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The Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin presents the year 1938 through the eyes of Jews, whose personal documents detail their experiences and the hardships they suffered as well as the growing tensions in Europe and diminishing hope for Jews in Germany and Austria.

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14

WEDNESDAY

14

At least the children

England agrees to accept 10,000 Jewish children

“The Government’s decision was made known in the House of Commons by Colonial Secretary Malcolm MacDonald, who declared that any alteration in the existing rate of immigration to Palestine at this time would ‘prejudice’ the forthcoming British-Arab-Jewish negotiations.”

London

Even the total defenselessness of German Jews in light of the acts of violence perpetrated during the November pogroms did not lead to an adjustment in international refugee policy that would be worth mentioning. Therefore, the Jewish Agency for Palestine had demanded from the British to permit the immediate immigration of 10,000 Jewish children to Palestine. As reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on December 14th, the British Mandatory Authorities viewed such a step as a danger to their diplomatic balancing act vis-à-vis the groups involved and rejected the request. It did, however, agree to temporarily admit them to England. Many Jewish parents were ready to make the painful decision to send their offspring abroad on their own, in order at least to spare them the constant hostility and the physical danger. Already before the attempt by the Jewish Agency, in November, the government had given the green light to the immigration of 5,000 unaccompanied children under the age of 17. The first group of children had gone to England at the beginning of December.

TAGS: children, December 14, Harwich, Journalism, JTA, kindertransport, kristallnacht, London, media coverage, November Pogrom, Palestine, refugees, violence, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Collection:

“Britain Rejects Plea to Admit 10,000 Child Refugees to Palestine; Fears Effect on Parleys”

Source available in English

29

TUESDAY

29

Their only hope

Africa as a refuge

“My parents only hope, to get them out, is me.”

Rongai/Nairobi

In 1903, in the wake of the Kishinev pogrom, the British government agreed to allow European Jewish settlement in a territory then known as the “East Africa Protectorate,” today’s Kenya. Due to massive opposition from within the Zionist movement, the plan, known by the misleading name “Uganda Scheme,” did not come to fruition. 35 years later, Paul Egon Cahn, most recently a resident of Cologne, found himself in Rongai, Kenya. After the November pogroms, the 20-year-old car mechanic began to try to get his parents out of Germany. While European settlers and members of the local Indian community in Kenya opposed the immigration of Jewish refugees, the “Kenya Jewish Refugee Committee,” which had facilitated his immigration, was supportive. Thus, the young man turned to its secretary, Israel Somen, for help: he urgently needed the £100 the British Colonial Office charged for two entry permits.

TAGS: antisemitism, Cologne, displacement, emigration, family, family separation, immigration, impoverishment, Jewish Community, kristallnacht, letter, Nairobi, November 29, November Pogrom, persecution, politics, refugees, Rongai, violence, welfare organizations, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin

Collection:

Paul Egon Cahn Collection, AR 25431

Original:

Box 1, folder 1

Source available in English

26

SATURDAY

26

The future of humanity and culture

A call to action in bad times

“If ever there was a need for brave hearts, clear minds and strong fists, it is today, as nothing less than the future of humanity and culture is at stake!”

New York

No one reading the November issue of the Aufbau could have missed the front-page editorial message in bold print: under the heading “The Great Trial,” forceful language is employed to decry the abject failure of “the heads of state of the so-called democracies,” who have sacrificed Czechoslovakia to Nazi Germany. Jewish refugees are left stranded in no man’s land in Bohemia, in Germany, the Nazis are dealing an “economic death blow” to the Jews, the British are jeopardizing the Zionist project, and “little more than a faint memory” remains of the Evian Conference, summoned in July to tackle the problem of resettling Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany. Surely, this is “an era of complete sinfulness.” Will those under threat finally brace up?

TAGS: commentary, dispossession, economic persecution, Evian conference, Jewish property, Journalism, media coverage, Munich Agreement, New York, November 26, politics, press article, refugees, Sudetenland, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin

Collection:

"Die große Prüfung," Editorial, Aufbau, Vol. 4, No. 12, p. 1

13

Sunday

13

A slide back to barbarism

Public opinion in Britain is unanimous

“The first lesson to draw from the persecutions,” Sir Archibald said, “is the urgent need for generous fulfillment of British obligations to world Jewry and the League of Nations under the Palestine Mandate.”

London

As the Jewish Telegraphic Agency would have it, the English were united in their dismay about the anti-Jewish violence in Germany. Expressing their “indignation and disgust” and referring to the recent anti-Jewish violence in Germany as a “slide back to barbarism” and “inhuman fury,” they condemned the pogroms orchestrated by the Nazis. Some, like the Sunday Times and Sir Archibald Sinclair, leader of the Liberal Party, used the events as an opportunity to reinforce the need for a national home for the Jews.

TAGS: advocates, antisemitism, Journalism, JTA, kristallnacht, London, media coverage, Nazi policies, November 13, November Pogrom, politics, prominent people, public sphere, violence, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Collection:

“British, American Public Opinion Reflects Horror at German Events”

Source available in English

4

FRIDAY

4

A girl leads the way

Hope for a future in Palestine

“I imagine that you are doing well there. According to your letter, it seems like a paradise to me. Dear Lotte, you can believe me, I'd like to be in your place, as life here is very sad and boring, especially now that Benno is not at home.”

Vienna/Gan Shmuel

The arrival of Gertrude Münzer’s first letter from Palestine was a cause for joy, relief and hope to her family that had remained behind in Austria. The Münzers were a well-integrated family, but after the annexation of Austria by Nazi Germany, the tide turned and they had to endure increasing hardship, starting with their eviction from their home and Moses Münzer losing his job. With parental encouragement, Gertrude was the only member of her family to go to Palestine with a Zionist youth group. Inspired by her example, her older brother, Benno, had gone on hakhsharah. In his reply to Gertrude, dated November 4th, her father pleads with the 15-year-old girl to recruit support for him at the kibbutz or elsewhere to enable him to follow with the rest of the family.

TAGS: Anschluss, children, displacement, economic persecution, emigration, family, family separation, Gan Shmuel, immigration, Jewish Community, letter, November 4, Palestine, refugees, transnational networks, Vienna, Youth Aliyah, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin

Collection:

Gertrude Knopf Family Collection, AR 11692

Original:

Box 1, folder 1

Source available in English

30

TUESDAY

30

Ma’ayan Tsvi

The Maccabi Movement in Germany prepared founding members of the settlement

Ma'ayan

The increased influx of European Jews seeking safety from the Nazis to Palestine led to resistance on the side of Palestinian Arabs. In 1936, an armed revolt erupted. During this period, Jewish settlers made use of a law from the times of the Ottoman Empire, according to which an unauthorized structure could not be demolished once it had a roof. By cover of night and with prefabricated pieces, they erected a fence surrounded by a stockade, so that, in the event of discovery by officials from the British Mandate, nothing could be done about it. At the same time, a structure of this kind was immediately defensible against attacks by local Arabs. One of these settlements was Ma’ayan (later known as Ma’ayan Tsvi), situated west of Zikhron Ya’acov on the northern coastal plain. Its 70 founding members, as members of the Maccabi Movement in Germany (and, since 1935, in Palestine itself), were prepared for pioneer life in the land.

TAGS: August 30, hakhsharah, immigration, Jewish Community, Ma'ayan, Palestine, photo, refugees, transnational networks, violence, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Courtesy of Kedem Auction House

Original:

Photograph Album – Establishment of Ma'ayan Tzvi Kibbutz

28

SUNDAY

28

“Illegal” immigrant

Gisella Jellinek becomes Nadja in Palestine

"Belated congratulations on your 18th birthday and I wish you whatever you wish for yourself, long life, health, heroism, courage, to be a good Haverah, and that your ideal will be realized, and not to forget (...) plenty of work."

Brünn/Rishon LeZion

It was under adventurous circumstances that Gisella Jellinek made her way to Palestine in June 1938. As part of a group of several hundred youths, she was smuggled into the area of the Mandate. The moment she came ashore in Palestine, she had to make use of the Hebrew language skills she had acquired at the Zionist agricultural training camp in Austria, in order to avoid being identified as an illegal immigrant by the British authorities. Roughly two months after her arrival, Gisella, who now called herself Nadja, turned 18. In this belated birthday note, her sister Berta wishes her “heroism, courage, and to be a good Haverah (kibbutz member).”

TAGS: August 28, Brünn, children, commentary, emigration, family, family separation, hakhsharah, immigration, Jewish Community, Language skills, letter, Palestine, Rishon LeZion, transnational networks, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Letters, Documents and Images of the Jellinek Family Confronting the Holocaust, created by Paulette Jellinek

Collection:

Berta Jellinek [to her older sister] Gisella Nadja Jellinek

21

SUNDAY

21

For an 18th birthday, current events

Hugo Jellinek congratulates his daughter and gives commentary on current events

"Bohemia is a tough nut on which this gang of criminals will break their teeth, or let's call it a Buchtel [sweet, filled yeast roll] on which these maniacal devils will choke. Despite the many local traitors, the government and the people are unified in their unflappable will to defend freedom and the achievements of democracy to the last drop of blood."

Brünn/Rishon LeZion

Hugo Jellinek was proud of his daughter Gisella, who had become a glowing Zionist during Hakhsharah and just months before had immigrated to Palestine as part of a group of daring youngsters. For her 18th birthday, not only did he send his first-born daughter congratulations, he also shared his thoughts about current events with her. From his new vantage point in Brünn/Brno (Czechoslovakia), where he had fled from Vienna after a warning, German maneuvers alongside the Czechoslovakian border were worrying him. But he was convinced that, unlike in the case of Austria, the Wehrmacht would face fierce opposition. He felt very bitter about the suspicion of and lack of solidarity with needy Jewish refugees among wealthier members of the Jewish community in Brno. Moreover, he was greatly worried by the eviction notices Austrian Jews were receiving, among them his relatives. Among all the worry and complaint was a silver lining, an acquaintance with a woman.

TAGS: Anschluss, August 21, Brünn, bureaucracy, children, commentary, displacement, document, emigration, family, family separation, hakhsharah, immigration, impoverishment, letter, Munich Agreement, Palestine, refugees, Rishon LeZion, transnational networks, visa application, welfare organizations, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Letters, Documents and Images of the Jellinek Family Confronting the Holocaust, created by Paulette Jellinek

Collection:

Letter from Hugo Jellinek to Gisella Nadja Jellinek

20

SATURDAY

20

650 reichsmarks and 50 pfennigs

Aboard the Columbus New York-bound

"Boat tickets, train tickets, plane tickets to all countries"

Berlin/Bremen/New York

Just a few doors down from the Palestine Office of the Jewish Agency, at No. 2 Meineke Street in Berlin, was the travel agency “Palestine & Orient Lloyd,” which closely cooperated with the Palestine Office in assisting thousands of Jews with emigration from Nazi Germany—and not only to Palestine. One of these emigrants was Dr. Rolf Katzenstein. On August 20th, 1938, the “Palestine & Orient Lloyd” issued this bill to him for passage to New York on August 27th aboard the Columbus from Bremen.

TAGS: August 20, Berlin, Bremen, displacement, document, emigration, New York, Palestine, refugees, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Jüdisches Museum Berlin

Collection:

Receipt "Palestine & Orient Lloyd" for Rolf Katzenstein, Ruther Gützlaff née Katzenstein Collection

19

FRIDAY

19

To Haifa? Not now.

Uncle Alfred advises his nephew against visiting

"To my way of thinking, the moment when we should come here will be designated by a higher authority. Fate will show us when we should come here. I have never seen as many unhappy people concentrated in one country as here."

Haifa/Merano

After six years in Palestine, Alfred Hirsch’s verdict was unequivocal: given the country’s political, climatic and economic structure, even people of the highest intelligence and stamina could not achieve much. He did not mince words in trying to dissuade his nephew, Ulli, from coming. Living in the very secular Haifa, Alfred Hirsch was convinced that for a young, Orthodox Jew like Ulli, life in Palestine would be a big disappointment at that point in history. Between the atmosphere generated by the collective misery of a large number of uprooted, depressed people and the political unrest, which led to major economic problems, the timing just didn’t feel right to Uncle Alfred. (The political unrest mentioned is the 1936-39 Arab Revolt in reaction to the massive influx of European Jews and the prospect of the establishment of a national home for the Jews in Palestine, as stipulated by the Balfour Declaration in 1917.)

TAGS: August 19, commentary, displacement, emigration, family, Haifa, immigration, Jewish Community, letter, Merano, Palestine, refugees, religion, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin

Collection:

Julius and Elisabeth Hirsch Family Collection, AR 25585

Original:

Box 1, folder 10

16

TUESDAY

16

Jewish workout

Response to an anti-Semitic stereotype

Frankfurt am Main

A classical anti-semitic trope of the 19th century was the notion that Jews are weak, unathletic and effeminate. In order to counter this stereotype, the Zionist physician, writer and politician Max Nordau created the antithetical concept of the “muscular Jew” at the Second Zionist Congress in Basel (1898). Drawing on paragons of Jewish fighting spirit like Bar Kochba and the Maccabees, he called for the regeneration of the Jewish people through physical exercise. Barely two months later, the Jewish sports club Bar Kochba was founded in Berlin. More and more Jewish sports clubs came into being, many of which were affiliated with the Zionist movement. The Frankfurt/Main chapter of the Bar Kochba Club was established in 1904. One of its teams can be seen here posing for the camera.

TAGS: antisemitism, August 16, Frankfurt am Main, Jewish Community, photo, prominent people, Sports, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin

Collection:

Bar Kochba, Frankfurt am Main, Collection, AR 11260

Original:

Box 1, folder 1

11

THURSDAY

11

Individual hakhsharah

17-year-old Marianne suffers alone in England

“And now to the point that is most important to you at the moment. Daddy has already written you his views, we are very much concerned that you stay in England, and much as we feel sorry for you, you'll have to get through this somehow.”

Teplitz

In July 1938, 17-year-old Marianne Pollak traveled all by herself from Teplitz/Teplice (Czechoslovakia) to England. Not accustomed to the climate there, the young girl developed rheumatism and was in generally miserable condition. Every few days, her mother wrote her caring, supportive letters. While clearly vexed by Marianne’s unhappiness, Mrs. Pollak and her husband made sure to communicate to her the importance of her staying in England. Apparently, Marianne was in an individual hakhsharah program, meaning that she was acquiring skills preparing her for pioneer life in Palestine. In Eastern Europe, the Zionist Pioneer organization “HeChalutz” (“The Pioneer”) had been offering agricultural and other training courses for prospective settlers in pre-state Palestine since the late 19th century. A German branch was established in 1923, but the concept gained traction in western Europe only during the Great Depression and had its broadest reach during the years of persecution by the Nazis. Instead of being prepared collectively on farms, youngsters could also get their training individually, as seems to have been the case with Marianne.

TAGS: August 11, children, displacement, emigration, family, family separation, Great Depression, hakhsharah, immigration, letter, Palestine, refugees, Teplitz, transnational networks, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin

Collection:

John Peters Pinkus Family Collection, AR 25520

Original:

Box 2, folder 22

26

TUESDAY

26

The League for Human Rights

“These Dogs of Hitler and Göring will never succeed”

“The Jewish sense of charity will not die, and these bastards Hitler and Göring will never get their wish to see the emigrants die in the gutter.”

Brünn/Rishon LeZion

Hugo Jellinek was a man of many talents. The outbreak of WWI forced him to quit medical school in Vienna. As a soldier, he was severely wounded in Samarkand and fell in love with his nurse, who later became the mother of his three daughters. The couple settled down in Tashkent, Uzbekistan. His young wife having died in 1926, he fled the Soviet Union in 1930 and ultimately returned to Vienna, where he utilized his knowledge of 8 languages as a translator and also worked as a freelance journalist. Thanks to a warning about impending arrest by the Nazis, he was able to escape to Brünn (Czechoslovakia) in June 1938. His eldest daughter, eighteen year-old Gisella Nadja, departed for Palestine the same day. In this colorful letter, Hugo shows fatherly concern for Nadja’s well-being, but also talks at length about the hardship he himself has faced as a refugee and reports that his cousin’s son is interned at the Dachau Concentration Camp. He mentions with gratification what he calls the “League,” probably referring to the aid center of the “League for Human Rights,” which was looking after the refugees, defying Hitler’s sinister goals. Ultimately, however, the most important thing for him was the fight for a country of one’s own.

TAGS: advocates, Brünn, children, commentary, Concentration Camps, Dachau, displacement, emigration, family, family separation, imprisonment, July 26, Language skills, letter, Palestine, refugees, Rishon LeZion, welfare organizations, WWI, WWI veterans, Youth Aliyah, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Letters, Documents and Images of the Jellinek Family Confronting the Holocaust, created by Paulette Jellinek

Collection:

Letter from Hugo Jellinek to Gisella Nadja Jellinek

21

THURSDAY

21

Cautious optimism

Reich Representation of Jews in Germany evaluates Évian Conference

It was practically the only concrete result of the Évian Conference, so organized German-Jewry had little choice but to pin its hopes in the newly founded International Refugee Committee.

Berlin

As reported by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency on this day in 1938, five days after the end of the Évian Conference (July 6-15), the Reich Representation of Jews in Germany published its first statement on the outcome of the convention in the Jüdische Rundschau, the paper of the Zionist movement. The organization voiced cautious optimism and opined that the Intergovernmental Committee on Refugees, which had been set up at the conference with the goal of facilitating permanent resettlement, would have a positive effect on emigration.

TAGS: Berlin, emigration, Evian conference, Evian-les-Baines, Journalism, JTA, July 21, media coverage, politics, refugees, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Jewish Telegraphic Agency

Collection:

“Reich Jews Ask Emigration Aid from Abroad to Solve Refugee Problem”

Source available in English

8

FRIDAY

8

Staff exodus

German Zionists lose another trusted leader to emigration

“Mr. Friedman has carried out all tasks assigned to him with dedication by far exceeding the ordinary and with unflagging diligence.”

Berlin

The Zionist Federation of Germany was in a tricky position. While it supported the emigration of Jews from Nazi Germany, it struggled with the consequences of constantly losing capable staff members, especially on the leadership level. Nevertheless, Benno Cohn, member of the Federation’s executive board, generously supported yet another departing colleague with a deeply appreciative letter of recommendation. Rudolf Friedmann had been associated with the Zionist Central Office since 1933 in various capacities, serving it with the utmost diligence and dedication. Cohn praises his organizational abilities and ideas and warmly recommends Friedmann to any Zionist or other Jewish organization.

TAGS: Berlin, emigration, Jewish Community, July 8, letter, transnational networks, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin

Collection:

Willy Nordwind Collection, AR 10551

Original:

Box 1, folder 1

24

FRIDAY

24

Skills training for Palestine

Graduation at the Jewish Professional School for Seamstresses in Hamburg

Hamburg

When the Halutz (Pioneer) Movement first began to establish itself in Germany in the 1920s, it had a hard time gaining traction among the country’s mostly assimilated Jews, who saw themselves as “German citizens of Jewish faith.” The Movement, which aimed to prepare young Jews for life in Palestine by teaching the Hebrew language as well as agricultural and artisanal skills, got its first boost during the Great Depression (from 1929), which made emigration more attractive as an opportunity for economic improvement. But even more significant growth took place after the Nazis’ rise to power: so-called “Hachscharot” sprung up all over Germany, instilling young Jews with a meaningful Jewish identity and imparting valuable skills. The photo presented here shows graduates of the Jewish Professional School for Seamstresses on Heimhuderstraße.

TAGS: emigration, Great Depression, hakhsharah, Hamburg, June 24, Language skills, Palestine, photo, schools, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Institut für die Geschichte der deutschen Juden (IGdJ)

Original:

Picture database of the Institute for the History of the German Jews, Collection Ursula Randt, with kind permission of Rahel Calm ; 21-015/105

30

MONDAY

30

Mindset

Not enthusiastic, but with a will to succeed

“I think that if you were to decide for Palestine, you would not need any enthusiasm for it. The majority immigrate without any enthusiasm today, but you need the firm determination to assert yourself here in spite of all difficulties, meager income and hard work in a tough climate.”

TEL AVIV/ZURICH

Herbert Mansbach, a German dentistry student temporarily based in Switzerland, was lucky. A friend of his worked for the “Sick Fund” (Kupat Holim) of the General Workers’ Association in Israel (Histadrut) and was able to share valuable information with him pertaining to acceptance as a kibbutz member and employment in Palestine. The main prerequisites for kibbutz membership were affiliation with the HeHalutz pioneer youth movement and some knowledge of Hebrew. However, in order to be hired as a dentist in Tel Aviv, total mastery of Hebrew was a must. Herbert’s friend painted a sobering picture of the mental state of the new immigrants. The majority, he writes, come without enthusiasm—determination to succeed is more important.

TAGS: displacement, emigration, family, immigration, Language skills, letter, May 30, Palestine, refugees, Tel Aviv, welfare organizations, Zionism, Zurich

SOURCE

Institution:

Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin

Collection:

Herbert Joseph Mansbach Collection, AR 7073

Original:

Box 1, folder 2

28

SATURDAY

28

Brit Shalom

Martin and Paula Buber move to Jerusalem

Jerusalem

In 1933, the distinguished philosopher of religion Martin Buber decided to relinquish his honorary professorship at Goethe University in Frankfurt/Main in protest against the Nazi rise to power. Consequently, the regime forbade him to give public lectures. In the years to follow, Buber founded the Central Office for Jewish Adult Education and countered the Nazis’ efforts to marginalize and destroy German Jewry by strengthening Jewish identity through education. It was not until May 1938 that he followed a call to the Hebrew University to assume the new chair for Social Philosophy and moved to Jerusalem with his wife Paula, a writer. The couple settled down in the Talbiyeh neighborhood in the Western part of the city, which at the time was inhabited by both Jews and Arabs. It borders on Rehavia, then a major stronghold of immigrants from Germany. Buber was among those envisioning peaceful coexistence in a bi-national state.

TAGS: emigration, Jerusalem, May 28, Nazi policies, Palestine, persecution of Jewish professionals, photo, politics, prominent people, refugees, segregation, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin

Collection:

Portrait of Martin Buber, 1930. Henry Schwarzschild Collection, AR 10024.

Original:

F 11336

11

MONDAY

11

Rose Luria Halprin Celebrates her Birthday

The American Zionist leader worked to rescue young German Jews through the Youth Aliyah

Jerusalem/Berlin

As a leading functionary in various Zionist organizations, most notably the Hadassah Women’s Zionist Organization of North America, Rose Luria Halprin had moved to Jerusalem in 1934, where she worked as the liaison between the local Hadassah branch and the National Office in the US. Having befriended Henrietta Szold, who led the Youth Aliyah in Palestine, Halprin, too, became involved in efforts to rescue German-Jewish youth by bringing them to Palestine. The Youth Aliyah had been founded by the prescient Recha Freier, wife of a Berlin-based rabbi, on the very day the Nazis were voted into government, January 30, 1933. In the years 1935 to 1938, Halprin repeatedly visited Berlin. April 11, 1938 was her 42nd birthday.

TAGS: April 11, Berlin, children, Jerusalem, Jewish Community, Palestine, photo, prominent people, rabbis, transnational networks, Women, Youth Aliyah, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

American Jewish Historical Society

Collection:

Rose Halprin in 1934. Haddassah Archives at the American Jewish HIstorical Society.

18

FRIDAY

18

A new mission for World Jewry

Bratislava's Jewish paper calls for solidarity with Austrian Jews

“Austrian Jews have an old tradition as fully equal citizens who have always put their forces into the service of their homeland and have contributed to the latter's prosperity in all economic, social, and cultural fields”.

Vienna

The entire front page of Bratislava’s German-language religious-Zionist “Allgemeine Jüdische Zeitung” is dedicated to the Anschluss. Jews are called upon to stand by their Austrian coreligionists. An anonymous source notes the impoverished state of many Jews in Austrian lands and the resulting need to restructure social services as well as address the increasingly urgent issues of occupational retraining and emigration. The reader is reminded that Austria is still a member of the League of Nations and that Austrian law stipulates equal rights for religious and national minorities. Among other sources quoted is the British Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, Butler, who reports having received assurances that the German government would “endeavor to achieve a moderation” of its policy towards minorities. The paper also reports that the President of the World Jewish Congress, Rabbi Wise, has appealed to the League of Nations to help Austrian Jewry. The rest of the picture is bleak: newspapers suspended, prominent Jews arrested, a Jewish theater closed, Jewish physicians dismissed, and other chicanery. The paper calls upon Jews everywhere to come to the aid of their Austrian brethren.

TAGS: Anschluss, antisemitism, Bratislava, commentary, cultural life, impoverishment, Jewish Community, Journalism, League of Nations, March 18, media coverage, Nazi policies, persecution of Jewish professionals, politics, press article, prominent people, rabbis, Vienna, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin

Collection:

Nationalsozialistisches Regime in Ősterreich, Allgemeine Jüdische Zeitung, Vol. 6, p. 1.

Original:

Vol. 6, p. 1

Chronology of major events in 1938

The National Socialists arrest 150 public figures

A raid on the Jewish Community offices in Vienna on March 18, 1938. Bundesarchiv Bild 152-05 - 15A.

The spring of 1938 is marked by a series of assaults on Jews in Vienna and a number of other European cities. These Anschluss pogroms constitute an escalation of the National Socialist policy of persecution. Citizens humiliate, bully, and attack Jews publicly. Shortly after the Annexation, National Socialists in Austria arrest about 150 public figures. A third of those arrested are Jews, including writer Heinrich Jacob, librettist Fritz Löhner-Beda, cabaret artist Fritz Grünbaum, Social-Democratic politician and lawyer Robert Danneberg, laywer Jakob Ehrlich, lawyer and president of the Jewish Community in Vienna, Desider Friedmann, and spice dealer Hans Kotányi. In April, the National Socialists will deport the group in an action referred to as the Prominententransport (“VIP-transport”). It will be the first deportation to the concentration camp Dachau.

View chronology of major events in 1938

9

WEDNESDAY

9

All hands on deck

The World Zionist Executive meets in London

London

The newspaper Die Stimme was considered the official mouthpiece of the National Zionist Committee in Austria. In its March 9 issue, it quotes a JTA report on the conference of the World Zionist Executive in London. Although tensions in Austria were running high, the conference had other pressing matters on its agenda, such as immigration to Palestine and changes in the British attitude towards it. Among the proposals discussed were lowering the price of the shekel in a number of Eastern European countries and establishing coordinating councils for Zionist activities.

TAGS: Anschluss, emigration, immigration, Journalism, JTA, London, March 9, media coverage, Palestine, politics, press article, Vienna, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Compact Memory, Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main

Collection:

"Die Sitzung des Aktionskomitees.”, Die Stimme, Vol. 1, no. 742, p. 1.

3

THURSDAY

3

Harold MacMichael

A new British High Commissioner for Palestine

Jerusalem

This etching by the German-Jewish artist Hermann Struck depicts the fifth British High Commissioner for Palestine, Harold MacMichael, who took office on March 3, 1938. MacMichael had previously held various positions in Africa. The High Commissioner was the highest-ranking representative of the Empire in Mandatory Palestine. The creator of the portrait, Hermann Struck, an Orthodox Jew and an early proponent of Zionism, had emigrated to Palestine in 1923 and settled in Haifa. He was renowned in particular for his masterful etchings, a technique he had taught to artists such as Chagall, Liebermann, and Ury.

TAGS: art, artists, emigration, Haifa, Jerusalem, March 3, Palestine, prominent people, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin

Collection:

Portrait of High Commissioner Harold MacMichael, 1940

Original:

78.486b

18

FRIDAY

18

Under the radar in Italy?

Italian antisemitism does not target local Jews, says report

“The anti-semitic movement in Italy is directed not at Italian Jews but rather at world Jewry, which is notoriously anti-fascist. Moreover, the movement is more political than racist in character.”

Rome

The orthodox Jüdische Presse quotes the state-run Austrian wire service Amtliche Nachrichtenstelle with a reassuring assessment of the situation of Jews in Italy: While there was an antisemitic movement “like everywhere else,” it was very moderate, and rather than targeting Italian Jewry, it opposed “World Jewry” due to the latter’s notoriously anti-fascist stance. Interestingly, the moderate nature of the antisemitic movement in Italy is seen as a result of the absence of a “Jewish movement” in the country. Indeed, Zionism had attracted very few followers in Italy, and between 1926 and 1938, only 151 Italian Jews had emigrated to Palestine.

TAGS: antisemitism, commentary, emigration, Fascism, February 18, Journalism, media coverage, Palestine, press article, Rome, Vienna, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Compact Memory, Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main

Collection:

“Italien”, Jüdische Presse, nr. 1 (1938): 7

17

THURSDAY

17

“Don’t worry about me, I’ll be fine!”

Children set out on their journeys to Palestine with Youth Aliyah

“Joy and pain are fighting against each other, as are courage and fear, mourning and hopefulness. One cries, the other laughs. Here the pain of separation is stronger, there the self-painted picture of the future outshines all grief of separation.”

Berlin

Immediately after the Nazis seized power, on January 30, 1933, Berlin-based Recha Freier founded the Jüdische Jugendhilfe (“Committee for the Assistance of Jewish Youth”) soon to be known as Jugend-Alija (“Youth Aliyah”). The organization’s goal was to bring Jewish children past the age of elementary school to safety in Palestine. In the youth supplement of the Israelitisches Familienblatt of February 17, 1938, the children’s feelings are described as they depart for Palestine: Not only did they have to cope with the separation from their parents and families, but also with the uncertainty about their future.

TAGS: Berlin, children, emigration, family separation, February 17, Journalism, media coverage, Palestine, press article, refugees, welfare organizations, Youth Aliyah, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin

Collection:

“Aufbruch der Jugend”, B1032

Original:

Vol. 4, no. 2

14

MONDAY

14

Kibbutz Giv’at Brenner

German Jews find a new home in Palestine

Giv'at Brenner

Kibbutz Giv’at Brenner was established in 1928 by young immigrants from Poland and Lithuania who were soon joined by a group from Germany. As in many other kibbutzim, conditions at Giv’at Brenner were initially harsh, causing some members to leave. In the 1930s, due to the absorption of new immigrants, the kibbutz grew. Over time, a thriving agriculture and various industrial enterprises, including a cannery and a factory for irrigation equipment developed. The picture presented here shows the carpentry shop of the kibbutz in 1938. A unique feature was Beit Yesha, a vegetarian convalescent home established in the mid thirties—the first of its kind in a kibbutz.

TAGS: emigration, February 14, Giv'at Brenner, immigration, Palestine, photo, Polish-born Jews, refugees, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin

Collection:

Manager of cabinet making factory at Givath Brenner Kibbutz, Gertude van Tijn Collection

Original:

F 19577

12

SATURDAY

12

Mouth of the Hydra

Old debates about Zionism and assimilation take on a new urgency in an atmosphere of heightened antisemitism

“It was the arrival of Jewish-nationalist Zionism and Poland's unification with Russian territories—with the ‘Litvaks’— that first opened the filth-spewing maw of the antisemitic Hydra. It is political Zionism that gave them the idea of an ‘alien’ people.”

Warsaw

One month before Anschluss, the Austrian-Jewish weekly Die Wahrheit, exhorts Austrian Jews to learn from the development of antisemitism in Poland. The Vienna-based paper, which, since the twenties had increasingly advocated integration and distanced itself from Zionism, perceived Zionism as a dangerous breach with Polish-Jewish history: in the past, says the author of this article, Jews in Poland stood out with their patriotism and commitment to matters of national concern. He opines that their turning towards Palestine creates the impression of a lack of loyalty, thus giving ammunition to Jew-haters. Moreover, the article accuses Zionists of exerting undue pressure upon dissenters.

TAGS: Anschluss, antisemitism, commentary, February 12, Journalism, media coverage, Palestine, press article, Vienna, warsaw, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Compact Memory, Universitätsbibliothek Frankfurt am Main

Collection:

„Das Erwachen,“ Die Wahrheit, Jg. 1938, Nr. 7, S. 5.

8

TUESDAY

8

Last birthday in Germany

Martin Buber turns 50

Heppenheim

The philosopher of religion Martin Buber was born on February 8, 1878, in Vienna. Best known for his 1923 work I and Thou, he also, in collaboration with Franz Rosenzweig, created a new translation of the Hebrew Bible into German. Buber was so popular with German-Jewish youth that the term “Bubertät” (“Buberty”) was coined to describe the phenomenon. Buber was among the proponents of a bi-national state in Palestine and in 1925, together with Gershom Scholem, Robert Weltsch, Hugo Bergmann, Ernst Simon and others, he founded “Brit Shalom,” an organisation that promoted Arab-Jewish coexistence on the basis of justice and equality. On February 8, he celebrated his 50th birthday.

TAGS: February 8, Heppenheim, Palestine, photo, prominent people, Vienna, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin

Collection:

Martin Buber, Franz Rosenzweig-Martin Buber Collection, AR 4193

Original:

F 11513

1

TUESDAY

1

Palestine

Tranquil landscapes and bloody unrest

Haifa

This painting by the artist Hermann Struck, a resident of Haifa and one of the relatively small number of German Jews who emigrated to Palestine already before 1933, shows one of the iconic landscapes of the Holy Land, the Dead Sea. It does not, however, reflect the difficult social situation in Palestine in the late 1930s. Due to the growing influx of Jewish immigrants in general and, after 1933, German Jews in particular, tensions between Jews and Arabs as well as between Arabs and the British mandatory administration were increasing. In 1936, an Arab uprising began which was still in full swing in February 1938.

TAGS: art, artists, emigration, Febuary 1, Haifa, immigration, Palestine, politics, prominent people, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin

Collection:

Hermann Struck, Palestine, 1938

Original:

78.437

13

THURSDAY

13

Advice from New York

Remittances to Jewish recipients in Nazi Germany

We wish to point out that when using Haavaramark for your remittances you further the Jewish emigration from Germany.

New York

A representative of the New York office of Intria International Trade & Investment Agency Ltd., London, advises a client in New York to use the “Haavaramark” for “transfers to persons of Jewish descent residing in Germany.” The Haavara (transfer) Agreement had been made between Zionist representatives and the Nazis in 1933. It enabled emigrants to deposit money in a German account, which was used to pay for the import of German goods to Palestine. The proceeds from the sales of these goods in Palestine, after the deduction of costs, was disbursed to the new immigrants.

TAGS: document, economic persecution, emigration, Haavara, impoverishment, January 13, letter, New York, Palestine, Zionism

SOURCE

Institution:

Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin

Collection:

Ludwig Rosenberger Family Collection, AR 5824

Original:

Box 1, folder 25

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