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Sejarah Zionisme, 1600-1918/Volume 1/Bab 45

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CHAPTER XLV.

AN ATTEMPT TO SOLVE THE JEWISH PROBLEM

The “Jewish Colonization Association” (1891)—Statutes and shareholders—Baron de Hirsch’s letter to the Russian Jews—His articles in the Forum and the North American Review—Baroness Clara de Hirsch.

Baron de Hirsch was not a Zionist, nor do we desire to claim him as a national Jew. Had he been asked whether he recognized the national idea, he would undoubtedly have replied that he was opposed to it. He was not much interested in abstract ideas, and it is questionable whether he could be made to fit in with any cut-and-dried theory at all. Nevertheless, his activities became those of a national Jew when once he was made fully conscious of the Jewish tragedy. Born in Munich, heir to an Austrian title, distinguished for his industrial undertakings in the East, resident in Paris, with powerful connections in England, he devoted himself at last almost entirely to his brethren in Russia. Was the impelling feeling a colourless cosmopolitan humanism? One might have called it so as long as he merely supported education and sent contributions to charities. But one cannot, without doing violence to facts, regard the work of what we have called his fourth period—which was the very climax of his activity—as the mere charitable routine which is characteristic of Jews whose purpose and hope is “assimilation.” Hirsch was more than a Jew of that type. The tendency towards assimilation destroys the Jew, discourages the man, kills his individuality, “and thus the native hue of resolution is sicklied o’er with the pale cast of thought,” and the Jew becomes an emulator of what other people do, a slave of other people’s opinions. If a personality like that of Hirsch could develop in such an environment, it was because his inquiring mind, the experience gained in his travels and his absorption during youth of the old traditions of his people carried him far beyond his actual surroundings. It was due to his individual gifts that he took up the great idea of concentration of the persecuted Jewish people by means of colonization. He directed all his energies to the investigation of the best places for colonization, and the result was the formation of an international association, incorporated under English law, and known as the Jewish Colonization Association, whose Memorandum of Association includes the following clauses:—

“To assist and promote the emigration of Jews from any part of Europe or Asia—and principally from countries in which they may for the time being be subjected to any special taxes or political or other disabilities—to any parts of the world, and to form and establish colonies in various parts of North and South America and other countries for agricultural, commercial and other purposes.

“To purchase and acquire, by donation or otherwise, from any Governments, States, municipal or local authorities, corporations, firms, or persons any territories, lands, or other property, as concessions, powers and privileges, which may be necessary or convenient for developing the resources of the same and rendering the same available for colonization.

“To accept gifts, donations and bequests of money and other property, on the terms of the same being applied for all or some one or more of the purposes of the company, or such other terms as may be consistent with the objects of the company.”

The Articles of Association provide, among other things, that no more than half the capital is to be employed in the purchase of land, that the governing body shall consist of a Council of Administration, who in their turn shall elect Directors, and these shall be paid officials and carry out all the executive work. The machinery provided by the Articles enables representative Jewish institutions to become members of the Company, and thereby to have a certain voice in the management. The constitution further provides that under no circumstances shall any of the members derive any profit from the undertaking.

With regard to the objects of the Company, the last clause was amplified at an Extraordinary General Meeting of the Company by the addition before “or on such terms” of the following words: “or for any other philanthropical purposes specified by the donor or testator for the benefit of Jewish communities or individuals either in Europe or in America.”

The Jewish Colonization Association was founded with a capital of £2,000,000 divided into 20,000 non-dividend bearing shares of £100 each. Baron de Hirsch subscribed for 19,993 shares; and Lord Rothschild (1840‒1915), Sir Julian Goldsmid (1838‒1896), Ernest (afterwards Sir Ernest) Cassel, Frederic David Mocatta (1828‒1905), and Benjamin Louis (afterwards Sir Benjamin Louis) Cohen (1844‒1909) of London, and Salomon H. Goldschmidt (1814‒1898) and Solomon Reinach of Paris for one share each.

Before his death Baron de Hirsch divided his shares among the following corporations: the Synagogues of Brussels and the Jewish communities of Berlin and Frankfort-on-the-Main, 3600 each; the Anglo-Jewish Association of London and the Alliance Israélite Universelle, Paris, 4595 shares each.

About the time when the Jewish Colonization Association was formed, Baron de Hirsch addressed an appeal to the Jews in Russia concerning the emigration schemes which he intended to carry out under the auspices of the Company. The following is a translation of this appeal:—

“To my co-religionists in Russia: You know that I am endeavouring to better your lot. It is, therefore, my duty to speak plainly to you, and to tell you what it is necessary for you to know.

“I am acquainted with the reasons which oblige many of you to emigrate, and I will gladly do all in my power to assist you in your hour of distress. But you must make this possible for me. Your emigration must not resemble a rash and reckless flight by which the endeavour to escape danger ends in destruction. You know that properly organized committees are shortly to be established in Russia, with the consent and under the supervision of the Imperial Russian Government. The duty of these committees will be to organize the emigration in a business-like way. All persons desirous of emigrating will have to apply to the local committees, who alone will be authorized to give you the necessary facilities. Only those persons who have been elected by the committees can have the advantage of the assistance of myself and of those who are working with me. Any one who leaves the country without the concurrence of the committees will do so at his own risk, and must not count on any aid from me.

“It is obvious that in the beginning the number of emigrants cannot be large; for not only must places of refuge be found for those who first depart, but the necessary preparations must be made for those who follow. Later on the emigration will be able to assume larger proportions.

“Remember that I can do nothing for you without the benevolent and gracious support of the Imperial Russian Government.

“In conclusion, I appeal to you. You are the inheritors of your fathers, who for centuries have suffered so much. Bear this inheritance yet awhile with equal resignation. Have also further patience, and thus make it possible for those who are anxious to help you to do so effectively.

“I send you these words of warning and of encouragement in my own name and in the name of thousands of your co-religionists. Take them to heart and understand them.

“May the good God help you and me, and also the many who work with us for your benefit with so much devotion.”

This appeal, though it only urged the Jewish masses to assist the great work by obeying certain necessary prescribed regulations, had the effect of rousing the entire Jewish population to a new hopefulness and of stimulating communal workers, leaders and publicists to further activity. There was not a poor Jewish home in Russia where the name of Hirsch did not receive a daily blessing—not for what he had given or for what he was about to give, but because he had stretched out a hand to them in their misery, because they no longer felt themselves forsaken, and because a touch of kindness from an unseen hand gave them fresh courage, new resolution, and new hope.

As is usual in such cases, no warnings or denials could correct the estimate formed by the popular imagination of the possibilities of the undertaking. Baron de Hirsch himself was supposed to have said or written that he was going to transmigrate five million Jews from Russia in twenty years; and this statement, which was published in an official Russian paper, though in the unofficial part of it, gained currency at once, and remained in the minds of the people as a kind of programme. And, though the immediate excitement abated, and gave way to disappointment among those who had looked forward to a new gigantic exodus, it was evident that the chances of a partial solution of the Jewish problem were immensely greater than they had ever been before.

Baron de Hirsch caused careful inquiries and investigations to be made in countries which offered suitable land for agricultural development. It may be observed that, though the wording of the statutes contemplates commercial colonies and the encouragement of artisans, and speaks of “any parts of the world,” in reality Hirsch had never thought of commercial colonies nor of artisans nor of small groups scattered all over the world, since first he started dealing with the Jewish problem in Russia. Commercial colonies for Jews are as unnecessary as they are impossible, because Jews engaged in commerce need not and would not congregate in colonies; and as to the industrial education and encouragement of artisans, it is true that Hirsch was interested in useful work of this kind, but this was at an earlier period, and belongs to the kind of philanthropic activity which he carried on, particularly in the East, through the “Alliance,” etc. As to Russia, anybody who had any conversation with him, or read his articles on the subject, or was in touch with his advisers at that period, will testify that what Hirsch had decided to initiate was a great undertaking for the persecuted Jewish people. Since he had received, much to his surprise, the reply that he would not be allowed to work in Russia, he had systematically declined to undertake anything there except the support of emigration. Petitions poured into his office at Paris, rue d’Elysée 2, from innumerable Jewish societies and communities in Russia, but he refused to pay any attention to all these schemes for the encouragement of artisans and industries. He was devoted to the idea of concentrating masses of Russian Jews elsewhere, and of making them agriculturists. Since 1887 he had practically decided to make the Jewish people the principal heirs of his fortune, in order to enable them radically to change their status.

Personal experiences of a sentimental nature had contributed to this decision. The terrible and unexpected blow, in losing his only son Lucien (1851‒1887), a young man of exceptional gifts and promise, touched his most tender affections and gave a fresh impetus to his desire to succour human misery. It was feared for a moment that he would be overwhelmed by the weight of a catastrophe which had ruined so many hopes. But he possessed such energy, such powerful resources of character, that he soon recovered. His very natural grief found sanctification in the noble diversion of devoting himself more eagerly than before to his immense task. His wife, a keenly idealistic Jewess, exerted a strong Jewish influence upon him, encouraging to the utmost the great work which he started. The unfortunate mother, after having lost her only child, found comfort in the idea of “establishing a home for the oppressed Jewish people.”

Another personal experience which had some influence on Hirsch was the anti-Semitic attitude of the Jockey Club of Paris towards him, an attitude that made him realize the futility of dreams of unity. There is no need, however, to lay particular stress on these personal experiences. Apart from them, he could not fail to notice the workings of anti-Semitism, not only in its violent and brutal forms, but also in its subtler manifestations; and this brought home to his mind the necessity of a solution which should prove more practical than the old methods.

But the thing that did most to bring him nearer to Zionism than to assimilation, in spite of his dissent from Zionist views, was his belief in the Jewish people. He was a believer in the regeneration of the Russian Jews through agriculture, from which occupation they were barred in the country in which they lived. What, unfortunately, was lacking in him was the sense of historic tradition and the love of Palestine.