ZIONIST MOVEMENT IN GERMANY (Zionistische Vereinigung fuer Deutschland)
Never a mass movement, Zionism became a major force among Jews in Germany after 1933. The Zionistische Vereinigung fuer Deutschland (German Zionist Federation; ZVfD) was founded in October 1897.
The Nazi Attitude toward the Zionists
After 1933, Nazi determination to remove the Jewish community in Germany, coupled with the traditional Zionist rejection of emancipation as the solution to the Jewish question and Zionist promotion of Jewish immigration to Palestine, created a role for the ZVfD in Nazi Jewish policy. The nature of that role was exploitative rather than collaborative. The regime encouraged the ZVfD to promote Zionism and to organise Jewish emigration. In reaction to the Nazi seizure of power, the Jewish public turned to Zionism as an avenue of escape. Robert Weltsch, editor of the Zionist newspaper, became a major Jewish spokesman whose articles encouraged the persecuted Jews. In 1933, hundreds of Jews crowded the Palaestina-Amt (Palestine Office) of the ZVfD seeking immigration certificates to Palestine. Unfortunately, the office did not have a sufficient number of certificates for people without capital who wished to enter Palestine. The Ha'avara Agreement, however, enabled Jews planning to immigrate to Palestine to take a certain portion of their assets in the form of German exports. German Zionists were permitted to send representatives to the Zionist Congresses in 1933 (Prague), 1935 (Lucerne), and 1937 (Zurich). At least until the end of 1935, German authorities facilitated the entry into Germany of Zionist officials from abroad to assist in preparing Jews for immigration to Palestine.
Zionist Youth Movements
Under Nazi rule, the Zionist Youth Movements of Germany played a significant role. They became the driving force in the organisation of Youth Aliyah and in the pioneer organisation He-Halutz, which prepared youth vocationally and socially for their future life in the kibbutzim. In addition, the Zionist movement fostered the wide network of general vocational training. The Nazis encouraged these endeavours, and from 1938-1941 the SS even supported the organisation of the so-called illegal immigration of Jews from the Reich to Palestine.
The Anti-German Boycott versus the Ha'avara Agreement
From 1933-1937, during the tenure of Siegfried Moses, the ZVfD was forced to continue its work under the most unfavourable conditions. German Zionists were coerced into denying to the outside world that Jews were being mistreated. With difficulty, they persuaded most Zionists outside of Germany to reject the anti-German boycott, and embrace the Ha'avara Agreement. Most difficult was the task of preparing Jews for emigration to Palestine in an environment of intimidation and growing deprivation. Promoting Jewish Consciousness and Emigration. The ZVfD sought to persuade the Nazis that Zionist efforts to promote Jewish national consciousness and emigration to Palestine were in Germany's interest, and that these efforts required the protection of the civil rights and economic livelihood of the Jewish community. For the most part, the Nazis incorporated the Zionist goal, but not the desired means, into their policies. The ZVfD worked closely with non-Zionists in the Reichsvertretung, especially in the areas of cultural and educational work.
The Dissolution of the ZVfD
In 1938 after Kristallnacht, the remaining Jewish organisations, including the ZVfD, were dissolved. The Palaestina-Amt continued to function through 1941, until the beginning of the deportations to the East.
