Three girls welcoming the delegates of the 19th Zionist Congress at the train station in Basel, Switzerland, 1935
Photo: Herbert Sonnenfeld
(The Oster Visual Documentation Center, Beit Hatfutsot, Sonnenfeld collection)
Theodor Binyamin Zeev Herzl (1860-1904), journalist and founder of Political Zionism and of the World Zionist Organization, born on May 2, 1860, in Budapest, Hungary, Austrian Empire (now in Hungary), into a middle class Jewish family. Herzl attended a scientific oriented German language school, but because of local anti-Semitism, moved in 1875 to another school that was attended mostly by Jews. The family moved to Vienna, Austria, then the capital city of Austria-Hungary, where Herzl attended the university gaining a doctorate in law, in 1884. He worked for short periods in Vienna and Salzburg, but abandoned a career in law practice and dedicated himself to writing, especially plays; some of them enjoyed a fair amount of success. In 1889, Herzl married Julie Naschauer, daughter of a well-to-do Jewish businessman.
Having been appointed the Paris correspondent of the "Neue Freie Presse", a leading liberal Viennese newspaper, Herzl arrived in Paris, along with his wife in the fall of 1891, only to discover that France was haunted by the same anti-Semitism that he encountered in Austria. While in Paris, Herzl became preoccupied by politics. The Dreyfus affair convinced him that there should be only one solution to the Jewish question: mass emigration of Jews from Europe and the establishment of a Jewish homeland, preferably in the Land of Israel. His thoughts and ideas crystallized in an essay that initially he intended to send to the Rothschilds, but he published his proposals in 1896 as Der Judenstaat ("The Jewish State"), a book that changed the course of the Jewish history. Herzl's ideas were received warmly especially in Eastern Europe countries where masses of persecuted Jews were eager to find a way out of the situation. The Hovevei Zion ("Lovers of Zion") movement called on Herzl to assume the leadership of the movement.
In 1897, the First Zionist Congress convened in Basel, Switzerland, and the Zionist movement was established. Herzl was chosen as life president of the World Zionist Organization. He also founded Die Welt, a Zionist weekly. Altneuland ("Old New Country"), Herzl's second book, a visionary novel describing the life in the future Jewish State to be established in the Land of Israel, was published in 1902. During the following years, Herzl traveled extensively throughout Europe and the Middle East and conducted a long series of political meetings with prominent European leaders of the time trying to enlist them to the Zionist cause. He sought the support of the German Emperor, the King of Italy, and the Pope, tried to persuade the Sultan of Turkey to allow Jewish autonomy in the Land of Israel, and met the Russian ministry with the aim of convincing him to stop the violence against the Jews of Russia. The most sympathetic offer of support came from Great Britain. However, the
Fourth Zionist Congress of 1903 rejected a British proposal calling for the establishment of a Jewish autonomy in East Africa that Herzl inclined to accept as a provisional refuge for the Jewish population of Eastern Europe. A year later, his heart condition aggravated and shortly afterwards, he died of pneumonia in a sanatorium in Edlach, Austria, on July 3, 1904 (20 Tammuz). Herzl was buried in Vienna and his funeral were attended by large crowds of bereaved Jews from all over Europe. In August 1949, in accordance to his will, the newly established State of Israel re-interred his remains in Jerusalem, on Mount Herzl, which was named in his honor, and 20 Tammuz has been declared a national memorial day in Israel.
Preciado (Yakir Yitzhak) Bakish (Bakich or Baquiche) (1828-1910), rabbi and Zionist, Chief Rabbi of Bulgaria, born in Sofia, Bulgaria. He served as av beit din and twice as Chief Rabbi of Bulgaria from 1885 to 1889, and again from 1895 to 1900. An enthusiast Zionist, he was one of the four delegates from Bulgaria who participated at the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897. His Zionist activity was met with strong opposition in Bulgaria and eventually he was forced to resign his position of chief rabbi. He immigrated to the Land of Israel and died in Jerusalem.
Switzerland
Country situated in central Europe.
21st Century
Jewish life in Switzerland is represented by traditional, ultra-orthodox, sephardic and reform communities.
Their activities include synagogues, Jewish communities, kindergartens, schools, youth movements, kosher shops and cultural events. There are several Jewish cemeteries in various regions. The oldest is situated between Endingen and Lengnau, villages where Jews were allowed to live towards the end of the 18th century.
Jewish communities and organizations are united in the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities founded in 1904. The Swiss Federation founded the World Jewish Congress in 1936. Jews were represented in the clock, textile, they were also prominent in the establishement of department stores such as Nordmann and in the cattle trade. The country’s first woman president, Ruth Dreifuss (1999-2000) was Jewish.
The First Zionist Congress (1897) held in the Stadt Casino Basel is commemorated with a bronze plaque on the side of the concert hall stage. The long time yearning for a return to the ancestral home became increasingly concrete in the 19th century and the First Zionist Congress with Theodor Herzl at its helm was transformative in this quest of establishing a modern state and make the desert bloom. Besides being home to the 1897 Basel Congress, this city also houses a Jewish museum.
Switzerland had a Jewish population of around 18,000 in the late 2010s with the largest communities in Zurich, Geneva and Basel.
Prominent Figures
The most prominent figure to have lived in Switzerland is Albert Einstein. Raised in Switzerland he studied at the Federal Polytechnic Academy in Zurich. He served as examiner at the country’s patent office. Other notables were the violinist Yehudi Menuhin, composer Ernest Bloch, poet Elias Canetti and author Albert Cohen. Also the originally German economist and social revolutionary with Polish roots, Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919) [ˈʁoːza ˈlʊksəmbʊʁk] lived in Switzerland. She gained her PhD at the University of Zurich.
History
First Jews probably arrived in the area nowadays called Switzerland along with the Romans. One location where Jews settled in the 3rd century AD was in the Roman town of Augusta Raurica close to Basel.
The Swiss state was formally established in 1291, the Confoederatio Helevetica. With Ashkenazi settlement on Swiss land in the 12th and 13th centuries, the Jewish population in the area increased though by the mid-14th century the communities were still quite small. Some communities had cemeteries at the time. Jews were subjected to discriminatory laws in the Middle Age.
In the second half of the 16th century there was Jewish settlement in the area of the canton of Basel respectively southern Alsace and possibly in the Bodensee area. Jewish rural communities started to flourish in the 17th century on the Swiss border in the areas of western Alsace, Rhine valley, canton Basel and Hohenems and were occupied in cattle trade and peddling. They were however expelled at the end of the century beginning of the 18th century.
Jews were allowed to live in the villages Lengnau and Endingen in the canton of Aargau in 1776. This rule lasted for nearly 100 years. In the mid-18th century synagogues were consecrated. In the 70s Jews also settled in Neuchatel and in the area of Geneva. France and other countries started to develop an interest in securing the rights of the Jewish population and emancipation of the Jewish population started. With ongoing pressure from outside of Switzerland, Jews were permitted to settle in other locations of the country by 1866. They were gradually given civil rights and duties as per the Swiss federal constitution, however, there remained restrictions on professions. At the time there were around 553 Jews living in Switzerland.
In the late 19th early 20th century, Jews immigrated from Alsace, Germany and East Europe and Jewish life in Switzerland was blooming. The First Zionist Congress was held in the canton of Basel in 1897.
The Holocaust Period
Following World War I, antisemitism started to rise in Switzerland. After 1933 Jewish refugees were no longer permitted entry in spite of protest actions by politicians, church and citizens. With the annexation of Austria by Germany in March 1938, there was a wave of Jewish refugees attempting to enter Switzerland. Austrian and German Jews’ passports were marked with a J which enabled barring their entry.
During World War II the country was spared from Nazi occupation. Overall local Jews were protected by the country’s neutrality and 25,000 Jews were given protection by Switzerland.
Postwar
The following decades tolerance began to spread and Jews became well integrated into Swiss society. In the early post-war decades, Jews of Sephardi origin from North Africa settled down in the Geneva and Lausanne areas.
Jewish communities took care of Hungarian and Egyptian Jewish refugees fleeing after the Hungarian Uprising and Suez War of 1956, and Czechoslovak Jews fleeing after August 1968.
Switzerland
Country situated in central Europe.
21st Century
Jewish life in Switzerland is represented by traditional, ultra-orthodox, sephardic and reform communities.
Their activities include synagogues, Jewish communities, kindergartens, schools, youth movements, kosher shops and cultural events. There are several Jewish cemeteries in various regions. The oldest is situated between Endingen and Lengnau, villages where Jews were allowed to live towards the end of the 18th century.
Jewish communities and organizations are united in the Swiss Federation of Jewish Communities founded in 1904. The Swiss Federation founded the World Jewish Congress in 1936. Jews were represented in the clock, textile, they were also prominent in the establishement of department stores such as Nordmann and in the cattle trade. The country’s first woman president, Ruth Dreifuss (1999-2000) was Jewish.
The First Zionist Congress (1897) held in the Stadt Casino Basel is commemorated with a bronze plaque on the side of the concert hall stage. The long time yearning for a return to the ancestral home became increasingly concrete in the 19th century and the First Zionist Congress with Theodor Herzl at its helm was transformative in this quest of establishing a modern state and make the desert bloom. Besides being home to the 1897 Basel Congress, this city also houses a Jewish museum.
Switzerland had a Jewish population of around 18,000 in the late 2010s with the largest communities in Zurich, Geneva and Basel.
Prominent Figures
The most prominent figure to have lived in Switzerland is Albert Einstein. Raised in Switzerland he studied at the Federal Polytechnic Academy in Zurich. He served as examiner at the country’s patent office. Other notables were the violinist Yehudi Menuhin, composer Ernest Bloch, poet Elias Canetti and author Albert Cohen. Also the originally German economist and social revolutionary with Polish roots, Rosa Luxemburg (1871-1919) [ˈʁoːza ˈlʊksəmbʊʁk] lived in Switzerland. She gained her PhD at the University of Zurich.
History
First Jews probably arrived in the area nowadays called Switzerland along with the Romans. One location where Jews settled in the 3rd century AD was in the Roman town of Augusta Raurica close to Basel.
The Swiss state was formally established in 1291, the Confoederatio Helevetica. With Ashkenazi settlement on Swiss land in the 12th and 13th centuries, the Jewish population in the area increased though by the mid-14th century the communities were still quite small. Some communities had cemeteries at the time. Jews were subjected to discriminatory laws in the Middle Age.
In the second half of the 16th century there was Jewish settlement in the area of the canton of Basel respectively southern Alsace and possibly in the Bodensee area. Jewish rural communities started to flourish in the 17th century on the Swiss border in the areas of western Alsace, Rhine valley, canton Basel and Hohenems and were occupied in cattle trade and peddling. They were however expelled at the end of the century beginning of the 18th century.
Jews were allowed to live in the villages Lengnau and Endingen in the canton of Aargau in 1776. This rule lasted for nearly 100 years. In the mid-18th century synagogues were consecrated. In the 70s Jews also settled in Neuchatel and in the area of Geneva. France and other countries started to develop an interest in securing the rights of the Jewish population and emancipation of the Jewish population started. With ongoing pressure from outside of Switzerland, Jews were permitted to settle in other locations of the country by 1866. They were gradually given civil rights and duties as per the Swiss federal constitution, however, there remained restrictions on professions. At the time there were around 553 Jews living in Switzerland.
In the late 19th early 20th century, Jews immigrated from Alsace, Germany and East Europe and Jewish life in Switzerland was blooming. The First Zionist Congress was held in the canton of Basel in 1897.
The Holocaust Period
Following World War I, antisemitism started to rise in Switzerland. After 1933 Jewish refugees were no longer permitted entry in spite of protest actions by politicians, church and citizens. With the annexation of Austria by Germany in March 1938, there was a wave of Jewish refugees attempting to enter Switzerland. Austrian and German Jews’ passports were marked with a J which enabled barring their entry.
During World War II the country was spared from Nazi occupation. Overall local Jews were protected by the country’s neutrality and 25,000 Jews were given protection by Switzerland.
Postwar
The following decades tolerance began to spread and Jews became well integrated into Swiss society. In the early post-war decades, Jews of Sephardi origin from North Africa settled down in the Geneva and Lausanne areas.
Jewish communities took care of Hungarian and Egyptian Jewish refugees fleeing after the Hungarian Uprising and Suez War of 1956, and Czechoslovak Jews fleeing after August 1968.
Preciado (Yakir Yitzhak) Bakish (Bakich or Baquiche) (1828-1910), rabbi and Zionist, Chief Rabbi of Bulgaria, born in Sofia, Bulgaria. He served as av beit din and twice as Chief Rabbi of Bulgaria from 1885 to 1889, and again from 1895 to 1900. An enthusiast Zionist, he was one of the four delegates from Bulgaria who participated at the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, in 1897. His Zionist activity was met with strong opposition in Bulgaria and eventually he was forced to resign his position of chief rabbi. He immigrated to the Land of Israel and died in Jerusalem.
Theodor Binyamin Zeev Herzl (1860-1904), journalist and founder of Political Zionism and of the World Zionist Organization, born on May 2, 1860, in Budapest, Hungary, Austrian Empire (now in Hungary), into a middle class Jewish family. Herzl attended a scientific oriented German language school, but because of local anti-Semitism, moved in 1875 to another school that was attended mostly by Jews. The family moved to Vienna, Austria, then the capital city of Austria-Hungary, where Herzl attended the university gaining a doctorate in law, in 1884. He worked for short periods in Vienna and Salzburg, but abandoned a career in law practice and dedicated himself to writing, especially plays; some of them enjoyed a fair amount of success. In 1889, Herzl married Julie Naschauer, daughter of a well-to-do Jewish businessman.
Having been appointed the Paris correspondent of the "Neue Freie Presse", a leading liberal Viennese newspaper, Herzl arrived in Paris, along with his wife in the fall of 1891, only to discover that France was haunted by the same anti-Semitism that he encountered in Austria. While in Paris, Herzl became preoccupied by politics. The Dreyfus affair convinced him that there should be only one solution to the Jewish question: mass emigration of Jews from Europe and the establishment of a Jewish homeland, preferably in the Land of Israel. His thoughts and ideas crystallized in an essay that initially he intended to send to the Rothschilds, but he published his proposals in 1896 as Der Judenstaat ("The Jewish State"), a book that changed the course of the Jewish history. Herzl's ideas were received warmly especially in Eastern Europe countries where masses of persecuted Jews were eager to find a way out of the situation. The Hovevei Zion ("Lovers of Zion") movement called on Herzl to assume the leadership of the movement.
In 1897, the First Zionist Congress convened in Basel, Switzerland, and the Zionist movement was established. Herzl was chosen as life president of the World Zionist Organization. He also founded Die Welt, a Zionist weekly. Altneuland ("Old New Country"), Herzl's second book, a visionary novel describing the life in the future Jewish State to be established in the Land of Israel, was published in 1902. During the following years, Herzl traveled extensively throughout Europe and the Middle East and conducted a long series of political meetings with prominent European leaders of the time trying to enlist them to the Zionist cause. He sought the support of the German Emperor, the King of Italy, and the Pope, tried to persuade the Sultan of Turkey to allow Jewish autonomy in the Land of Israel, and met the Russian ministry with the aim of convincing him to stop the violence against the Jews of Russia. The most sympathetic offer of support came from Great Britain. However, the
Fourth Zionist Congress of 1903 rejected a British proposal calling for the establishment of a Jewish autonomy in East Africa that Herzl inclined to accept as a provisional refuge for the Jewish population of Eastern Europe. A year later, his heart condition aggravated and shortly afterwards, he died of pneumonia in a sanatorium in Edlach, Austria, on July 3, 1904 (20 Tammuz). Herzl was buried in Vienna and his funeral were attended by large crowds of bereaved Jews from all over Europe. In August 1949, in accordance to his will, the newly established State of Israel re-interred his remains in Jerusalem, on Mount Herzl, which was named in his honor, and 20 Tammuz has been declared a national memorial day in Israel.
Theodor Binyamin Zeev Herzl (1860-1904), journalist and founder of Political Zionism and of the World Zionist Organization, born on May 2, 1860, in Budapest, Hungary, Austrian Empire (now in Hungary), into a middle class Jewish family. Herzl attended a scientific oriented German language school, but because of local anti-Semitism, moved in 1875 to another school that was attended mostly by Jews. The family moved to Vienna, Austria, then the capital city of Austria-Hungary, where Herzl attended the university gaining a doctorate in law, in 1884. He worked for short periods in Vienna and Salzburg, but abandoned a career in law practice and dedicated himself to writing, especially plays; some of them enjoyed a fair amount of success. In 1889, Herzl married Julie Naschauer, daughter of a well-to-do Jewish businessman.
Having been appointed the Paris correspondent of the "Neue Freie Presse", a leading liberal Viennese newspaper, Herzl arrived in Paris, along with his wife in the fall of 1891, only to discover that France was haunted by the same anti-Semitism that he encountered in Austria. While in Paris, Herzl became preoccupied by politics. The Dreyfus affair convinced him that there should be only one solution to the Jewish question: mass emigration of Jews from Europe and the establishment of a Jewish homeland, preferably in the Land of Israel. His thoughts and ideas crystallized in an essay that initially he intended to send to the Rothschilds, but he published his proposals in 1896 as Der Judenstaat ("The Jewish State"), a book that changed the course of the Jewish history. Herzl's ideas were received warmly especially in Eastern Europe countries where masses of persecuted Jews were eager to find a way out of the situation. The Hovevei Zion ("Lovers of Zion") movement called on Herzl to assume the leadership of the movement.
In 1897, the First Zionist Congress convened in Basel, Switzerland, and the Zionist movement was established. Herzl was chosen as life president of the World Zionist Organization. He also founded Die Welt, a Zionist weekly. Altneuland ("Old New Country"), Herzl's second book, a visionary novel describing the life in the future Jewish State to be established in the Land of Israel, was published in 1902. During the following years, Herzl traveled extensively throughout Europe and the Middle East and conducted a long series of political meetings with prominent European leaders of the time trying to enlist them to the Zionist cause. He sought the support of the German Emperor, the King of Italy, and the Pope, tried to persuade the Sultan of Turkey to allow Jewish autonomy in the Land of Israel, and met the Russian ministry with the aim of convincing him to stop the violence against the Jews of Russia. The most sympathetic offer of support came from Great Britain. However, the
Fourth Zionist Congress of 1903 rejected a British proposal calling for the establishment of a Jewish autonomy in East Africa that Herzl inclined to accept as a provisional refuge for the Jewish population of Eastern Europe. A year later, his heart condition aggravated and shortly afterwards, he died of pneumonia in a sanatorium in Edlach, Austria, on July 3, 1904 (20 Tammuz). Herzl was buried in Vienna and his funeral were attended by large crowds of bereaved Jews from all over Europe. In August 1949, in accordance to his will, the newly established State of Israel re-interred his remains in Jerusalem, on Mount Herzl, which was named in his honor, and 20 Tammuz has been declared a national memorial day in Israel.
Three girls welcoming the delegates of the 19th Zionist Congress at the train station in Basel, Switzerland, 1935
Photo: Herbert Sonnenfeld
(The Oster Visual Documentation Center, Beit Hatfutsot, Sonnenfeld collection)
Jewish refugees in the "Summer Casino", Basel, Switzerland, 1930's
(From the Beit Hatfutsot Photo Exhibition: "The History of the Jewish Community in Basel", 1982)