Poale Zion

Poale Zion logo (early 20th century)

Poale Zion or Poalei Tzion ( Hebrew פועלי ציון 'Worker of Zions' ) was an important Zionist - socialist movement in Europe , Palestine, and North and South America since 1901.

history

Beginnings

After the General Jewish Workers' Union (Bund) had spoken out against Zionism in 1901, Zionist circles of workers and intellectuals were founded first in Yekaterinoslav , then in Warsaw , Vilnius , Vitebsk , Odessa and other cities in Russia. Organizations in the United States followed (1903); Palestine , Austria-Hungary 1903, Canada , Great Britain , Argentina (1904–1907) and Bulgaria (1910). In Germany, the organization was only founded in 1918. The organ of the German Poale Zion has been the Jewish workers' voice since 1921 , which was replaced by the magazine Neuer Weg in 1924 .

In December 1905, the goals of the movement were formulated at a congress. The main initiator was Ber Borochov . In 1906 the Jewish Social Democratic Workers' Party for Russia was founded in Poltava .

International

The first world congress of Poale Zion took place in August 1907 in The Hague , others followed in Krakow (1909), Vienna (1911 and 1920) and Stockholm (1919). Poale Zion also founded organizations such as HaSchomer and was instrumental in recruiting members for the Jewish Legion during World War I. At the fifth world congress in Vienna in 1920, the Poale Zion split because of disagreements regarding Zionism, activities in Palestine and joining the Communist International .

Palestine

Development of the left parties in Palestine until 1948

In Palestine , the first kibbutzim were founded by the Poale Zion and the state institutions of Israel later emerged from the employment offices, kitchens and health services for their members .

After the First World War, the Poale Zion in Palestine split in 1919 into a left wing, which leaned towards the Communist International , and a right wing, which joined the World Zionist Organization . Members of the right wing preferred Hebrew, while the left wing included many newcomers from Eastern Europe who spoke more Yiddish.

The right wing was led by David Ben-Gurion and formed the Achdut haAwoda ("unity of work") party. This was merged into the Mapai in 1930 , which in turn was the forerunner of the Israeli labor party Avoda , which still exists today . The left wing, however, was initially formed by the Socialist Workers' Party (Pug), from which the Communist Party of Palestine emerged in 1923 . Another part continued to exist as the Poale Zion Left until it merged with the Achdut haAwoda movement (split off from Mapai in 1944) in 1946 and finally merged in 1948 in the left-wing socialist Mapam .

Austria

The Vienna Poale Zion was founded in 1904. Towards the end of the First World War , the group was involved in the so-called January strike in 1918 and the subsequent council movement. In elections to the workers 'councils, the party was relatively successful, especially in the Leopoldstadt district, and was able to send some district workers' councils. At the beginning of the 1920s, Vienna's Poale Zion had a considerable infrastructure with a Jewish workers 'home, a Jewish people's theater, a workers' kitchen and several other cultural and social institutions. In the course of the split of the Poale Zion at the fifth congress of the world association in 1920, the Vienna branch also split into a right and left wing for the first time. The latter split again in 1922 over the question of the conditions under which one would join the Communist International . Shortly thereafter, it lost itself in insignificance, while the “right” wing remained active on the side of social democracy until Austrofascism .

Members

Jizchak Ben Zwi, David Ben-Gurion, Josef Chaim Brenner , Aharon Reuveni , Jaʿakow Zerubawel.

Besides Borochov and Ben Gurion, personalities and members of the Poale Zion included Jizchak Ben Zwi , his wife Rachel Janait , Yitzhak Tabenkin , Salman Schasar , Lew Sacharowitsch Mechlis , Shlomo Kaplansky , Felix Fechenbach and Fritz Sternberg . In the Soviet Union Poale Zion was banned by the Bolsheviks in 1920.

literature

Leon Chasanowitsch: Aims and means of socialist Zionism . In: Sozialistische Monatshefte 15, 1914, pp. 962–973.
Momme Schwarz: A Jewish marginal phenomenon - Poale Zionism in Germany in The International School for Holocaust Studies (ISHS), Yad Vashem , Jerusalem, Newsletter Pedagogy, collective title Jewish life before the Holocaust in Germany and Austria. September 2012
Ralf Hofrogge: On the focus “Judaism and Revolution. The world association "Poale Zion" between Zionism and Communism ”. Zs. "Work – Movement – History", H. 2, 2017, pp. 7-14. Editorial of the special issue
- Mario Keßler : The Comintern and the Poale Zion 1919 to 1922. A failed synthesis of communism and Zionism , in: Work - Movement - History , II / 2017, pp. 15-30
- Jan Rybak: Socialist Zionism in the European Revolution 1917 to 1923: Contradictions of Emancipatory Identities , in: Work – Movement – History, II / 2017, pp. 31–48
- Christian Dietrich: Between Soviet Russia and Eretz Israel . The radicalization of Austrian worker Zionism 1918 to 1920 , in: Arbeit – Bewegungs – Geschichte, II / 2017, pp. 49–64
- Orel Beilinson: Judaism, Islam and the Russian Revolution: Considerations from the perspective of comparative history , in: Work – Movement – History, Issue II / 2017, pp. 65–85
Evelyn Adunka : The "Poale Zion" and its successor organizations in Vienna until 1938, in red tears. The destruction of working-class culture by fascism and national socialism . Series: Zwischenwelt, 14th ed. Theodor Kramer Society , Vienna 2017 ISBN 9783854358329 pp. 101-134
Mario Memoli: "... our lot is closely linked to that of the international proletariat!". The Poale Zion in the Austrian council movement . In: Anna Leder, Mario Memoli, Andreas Pavlic (Hrsg.): The council movement in Austria. From social self-defense to concrete utopia . 1st edition. Mandelbaum, Vienna 2019, ISBN 9783854766803 , pp. 145–165.

Web links

Commons : Poale Zion - collection of images, videos and audio files

Via compact memory : The Austrian Poale Zion newspapers
- Free grandstand (1919–1921) , continued
- Our grandstand (1924–1926) , continued
- The Jewish Worker (1927-1934)
Po'alei Zion. In: dasrotewien.at - Web dictionary of the Viennese social democracy. SPÖ Vienna (Ed.)
Entry about Poalei Tziyon (Poale Zion) in the Zionism and Israel - Encyclopedic Dictionary (engl.)

notes

↑ Mario Memoli: "... our lot is closely linked to that of the international proletariat!" The Poale Zion in the Austrian council movement. In: Anna Leder, Mario Memoli, Andreas Pavlic (Hrsg.): The council movement in Austria. From social self-defense to concrete utopia . 1st edition. Mandelbaum, Vienna 2019, ISBN 978-3-85476-680-3 , p. 145-165 .
↑ A book publication by the author. Contradictory strategies of Jewish emancipation. The workers' organization "Poale Zion" in the area of tension between Zionism and socialism 1907-1934 (working title; first master's thesis, matriculation number 1834611) has been announced

[1] Mario Memoli: "... our lot is closely linked to that of the international proletariat!" The Poale Zion in the Austrian council movement. In: Anna Leder, Mario Memoli, Andreas Pavlic (Hrsg.): The council movement in Austria. From social self-defense to concrete utopia . 1st edition. Mandelbaum, Vienna 2019, ISBN 978-3-85476-680-3 , p. 145-165 .

[2] A book publication by the author. Contradictory strategies of Jewish emancipation. The workers' organization "Poale Zion" in the area of tension between Zionism and socialism 1907-1934 (working title; first master's thesis, matriculation number 1834611) has been announced