In his lifetime
Herzl impressed all who met him with his handsome
appearance and dignified bearing. Those who knew his
work admired his capacity for prophetic vision, the
breadth of his political outlook, his organizing
ability, and his utter dedication to the cause that he
held sacred. After his death his stature increased
further in the Jewish world and he became an almost
legendary figure. It took only a few years for the
results of his endeavors to become apparent: the Jews
were recognized as a nation and a new chapter was opened
in their age-old history. Herzl had transformed Zionism
from a weak and insignificant movement into a world
organization and a (col. 419)
political entity that Great Britain was prepared to
accept as the authorized representative of the Jewish
people. This in turn led to the *Balfour Declaration and
eventually to the founding of the State of Israel.
[[Arabs are not mentioned]].
As a thinker, Herzl succeeded in arriving at a clear and
profound analysis of the Jewish problem. In Der Judenstaat and
even more in Altneuland
(his Zionist novel published in October 1902; Old New Land,
trans. into English by Paula Arnold, 1960) he foresaw
future events in the history of the Jewish people. He
called for the use of science and technology in the
development of Erez Israel,
[[to drive the Arabs away]]
for tolerance in all spheres - including the relations
between Jews and Arabs -
[[the Arabs should be the slaves]]
and for the organization of the new society that was to
rise in Erez Israel on a cooperative ("mutualist") basis
[[without any Arab integrated]].
In Altneuland
he gave matchless expression to the yearning of the
Jewish people for its historical homeland. The motto of
the book, "If you will, it is no fairytale", became the
watchword of the entire Zionist Movement.
It does not derogate from his greatness, however, to
mention the shortcomings for which he was criticized by
his contemporaries: that he was a stranger to Jewish
tradition and culture and that he ignored the
significance of the Hebrew language for the renaissance
of the Jewish people. Much about his personality can be
learned from his diaries which were translated into
English by H. Zohn (5 vols., 1960; an abridged vol. ed.
by M. Lowenthal, 1962).
In his last will, Herzl asked to be buried beside his
father's grave in Vienna until such time as the Jewish
people would transfer his remains to Erez Israel. Thus
in Aug. 1949, shortly after the State of Israel was
established, Herzl's remains were reinterred on Mount
Herzl in Jerusalem (as were the remains of his parents
and his sister Pauline) and a Herzl museum (including
his original Vienna study) has been built nearby. The
anniversary of his death, the 20th of Tammuz, was
declared a national memorial day in Israel.
[A.B.]> (col. 420)
[[So the Jews are in an eternal war since 1948 and
Zionist Jews are torn into the trap to fight against
Arab anti-Semitism. And the base problem of
anti-Semitism in the Church was not solved...]].
Herzl's Parents and
Grandparents.
[Father Herzl supports
Zionism of his son Theodor]
JACOB HERZL (1835-1902), Theodor's father, was a highly
successful businessman. Utterly devoted to his son, he
enabled him to develop his many talents and did all in
his power to advance Herzl's plans. He helped him in his
Zionist activities with advice and financial support.
Theodor, in fact, regarded his father as his strongest
source of moral support. Jacob Herzl put at his son's
disposal a large sum that he had saved over many years
of hard work; it was spent in a short period of time to
finance the new and penniless Zionist Movement. At a
later stage, when it became necessary to publish a
Yiddish edition of Die
Welt [["The World"]], the central organ of the
Zionist Movement, Herzl's father allocated another
substantial sum for the purpose. Jacob Herzl was also a
delegate to the Second Zionist Congress.
[Mother Herzl
encouraging Zionism of her son Theodor]
Herzl's mother, JEANETTE (née Diamant), was a handsome
and wise woman. She took pride in her son, but did not
have a successful relationship with her daughter-in-law.
She also encouraged Herzl in the pursuit of his Zionist
work, although she knew that due to his weak heart, her
son would not be able to withstand for long the many
vicissitudes of his hectic life, and she foresaw his
early death.
German was the language that prevailed in Herzl's
parental home in Budapest, although this did not imply
any sense of identification with German national
aspirations. Neither did his parents support the
ambitious Hungarian nationalism, and this may have been
one of the reasons for their move to Vienna. (On the
other hand, Herzl's maternal uncle, Wilhelm *Diamant,
was an adherent of the Hungarian national movement and
served as an officer in the Hungarian Revolutionary
Forces in 1848-49).
[Herzl's grandfathers]
Herzl's grandfathers, both of whom he knew well, had a
much closer attachment to traditional Judaism. His
paternal grandfather, SIMON LEIB HERZL (1805-1879),
lived in Zemlin, and his maternal grandfather, HERMANN
DIAMANT (1805-1871), lived in Budapest. Theodor admired
them both. Two of his paternal grandfather's brothers
and his maternal grandmother's brother rank as unusual
characters, exemplifying complete estrangement and
rejection of Judaism, on the one hand, and utter loyalty
and devotion to (col. 420)
Judaism and Erez Israel, on the other. His grandfather's
brothers, MOSHE and HERSHEL HERZL, converted as adults
to the Serbian Orthodox faith (although their wives and
sons remained Jews). They changed their names to Lafero
Spasoevitch and Costa Petrovich. The family thoroughly
disapproved of their actions and would not let their
names pass their lips.
The exact opposite to these great-uncles was SAMUEL
BILIZ (1796-1885), the brother of Herzl's paternal
grandmother. Biliz was a pre-Herzlian Zionist who began
his Zionist activities in the 1950s and in 1862
conducted negotiations with Chaim *Lorje, a Hovevei Zion
leader in Central Europe. Biliz served as an Austrian
consular official in various Balkan cities and spent
many years in Philippopolis (Plovdiv), Bulgaria. At an
advanced age he settled in Jerusalem.
[P.J.D.]
[[It seems really unthinkable that nobody of the Herzl
family - and Theodor Herzl had a doctorate in law -
could see the big Arab anti-Semitism which would be
caused by a Jewish invasion and a "Jewish State" on the
Mediterranean coast line which is the main connection
between Muslim Middle East and Muslim Africa. Herzl
never gave any right to the Arabs. The eternal war was
foreseeable, and with the oil power the Arabs since the
1920s there was given any power to the Arabs they wanted
and the strategy against anti-Semitism had to be
changed. Many non-Zionists chose other countries without
any war risk, e.g. Argentina, or stayed in Europe where
the Church had to give up anti-Semitism. So human rights
would be good]].
The End of Herzl's
Family.
[Drug addiction -
suicide - concentration camp Theresienstadt - suicide]
The fate of Herzl's family was tragic. His eldest
daughter, Pauline (1890-1930), was an unstable
character. Her marriage broke down; she became a
philanderer and a drug addict and died in a hospital in
Bordeaux, France.
Hans (1891-1930), who was circumcised at the age of 15,
displayed manic depressive features. His interest in
religion led him to several conversions, including
various Christian denominations. Pauline's final illness
brought him to Bordeaux where he shot himself on the day
of her burial.
The younger daughter, Trude (officially Margarethe,
1893-1943), was hospitalized many times. In 1943 the
Nazis sent her to Theresienstadt where she died.
Her son and Herzl's only grandchild, Stephan Theodor
Neumann (1918-1946), grew up in England and changed his
surname to Norman. During World War II he became a
captain in the British army and visited Palestine in
1945 and 1946, on his way to the Far East and back. He
later described in moving words his impressions of the
country and the yishuv
[[Jews settling in Palestine]]. After leaving the army
he became an economic adviser in the British mission in
Washington, D.C., where he committed suicide by jumping
from a bridge int the river.
[ED.]
Encyclopaedia Judaica
