What to understand first
- Jewish attachment and return long predated modern political Zionism.
- Political Zionism organised in the nineteenth century.
- A growing Jewish society and national institutions existed before Nazi rule.
- The Holocaust transformed urgency, demographics and the refugee crisis.
Zionism existed before Hitler
Pinsker calls for self-emancipation
Jewish political independence is argued for in response to minority vulnerability. 19
Herzl publishes The Jewish State
A diplomatic programme for Jewish sovereignty appears thirty-seven years before Nazi rule. 70
First Zionist Congress
Delegates create an organised international movement. 2
First and Second Aliyah
Immigration waves establish communities and strengthen Hebrew national life. 19
League of Nations Mandate
The international instrument recognises the Jewish historical connection and the national-home project. 10
What the Holocaust changed
- An established movement
Zionism and Jewish institution-building already existed.
- Destruction of European Jewry
Six million Jews were murdered and historic communities destroyed. 28
- Survivors without secure homes
More than 250,000 Jewish displaced persons lived in camps and centres. 65
- Urgency of refuge and sovereignty
The pre-existing Zionist case acquired overwhelming human immediacy.
The movement existed before Hitler
Nation-building was already underway
What the Holocaust changed
Recognition did not invent Jewish nationhood
Sources for this article
- S1Holocaust Survivors and the Establishment of the State of Israel
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Modern Zionism, Herzl, the Holocaust and statehood.
- S2The First Zionist Congress and Basel Program
National Library of Israel. The programme adopted by the First Zionist Congress.
- S19History of Zionism
National Library of Israel. Old Yishuv, First Aliyah and the modern movement.
- S28The Holocaust, 1933–1945
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. Nazi persecution and murder of six million European Jews.
- S65Jewish Displaced Persons
United States Holocaust Memorial Museum. More than 250,000 Jewish displaced persons in Germany, Austria and Italy.
- S70The Jewish State
Theodor Herzl / Jewish Virtual Library transcript. Herzl’s pre-Holocaust case for Jewish political sovereignty.