David Farbstein

David Farbstein ( David Zwi Farbstein, Yiddish דוד פֿאַרבשטיין; born August 12, 1868 in Warsaw , Russian Empire ; died April 18, 1953 in Zurich ; resident in Zurich) was a Swiss politician.

Farbstein was the second Jewish member of the Swiss National Council and confidante of Theodor Herzl . He was a lawyer , member of the Swiss Social Democratic Party , Zurich Cantonal Council and National Councilor. One of his successes is the promotion of equality for Judaism in Switzerland . Farbstein is one of the personalities of the city of Zurich .

Live and act

David Farbstein came from a family of Talmudic scholars , received a diploma as a rabbi and then worked as a commercial clerk in Warsaw. His brother was Herschel Farbstein , later a Polish member of the Sejm and Misrachi leader . The two Farbstein brothers founded the Zionist youth association Dorschei Zion together when they were young .

From 1892 to 1896 David Farbstein studied law and political science at the universities of Berlin , Zurich and Bern and was awarded a doctorate in Bern in 1896. iur. PhD. In 1897 he settled in Zurich as a lawyer and in the same year acquired the citizenship of Affoltern near Zurich . He was friends with Hermann Greulich and Leonhard Ragaz .

His first marriage to Betty Farbstein , geb. Ostersetzer (1873–1938) married, did her doctorate in medicine in Zurich in 1900 and then worked as a doctor. From this marriage two sons were born. In his second marriage he was with Rosa Farbstein, geb. Leszczynska (1888–1973) from Lodz married. Another son was born from this marriage.

His granddaughter Dina Wyler (1931–2007), daughter of the son from his first marriage, was a successful artist.

Grave of David and Rosa Farbstein in the Israelite cemetery in Oberer Friesenberg

David Farbstein's grave was the first of the then newly created Jewish cemetery Oberer Friesenberg in Zurich. Ernst Nobs , former Swiss Federal President, was also present at his funeral and paid tribute to his old comrade in arms.

On the 50th anniversary of Farstein's death, he was commemorated in Zurich-Wiedikon in March 2003.

Political career

In 1897 Farbstein joined the Social Democratic Party . In 1902 he was elected to the Zurich Cantonal Council, of which he was a member until 1926. In 1904 he was elected III (Aussersihl and Wiedikon) in the Great City Council (legislature) of Zurich in the former circle, where he remained until 1922, since 1913 the sixth for the circle at the general strike process in 1919 defended colored stone the accused strike leaders. In this context, the liberal-democratic Zürichseezeitung already mentioned the "rabidism of the former Polish Jew Farbstein" in 1912. More and more often he was commissioned by his party to represent their representatives in lawsuits. As a “very talented lawyer”, Farbstein served as the party's legal advisor. He was also called in for legislative activities and later commissioned with such.

In 1922 David Farbstein, who was originally Marxist-oriented, was elected to the National Council as one of the leaders of the Swiss Social Democratic Party and worked there until 1938. He was, after Maurice Goetschel , also a lawyer, the second Jewish National Council. However, unlike Goetschel, he belonged to the left. Farbstein was not one of the "frequent speakers"; he had good reasons for that. Actions mattered more to him than words. Farbstein was in favor of a uniform penal code in federalist Switzerland:

“Farbstein was able to fall back on many years of professional experience to work on the Criminal Law Commission. In his mind, punishments had the primary aim of helping a criminal to improve; he viewed the torture of offenders as inadequate revenge. "

The focus of his political activities was the fight against class justice , the fight against anti-Semitism and discrimination against the Jewish population, as well as the advocacy of a uniform and humanistically structured criminal law throughout Switzerland . Farbstein rejected the death penalty , which was still practiced in certain Swiss cantons in the early 20th century. He took the view that it was a cruel revenge, a remnant of the Talion law (right of retribution, "an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth"). In May 1928, in his function as a member of the National Council for the unification of the penal code, he presented the opinion of the majority of the commission in favor of the abolition of the death penalty. Farbstein gave his second major speech to the council plenum in 1925 as a representative of the minority committee that voted for the liberalization of the abortion law . As a lawyer, he had repeatedly defended women in court in Zurich who had had abortions and was therefore familiar with the matter.

Zionist movement

Farbstein was committed to fighting anti-Semitism and social injustice all his life . He was a close colleague of Theodor Herzl and gave a lecture at the first Zionist congress in 1897 on the economic reasons for the " Jewish question ". After Herzl's death he was no longer active in the Zionist movement.

The location of the first Zionist congress goes back to Farbstein. After many quarrels about Munich and Zurich, Herzl asked Farbstein in a letter dated June 9, 1897, to find a cheap conference venue in Switzerland not far from the Austrian-Swiss border . Last but not least, Basel became the historical place from which the Basel program and years later the state establishment of Israel began.

In 1923 Farbstein went on a trip to the Jewish part of Palestine. She was supposed to be the only one there, and he reported about it in the Social Democratic (not in the Jewish) press. As the only Jew he protested the Social Democratic People's Law publicly against the adopted by the Swiss Federal tightening of immigration rules, which by on September 1, 1942 Heinrich Rothmund was implemented anti-Semitic and countless Jewish refugees cost the lives. In 1948 he advocated grassroots democratic achievements such as an initiative and referendum based on the Swiss model for the newly founded state of Israel . He decisively shaped the ideas of subsequent generations of Zionists with socialist ideas about the future. In the last years of his life, Farbstein received financial support from the SIG ( Swiss Association of Israelite Communities ).

Publications

• The position of Judaism to proselytism. Foreword by Dr. Jacob Sugar. Verlag die Gestaltung, Zurich 1950.
• Johannes Huber 1879–1948 . With Arthur Schmid, Max Weber, Buchdruckerei Volksstimme, St. Gallen 1949.
• Walter Hoch's "Compass through the Jewish Question". A refutation. Verlag Die Gestaltung, Zurich 1946.
• The position of the Jews on the race and foreign question. Verlag Die Gestaltung, Zurich 1939.
• The "Edict of Constantinople". Zurich Local Committee of the Swiss Association of Jewish Congregations, Zurich 1935.

literature

• Markus Bürgi: Farbstein, David. In: Historical Lexicon of Switzerland .
• Hanna Zweig-Strauss: David Farbstein (1868–1953). Jewish socialist - socialist Jew. A life fighting against disadvantage and exclusion. Chronos-Verlag , Zurich 2002 ISBN 978-3-0340-0502-9 .

Web links

• Literature by and about David Farbstein in the catalog of the German National Library

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Obituary for Dr. David Farbstein. In: The new Israel - official organ of the Swiss Zionist Association and the Hebrew World Federation Switzerland, issue 11, 5th year, May 1953.
2. ↑ Swiss Lexicon in 6 volumes, Lucerne 1991 ff., Volume 2 (1992), p. 553
3. ↑ Historisches Lexikon der Schweiz, Volume 4, Basel 2004, p. 407/08
4. ^ Hanna Zweig-Strauss : David Farbstein (1868–1953). Jewish socialist - socialist Jew? Chronos, Zurich 2002, ISBN 3-0340-0548-2 , p. 124.
5. ↑ http://www.sikart.ch/kuenstlerinnen.aspx?id=4001946
6. ↑ http://www.kunstbreite.ch/Kuenstlerwerdegaenge_aargau_wyler_dina.htm
7. ↑ http://www.alemannia-judaica.de/zuerich_friedhof_obfries.htm
8. ↑ Gabi Einsele, Who was David Farbstein? , in: fgz-info 3/02 (www.fgzzh.ch), p. 37.
9. ↑ Gabi Einsele, Who was David Farbstein? in: fgz-info 3/02, p. 36/37.
10. ↑ Aaron Kamis-Müller: Anti-Semitism in Switzerland 1900–1930. Chronos Verlag, Zurich 1990. (Zugl. Zurich, Univ., Diss.) ISBN 3-905278-61-8 , p. 268.
11. ↑ Aaron Kamis-Müller: Anti-Semitism in Switzerland 1900-1930. Chronos, Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-905278-61-8 , p. 250.
12. ^ Hanna Strauss-Zweig: David Farbstein (1868-1953). Zurich 2002, p. 101.
13. ↑ Goetschel was a member of the National Council from 1917–1921, he belonged to the Bernese radical democratic faction. See: Aaron Kamis-Müller: Anti-Semitism in Switzerland 1900–1930. Chronos, Zurich 1990, ISBN 3-905278-61-8 , p. 250.
14. ^ Hanna Zweig-Strauss: David Farbstein (1868–1953). Jewish socialist - socialist Jew? Chronos, Zurich 2002, ISBN 3-0340-0548-2 , p. 124.
15. ^ Hanna Zweig-Strauss: David Farbstein (1868–1953). Zurich 2002, p. 126.
16. ↑ Hanna Zweig-Strauss: David Farbstein "(1868–1953). Zurich 2002, p. 64.
17. ↑ Swiss Lexicon in 6 volumes. Luzern 1991 ff., Volume 2 (1992), p. 553.
18. ↑ Jacques Picard: Die Schweiz und die Juden, Zurich 1997, p. 255., archive link ( Memento of the original from July 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , P. 16, note 84 
19. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from July 29, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and not yet checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Hanna Zweig-Strauss, Universelle 2, Zurich 2000, p. 18, note 66  
20. ^ Review by Alfred Cattani , NZZ May 18, 2002, reproduced on the Chronos Verlag website.