Report by the <orgName ref="http://d-nb.info/gnd/16325953-7">Zionist Chapter <placeName ref="http://vocab.getty.edu/tgn/7012310">Hamburg-Altona</placeName></orgName>, in “<foreign xml:lang="de">Jüdische Rundschau</foreign>” XI (<date when="1906">1906</date>), Vol. 14–15 (<date when="1906-04-06">April 6, 1906</date>), p. 214f. Insa Kummer Institute for the History of the German Jews redaktion@juedische-geschichte-online.net
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The Judaica Collection of the Frankfurt University Library, Compact Memory

jgo:source-202 Bericht der Zionistischen Ortsgruppe Hamburg-Altona jgo:article-259 Vorstand [der Ortsgruppe Hamburg-Altona] BerlinApril 06, 1906Compact Memory Compact Memory http://sammlungen.ub.uni-frankfurt.de/cm/periodical/pageview/2660369 English Source:Text deu

Report by the local chapter Hamburg-Altona

The local chapter has seen a positive development in the past year thanks to the lively activity of its members.

The number of our members has increased from 248 to 277, the number of shekel payers from 279 to 311. The increase in membership would be greater if there were not such a high turnover of younger merchants in Hamburg. We should also point out that immediately after the VII Congress 15 members resigned and that the executive board refrained from holding public propaganda meetings in view of the situation of Zionism and the sad events in Russia since the Congress.

The activity of the board of directors initially consisted in the organization of the following 16 meetings: 1) April 10, 1905 (in the great hall of the Konventgarten): Prof. War- burg: “The Economic Future and Development of Pa- lestine.” Dr. Franz Oppenheimer: “On Cooperative Settlement.” 2) May 4: Extraordinary general meeting (election of the current chairman and treasurer. Discussion of the reading room matter). 3) May 11: Estermann: “The Proclamation of theCentral Committee Committee of the Zionist Association” 4) June 22: Dr. Victor: “The 7th Congress and Its Significance.” (Congress and delegates' day elections). 5) August 24: “Congress report by delegates Gustav G. Cohen and Dr. Kalmus.” 6) September 7: “Congress report by delegates Dr. Franck,Dr. Victor and J. Stiebel.” 7) October 26: Dr. Felix Pinkus: “On the Current Politics of the Jews in Russia.” 8) November 9: Dr. Kalmus: “Report on the Meeting of the German Central CommitteeCommittee of the Zionist Association. 9) November 29: Protest meeting. Dr. Halpern. “The Russian Massacres of Jews.” 10) December 5: Meeting of Foreigners. Speaker: Dr. Felix Pinkus. (Founding of the Jewish People's Association). 11) December 14: Chapter business. (Discussion of internal matters.) 12) January 4, 1906: Dr. Besser: “Judaism and Socialism.” 13) January 18: Dr. Pinkus: “Palestine as Colonial Territory.” 14) February 1: Mrs. L. Tarlau: “Morris Rosenfeld.” 15) February 15: Moritz S. Wolff: “The General Jewish Conference in Brussels.” 16) March 15: M. Goldschmidt: “The Zionist Institutions.”

The regular group meetings were attended by more than 100 people on average. – A free committee, with financial support from the local chapter, also held the following 7 lecture and discussion evenings for young people during the university break:

1) August 18, 1905: candidate of medicine Willy Unna: “Why Did Such Tumultuous Scenes Have to Occur at the7th Congress?” 2) August 25: candidate of law Nathan: “Is There a Jewish Nation?” 3) August 31: candidate of medicine Seligmann: “Professional and employment conditions of the Jews.” 4) September 21: candidate of law Lewin: “The Significance of theBasel Program.” 5) September 27: law student Möller: “Why Can’t I as an Orthodox Jew be a Zionist?” 6) October 12: Heinrich Mayer: “Some Remarks on Antisemitism.” 7) March 14, 1906: candidate of law Nathan: “The Jewish Plight andZionism.”

The Mizrachi group within the local chapter (40 members, chairman: Dr. Franck) called 2 public meetings: 1) June 29, 1905: “The Protest of the Free Association.” 2) March 4, 1906: “Dr. Franck: “Zionism and Law- Abiding Jewry.”

During the year under review, the female members of the local chapter also joined together to form a women's association, which has 75 members and met once or twice a month. (Chairwoman: Mrs. H. Huldschiner.) The women's group earned special merit by organizing a successful Maccabees celebration attended by 360 children, at which Miss Veilchenfeld gave the ceremonial speech. At last, at the instigation of local Zionists, a Jewish people's association came into being in December, which, on a national basis, organizes foreigners without regard to political orientation. (Chairman: initially Dr. Pinkus, now Dr. Victor). The Jewish people's association holds its weekly meetings on Saturday evening in Bährs Restaurant, Alter Steinweg. – We refrained from holding entertainments due to the national disaster in RussiaPogroms around 1906 in Bialystok and Siedlce. Meanwhile numerous Zionists meet every Saturday evening at Café Ott to socialize.

20 meetings of the local chapter’s executive committee took place. By decision of a general meeting, the board of directors approached the Henry Jones Lodge U. O. B. B. with the request to rebuild the Jewish reading room in cooperation with other associations. The committee formed by representatives of the associations involved (Mr. Estermann was the Zionist representative) held two meetings, but these did not produce any practical results, so that unfortunately the untenable condition of a reading hall in Hamburg that is completely inadequate and only exists in name, continues. The local chapter plans to establish a reading hall in the center of the city with its own means, albeit initially only on a modest scale.

The number of documents received by the Board was 155 and the number of outgoing documents 109:

According to our balance sheet, the budget is as follows:

Revenue:In cash per end of March 1905 519.1. Mk. MarkGerman currency in this period " arrears of membership fees per 1904/05 for local group ... . . . 85,- Mk. " national contribution . . . 25,- "" ShekelJewish coin . . . . . . . 58,- „ 168,- „ _____________ In membership fees per 1905/06 for local group ... . . . 854,- Mk. " state contribution . . 247,- " " Shekel ... . . . . 278,- „ 1379,- „ _____________ In donations and collections for the local chapter donations to various institutions 130.94 Mk. collections to the account and at the meetings. . . . . . 56,37 " Purim celebration, surplus . . 35,- "Lectures, ticket sales . . 70,80 „ 293,11 „ _____________ In donations and collections for the national fund various collections. . . . . . . 353.38 Mk.Rosch Haschanah redemption . . 121,05 "Collection boxes account total . . 456,48 " 930,91 "" Olive tree OelbaumspendenFinancial donation to the Jewish National Fund in order to pay for the planting of olive trees in Palestine (today a registered association in Germany) donations 114,05 "" Self-defense account receipts 2486,10 "" publicationsaccount for brochures sold 41,80 " _____________ 5932,12 Mark Expenses: Paid by national contribution . . . . . 223,- Mk. " Shekel paid . . . . . . . . . 304,- " " National Fund . . . . . . 328.36 " " National collection boxes . . 319.- " " OelbaumspendenFinancial donation to the Jewish National Fund in order to pay for the planting of olive trees in Palestine (today a registered association in Germany) Donation . . . 108.05 " " Expenses for National Fund . 30,65 Mk for lectures . . . 446.81" for printing, postage, collection, rent Lo- genheim (260 Mk.) 716.36 " 1193.82 " _____________ " Self-defense paid. . . . . . 2339,83 " " Self-defense various expenses . . . . . 146,27 " " Publications account. paid to “Jüdische Rundschau” [Jewish Review] 52.30 " " Savings bank account balancefor National Fund . . . . . . .160.07 Mark for local chapter . . . . . . 94,15 „ 254,22 „ _____________ " Cash balance per end of March 06 663.27 Mk _____________ 5932,12 Mark I audited the cash register today and found it to be in accordance with the receipts and books

Hamburg, March 13, 1906.

Martin Behrend, Auditor.

We would like to point out that the statement of account only contains those donations that have reached Berlin via our treasurer. Meanwhile, according to the statement in the “Jüdische Rundschau” [Jewish Review] we have raised the following amounts in Hamburg-Altona: for the National Fund: 1416.32 Mk (previous year 811.82 Mk) for OelbaumspendenFinancial donation to the Jewish National Fund in order to pay for the planting of olive trees in Palestine (today a registered association in Germany): 432,- " (previous year 360,- ")for self-defense: 2691,- "

The National Fund Commission, (Chairman Dr. med. Marcus), paid special attention to the distribution of National Fund telegrams, and it recently established 6 sales outlets, which are advertised on the invitation cards and through newspaper advertisements. As a result of the more active distribution of the telegrams, a turnover of 4500 National Fund stamps was achieved in Hamburg in the past year. We are convinced that this institution can be further developed and are in the process of setting up a telegram propaganda center for Germany in Hamburg at the instigation of the Central Bureau. The local collection point for materials is managed by Miss Lübke (first proceeds in the past year approx. 100 Mk.), the distribution of Share stamps is handled by Heinrich Mayer (turnover 518 stamps), the agitation commission is headed by L. M. Michael, the distribution of pamphlets and books, and the “Rundschau” [Review] and “Welt” [World] propaganda is managed by Josef Goldschmidt.

Since October, the German Share Club headquarters has been located in Hamburg and is achieving encouraging results under the management of Moritz Goldschmidt.

The local chapter was represented at the congress by Gustav G. Cohen and Dr. Kalmus, at the Brussels conference by Moritz S. Wolff.

Personal details: To our regret, the generally esteemed former treasurer S. N. Margulies, who moved to New York, left us at the beginning of the business year: in recognition of his services, the local group appointed him an honorary member. The departure of the tirelessly active Dr. Pinkus also deprived us of a valuable member of our agitation force. We have suffered a bitter loss through the untimely death of our dear member, trainee lawyer Dr. Hertz.

The previous two chairmen, Dr. Franck and Eduard Levinson, who unfortunately declined to be re-elected before the beginning of this fiscal year, were honored by the local group with entries in the Golden Book. –

Even if the number of Zionists in Hamburg-Altona is still small in relation to the Jewish population, the development of the local chapter and the eagerness of its members thus far justifies our hope for the future that the Zionist idea will also take hold of ever wider circles in our country.

The executive committee: Gustav G. Cohen. Honorary President.. Dr. Kalmus. L. Estermann. Dr. Victor. Dr. Besser. I. Chair. II. Chair. I. Secretary. II. Secretary.. Sam. Cohen, Treasurer. Dr. Huldschiner. Dr. Halpern.