That Date In 1897 When...
...Theodor Herzl convened the first World Zionist Congress in Switzerland, with 200 delegates from 16 different countries. Herzl would later note in his diary: “At Basel, I founded the Jewish State.”
THAT DATE WHEN: This Week in Jewish History
At the beginning of each week, JEWDICIOUS presents our readers with a select set of consequential dates in Jewish history. This feature is a joint venture with our Substack partner, DUST AND STARS, where you can subscribe to receive access to all landmark dates!
🔯 Monday, August 26/Av 22:
1827 - Czar Nicholas I of Russia issued the Cantonist Decrees. Jewish communities had to supply four "recruits" per every 1,000 people, who were forcibly conscripted at age 18 for 25 years. By the time the decree ended in 1856, over 60,000 Jews were torn away from their families, half of whom converted to Christianity.
🔯 Tuesday, August 27/Av 23:
1945 - The 1,310 surviving Jewish refugees that successfully fled Europe, but were forcibly transferred to Mauritius by the British government, were allowed into Israel after almost five years of detainment.
🔯 Wednesday, Aug 28/Av 24:
1903 - The Protocols of the Elders of Zion, a fabricated antisemitic text purporting to describe a Jewish plan for global domination. It was first published in serialized form, from August 28 to September 7, in Zmaya, a Saint Petersburg daily newspaper. Despite having been exposed as fraudulent, it has been translated into multiple languages, and disseminated internationally in the early part of the 20th century.
Henry Ford funded the printing of 500,000 copies that were distributed throughout the United States in the 1920s. Described as "probably the most influential work of antisemitism ever written," to this day it remains widely available in numerous languages, in print, on the Internet, and continues to be presented by neofascist, fundamentalist and antisemitic groups as a genuine document.
🔯 Thursday, August 29/Av 25:
1897 - The World Zionist Organization was founded at the first World Zionist Congress, which opened in Basel, Switzerland with 200 delegates from 16 different countries. Theodor Herzl, who financed it himself, noted in his diary: “At Basel I founded the Jewish State.”
🔯 Friday, August 30/AV 25:
1966 - The current Knesset building designed by Ossip Klarwein was dedicated in Givat Ram, Jerusalem. Prior to that, for the 1st through 5th sessions, the Knesset convened in the Froumine Building on King George Street in Jerusalem.
🔯 Saturday, August 31/Av 27:
1945 - Birthday of Itzhak Perlman, Grammy-winning violin soloist and Klezmer musician. Described by many as the greatest virtuoso violinist of all time, Perlman has performed all over the world. In 1993, Steven Spielberg enlisted him to play on the Oscar-winning original score for Schindler’s List.
🔯 Sunday, September 1/Av 28:
1938 - The fascist dictator Benito Mussolini canceled the civil rights of Italian Jews. Soon afterwards, the Leggi razziali (Racial Laws were introduced. Among other restrictions, Jews were no longer allowed to marry non-Jews, serve in the armed forces or employ non-Jews. The Leggi razziali also canceled Jews’ rights to public education. Jewish livelihoods, and entire families, were wiped out as a result.
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