The formation of Israel as a homeland for Jews around the world had its beginnings over a decade before the U.N’s charter making it so. In the 1930s Palestine had been a British mandate and there were many Jews who sought to make it an independent state. It was during this time as fascism and antisemitism were on the rise in Europe that many Jews fled to Palestine for safety and the opportunity to start over in a new land. However, there was no consensus among the Jews in Europe on whether or not to go to Palestine. This conflict over whether to stay or go would be hotly debated for years leading up to the war.
Many of the Jews living in Palestine held strong Zionist beliefs and wished for more Jews to pack up and move to Palestine. It was their hope to set it up as a Jewish homeland where they would be free of the antisemitism that traditionally plagued the European nations. Once Hitler and the Nazi Party came to power, these beliefs became stronger. Arthur Ruppin, a Zionist official, tried, “to negotiate the emigration of German Jews and the transfer of their property to Palestine.” (Segev, 18-19). This was called the “haavara agreement” in which the Nazis, who wanted the Jews to leave Germany, would get what they want, and the Zionists would as well since they would be in Palestine. However, many of the Jews living in Germany did not wish to leave their homes for a new land. This conflict, “between the interests of the yishuv (Israeli Jews) and those of world Jewry was to become a central motif in the story of the Israeli’s attitude to the Holocaust.” (Segev, 20). Before their immigration, both pre and post the war, many Jews would work on, “an agricultural training farm, or hakhsharah, in preparation for what they hoped would be their future lives in Palestine.” (Patt, 98). Once the war ended this practice would become much more common place in Germany, as the allure of moving to a new home became much more attractive.
It is interesting to see the earlier days of Palestine while it was still a British mandate. The Zionist groups their were seeking to create a Jewish state years before the war even started. While the Jews in Palestine wanted to bring more in many in Europe were opposed to leaving. The Nazi government was even negotiating with the Zionists to send their state’s Jews their. All of this shows that the movement to create a Jewish homeland state began before the Holocaust had even begun.
Sources:
A Patt, Living in Landsberg, Dreaming of Deganiah – Jewish Displaced Youths and Zionism after the Holocaust-rescan.PDF
T Segev, The Streets Are Paved with Money, in The Sevent Million – The Israelis and the Holocaust (1993).pdf
Beforehand, I had no idea before World War II there was attempts to create a Jewish state, much less that there was negotiation with the Nazi government as well. I wonder what it took to convince European Jews who objected at first to moving to Palestine who later on chose to move.
I felt that the most important point in the sources was the choice of the Jews to go to Palestine or remain in Europe. The call for unity was one of the driving points for people to move to the traditional homeland, but at what cost to the individuals? I do agree that Zionism was strengthened by the hate of the Nazis and their ideology.
Like Matt, I had no clue that these negotiations to make a Jewish state before World War II were a thing. Especially with the involvement of the Nazi government. The Soviet Union newspaper saw that Hitler was going to be an evil man a day after he was the chancellor. I wonder why there was not more of a sense of urgency by the Jews to get out of the country, since this was potentially a thing before WWII, if they knew Hitler was anti-Semitic.