will interfere with further assimilation where it has already taken place, to the extent that I, as an individual writer, am able to change or weaken it. This objection will arise mainly in France, although I expect it in other places, but I want to respond first of all to the French Jews, since they represent the most obvious example.
No matter how much I admire the individual who creates outstanding citizens: artists, philosophers, inventors or generals, as well as the general historical group of people, which we call the people, no matter how much, I repeat, I admire the individual, I still I do not resist or mourn her disappearance. Whoever can, wants or must perish, let him perish, but the individuality of the Jews cannot, does not want and must not perish. She cannot perish because external enemies are preventing her, she does not want to perish - which she has proven over the course of 2000 years, in a whole series of oppressions, and, finally, should not perish, which I will try to prove in this essay to many Jews who have lost, - Apparently, there is already all hope. Entire branches of Jewry may fall away or die, but the tree itself will live. If, in this way, some or all French Jews protest against what has just been said, since they have already assimilated, then I will very simply answer them that this matter interests them little. You are French “Israelites,” excellent, and the cause I propose concerns exclusively the Jews. Thus, the newly emerging movement in favor of the founding of a Jewish state, of which I speak, will do as little harm to the French "Israelites" as to the assimilated Jews of other countries. On the contrary, everything I have proposed will bring them only benefit, yes, only one benefit, for they will no longer be interfered with in their “chromatic function,” to use Darwin’s words. They can safely assimilate, because present-day anti-Semitism will be silenced forever. They will even be believed to have assimilated to the depths of their souls if, when the new Jewish state actually comes into being with its better governance, they still remain where they now live. These assimilated Jews will benefit even more than Christians from the departure of Jews true to their origin, their root, for they will then be freed from the restless and inevitable competition of the Jewish proletariat, which, due to political oppression and property needs, was forced to migrate from country to country, from place to place. This wandering proletariat will finally be firmly established, and Christian public figures, better known as anti-Semites, will be able to calm down about the settlement of foreign Jews. Jewish public figures, horribile dictu, cannot do this, despite the fact that they are placed in much worse conditions. In an effort to reduce domestic evil, assimilated Jews only appeal to anti-Semitism or even exacerbate existing ones, for, looking for various means, they stop at “beneficent” enterprises and establish emigration committees for arriving Jews. It would seem that this phenomenon clearly contradicts my words, and it would be strange if citizens did not care about their needy and oppressed brethren. But the fact is that some of these auxiliary societies do not act in favor of the persecuted Jews. Ostensibly taking care of them, they are actually thinking about how to remove the poor and unfortunate wanderers as quickly and as far as possible. Thus, upon a more careful discussion of this issue, it turns out that another obvious friend and benefactor of Jewry is nothing more than a disguised anti-Semite. As for colonization as such, while in itself a very interesting and convenient experience in resolving the Jewish question, it has so far been conducted in a very strange way. I do not want and cannot allow that this or that Jewish figure looks at the occupation of colonization as a pleasant pastime, that this or that figure and benefactor, giving Jews the opportunity to travel and resettle, looks at it as some kind of sport, where horses, for example, are given the opportunity to jump and gallop. After all, the matter is very serious and, unfortunately, very sad. If I called these experiments interesting and convenient, then I meant this insofar as they, even on a large scale, represent a practical harbinger of the idea of a Jewish state; and to the extent that they are useful for us, since we, having taken advantage of the mistakes that occurred during colonization, will be able to avoid them when resolving our idea on a larger scale. The spread of anti-Semitism in new countries, being a necessary consequence of the artificial concentration of Jews, seems to me the most insignificant evil; Much worse, in my opinion, is that the results of those who emigrated are clearly unsatisfactory, because they thus raise doubts or even convictions about the unfitness of the Jewish masses. This doubt, when clarified, can, let us say, be destroyed by a whole series of completely simple, successive arguments of the kind, for example, that what is aimless or unfulfillable in the “small” does not guarantee the same result in the “big”, that a small enterprise with under certain conditions can cause losses, while a large enterprise under the same conditions brings income, that a shuttle that has sailed more than once in a stream drowns in rivers where iron giants float, that no one is rich or strong enough to resettle the people from one place to another, that such a relocation can only occur in the name of an idea. But the important thing is that there is an idea, that the idea of establishing a state has its charming power, its significance, and this is the case, from the very moment the sun set for the Jews, throughout the entire night of their history they did not stop and do not stop dreaming of a state . “Next year in Jerusalem!” This is an old, but ever-living desire that does not leave the Jew for a single minute of the day or night. Now it seems clear how a bright thought can come true from a dream. It is only necessary for everyone to erase from their memory various old prejudices, confused, short-sighted ideas, otherwise limited minds can easily think that the resettlement will be carried out from a cultured country to an uncultured, ignorant one. On the contrary, our migration precisely strives for culture, rising higher and higher in the stages of development, and not returning to previous levels. Our emigrants will move to live not in mud huts, but in beautiful houses built to all modern requirements; they will not lose their acquired property, but only by turning it into capital, they exchange a good position for a better one, they will not be separated from their chosen residence until they find it again, they will not leave the old house until the new one is finally ready. Only those who are fully convinced that this will improve their situation will go to a new country. First, then, the already desperate will go, then the poor, then the middle class, and then the rich people, and thus the first will little by little achieve a secure position and become equal to those who come later. Migration en masse can always be compared to currents, where everything that gets caught is carried away and carried forward. These departing Jews are not threatened by any agricultural or property crises or troubles, on the contrary, a period of prosperity awaits them; and for the remaining Christian citizens there will be a period of resettlement to the places abandoned by the Jews. Thus, this powerful outflow of large masses will occur without any shock, and its beginning is already the end of anti-Semitism. The Jews will go away as respected friends, and if a few individuals return afterwards, they will probably be received as well in civilized countries as other foreigners. This resettlement will not be some kind of flight, but, on the contrary, a completely organized transition under the control of public opinion.
But such a movement cannot be carried into effect by private means alone, but requires for its implementation the friendly complicity of the present governments, which will only benefit greatly from it. As for the ideological purity of the matter and the means for its implementation, they can be found in societies that form the so-called “moral” or “legal” individual; and these two concepts, which in the legal sense are very often confused, I want to separate. I want to see a moral entity in the Jewish Union, which will be in charge of all aspects of the matter, and next to it I will place the Jewish Society, which will be in charge exclusively of trade in the industry of the country. As for those isolated individuals who pretend that they would like to undertake such a gigantic undertaking, they may be either ill-intentioned or narrow-minded people. Thus, the moral individual of our idea is composed of the nature of the activities of its members, while the sufficiency of the means of a legal individual is outlined by its capital.
So, with the help of the above, I wanted in very brief words to prevent the mass of objections that will be caused by the very word “Jewish state”, and then with great calm I will try to answer other objections, and I will explain some things that have already emerged in more detail, by dwelling on it longer, even if it is not in the interests of the essay, the idea of which should develop as quickly as possible and, mainly, briefly. But if I want to build a new house on an old foundation, then first of all I must try it, and then build. Recognizing this order of things to be quite reasonable and just, I will adhere to it, and first I will explain the idea in a general way, eliminating old and absurd concepts, laying out the plan and firmly establishing the political-economic and national conditions. Then, in a special part, divided into three main sections: the Jewish Union, the formation of new settlements and the Jewish Society, I will talk about the means of carrying out our idea, and finally, in conclusion, I will say a few more words about the remaining possible objections.
My Jewish readers may remain patient and read this work to the end, and whose doubts are wisely overcome, let him come closer to our cause.
Then I turn exclusively to reason, although I am well aware that this latter in itself is insufficient. Old prisoners are reluctant to leave their places of imprisonment. We will finally know whether the youth we so need has grown up, the youth that goes hand in hand with old age, the youth that stands out firmly, the youth whose conclusions turn into inspired determination.
A COMMON PART
Jewish question
No one will deny that the situation of the Jews is more than unenviable. In all those countries where they live in large numbers, they are persecuted to a greater or lesser extent. Equality, even if such a thing is recognized by law, is almost everywhere, to their misfortune, significantly reduced. Average positions in the military or various public and private departments are already inaccessible to them. They are even trying to push them out of trade, propagating everywhere: “don’t buy from Jews!” The attacks in parliaments, assemblies, the press, at church councils, on the street or while traveling, when leaving famous hotels, and finally in their places of permanent residence, are increasing every day. This persecution in different countries and in different congregations is of a different nature: in Russia, for example, they are evicted from villages and hamlets; in Romania the matter usually ends with the murder of some Jews; in Germany they beat them on occasion; Anti-Semites are raging in Austria, terrorizing all public life; in Algeria there are wandering persons preaching persecution of people; in Paris, the so-called best society closes in, alienating the Jews - in a word, the variations are countless. But let not the kind reader or the charming reader think that I want to bother them with an unnecessary enumeration of all the restrictions that are practiced in relation to these unfortunate people; I will also not stop at isolated cases, no matter how difficult they may be; I also don’t think of arousing sympathy for us - all this is in vain, unfounded and unworthy. I will content myself only with asking the Jews themselves whether it is true that in the countries where we live in greater numbers, the situation of our doctors, lawyers, engineers, technicians, teachers and representatives of other knowledge and arts is truly intolerable; that the entire Jewish middle class is in a terrible, threatening situation; that the misfortunes of the common people are due to our wealth; that our poor suffer much more than any other proletariat?I think there is oppression everywhere; but, manifesting itself in the upper wealthy strata of Jews only as a nuisance, in the middle strata of society it is already expressed as a heavy, dull oppression, and in the lower strata there is nothing more than despair, striking the eyes with its nakedness. In every case, no matter how this oppression manifests itself in different strata of society, it ends the same everywhere, merging into the common cry of the Berliners: “Down with the Jews!” I will therefore try to formulate the Jewish question in the most concise and clearest terms: Should we leave already? and where? or can we still stay? And how long? Let me focus, first of all, on the second question: can we hope for better trends, be patient and, with God’s help, wait for the kings and peoples on earth to have mercy on us? Unfortunately I have to answer that there is no hope. And why? Yes, because the kings, even if we were close to their hearts, like other citizens, cannot protect us. They will only increase their hatred of the Jews if they give the latter too much preference, even if by this “too much” one had to mean much less than what every ordinary citizen or every people has the right to.
All nations where Jews live are open or disguised anti-Semites.
Usually the crowd has no concept of historical development, and it cannot have it; she does not know that the European peoples are now paying for the sins of the Middle Ages, that we are now what the “ghetto” made us, that we have acquired a special ability for monetary transactions only because we have been pushed into them; she doesn’t know that the same thing is happening again now, that we are being pushed back into monetary transactions, or, to put it in a special term, are being pushed back to the stock exchange, closing all other paths before us. But our presence on the stock exchange, our trading operations again serve as a target for new attacks, a new source of hatred. Moreover, we are tireless and produce a middle intelligent class for which there is no outcome, and which is therefore as dangerous an element for society as growing capital. Educated, but poor, Jews are now all joining the ranks of socialism, and the social struggle, in any case, should now be reflected on our backs, for we occupy a very prominent place both in the social and in the capitalist camp.
Recent Attempts Made to Resolve the Jewish Question
The artificial methods which have hitherto been used to improve and change the miserable and wretched condition of the Jews have been either insignificant, such as the emigration and colonization of them in various countries, or falsely understood, such as the attempts to turn them into peasants in the fields of their present homeland. , i.e. in their places of permanent residence, and what will we really achieve if we give some thousand Jews a different position, transfer them to another country? Either this thousand will perish, or if it begins to prosper. then anti-Semitism will arise in all its strength with all its means. besides, we have already talked about all these attempts, which were and are still being practiced, to resettle poor Jews to other countries. Emigration is in every case unsatisfactory and pointless, if not directly contrary to the goal; and thanks to these methods, the resolution of the question that interests us is only slowed down, delayed, and perhaps even made more difficult.Anyone who thinks and wants to turn Jews into farmers is surprisingly mistaken.
The peasantry is actually a historical category, which can be easily and conveniently seen from the habits and concerns of the peasant, in most cases monotonous and old, and his agricultural tools. Both are completely primitive, no different from the habits or agricultural tools of his ancestors. He still plows with the same plow, he sows with his hand, he mows with an antediluvian scythe and threshes with antediluvian flails, despite the fact that for a very long time excellent agricultural tools and machines have been available for all this. The agricultural question is at the same time a machine question, and on this path America, like a large owner devouring a small one, defeated Europe. The peasant is thus a well-defined figure against the general background. If it is artificially protected, then this is done at the expense of the political interests that it is called upon to serve. If you create new peasants according to the old recipe, then this is just an insane and impossible desire. No one is so strong or rich as to forcibly push back the course of culture, and even with all the powerful means of independent states, the mere delay of culture in its previous state is an extraordinary and extraordinary task, and now, under such and such circumstances, they want a Jew whose intelligence cannot be denied, forced to become a peasant of the old style. This is as possible as saying to a Jew: here is a bow for you and go to war! How, he has the right to exclaim, go to war with one bow, when others are equipped with small-caliber rifles and Krupp guns! The Jews, whom they want to masculine, are quite right if they do not budge under such circumstances. The bow is a lovely weapon, but still it belongs only in a museum.
There are, of course, countries where hated Jews come to work in the fields and can go to earn money by farming, but this is where the main anti-Semitism is noticed, this is where the main source of enmity and hatred arises.
The world's philanthropists, who care about the Jews and send them to plow the land, completely lose sight of the latter's opinion, and they, these future peasants, who have every right to express their opinion, could say a lot. Land taxes, crop failures, the economic oppression of large agricultural farms that work cheaper, and especially American competition make the life of the peasant quite bitter. At the same time, it is necessary to keep in mind the factory or artisan, who cannot be forced to starve, leaving without the necessary bread, because his political importance is increasing, and grain prices cannot increase indefinitely. All these difficulties are very well known to everyone, and I bring them here only because I wanted to remind you how insignificant the previous attempts and the attempts made in the present with a well-known, in most cases laudable goal, are to resolve such a painful and completely ripe issue. Neither emigration nor the artificial masculinization of spiritually developed forces can help our proletariat, just like the wonderful means of assimilation, which I already spoke about above.
Thus, it is almost impossible to overcome anti-Semitism; it cannot be destroyed until its foundations are destroyed - but can the latter be destroyed?
Basics of Anti-Semitism
I do not want to talk here about morals and customs, or about old prejudices and stupidities, I only want to touch on political and property fundamentals. Our current anti-Semitism should in no way be confused with the hatred and hostility towards the Jewish religion observed in earlier times. This hatred and enmity, based on differences of confessions, is still observed in a few countries. Another thing is the strong movement that is being observed now - it is of a completely different nature. In large states, where anti-Semitism has mainly built its nest, it is a consequence of the emancipation of the Jews. When the cultural peoples, noticing the inhumanity of the restrictions, liberated us, the latter came too late. Not being legally emancipated in the countries where we lived, in our “ghettos” we turned in a strange and incomprehensible way into some kind of middle class, while at the same time appearing to everyone else as strong, terrifying competitors. Finding ourselves then suddenly, after emancipation, in the circle of the bourgeoisie, we had to withstand pressure from two sides, from the outside and the inside. Finally, it is impossible to expand the already legalized equality, in whatever form it now exists, even further, not only because it sins against moderation, but also because then all Jews, rich and poor, will immediately be divided into various harmful parties. But, if you look at the other side of the coin, then, in fact, nothing particularly significant can be done against us. In former times, Jews were robbed of their jewelry, diamonds, gold, etc.; but how now to get their movable property? It is all in pieces of paper, wandering around the world, or perhaps buried in Christian cash registers. True, the value of all these railway, bank and other shares, or securities of various building societies and other large enterprises can easily be reduced by a decrease, and where the greatest income and taxes are received, the entire mass of movable property will be concentrated there. But all such attempts can affect not only Jews, but also Christians; where this was already tried, they immediately experienced very severe property crises, by no means limited to the Jews alone, in which they were mainly targeted; These arrows were the least likely to hit them, and the consequence of this impossibility of destroying the Jew is that hatred of him only increases and grows. Anti-Semitism in our neighbors is growing by leaps and bounds, and will continue to grow because the reasons causing it are very firmly internalized by the people and cannot be shaken.The distant cause, or causa remota, of this order of things is the absence in the Middle Ages of the possibility of assimilation, but the immediate cause of all this, or causa proxima, is our productive surplus of the average intellectual, who has no way out either down or up, i.e. who does not actually have any reasonable opportunity to turn into the lower class, or rise to the higher strata of society. As we become poorer, we form the proletariat and create destroyers, i.e. the lower staff of the leaders of various revolutionary parties, and at the same time at the top our monetary power is increasing, which again inspires fear.
Impact of antisemitism
The oppression we are under does not make us better people. We seem to be no different from other people, although it is true that we do not love our enemies and oppressors - this is absolutely true; but only he can blame us for this, only he can reproach us for this, who himself remains the winner in such a struggle of feelings. This oppression naturally causes in us hatred, a hostile attitude towards our oppressors, which in turn again causes oppression, oppression, and, not being able to get out of this cycle, we spin like a squirrel in a wheel.“Still, soft-hearted fanatics will say, all this can be achieved with the help of universal love.”
Do I really still need to prove what kind of sentimental chatter this is? Whoever, in the present struggle for existence, wants to create an improved state only in the name of the universal love of people is, at the very least, a utopian. Without denying, of course, all the goodness of the idea of universal love, I cannot, however, disagree with the opinion that universal love is possible only at the end of the world; As for assimilation, having already talked about it above, I still do not agree for a single moment to say that I would like it. Our peculiar self is sufficiently known and certain, and in spite of all humiliations it is too high to wish for its destruction, its destruction. But perhaps we could have grown imperceptibly among the nations surrounding us, or, on the contrary, scattered, leaving no trace behind, if only we had been given complete peace within two generations. But they do not abandon us, but on the contrary, every time at short intervals, because of tolerance towards us, greater and greater hostility arises. Our well-being seems to contain something irritating, for the world has been accustomed for many centuries to see in us the most pitiful poor people among the rest, without wanting to understand, either through its own ignorance or because of its evil character, that our well-being weakens us, and our alienation destroys. Only oppression leads us to our previous state, only the hatred of our neighbors makes us shun them, only oppression prompts us volens - nolens to form that historical group that is so easily recognized by its fatal characteristics. We are a special people, but circumstances force us to be so; we form a state within a state, but we are encouraged to do so; the enemy makes us this way against our desire, and we see this all the time in history. In adversity we pull together and unexpectedly discover our strength. Yes, we have this power to create a state, and, what good, even an exemplary one! We have all the physical and material means necessary for such an undertaking, but before we talk about this in detail, before touching on our mental agents, our spiritual material, wouldn’t it be better to get acquainted with the main points of the plan according to which all this is created.
Plan
Every plan in its basic form must first of all be simple, otherwise it will not be intelligible to anyone familiar with it. Our plan is essentially this: if we were given sufficient territory on the basis of suzerainty for our just needs, leaving everything else to take care of ourselves, then everything would be created by itself. The emergence of a new suzerainty is neither ridiculous nor impossible; after all, something like this was being created before our eyes, we experienced it and observed it even among peoples who were less prosperous, less educated, and, moreover, much weaker. This issue could be addressed by the governments of countries that are free from anti-Semitism.To accomplish this task, which is very simple in principle, it is necessary to create two societies: the Union of Jews and the Jewish Society. The Union must be a creative body, and the Society must be an executive body. The society could manage the liquidation of the affairs of persons emigrating from some countries, and on the other hand, it could organize the necessary movable and immovable equipment at the sites of the new settlement, but not allowing the emigration of Jews to be continuous and rapid. No! emigration must be carried out slowly and last for decades, having as its pioneers first the poorest, building cities, streets, bridges, railways, telegraphs, regulating the routes according to a pre-meditated plan, and finally taking care of their own houses in the cities that they would choose as their own permanent residence while working in this country.
Their work would create supply and demand, these would give rise to markets, and the latter would attract new settlers, each coming there voluntarily, at his own risk and expense. The labor that would be spent on cultivating the land would raise the value of the country. The Jews would quickly understand that a new field of activity would open up for their enterprise, which is still so hated and disgraced, that new domains would open up. But if they want to create a state, then it is necessary to resettle not en masse, which for centuries and millennia was considered the only possible one. It is strange and unreasonable to return to the old culture, which is what some Zionists dream of. If we, for example, had to clear a country infested with wild animals. Would we have acted as the Europeans did in the fifth century? We would not have gone out against the bear alone with only a spear and a sword. but, having organized a proper raid to drive the beast into one place, they would send him a melinite bomb. Or, if we wanted to build something, would we do it the way we did it before? We would build bolder and more gracefully than we did before, since we have all the means that we would not have even dreamed of in about the fifth century.
When everything was ready in this way, thanks to our poor class, the middle, more prosperous and property-rich class would take over, led by the average intellectual, who we have in great abundance. So, let the question of the resettlement of the Jews be put on the agenda and let everyone speak out, but this does not mean in the least that there should be a disagreement, since in this case the whole matter could be ruined. Those who disagree can remain, just as the objections of individuals are indifferent; whoever agrees, let him stand under our banner, contributing to the success of the cause in word and deed. Jews who agree and accede to our idea of a state will constitute the Jewish Union, which will receive authority and primacy in government and will be able to speak and act on behalf of the Jews. It will constitute, as it were, the seed of a state, and thereby the state will already be founded, and since the remaining states will be so prepared as to give some neutral country to the Jews as suzerainty, then the Union would again take care of the acceptance of this country and its organization.
Two territories worthy of attention come to mind in this case, Argentina and Palestine, where colonization efforts had stopped even earlier, but since colonization was dominated by the principle of choice of settlers, which immediately revealed a series of oppressions that horrified many emigrants and turned them away from resettlement, thus stopping the further influx of Jews, these attempts always ended unsuccessfully. Only in the case of emigration has and will have its raison d'etre when it is based on reliable supreme power.
In the meantime, while the charter for this Jewish Union will be worked out by our present state authorities and while these latter understand the essence of the matter, the Union will be able to be under the protection of European states. We could guarantee the current governments for huge benefits, we could take on part of their public debts, conclude trade agreements that we ourselves also really need, etc. The neighbors could only benefit from the emergence of such a state, because as in a large So in a small state, culture always increases the importance of relations.
Palestine or Argentina?
Where to go to Palestine or Argentina? The Jewish Union will be grateful for every piece of land that is given to it, as long as the opinions and thoughts of the Jews can be freely expressed and mature there without hindrance. Argentina is one of the naturally richest countries, a huge plain with a small population and a temperate climate, most of all, of course, suitable for our purposes. The Argentine Republic should be very interested in ceding to us part of its vast territories. True, the current resettlement of Jews has caused displeasure there, but it is necessary to explain to the Argentine government the significant difference between the current emigration and the expected one.As for Palestine, our unforgettable historical homeland, its name alone has in itself great significance for the Jewish people in general and for emigration and colonization in particular. If the Turkish Sultan wanted to give us Palestine, then we could undertake to bring Turkey's finances into full order. For Europe, we would form there something like a stronghold, a barrier against Asia, we would take care of the spread of culture among the ignorant peoples of Asia. Remaining at the same time with all the states of Europe in union as a neutral state, we would thus be guaranteed for our existence. As for the cities sacred to Christians, being isolated, they could only find in us an honorary guard who, by their existence, guarantees the fulfillment of their promise. This honorary guard would be a great symbol of the solution of the Jewish question after eighteen centuries of torment, suffering and oppression.
Needs and commercial establishments
In the previous chapter I said that “the Jewish Society will organize trade relations in the new country.” Now I think to make some clarifications, because such a phrase, thrown in casually, can be destroyed, or at least shaken in its foundation, if practical businessmen and financiers speak out against it. and meanwhile, practical people, being very narrow routinists and not at all capable of getting out of their narrow circle of old concepts, with their objections can very much damage any innovation, at least to the extent that, while it has not yet matured, routinists with their decrepit concepts can destroy him, destroy him.When the railway appeared in Europe, there were people who recognized some routes as ridiculous because the “mail coach” there never had a sufficient number of passengers. Back then they did not know the truth, which is now so clear to us without any explanation, namely, that it is not travelers who bring the railway into existence, but, on the contrary, the railway creates travelers, and, of course, the hitherto dormant need had to awaken.
It is necessary to include in the category of such railway practitioners and their reasoning that some cannot imagine how trade relations can be created by aliens in a new country, which will only need to be mined and cultivated. A practical person would have to put it roughly like this: “Let us assume that the present situation of the Jews in many places is impossible, and is getting worse and worse every day; Let us further assume that a passion for relocation may arise; Let us also assume that the Jews have already migrated to a new country, from what sources will they draw their earnings there? On what means will they live? Relations between entire masses cannot be created artificially in one day!” and I can only answer this that there can be no talk of establishing artificial trade relations, much less for another day. But even if we cannot regulate these relations, we can still encourage them. How? With the help of commercial and industrial institutions that specifically manage the needs of the population. Since needs exist, they must certainly give rise to institutions that would manage them, and this will create exchange and trade relations.
If the need for better conditions for the Jews is urgent, if the proposed institution is intended to satisfy such a need, i.e. The Jewish Society is sufficiently necessary, then trade relations in the new country must be created and produced in abundance. Of course, this is a matter of the future, just as the development of railway relations was a matter of the future for people of the thirties, but, nevertheless, railways were built, and, thank God, they did not pay attention to the reasoning of various critics, who considered themselves very smart and knowledgeable people, otherwise we would have been deprived for a long time of the conveniences and benefits associated with the construction of railways.
JEWISH SOCIETY
The purpose of the Jewish community
The Jewish Society must be considered in part, if I may so express it, as a great charitable enterprise, which, not limiting itself to the tasks of colonization alone, does not, however, have the prerogatives of the supreme power vested exclusively in the Jewish Union, of which I will speak later. Being strictly founded as a joint-stock institution, following the English model, our Society can at the same time be subject to the laws of England and be under its protection. How large the share capital should be, I am now unable to say. However, our experienced financiers can think about this and calculate it; but to be more specific, I will designate it as one billion marks (500,000,000 rubles), although it may happen that in reality either less or more will be needed, which will entirely depend on the financial sources of the Company. Then it will be determined how much everyone will need to contribute in cash when opening it. At the same time, one must always remember that the Society is only a temporary institution. Being a purely commercial enterprise and sharply different from the Jewish Union, it must first of all take care of the liquidation of the real estate of emigrating Jews. At the same time, the methods of liquidation that will be used completely guarantee against the crisis, provide everyone with their property and at the same time contribute to the resettlement of Christian citizens, which I have already spoken about.Real estate
By real estate I mean houses, estates and local commercial establishments. The Jewish Society, taking care of the sale of real estate, will first of all get acquainted with the methods of selling them, and then begin to carry out the sale itself, which at first will, of course, be quite easy and break-even. But as the Company expands its activities, it may happen that prices fall and, in the end, sales will slow down. Then the Company will act as intermediaries and, on the one hand, will become the manager of the abandoned properties, and, on the other hand, will wait for the right moment to sell. It will collect rent for apartments, lease out estates, and appoint managers to commercial enterprises, and, if possible or necessary, rent them out; at the same time, the Society everywhere tries to facilitate and enable these Christian tenants to acquire ownership of their rented property. Then it gradually replaces its employees in Jewish institutions with Christian officials and persons of the liberal professions (lawyers, etc.), again exclusively from Christians, without, however, these latter being, as it were, employees of the Jews. They, so to speak, will only give an account to the Christian residents and testify that everything is being conducted correctly, honestly, in good faith and that nothing threatens the well-being of the population. At the same time, the Jewish Society also buys, or rather exchanges, property arranged “at the new settlement”, if possible, as they were “at the old settlement”: for a house, for example, giving away a house, for an estate, an estate. In this exchange, a vast field opens up for the Society to extract completely correct and permitted enormous benefits, because by giving away, for example, “for a housewarming” a new beautiful house with all the amenities, built according to the latest hygiene requirements, or excellent estates for a certain fee, it benefits because , that all this costs him much less, and because he acquired the land very cheaply.Buying land
Just as the Jewish Union can, by virtue of international law, count on a certain territory, so it can naturally acquire it as private property. But in this case, they do not count towards preparations for the settlement of individual individuals. Society needs large territories for our needs and its own, and it will provide itself with the necessary land by buying up mainly land territories from among the current state property. The purpose of this, of course, is to prevent the “new settlement” from artificially increasing land value; Equally, in “Starosyelo” real estate will be sold on preferential terms in order, on the contrary, to facilitate its faster implementation. Since the Society is in charge of the settlement, it does not need to worry about the ruinous and fruitless increase in land value, which will already increase, albeit with the consent of the Jewish Union overseeing everything, which also takes care that Panamanian history does not repeat itself with this enterprise.The company will allocate to its employees, on preferential terms, land for building good houses on it, allowing them for this purpose a loan with gradual repayment of the debt, which will be covered either by a deduction from their salary or by the amounts that were supposed to be added to the salary. In addition to the respect that awaits them, this will be some kind of reward for their honest and diligent service.
As for all the enormous benefits from this land speculation, then, in my opinion, it should be entirely provided to the Society, because the latter, for its risk, like every free entrepreneur, has the right for its part to a certain benefit, since participants in risky enterprises should be rewarded ; but in our business we only tolerate risk. Financial morality lies in the mutual relationship between risk and benefit.
The buildings
So, the Society will exchange houses and estates, and must certainly gain on land. This is clear to anyone who anywhere or has ever observed an increase in the value of land due to its cultural cultivation. This can be seen in the best and most obvious way in cross-band ownership, i.e. on land included in another, in cities and villages. The uncultivated plain rises in value according to the cultivation to which it has been subjected. A similar ingenious land speculation is the “Parisian Urban Enlargement Society,” which, buying up adjacent pieces of land, built up their outer circle, starting not with the outermost row of city houses, but on the opposite side of the purchased land. Thanks to this reverse movement of buildings, the land value of small house plots increased incredibly quickly; so that instead of stopping work as they completed the circle of their buildings, they began to build again, but then their buildings were already in the center of the city, i.e. on expensive areas.To the question whether the Society will build it itself or entrust it to free architects, it is not difficult to answer that it can do both, and of course it will, since it will have at its disposal an incredible supply of labor force placed in happy and comfortable living conditions , so they won't have to pay rent or anything else. Our geologists will take care of the building materials when they choose land for building cities. So, what will be the principle for construction?
Premises for workers
Housing for workers, by which I mean housing for all kinds of artisans, must be built with our own resources. I am not at all thinking about those gloomy workers' barracks that we meet in European cities, nor about the miserable huts that surround factories everywhere. Our premises for workers should, indeed, also be monotonous, for the Society must take care that these buildings cost as little as possible, since they have to produce them in large quantities, but these separate houses, with their gardens all around, will be united in each place beautiful group. The natural beauties of the area will inspire the free spirit of our young architects, not saturated with the old routine, and our people, even if they do not fully understand the greatness of our enterprise, will at least feel at ease in this sweet and pleasant environment. The temple will stand out against the general background, far all around, just as in difficult times our old faith stood out brightly, connecting us together and preserving us; All around there will be high, bright and healthy schools with all the latest benefits for our children. and then further on - general education schools with craft classes that will teach ordinary artisans to known specialties, give them the opportunity to acquire technical knowledge and become more familiar with machines; and even further places - for the reasonable entertainment of the people, about whom the Jewish Union will have to take care, protecting their morality; however, now we should talk only about the buildings, and not about what will happen in them.So, I say that the premises for the workers will not cost much, not only because all the building materials are available here in huge quantities, not only because the land on which the buildings will be built belongs to the Society, but also because it does not workers will need to be paid for their work.
Laborers
Our laborers, who will come first of all from Romania and Russia, must build their houses on a similar foundation; but since at first we will not have iron, we will have to build from wood. Subsequently, all this will change, and the necessary buildings erected at first will be replaced by new, better ones. Having, of course, become acquainted in advance with how to build, our laborers will build their own future homes, which will become their property, if not immediately, then at least later, as a reward for the fact that they have been of exemplary behavior for three years. In this way we will create for ourselves zealous people, capable and knowledgeable in their work, for a person who has worked for three years with good discipline is probably capable of a working life.
I said earlier that the Society will not pay these laborers for their work. Why would they live in this case? Although I am against such a system, I think that during the first distribution of land plots it should also be used, because the Society, caring so much about the new settlers, will not, at first, refuse to provide them with food. Such a system should mainly exist in the early years, and will be in some way a blessing for the workers, since it will prevent the increase of tenants from among small traders, landlords, etc. At the same time, society will destroy the opportunity to distribute goods door to door, as was previously practiced, solely due to historical circumstances. Society will again take care of the drunkards and the dissolute. How can there still be reward for work at first? After all, this is all already an excessive fee!
Workers' organizations
Help for workers, as it now exists in Paris and other cities of France, England, Switzerland and America, is something pitiful, meager, while something truly grandiose could be made of it. What is the actual principle of assistance through the delivery of work, the principle of the Society “Assistance par le travail” in Paris? It consists in giving every laborer in need an easy job that does not require special knowledge; for example, sawing wood, collecting brushwood, with the help of which fires are built in Parisian households. This is like a kind of prison work, but only before the crime is committed and does not entail dishonor. Therefore, no one should resort to crime out of necessity if he wants to work, no one should take his life because of hunger. The latter is the most shameful stain for a cultured country, where the most delicious morsels are thrown even to the dogs from the tables of the rich.So workers' organizations give everyone a job. But do they have the opportunity to sell the products of this work? No. At least not completely. This is the reason for the constant need of existing organizations, this is why they constantly work at a loss. In any case, they are prepared for these losses, because they have special amounts made up of contributions that cover the difference between the cost of this work and the sales fee. Instead of giving a beggar two sous (one kopeck), they would rather give him some kind of work in which they will lose these two sous. As for the unfortunate beggar who has turned into an intelligent worker, he will now earn one franc 50 centimes (60 kopecks). For 10 centimes – 160! This means increasing decent and reasonable charity by fifteen times. This means making fifteen billion out of one billion.
But while the workers' organizations undoubtedly lose these ten centimes, the Jewish Society will not lose these billions, but, on the contrary, will derive enormous benefits, since it is able to fully sell the products of the labors of these workers. In addition, there is the moral side of the matter. Even now we observe that the existing small workers' organizations raise and correct the morality of the worker, while he, free or deprived of work, is looking for a new one or some other occupation. Every day after work, he is given several hours to find a permanent job, and in this matter, workers' organizations, for their part, help him, acting as an intermediary. However, the whole disadvantage of the current small organizations is that they compete with timber merchants and others, who quite rightly raise a cry. This competition should under no circumstances be tolerated, just as one should not compete with work in prisons, since the state should take care of its criminals and give them some kind of work. However, in the old society it is generally difficult to establish the framework of activity for such workers’ organizations, but in our new one it is quite possible. During our first land work, when laying out streets, planting vegetation, cultivating the land, when constructing railways and telegraphs, etc., which will be carried out according to a correct and firmly established plan, from the very first moment of work a huge number of workers will be needed, so that there will be no one, and there will be nothing to compete with.
Seven hour work day
A typical working day is considered to be seven hours. But this does not mean that every day for only 7 hours they will cut down trees, dig the earth, carry stone and perform all sorts of other work. No, work will be done over a 14-hour period, but work groups will rotate every 3 1/2 hours. The organization will be completely military: with ranks, promotions and pensions. Where funds for pensions will come from is outlined below.For 3 1/2 hours, without a break, a healthy person can work hard. After a break of 3 1/2 hours devoted to rest, family, further education (which will be taken care of), he is again quite cheerful. Such a workforce can perform miracles.
Seven hour work day! It allows you to work a total of 14 hours – more than that is impossible to ask for in a day.
We need the seven-hour working day as a worldwide slogan to gather our people, who must come to us of their own free will. This must, indeed, be the promised land.
Anyone who works more than 7 hours receives extra money for the extra hours. Since all his needs are satisfied, and the members of his family who are unable to work are taken care of by those philanthropic institutions that have moved there, he can save something for himself. We want to encourage the already inherent tendency of our fellow tribesmen to save, since this will facilitate the advancement of the worker to the higher strata of society, and since we will thus prepare for ourselves an enormous reserve capital for future loans.
Work beyond the required 7 hours should not last longer than 3 hours, and then only after a medical examination of the worker. In the new situation, our fellow tribesmen will rush to work, and only then will the world see what a hard-working people we are.
How the Trucksystem will be organized among the settlers, I now divulge just as little as about countless other details, so as not to get confused in the details. Women will not be allowed to do heavy work at all and should not work beyond normal hours.
Pregnant women are exempt from all work, and their food should be better than usual. Because in the future we need healthy generations.
Children are raised from the very beginning as we wish. I won’t expand on this now.
What I have just said, starting with workers’ homes, about unskilled workers and their way of life, is just as little a utopia as anything else. All this occurs in reality, only in infinitesimal sizes, unnoticed, incomprehensible. To solve the Jewish question, “Assistance par le travail”, which I met and learned to understand when I was in Paris, provided me with great services.
Markets
At the same time, as we begin our work in a new country, we simultaneously bring markets to life; and in the beginning, of course, there will be a demand only for necessary everyday products, such as livestock, bread, work clothes, tools, weapons, which will have to be bought in neighboring countries or in Europe, and there we will try, as quickly as possible, to produce it ourselves. Jewish entrepreneurs and industrialists will only be amazed at the hopes and developments that will be revealed to them there. Following this, the more refined needs of officials, for example, or employees of the Society, will gradually appear, to which I also include police officers, who make up a tenth of the entire male population and are necessary against rebels and bad people, although it is to be hoped that all, or the majority, at least they will be quite peaceful. These refined needs of employees, placed in better living conditions, will, of course, cause a new, ever-increasing demand for elegant and comfortable things. Married people will sign out their families, and single people will sign out their siblings as soon as the houses are ready for them at the “news party.” And this will again increase demand and markets. And that Jews who have already settled in a new land will not fail to deport their relatives, we very easily observe during the emigration of Jews to the North American United States. As soon as one of them secured a piece of bread, he immediately sent his own people to come to him. Family ties among Jews are generally very strong, and the Jewish Union and the Jewish Society together will further contribute to strengthening the ties and bringing families closer together. But here I mainly mean the material side of the matter, bypassing the completely moral one, which is implied by itself. So, with the increase in population, the number of marriages and the number of children, future workers, will increase, because we need people. We willingly accept those who are already there and those who intend to go there. everyone is needed there, everyone will be useful, everyone will find a job and a long-desired fatherland “at the new home.”Other types of buildings
Speaking about the construction of premises for workers, I deliberately omitted the main type of buildings in settlements. Now I am returning back to them and want to talk about other types of buildings for villages, for example, for small owners, for cities, etc. Having built about a hundred types of houses with the help of its architects and having prepared a large number of similar ones for the final move, the Society will set prices for them, so that later they can either sell them for money or exchange them. These excellent samples will, on the one hand, contribute to propaganda, because everyone will be able to personally verify their good quality and that the Society does not want to earn anything from their construction; and on the other hand, they will contribute to a faster resettlement, since everything ready and convenient will be prepared in advance. Yes, but where will these houses be located? I will talk about this in the chapter on “Territory Planning for Settlements.” Since the Society does not want to earn anything from these buildings, but only on the land, it would be desirable for many free architects to build houses according to private assumptions. In this way, the value of the settlement will increase, and the country will have luxury, which we need for various purposes, namely, for art, for industry, and subsequently for the fragmentation of large capitals. Those rich Jews who are now forced to timidly hide their wealth and secretly celebrate their boring holidays, as if with a curtain down, will be free to enjoy everything “at the housewarming.” When this resettlement is firmly established and our capitals are again firmly rehabilitated, then from unprecedented deeds we will clearly understand and see how necessary they are; and when rich Jews begin to build their castles, which in Europe are already looked at with such malice and envy, then it will be almost completely modern to settle in magnificent houses.Some types of liquidation
So, the Jewish Society should be looked at as the successors, or rather, the rulers of Jewish real estate “in the old village.” However, this task can be accomplished very easily when managing houses or estates, but what to do when managing commercial affairs? there may be a variety of species that cannot be grouped into one whole; nevertheless, however, this does not create any special difficulties, since in each individual case the owner of a trading enterprise, once he has decided to finally move, can conclude with the branch office of the Society of his district such type of liquidation that is most convenient for him and profitable. As for the smallest traders, for whom the main role is played by personal occupation and a small amount of goods or the equipment necessary for their business, then in this case the resettlement can again be accomplished in the easiest way. For the personal pursuits of such settlers, the Society creates a reliable field of activity, namely the sale of cars or other implements, in which their small material resources can “on a new home” serve as the basis for an initial loan. A new type of activity, completely unknown at the beginning, can soon be learned by them, since Jews in general learn everything easily; and thus all traders will easily and quickly turn into small industrialists with agricultural implements. Society must willingly agree to accept the real estate of the poor, in the form of trade, etc., at least at obvious losses to itself, since only in this way is the rapid and free cultivation of individual plots achieved, and thanks to this the value of the remaining plots rises.As for the middle class, in which the trade structure is as important as the personal activities of the owner, if not more important, and whose credit is very difficult, then again various types of liquidation are applicable, in which the main role is played by sale or transfer for rent to Christians. This will cause the internal migration of Christians, which I have already spoken about. Every leaving Jew, leaving a business “in the old settlement” under the protection of the Society, either to sell it or to lease it, receives a personal loan “at the new settlement.” By opening the “giro-conto” to him, the Company thereby has the opportunity to wait for a more convenient moment to sell his previous business or profitable transfer to some manager or tenant, who, for his part, can subsequently purchase, either by paying the entire amount due at once, or by gradually paying in parts. Thus, the Society itself takes care, through its employees and lawyers, of the correct conduct of abandoned trade and the accurate receipt of due payments, being, in a way, curators for those who are absent. But if a Jew cannot sell his business or does not want to entrust or transfer it to anyone, then he remains in his former place, without worsening his position in the least, for, thanks to the departure of many of his brethren, competition will decrease, and anti-Semitism with its notorious “not buy from the Jews!” will stop. If, on the other hand, some merchant “newly settled” wants to open and take up his previous business, then he can do this easily and freely.
So, for example, someone X, owning a large fashion and haberdashery store, wants to move. He announces this to the nearest branch of the Society, pointing out a new desirable place for residence, transfers samples of his goods, the clients of which “at the new settlement” will be the poor first settlers; but gradually persons needing the best fashionable and haberdashery goods move there, then X sends newer goods and, finally, the newest; and thus X finds himself the owner of two stores, of which he will sell the old one or transfer it to the management of his Christian successor, and retain the new one for himself, if only the Society finds this new store to be completely established.
Here is another, slightly larger example: "U and Son" own vast coal mines with mining workshops and factories. How to liquidate such a large and complex case? There are several ways: firstly, the mines with everything that is with them can be redeemed by the state in which they are located; secondly, the Jewish Society can acquire them itself, paying partly in cash, partly in land “at the new settlement”; thirdly, you can liquidate it by founding your own joint stock company “U and Son”; fourthly, it is possible to continue production in the same manner as before, so that, however, the resettled owners, when they find it necessary to return back to reclaim their possessions, would appear there as foreigners, enjoying the same rights and protection in this civilized country, like everyone else. We see all this very often in everyday life. Finally, the fifth and especially beneficial and good method, in my opinion, could be the following, which I placed last precisely because it is rarely used in life, despite the fact that it is very close and sympathetic to our modern consciousness, “U and son" transfer their business to current employees free of charge; these, having taken possession with mutual guarantee, pay them the necessary amount, which they can get either from the public treasury or in some other place, and then gradually repay their loan.
Thus, the Jewish Society liquidates both small and large affairs, and at the same time as Jews freely emigrate, founding a new fatherland for themselves, it, like a large legal entity, stands unshakably “at the old village”, facilitating resettlement, protecting abandoned estates, answering with all the huge available property for the ordered liquidation and, finally, continuing to arrange for those who had already emigrated.
Operations of the Company
How will the Society carry out its operations without, however, causing impoverishment or economic crisis to occur in the countries it leaves? It was already said somewhat above that Christians should be involved in this matter, on the one hand, in order to guarantee complete and dignified independence, and on the other hand, in order to have national controllers in their person. But every state also has fiscal interests that may suffer. Losing a certain class of subjects, unimportant in a social sense, but very important as a financial category that pays a large tax and duty, it can demand a reward for itself. We will gladly present it, but only in an indirect way. Is it not a sufficient reward that we leave aside commercial enterprises, which are completely comfortable thanks to our Jewish wit, thanks to our Jewish diligence, that we transfer our homes to Christians, and then, through unprecedented sacrifices, contribute to the rapid increase in the well-being of the vast masses? The Jewish Society, on the contrary, is ready to bring clear benefits to individual states, for the sale of property and estates left by Jews can be secured on the most favorable terms for the governments of those states that (i.e., governments), for their part, can use the abandoned land properties for large social improvement.The Jewish Society will also willingly come to the aid of governments and parliaments that patronize the internal resettlement of Christians, as well as pay large penalties.
London should be chosen as the seat of the main administration, since the Society, being a private enterprise, must necessarily be under the patronage and protection of a large state, free from anti-Semitism; but after it is officially recognized as ready for operation, it will expand widely, capturing as wide a field of activity as possible. By establishing branches and subdivisions everywhere, the Society will begin to function wherever possible, without, however, in any way damaging its existence. Everywhere it will, of course, enter into relations with the ministries of finance, which will willingly help them and facilitate the conduct and execution of their huge and complex enterprise, once they are convinced of its good intentions.
The Society will then take care of the transportation of people and property. Here, of course, there are again two points, namely: where the railways are in the hands of the government, there the matter is very simple and clear; where they are in the hands of private entrepreneurs, there the Society receives a concession, like any large shipper. In this way, emigrants will be able to travel at their own expense and transfer their luggage as cheaply as possible. Society, of course, could gain a lot on freight and travel fees if it transported at its own expense, but the basis of this matter should be the principle of exclusively returning what was spent. Here the question arises about the expeditionary offices, which are mostly in the hands of Jews. Being the main thing that the Society will need and at the same time the main thing that will turn out to be unnecessary and will be liquidated, these offices, of course, affect the interests of their owners, but these latter can either enter the service of the Society, or completely free themselves from them and settle “on housewarming”, getting busy with some other business. Without a doubt, there will be no shortage of people who want to open forwarding offices, since this is a very good and profitable business; however, there is no need to describe in detail every detail of this mass migration, since everything is interconnected, flowing from each other; In addition, this issue will be dealt with by specialists who will find ways to carry it out better and more conveniently.
Activities of the Society
All the various activities of the Society are closely connected with each other. So, in the beginning, our poor settlers will need textiles, clothes, linen, shoes, etc., because at the final European points of departure they will all be outfitted again, but this should not be looked at as a gift, replacing their old clothes with new ones , Society will not lose anything, and if there are some losses, it can write them off against the enterprise, or, in extreme cases, the poor will become debtors to it and will pay in excess of working hours, if this is allowed to them as a reward for good into exemplary behavior. And the existing emigration committees, continuing their activities in relation to the emigrating Jews of our Society, can also provide significant benefit, and methods of joint assistance are not far away: they can be easily found.Let leaving emigrants see a symbol in their change of clothes that from now on a new life is beginning for them! Let them, as they put on new clothes, remember that they are preparing to meet a new life! and the Jewish Union, for its part, will already take care, through public lectures and conversations, to acquaint those leaving far away even before departure, as well as on the way, with the goals of the enterprise, to give advice regarding the hygienic conditions of new places of residence, to give instructions for upcoming work In a word, the Jewish Union will ensure that a serious but also a jubilant mood is noticed everywhere, for the promised land can only be a land of labor. At the same time, the Union will see to it that our emigrants, when they enter a new land, are convinced that they do not need to conquer this vaunted promised land, so that these poor, unfortunate people will see that they are already at home.
On the other hand, Society must take care that the development of manufacturing industry and factory production is not carried out in vain, without a definite plan; and this is easy to achieve if the Jewish Union, to which individual groups, individual settlements will provide the necessary information, will in turn notify the Jewish Society in advance about the number of emigrants, about the day of their arrival and about their needs, for only in this case is it possible to know about them in advance take care and prepare everything you need.
Industry promotion
In this matter it is very difficult to separate the tasks of the Jewish Society from the tasks of the Jewish Union, because in fact these two bodies will go hand in hand. If the Society will constantly enjoy the moral authority of the Union and its patronage, then the concern of the latter is to constantly find funds for it. In the rational development of, for example, manufacturing industry one can see some hint of experience in avoiding an industrial crisis, and a similar principle should be guided in each individual branch in which the Society acts as an industrialist; But besides this, the Society should not take advantage of the superiority of its forces, constraining private enterprise. We are nothing more than a collective corporation where the insurmountable difficulties of the task require it; for the rest, we must help to encourage individual enterprise with all its rights. In our country, private property should develop as freely as the foundations of independent agricultural labor. After all, we allow our unskilled workers to turn into owners at first? Let the spirit of enterprise reign in our every business and let our industry develop, thanks to the introduction of a reasonable duty, cheap delivery of raw materials in the correct statistics with its official reports.And the spirit of enterprise can easily be put on healthy soil, and then senseless speculation will disappear. How? – A new industry is emerging. The Society announces this in a timely manner, so that an entrepreneur who for some reason decides only after some time to find some type of industry for himself can easily take it up without causing any crisis. Since the goal of any new undertaking will be announced by the Society, it means that the conditions for obtaining this enterprise can be known to everyone at any time. Subsequently, a concentrated workforce will also be made available to entrepreneurs. For example, an entrepreneur, having contacted the “bureau looking for employment for workers” by telegraph and presenting the required known payment to the “Self-preservation” cash desk, declares that he needs five hundred unskilled workers the next day, for three days, three weeks or three months. and tomorrow the required five hundred people are already working in his fields or factory, whom the central bureau calls from everywhere where they just left their work. It goes without saying that in their person one should not see any slaves, but people who work only 7 hours during the day and retain their work organization so that when they change places, the time of service with its rewards, benefits and pension flows as before.
True, a free entrepreneur can, if he wants, find workers in another way, but this will be somewhat difficult for him, since the Union makes sure that non-Jewish workers are not attracted to the country, and will try, through strict indoctrination, to disobedient and stubborn industrialists or due to the difficulty of exchange, etc., achieve their goal, so that one will inevitably have to turn to seven-hour workers and get used to seven-hour work, therefore, in the end it will still be introduced, although with some difficulty.
Distribution of artisans among settlements
It is absolutely clear that what the unskilled worker can achieve is even easier for the artisan and factory worker, so that the central bureau will again take care of them.What awaits those independent artisans and small craftsmen whom we so wanted to introduce to the successes of technology, whom we wanted to introduce into the circle of technical knowledge, even if they are already in old age, and to whom the motive power of rivers and electricity should be transferred to the management. These independent workers could be distributed and arranged with the help of the same central bureau of the Union. Various settlements, in need of such artisans, contact the central bureau with statements that they need so many carpenters, so many glaziers, so many mechanics, etc. The Bureau notifies about this - and suitable people immediately show up, and immediately Having gone with their families to those places where they are needed, they remain there permanently, not pressed by any competition. There they will finally find their long-desired dear homeland.
Cash sources
What should be the amount required by a joint-stock Jewish Society? Could it be a phenomenal amount?The actual required amount will, of course, be precisely calculated and established by financiers, but, in any case, it is enormous. How and where to get it? There are three sources for this, and the Jewish Union will certainly take them into account.
The Jewish Union, this great moral entity, this leader of the Jews will consist of our best and most ideal people who will not turn this matter into a public pie, extracting material benefits from it. They won't need it and can't do it. Although the duty of the Union is only to influence with its authority, it will also monitor who among the Jewish people can and should be trusted, pointing this out to the Society, which will only have the right to authorize any enterprise in a favorable sense when he will, so to speak, be authorized by the Union. This Society, therefore, is not a company of several moneyed aces who have gathered to feast on the public pie. Society will carefully choose, try, and finally decide what and how needs to be prepared and done for the speedy and successful implementation of the plan. Experiments with unsatisfactory insufficient forces should under no circumstances be allowed; for this enterprise must meet with complete success from the very first step, otherwise failures at the very beginning can compromise the entire idea for decades, or even completely destroy it, making it forever impossible and unfulfillable.
These three sources, thanks to which you can get the necessary amount, are: the state bank, the public bank and the general subscription. Of these, of course, the most convenient source is the state bank, where money can be received in the shortest possible time, easily and quickly, if the guarantors are a syndicate of large financiers. The main benefit and advantage is that billions can be received in several steps, although the total amount will be billed at once in one step; then another benefit is that the enterprise will be provided with a loan from these large financiers. There is still a lot of political ability lying dormant in the Jewish financial forces that has not been used. The enemies of Jewry, of course, imagine our financial forces as they could be and, perhaps, should be, but in reality there is nothing like that. The poor Jews feel only the hatred that arises from this ill-fated financial power, but their suffering is not lessened, they do not receive the benefit, the relief that they could have received thanks to it. Finally, it would behoove the big Jewish financiers to take advantage of their political importance and provide some service to their unfortunate tribe, to serve the national idea in at least some way. But if, despite this, there may be persons who are completely satisfied with their current situation and do not intend to lift a finger to help their unfortunate brothers who are unfairly suffering due to the concentration of enormous funds in the hands of individual individuals, then the resolution of our plan will make it possible to draw a line between them and the rest of Jewry. It is, in fact, impossible to demand from a state bank that it sell such a huge amount solely in the name of charity. This would finally be an insane demand or even a proposal. The founders and shareholders of the Jewish Society would have achieved much more if, by issuing a certain number of shares, they would have thus created capital. However, the Jewish Union itself will thoroughly discuss and analyze all the arguments and necessary means by which it will be easy to become acquainted with the plans and considerations of the Society. In particular, the Union will pay attention to how to begin Jewish emigration and will set out to the Society in detail the entire plan and course of action in which they will have to take part, and all the circumstances with which they will have to meet and take into account.
With the help of the latest statistics on the Jews, covering everything relating to the latter, the Union will take care of delivering to the Society the works of persons who have specially studied this issue, just as was practiced in France when they intended to draw up the budget of some large enterprise.
Perhaps our cause will not find financial support from our big money magnates, but on the contrary, these latter will still try, through their secret agents and slaves, to provoke a fight against the Jewish movement; then we will accept the challenge with merciless cruelty and lead it like any other that we would have to lead.
Perhaps these money magnates will be content to treat our business with only a contemptuous smile. But have they already been freed by this? Not at all!... Then the second one appears on stage
Theodor Herzl is an Austrian-born writer and journalist.
Biography
Theodor Herzl grew up in Budapest in an assimilated family, not alien, however. His mother, Jeanette Herzl (nee Diamond), introduced her son to German culture and language. Since childhood, Theodor Herzl had a penchant for literature and wrote poetry. While in high school, he published reviews of books and plays in one of the Budapest newspapers. Offended by the teacher's anti-Semitic explanations, Herzl left the real gymnasium.
In 1878, the family moved from Budapest to Vienna, where Herzl entered the law faculty of the University of Vienna. During his student years, Herzl had little interest in the Jewish question, however, he was deeply impressed by E. Dühring’s anti-Semitic book “On the Jewish Question” (1881).
In 1881, he became a member of the German student society Albia, but already in 1883 he left it in protest against the anti-Semitic statements of its members.
In 1884, Herzl received his doctorate in law and worked for some time in the courts of Vienna and Salzburg. In his autobiographical notes (1898) he wrote:
“Being a Jew, I could never take the post of judge. Therefore, I parted ways with Salzburg and with jurisprudence at the same time.”
Since 1885, Herzl devoted himself entirely to literary activities. He wrote a number of plays, feuilletons and philosophical stories. Some of his plays were successful on the stages of Austrian theaters.
In 1889, Herzl married Julie Naschauer (1868-1907). Their married life, however, did not work out because the wife did not understand and did not share Herzl’s views.
From October 1891 to July 1895, Herzl worked as a correspondent in Paris for the influential liberal Viennese newspaper Neue Freie Presse. In it he published, among other things, notes on parliamentary life in France.
Herzl outlined his views on politics in a small book, “The Bourbon Palace” (the building where the French Chamber of Deputies was located).
In political circles in Paris, Herzl repeatedly heard anti-Semitic speeches and statements. His views on the solution to the Jewish question gradually changed, which is noticeable already in his play “Ghetto” (1894), later renamed “New Ghetto”.
A sharp turn in Herzl's views and life occurred in 1894 under the influence of the Dreyfus affair. The cries of “Death to the Jews!” heard on the streets of Paris finally convinced him that the only solution to the Jewish question was the creation of an independent Jewish state.
In June 1895, Herzl turned to Baron Maurice de Hirsch for support. However, the meeting did not bring results. In those days, Herzl began writing a diary and making the first drafts for the book “The Jewish State.” In his diary, Herzl wrote:
“Ideas in my soul were chasing one after another. An entire human life is not enough to accomplish all this..."
Herzl outlined his program in a book he called “The Jewish State. The Experience of a Modern Solution of the Jewish Question" (Der Judenstaat), which was published in Vienna on February 14, 1896. In the same year, its translations from German into Hebrew, English, French, Russian and Romanian were published.
In his book, Herzl emphasizes that the Jewish question should not be resolved by emigration from one Diaspora country to another or by assimilation, but by the creation of an independent Jewish state. The political solution to the Jewish question, in his opinion, must be agreed upon with the great powers. The mass relocation of Jews to the Jewish State will be carried out in accordance with a charter openly recognizing their right to settlement and international guarantees. This will be an organized exodus of the Jewish masses of Europe into an independent Jewish state.
Herzl believed that the formation of such a state should be carried out according to a pre-thought-out plan. The Jewish state must be imbued with the spirit of social progress (for example, the establishment of a seven-hour working day), freedom (everyone can practice his faith or remain an unbeliever) and equality (other nationalities have equal rights with Jews).
To implement this plan, Herzl considered it necessary to create two bodies - political and economic: the “Jewish Society” as the official representative of the Jewish people and the “Jewish Company” to manage finances and concrete construction. The necessary funds were supposed to be obtained with the assistance of Jewish bankers, and only in case of their refusal was there to be an appeal to the broad Jewish masses.
Together with Oskar Marmorek and Max Nordau, Herzl organized (26 to 29 August 1897) in Basel and was elected president of the "".
“And the day of the end was the day of his heyday, and thunder struck, and the song was not finished - but for him we will finish the song!”
The fate of Herzl's children was tragic. The eldest daughter Paulina (1890-1930) committed suicide, as did her son Hans (1891-1930), who converted to Christianity in 1906, and after the death of his sister, he shot himself at her grave in Bordeaux (France).
Youngest daughter Margaret (known as Trude; 1893-1943) died in the Nazi concentration camp Terezin.
The State of Israel was proclaimed in May 1948, only slightly later than the date Herzl predicted after.
The city is named after Theodor Herzl.
He gave an entire people a dream and a goal that many considered a utopia. He said: wish, and your wish will become a reality, not a fairy tale. Theodor Herzl became the Moses of modern times and died just a few years short of realizing his dream.
How it all began
Theodor Herzl (in Hebrew his name is read as Benjamin Ze'ev) was born in 1860 in Budapest into a Jewish family that tried to adapt to the world around them. Although such assimilation was not complete. Theodore’s parents still tried not to forget their national traditions and occasionally even went to the Jewish church. And young Herzl, as is customary among the Jews, considered it his duty to receive blessings from his parents for any business he embarked on.
As a child, Herzl's mother, née Diamant, tried to instill in the boy a love of the German language and literature. He grew up as a very secular child, involved in society, and was very far from Jewishness, messianism, anti-Semitism and other problematic issues. Until a certain age, he did not feel at all that he was in any way different from other children, until during a lesson at the gymnasium he heard a sharp anti-Semitic statement from one of the teachers. This offended the teenager so much that he left the gymnasium.
In 1878, the Herzl family left Budapest and moved to Vienna, where Theodor entered the Faculty of Law at the University of Vienna. It was here, in Austria, that he not only gained a profession, but also a new experience of a negative attitude towards Jews in general and towards himself in particular. Anti-Semitism flourished, not condemned by society. Theodore encountered him in everyday life, on the street. Having entered the student society, he was soon forced to leave it due to insults. Having received a law degree in 1884 and decided to work first in the Viennese and then in the Salzburg courts, he was faced with the fact that he could not make a career here. The aspiring lawyer was made clear that, being a Jew, he would never become a judge in Austria.
Disillusioned with both his profession and his country, Herzl decides to move to liberal France. This country was the first in Europe to adopt a package of laws giving Jews equal rights with other citizens of the country, and Herzl hoped to find peace and comfort here. He begins to work for the influential newspaper Neue Freie Presse and makes some progress. Particularly notable were his publications on the parliamentary life of France, as well as feuilletons and satires. A sharp word, subtle humor and a deep understanding of the topic distinguished his journalistic materials. He began to earn good money, learned the language, and felt quite comfortable until a certain time. During this period, Herzl was convinced that anti-Semitism could be overcome if Jews followed his example and assimilated into the society and country in which they found themselves. He did not condemn Jews who converted to Christianity, and thought that this was a way out for Jewry. This continued until the court case, which turned the minds of the young journalist and writer.
"The Dreyfus Affair"
The Jew Alfred Dreyfus was a captain in the French army. In 1894 he was accused of spying for Germany. There was no direct evidence of guilt. Some of the evidence presented in court was fabricated. As it was established later, the spy really existed. It was the Frenchman Major Esterhazy. However, a candidate for the “spy vacancy” in the person of a Jew seemed more preferable. And representatives of the highest echelons of the French army, with the assistance of the right, destroyed evidence of Esterhazy’s guilt.
The Dreyfus trial turned into a trial. In front of the crowd, all his awards and shoulder straps were torn off, and his sword was broken.
The process was loud and public. All French media wrote about him. Each meeting was accompanied by mass protests outside the courthouse. People didn't just shout "Death to Dreyfus!" They chanted "Death to all Jews!"
This hatred not for any specific person, but for the entire Jewish people shocked Herzl. If this happens in liberal France, he thought, then what is going on in the minds of people in Germany, Austria, Romania.
The awareness of this boundless and impersonal, non-personalized hatred gave rise to one simple and clear thought in Herzl’s head: no assimilation can solve the problem of the Jews. Only eviction to a separate territory, only the creation of their own Jewish state, recognized by the strongest powers of the world, can protect Jews from this total hatred.
And he writes a pamphlet “The Jewish State”, where on 63 pages he sets out his ideas, where it can arise, how and under what conditions.
Country layout
The model of the future country first appeared in Herzl’s head, and then he began to discuss his idea with people who could help in its implementation. The first to whom he turned were the famous Jewish millionaires Barons Rothschild and Hirsch. However, they did not support the idea of a Zionist state. It seemed too unrealistic and unrealistic to them.
But Herzl thought differently. He sits down to write the book “The Jewish State. Experience of a Modern Solution to the Jewish Question,” which was published in 1896. Unlike the pamphlet, here the idea of a Zionist state was presented meticulously and step by step - from the idea to full implementation, program, fundamentals of existence, politics and economy of the future country. The book was translated into five languages and distributed throughout the world. And the more people read it, the less fabulous the very idea of creating a Jewish state became.
First Zionist Congress
In the summer of 1897 in Basel, Herzl and two of his associates, Oskar Marmorek and Max Nordau, organized and held the first World Zionist Congress, at which they outlined their ideas and goals. A heated discussion ensued about where the Jewish state could be located geographically and on what principles it would be built.
The result of the debate was the famous Basel program, which determined the ultimate goal of the congress - the creation of the state of Israel on the territory of Eretz Israel, present-day Palestine. In Basel, it was decided to create a “Jewish Colonization Society”, which should deal with the acquisition of land in Palestine.
The Basel program became a platform for starting negotiations with the Ottoman Empire, which at that time included the lands of Palestine, with the Kaiser of Germany, who had influence on the Ottoman Empire, with Great Britain, which had many colonies.
However, the negotiations were very difficult; there was no understanding of the position of the Zionist Congress. The only exception was the position of England, which began to offer the Zionists alternative territories to Palestine. In particular, the Uganda project was proposed, which almost split the unity within the congress.
Herzl wanted to use the territories offered by England as the start of a project, as a temporary refuge for Jews from Eastern Europe, who at that time were suffering severe oppression. However, part of the Congress, especially its Russian representation, was offended by such plans.
Herzl, in order to avoid contradictions and restore mutual understanding, had to reassure everyone and confirm the original plans: yes, only Palestine, only Jerusalem can become a real home for the Jews.
Didn't make it...
All these conflicts, difficult negotiations and titanic work undermined Theodor Herzl's weak heart. He was dying in a Vienna clinic.
“I’m not a coward. I’m leaving with a calm heart, because I didn’t waste the last years of my life in vain,” he said, saying goodbye to his friends.
Herzl bequeathed that after his death he should be buried next to his father in Vienna, but reburied as soon as his dream - the independent state of Israel - was realized.
Theodor Herzl's life goal was realized in 1948. The Second World War turned into a terrible tragedy for the Jewish people. But it was precisely the sacrifice made by the Jews on the altar of the fight against fascism that pushed the world community to the speedy implementation of the idea of creating a Jewish state.
In 1949, Theodor Herzl's ashes were reburied in Israel. Unfortunately, not only the “father of the state” did not live to see this, but also his children. Herzl's eldest daughter used drugs and died from them. The son committed suicide at his sister's grave, and the younger girl was executed in a Nazi concentration camp.
Herzl left no descendants, but he left behind a cause that gave hope for happiness to millions of disadvantaged Jews around the world.
In Israel, the day of Theodor Herzl's death is considered a national day of remembrance. His portrait adorns the banknote. An entire city, Herzliya, is named after Theodore, not to mention the streets, parks, and museums. Israel remembers his father's name.
01:35 pm - Theodor Herzl.
Film premiere in New York
IT IS NO DREAM: THE LIFE OF THEODOR HERZL
at Quad Cinemas...
It is difficult to watch historical and biographical films, especially those dedicated to a person who was born 150 years ago. It is difficult to overcome inertia and answer the question of why I need this. But sit in front of the screen, and you will be amazed at how relevant the film is, addressed to us - those who left the USSR, Russia and other “CIS countries” due to the “fifth point”. “The Jewish question still exists,” the announcer says in an even voice, and Russia appears on the screen, Russian fascists with their palms raised in a Nazi salute, followed by Ahmadinejad... “The attack on Jews continues in the press and on the streets, the number of attacks is growing” ... The announcer's voice sounds, and Moscow is in the frame. A wall covered in blue letters. “Die, Jews” - written in German. Below is “Sieg Heil”. On the right is a drawing: a gallows with a magendovid dangling from a noose. And at the very bottom, finally, in the native language: “Shit yourself, Jews” - the spelling of the original.
Make no mistake - it was NOT Russian filmmakers who walked the streets of the country. American. The voice-over announcer continues in the same even voice: “But they cannot exterminate us. There is no other nation on earth that would accept so much suffering...”
And only now does the date appear - these words were written in 1895 by the founder of Zionism, Theodor Herzl. A new American documentary tells the story of him. “This is not a dream” is the title of the painting. Or maybe “This is not a dream” - translate as you prefer “It is not a dream”. Second line: “The Life of Theodor Herzl.”
1901 Theodor Herzl in Basel, where the Fifth Zionist Congress took place
This is the first movie in a hundred years (!!!) about a man whose name should be known to all Jews living in Israel and beyond.
This May marks the 152nd anniversary of the birth of T. Herzl. Of course, it is more convenient to celebrate this holiday in Israel. The name of Theodor Herzl is one of the symbols of Israel. Every Israeli city has streets and boulevards named after him. In Jerusalem there is a mountain named after him, where his ashes rest, and not far from the grave there is his museum. The 20th of Tammuz, the day of Herzl's death, is declared a national day of his remembrance. Researchers read his books, and ordinary Jews live in the country that he dreamed of in 1895, sitting in anti-Semitic Paris as a correspondent for the newspaper Hôtel de Castille, where he wrote the famous lines of his utopian novel about the future country “Der Judenstaat”: “We are the people , one people. A Jewish state is the need of the whole world. Therefore, it will arise."
But even in Israel they feel that the personality of the founder of the World Zionist Organization is not appreciated. There is not a single feature film about him. There is no actor who could play this beautiful, bright dreamer to whom we all owe where we are today. The current tape runs for more than two hours. That's a lot for a documentary. But there is no other way when the first attempt is made, with pedantry that excludes the possibility of perverted interpretation, to explore the birth and formation of the idea of an independent state in the mind of ONE person. The authors restore the circumstances of the place and time in which a century and a half ago, in the center of prosperous Europe, a boy was born and raised, for whom the life of his people became more important than his own life.
Herzl was born in Budapest. In a prosperous family with educated parents who adopted German culture. While Theodore’s grandfather still led a religious lifestyle, his father’s attitude towards Judaism was formal. Herzl's mother Janet Diamant, the daughter of a successful merchant, received a good secular education. By the time the boy was born, the family had left the ghetto and were equal among equals: German-speaking, wealthy, religiously “enlightened.” And he would have been a good Magyar and forgotten his Jewish origin, but thanks to the anti-Semites: he was quickly reminded who he was.
As soon as he started studying at the gymnasium, he encountered anti-Semites. So much so that his mother transferred him to the Budapest Evangelical Gymnasium, the majority of whose students were Jews. He studied French, English, music, as any cultured German should, but also wrote and published reviews of books and plays in one of the Budapest newspapers. Herzl's parents supported his literary aspirations, demanding one thing - that he graduate from the Faculty of Law of the University of Vienna. Studying E. Dühring's anti-Semitic essay “On the Jewish Question” traumatized him, but he could not leave the university. I had to be patient. But he left the Student Society - in protest against anti-Semitic antics. And after receiving a doctorate in law and working as a clerk in the courts of Vienna and Salzburg, he learned that “Being a Jew, I could never take the post of judge. Therefore, I parted ways with Salzburg and with jurisprudence at the same time,” as he wrote in his diary.
Beginning in 1885, Herzl devoted himself to literature: he wrote plays, feuilletons, and stories. His plays were performed on the stages of Vienna, Berlin, Prague and other theater capitals of Europe and were such a resounding success that for some time he had a reputation as one of the leading Austrian playwrights. Next - marriage to a wealthy woman who could never become his friend and share his views, but gave birth to three children. Hans, Paulina and Margaret (known as Trude)
Having received the post of Paris correspondent of the Vienna Neue Freie Presse in 1891, which he perceives as “a springboard from which one can jump high.” But it is in France that he encounters a level of anti-Semitism that he cannot bear and from which there is nowhere to escape. First, the publicist Drumont reproaches international Jewry for the country’s troubles, calls for the expropriation of Jewish capital, and on this wave becomes the editor-in-chief of the newspaper “Libre Parole” - a mouthpiece for attacks on Jews.
Next came an anti-Semitic play in a French theater, the death of an officer who was called a “Jew” and challenged the offender to a duel, anti-Semitic demonstrations, slanderous trials.
Herzl is looking for ways to solve the “Jewish question.” In his diary of that time, he writes that he intends to challenge and shoot himself to a duel with the leaders of anti-Semitism, among whom were Georg von Schönerer, Karl Lueger and the Prince of Liechtenstein himself. He dreams of winning and making a speech against anti-Semitism in court.
Another path that seems fruitful to him is the mass baptism of Jews. Herzl dreams of an audience with the Pope.
But living life turns out to be richer: the conviction of Alfred Dreyfus on December 22, 1894 interrupts his dreams. Herzl is convinced of Dreyfus’s innocence: “A Jew who began his path of honor as an officer of the general staff cannot commit such a crime... As a consequence of long-term civil dishonor, Jews often have a pathological desire for honor; and a Jewish officer in this sense sets himself a special standard,” he writes in his diary.
Crowds in the streets demand the death of Dreyfus, and then - “Death to the Jews!” Herzl cannot believe that all this is happening in France a hundred years after the Declaration of Human Rights. “The achievements of the Great Revolution have been undone,” writes Herzl, and his article is not published. The call “Death to the Jews!” on the streets of Paris convinces him that the only solution to the Jewish question is the creation of an independent Jewish state.
In 1895, he wrote down in his diary what he needed: “A country in which we can live with a hooked nose, a black or red beard... and at the same time we will not be an object of ridicule. A country where we can eventually live as free people on our own land. A country where we, like others, will be respected for our great and good deeds, where we will live in peace with the whole world.”
This reveals the main goal of Theodor Herzl’s life. He rushes to leading Jewish philanthropists, creates the World Zionist Organization, convenes the First World Zionist Congress and opens a new era in the history of the Jewish people.
The film is based on historical documents, forgotten facts, detailed diary entries of Herzl, manuscripts of his articles, books, philosophical and journalistic treatises. But the main merit of the authors is in the way this intense intellectual activity of the young thinker is presented, how it is immersed in the details and details of his everyday life, in which there are parents and the family into which he was born, then the family that he built himself. The authors touch sensitively on the topic of dramatic married life. Beautiful mansions in different cities of Europe do not allow the philistine consciousness to imagine what kind of trouble was hidden behind the heavy curtains in the high windows...
Inline image 2
Rare group photos of the first Zionist congresses fascinate and force you to peer for a long time into the faces of those - the first - who sailed to Europe from Ukraine and Moldova, who decided to break the tradition of their fathers and stop waiting for the Messiah...
Herzl begins work on the book “The Jewish State.” “Ideas in my soul were chasing one after another. A whole human life is not enough to accomplish all this...” Herzl sets out a program of action and titles the book “The Experience of a Modern Solution of the Jewish Question” (Der Judenstaat), which was published in Vienna on February 14, 1896. It is translated from German into Hebrew, English, French, Russian and Romanian. For the first time, Herzl clearly argued that the Jewish question should be resolved not by emigration from one diaspora country to another or by assimilation, but by the creation of an independent Jewish state. The political solution to the Jewish question, in his opinion, must be agreed upon with the great powers. The mass relocation of Jews to the Jewish State will be carried out in accordance with a charter openly recognizing their right to settlement and international guarantees. This will be an organized exodus of the Jewish masses of Europe into an independent Jewish state. Herzl believed that the formation of such a state should be carried out according to a pre-thought-out plan. The Jewish state must be imbued with the spirit of social progress, freedom and equality. To implement this plan, Herzl considered it necessary to create two bodies: the “Jewish Society” as the official representative of the Jewish people, and the “Jewish Company” to manage finances and construction. The necessary funds were supposed to be obtained with the assistance of Jewish bankers, and only in case of their refusal was there to be an appeal to the broad Jewish masses.
At the World Zionist Congress in 1897 in Basel, he was elected president of the World Zionist Organization. And in 1899 he created the “Jewish Colonization Society” with the aim of purchasing land in Palestine, which was then part of the Ottoman Empire. Incredible newsreel footage allows you to see cities, countries, leaders - kings, prime ministers, kings, with whom the restless dreamer is negotiating.
In 1900, Herzl wrote and published Philosophical Stories. In his utopian novel in German, Altneuland, Herzl creates an idealistic picture of a future Jewish state. He created a sketch of the political and social system of the future Jewish state in Palestine, making only one mistake: Herzl believed that the Arabs of Palestine would be happy with Jewish settlers...
Long, furious arguments and fights with opponents more than once brought Herzl to heart attacks. One day this coincided with pneumonia... To a friend who came to visit him, Herzl said: “The bell is tolling for me. I am not a coward, and I can calmly face death, especially since I did not waste the last years of my life. I think I served my people well.”
These were his last words. On July 3, 1904, Herzl passed away. In his will, he asked to be buried in Vienna next to his father, but only until the Jewish people decided to transfer his remains to the Land of Israel. On August 14, 1949, shortly after the creation of the State of Israel, by decision of the government of the Jewish state, Herzl's remains were transported from Austria to Jerusalem, where his ashes now rest on the mountain that bears his name. Alas, the fate of Herzl’s own children was tragic: the eldest daughter Paulina committed suicide in 1930 in Bordeaux, France, her son Hans shot himself at her grave, and the youngest Margaret died in 1943 in the Nazi Terezin camp.
And this film would have been historical and biographical about something that has sunk and disappeared - whether a person or a deed, if not for short filming of today's Russia.
Perestroika and open borders created an incredible phenomenon, which we who left, thanks to Herzl, do not know about: anti-Semitic slogans in Rus' are now written in three languages. This is where the film begins, which I highly recommend watching, with “Shit yourself, you Jews!” written in large letters in white paint all over the wall. Only we can read it in America without translation.
And it will immediately turn out that there is no past - everything is happening this minute - while we are watching a film here - in America. The new fascists diligently paint old slogans on the walls of houses.
We are being driven and driven again.
Thank you, Mr. Herzl, we have somewhere to go.