Originally published in an abridged format, 1922 to 1923, titled "Theodor Herzls tagebücher, 1895-1904", Volume 1 (of 3) at [archive.org/details/theodorherzlsta00herzgoog].
According to "Journalistic stories: Feuilletons" by Theodor Herzl (edited and translated from the original German into English by Henry Regensteiner, published 2002, ISBN: 0845348825), page 26,
"Tagebucher [Diaries]. 3 vols. (Berlin: Judischer Verlag, 1922/23). They have been translated into English as The Complete Diaries of Theodor Herzl, 5 vols., trans, by Harry Zohn (New York: Thomas Yoseloff, 1960)".* "Theodor Herzl: Artist and Politician: A Biography of the Father of Modern Israel" by Desmond Stewart (published 1974, 1981. ISBN: 0241024471)
[Page 192] Herzl seems to have foreseen that in going further than any colonialist had so far gone in Africa, he would, temporarily, alienate civilised opinion. "At first, incidentally," he writes on the pages describing "involuntary expropriation," "people will avoid us. We are in bad odor. By the time the reshaping of world opinion in our favor has been completed, we shall be firmly established in our country, no longer fearing the influx of foreigners, and receiving our visitors with aristocratic benevolence and proud amiability." This was not a prospect to charm a peon in Argentina or a fellah in Palestine. But Herzl did not intend his Diary for immediate publication.
===*===*=== [Begin Book Excerpts] ===*===*===
Also see:
* THEODOR HERZL: Audience with Pope Pius X (1904) [archive.is/lcVUs]
Preface -. . . of Vienna, the shrewd Oriental expert, Arminius Vambery, and the hardheaded scions of the Rothschild dynasty. Therefore it is recommended that these Diaries be read together with at least one biography of Herzl, several of which are now available in English.
Prior to the present edition, less than one third of the text of the Diaries was published in English. Even the German edition, printed in the early 1920s in Berlin, did not contain the entire text. Hundred of passages, a number covering several pages, were omitted because of political or personal considerations. Today, more than half a century after the last entry was made, it is felt that everything contained in the original manuscript of Herzl's Diaries belongs to history and not only can, but should, be made public. Thus the present dition - published at the initiative of Dr. Emanuel Newmann, President of the Theodor Herzl Foundation Inc. - contains for the fist time every word Herzl entered in the eighteen copy-books he filled.
[Page 10] how to defend the state in time of war, and we must have been a highly gifted people to have endured two thousand years of carnage without being destroyed. "Now, it was erroneous on the part of the doctrinaire liber-tarians to believe that men can be made equal by publishing an edict in the Imperial Gazette. When we emerged from the ghetto, we were, and for the time being remained, Ghetto Jews. We should have been given time to get accustomed to freedom. But the peoples around us have neither the mag-nanimity nor the patience. They see only the bad and con-spicuous characteristics of a liberated people and have no idea that these released men have been unjustly punished. Added to this is the prevalent Socialist opposition to mobile private capital, the kind with which Jews have been forced to occupy themselves exclusively for centuries past. "But if the Jews turn from money to professions that were previously barred to them, they cause a terrible pressure on the area in which the middle classes earn their living, a pressure under which the Jews actually suffer most of all. "However, anti-Semitism, which is a strong and unconscious force among the masses, will not harm the Jews. I consider it to be a movement useful to the Jewish character. It represents the education of a group by the masses, and will perhaps lead to its being absorbed. Education is accomplished only through hard knocks. A Darwinian mimicry will set in. The Jews will adapt themselves. They are like the seals, which an act of nature cast into the water. These animals assume the appearance and habits of fish, which they certainly are not. Once they return to dry land again and are allowed to remain there for a few generations, they will turn their fins into feet again. "The traces of one kind of pressure can be effaced only by another kind." Speidel said: "This is a universal historical conception." Then I drove out into the falling darkness, in the direction of Baden. As my fiacre sped through the tunnel behind the Cholera[Page 16]
What you have undertaken till now has been as magnanimous as it has been misapplied, as costly as it has been pointless. You have hitherto been only a philanthropist, a Peabody; I want to show you the way to become something more.
In the midst of these preparations Hirsch surprised me with another letter:
London, May 26
Monsieur Herzl, 27 rue Cambon, Paris
I received your letter of the day before yesterday. If you have not already prepared a long report, you can save yourself the trouble. In a few days I shall be in Paris for forty-eight hours, and on next Sunday, June 2, at 10:30 am, you will find me at your disposal at 2, rue de l'Elysee.
Yours very truly, M. de Hirsch.
This letter gave me satisfaction, because I saw that I had judged correctly and had hit him at the locus minoris resistentiae [place of least resistance]. Apparently my statement that he could become more than a Peabody had had an effect on him. Now I began to make notes in earnest, and by the Saturday before Pentecost they had grown into a thick bundle. Then I divided them into three according to their contents: Introduction, Elevation of the Jewish Race, Emigration.
I made a clean copy of them thus arranged. They added up to 22 closely written pages, although I had only used catchwords, aids to my memory during the interview. I always was, and still am, compelled to make allowance for my initial shyness. When dealing with famous or or well-known people here in Paris, I have often made myself ridiculous by my self-consciousness.
Spuller, who is certainly no great light (although he did originate the esprit nouveau), once overawed me to the point of denseness when I called on him during his term as a Minister.
On Whitsunday morning I dressed myself with discreet care. The day before I had purposely broken in a new pair of gloves [Page 18] so that they might still look new but not fresh from the shop. One must not show rich people too much deference.
I drove up to the Rue de L'Elysee. A palace. The grand courtyard, the noble side-stairway (to say nothing of the main staircase) made a strong impression on me. Wealth affects me only in the guise of beauty. And there everything was of genuine beauty. Old pictures, marble, muted gobelins. Donnerwetter! One of our sort never thinks of these corollaries of wealth when he disparages it. Everything had truly great style, and, a bit dazed, I let myself be handed from one attendant to another.
I was scarcely in the billiard-room when Hirsch stepped out of his study, shook hands with me quickly and absently, as though I were an acquaintance, asked me to wait a little while, and disappeared again.
I sat down and examined the exquisite Tanagra figurines in a in a glass case. The Baron, I thought to myself, must have hired someone to be in charge of good taste. Then I heard voices from the adjoining room and recognized that of one of his philanthropic functionaries with whom I had exchanged a few words in Vienna once, and on two occasions here. I did not like the idea of his seeing me here on his way out. Perhaps Hirsch had arranged it that way on purpose. This thought made me smile again, for I was not minded to become at all dependent on him. Either I would bend him to my will or I would leave with my mission unaccomplished. I was even ready with an answer if, during our conversation, he should offer me a position with the Jewish Association: "Enter your service? No. That of the Jews? Yes!"
Then the two officials came out. I shook hands with the one I knew. To the Baron I said: "Can you spare me an hour? If it is not at least an hour, I'd rather not start at all. I need that amount of time merely to indicate how much I have to say." He smiled: "Just go ahead."
[Page 19] I pulled out my notes. "In order to present the matter lucidly I have prepared a few things in advance."
I had hardly spoken five minutes when the telephone rang. I think it was prearranged. I had even meant to tell him in advance that he need not have himself called away on imaginary business, that he had only to say right out whether he was unoccupied. However, he said over the telephone that he was not at home to anybody. By this I knew that I had made an impression on him; he had let his guard down. I developed my plan as follows: "In what I have to say you will find some things too simple and others too fantastic. But men are ruled by the simple and the fantastic. It is astonishing (and common knowledge) with what little intelligence the world is governed. "I by no means set out deliberately to occupy myself with the Jewish question. You too originally did not plan to become a patron of the Jews. You were a banker and made big business deals; you ended up devoting your time and your fortune to the cause of the Jews. Similarly, at the beginning I was a writer and a journalist, with no thought of the Jews. But my experiences and observations, the growing pressure of anti-Semitism compelled me to interest myself in the problem. "All right. So much for my credentials. "I won't go into the history of the Jews, although I intended to start with it. It is well known. There is only one point I must emphasize. Throughout our two thousand years of dispersion, we have been without unified political leadership. I regard this as our chief misfortune. It has done us more harm than all the persecutions. This is why we have inwardly gone to rack and ruin. For there has been no one to train us to become real men, even if only out of imperial selfishness. On the contrary, we were pushed into all the inferior occupations, we were locked up in ghettos where we caused one another's degeneration. And when they let us out, they suddenly expected us to have all the attributes of a people used to freedom.
[Page 21] I said: "Your Argentinian Jews behave in a disorderly fashion, I am told. One item rather shocked me; the house built first was one of—ill repute."Hirsch interjected: "Not true. That house was not built by my colonists."
"Very well. But in any case, the whole thing should not have been started the way you did it. You drag these would-be Jewish farmers overseas. They are bound to believe that they have a right to be supported in the future, too, and the last thing in the world that will be promoted by this is their eagerness to work. Whatever such an exported Jew may cost you, he isn't worth it. And how many specimens can you transport over there any-way? Fifteen to twenty thousand! More Jews than that live on one street in the Leopoldstadt. No, direct means are altogether un-suitable for moving masses of people. You can be effective only through indirect means.
"To attract Jews to rural areas you would have to tell them some fairy-tale about how they may strike gold there. In imagina-tive terms it might be put like this: Whoever plows, sows, and reaps will find gold in every sheaf. After all, it's almost true. The only thing is, the Jews know that it will be a tiny little lump. That is why you would be able to tell them, more rationally: the man who manages best will receive a bonus, one that might be very substantial.
"However, I do not believe that it is possible to settle the Jews in the rural areas of the countries which they now inhabit. The peasants would kill them with their flails. One of the strong-holds of German anti-Semitism is Hesse, where Jews engage in small-scale farming.
"With twenty thousand of your Argentinian Jews you will prove nothing, even if those people do well. But if the experiment fails, you will have furnished a dreadful bit of evidence against the Jews.
"Enough of criticism. What is to be done?
"Whether the Jews stay put or whether they emigrate, the race must first be improved right on the spot. It must be made [Page 22] strong as for war, eager to work, and virtuous. Afterwards, let them emigrate, if necessary.
"To effect this improvement, you can employ your resources better than you have done up to now.
"Instead of buying up the Jews one by one, you could offer huge prizes in the chief anti-Semitic countries for actions d' eclat [striking deeds], for deeds of great moral beauty, for courage, self-sacrifice, ethical conduct, great achievements in art and science, for physicians during epidemics, for military men, for discoverers of remedies and inventors of other products contributing to the public welfare, no matter what, in short, for anything great.
"Such prizes will accomplish two things: the improvement of everyone, and publicity. You see, because the prize-winning feat will be unusual and glorious, it will be talked about everywhere. Thus people will learn that there are good Jews too, and many of them.
"But the first result is more important: a general improvement. The individual annual prize-winners do not really matter; I am more interested in all the others who try to outdo themselves in order to win a prize. In this way the moral level will be raised ... "
At this point he interrupted me impatiently: "No, no, no! I don't want to raise the general level at all. All our misfortune comes from the fact that the Jews want to climb too high. We have too many intellectuals. My intention is to keep the Jews from pushing ahead. They should not make such great strides. All Jew-hatred comes from this. As for my plans in Argentina, you are misinformed on that, too. It is true that in the beginning some dissolute fellows were sent over, and I would just as soon have thrown them into the water. But now I have many decent people there. And it is my intention, if the colony prospers, to charter a fine English vessel, invite a hundred newspaper correspondents (consider yourself already invited) and take them across to Argentina. Of course, it all depends upon the harvests. After a few good years I could show the world that
[Page 25]
Whit-Monday, June 3, 1895
Dear Sir: In order to forestall the esprit de l'escalier, I had made notes before I went to see you.
On returning home I found that I had stopped on page 6, and yet I had 22 pages. Due to your impatience you heard only the beginning; where and how my idea begins to blossom you did not get to hear.
No matter. In the first place, I didn't expect an immediate conversion. Furthermore, my plan certainly does not depend on you alone. True, for the sake of speed I would have liked to use you as an available force and a known quantity. But you would have been only the power I would have started with. There are others.
[Page 27] In France, at my thirty-five years of age, men are Ministers of State and Napoleon was Emperor.
You cut me short with your polite derision. It is still possible to disconcert me in a conversation. I still lack the aplomb which will increase in me with time, because it is necessary to someone who wants to break down opposition, stir the indifferent, comfort the distressed, inspire a craven, demoralized people, and associate with ...
[Page 34] Gigantic assistance par le travail [public works].---
On the transport we work out the passage of the destitute. But they do not get it free. Over there they will pay by working, which is part of their training.
---
Prizes of all kinds for virtues.
---
Tobacco plantations, silk factories.
---
The Wonder Rabbi of Sadagora to be brought over and installed as something like the bishop of a province. In fact, win over the entire clergy. You must convert the algebraic to the numerical. There are people who do not understand that (a + b)2 = a2 + 2ab + b2. For them you must calculate it in familiar terms.
---
I fully realize that the most immediate in my outline is as sound as the most remote. But precisely in the most immediate (which everyone can see) there must be no errors, otherwise people will take the whole thing for a fantasy.
---
Order of procedure:
1. Money-raising (syndicate).
2. Start of publicity (which will cost nothing, for the anti-Semites will rejoice, and I shall break down the liberal opposition by threats of competition).
3. Enrollment of land-seekers.
[Page 36] Read Daniel Deronda. Teweles talks about it. I don't know it yet.
---
To the Family Council. I start with you, because at the be-ginning, until my cadres are set up, I cannot use a grand fracas [big row], and can more safely lead out the life and property of the masses. On the other hand, if I stir up the masses first, I endanger the rich.---
Thus I can proceed more cautiously.
---
I am the man who makes aniline dyes out of refuse. I must use analogies of different kinds, for this thing is something unparalleled.
One can put it simply and say that I am having a pair of boots made.
---
I have been to Hirsch, I am going to Rothschild, as Moltke went from Denmark to Prussia.
---
Let the cowardly, assimilated, baptized Jews remain. We shall benefit even them—they will boast of their kinship with us of which they are now ashamed. We faithful Jews, however, will once again become great. At the same time, if I win over the R's, I do not want to cast off poor Baron Hirsch. I shall give him some vice-presidency (in recognition of his past services, and because he is acquainted with my plan). For the rest, I am not afraid of his divulging my three letters.
[Page 39]
June 7
We shall probably model the Constitution after that of Venice, but profit by her bad experiences by preventing them. If the Rothschilds join with us, the first Doge is to be a Rothschild. I will not and never shall be a Doge, for I wish to secure the state beyond the term of my own life.
[Page 40]
The High Priests will wear impressive robes; our cuirassiers, yellow trousers and white tunics; the officers, silver breastplates.
[Page 41]
As soon as we have fixed the frontiers and concluded a preliminary treaty with the present sovereign, diplomatic negotiations will be undertaken with all the Great Powers for guarantees.
Then, issuance of the Jewish loan.
Rousseau believed that there was such a thing as a contrat social. There is not. In the state there is only a negotiorum gestio.
Thus I conduct the affairs of the Jews without their mandate, but I become responsible to them for what I do.
To the Family Council: For you that is un simple passage d'ecriture [a stroke of the pen].
And yet this safeguarding of your property will yield you the biggest profit you have ever made.
That is why I want the great masses of the Jews to get some of it, whether through a second issue for which only the original subscribers are eligible or through shares for the first takers of land (the latter procedure would be better
[Page 43]
spectacles, colorful processions, etc. -e.g., on the foundation day of the State. Perhaps also on the anniversary of Glion. Baron Hirsch (who will appear as the great rebel immediately after I have made an agreement with the Rothschilds) I must handle with sovereign amiability. Flatter him (all right for me to do, because I no longer need him): "You are a clever and good person; I liked you extremely well from the start; we must reach an understanding. I shall make it up between you and Rothschild. We have to stick together now."
Then, the sursum corda [lift up your hearts]: Responsibility before people and history. Finally, threaten him with fanatics to whom I shall denounce him. This exodus is to the earlier one as the present-day scientific exploration of the Witwatersrand gold fields is to the adventurous exploration of Bret Harte's
[Page 48] undertaking is about to be created, I must be informed of it immediately, so that I may break down the opposition. I shall completely ignore the attacks of anti-Semites, as long as they do not want to impede us (which will happen yet). My personal security will be the concern of a well-run Secret Police.---
It is a military campaign.—
Adopt immediately the principle of the Caravan of Arcueil (La XIX. Caravane d'Arcueil par Lhermite, obtainable from the Dominicans in Paris, Ecole Lacordaire). The Leader (perhaps Bachrach) shall profitably read the book by the Dominican Priest Lhermite and give me a report on it. The very first year we shall send over a caravan (Raoul will go along), and then there will be similar contingents at regular intervals. To establish stock exchanges, brokerages will be auctioned off, for one year to begin with. But anyone who, while he is still a free agent, commits actions which will be proscribed later will be disqualified (and he will be warned about this in advance). On the other hand, anyone who behaves properly will receive priority for the following year without having to bid for it. He can retain his position at the highest price offered for an additional year. This is how it will go until the fifth or the tenth year (we shall determine this according to the circum-stances), and then the auctioning will cease and the brokers will become a closed corporation. Through the grand institution of this stock-exchange monopoly I shall also get an astonished Europe to imitate us. This will crowd the Jews out of the European stock exchanges, because the existing governments certainly will not give these sinecures to Jews. That will yield me fresh emigrants. I shall insure the alertness and justice of the traveling corn-
[Page 51] To the Family Council (June 6): If I can work with you, I shall have all the advantages of initial secrecy. As soon as the first cadres are set up, the land is fixed, etc., I can go to governments and tell them: R's are making this sacrifice (a kind of indirect self-taxation) to remove your surplus Jews. We must use the word "surplus," otherwise they will not let us make propaganda and move away. In the beginning it must appear that we want to perform the governments a service. We are sacrificing a billion for the "solution of the Jewish Question." In return for this we receive the favors that we need: release from military service, and the like. Above all, toleration of our propaganda and occasionally (upon our request) an ungracious word, but with the maintenance of order. After ten years the movement will be irresistible, and the Jews will come running to us barefoot through fog and darkness. Nothing will be able to stop them, at least not in the countries in which they are free to move. If there should then be attempts to impede the free passage of the Jews, we shall know how to mobilize the public opinion of the world (liberals, socialists, anti-Semites) against the imprisonment of the Jews. Then, too, our diplomats will be at work (we shall make financial concessions in the form of loans and special gifts). Once we are outside, we shall put our trust in our army, our purchased friendships, and a Europe weakened and divided by militarism and socialism. This is Jewish emancipation.
[Page 55]
June 9
When this book is published, the prescriptions for the organization of the government will be omitted. The people must be guided to the good according to principles unknown to them.
Therefore the editors of the book (if I am no longer longer alive) shall extract the administrative maxims and keep them in the secret State Archives.
Only the Doge and the Chancellor may read them. To be omitted are also those remarks which could annoy foreign governments. But the course the negotiations took shall be retained, so that our people may see how I led the Jews home.
---
June 9
When someone comes to ask for a job:
Am I going to take you? I take everyone who has some ability and wants to work: your brother, your friends, your relatives and acquaintances, all of them, all, all! Got that? And now, go.
---
June 9
A crop of professional politicans must be prevented in any way possible. I must study this problem with the utmost care when the time comes.
The Senators will in any case get a salary which will at the same time constitute an honorary pension for our great minds.
---
June 9
As stipends for my brave warriors, ambitious artists, and loyal, gifted officials I shall use the dowries of our wealthy girls.
I must carry on marriage politics.
[Page 56] To the big bankers, who will look up to me, I shall say: I should like to see you give your daughters to up-and-coming, vigorous young men. I need this for the State. It is the self-fertilization of the nation. June 9
In Palestine's disfavor is its proximity to Russia and Europe, its lack of room for expansion as well as its climate, which we are no longer accustomed to. In its favor is the mighty legend. In the beginning we shall be supported by anti-Semites through a recrudescence of persecution (for I am convinced that they do not expect success and will want to exploit their "conquest.")
---
June 9
A possible further concession for the removal of property. The states concerned shall acquire the immovable property of the Jews. The price, regardless of what has been paid by us, will be set by a regulatory commission on which we shall also be represented.
---
June 9
Language will present no obstacle. Switzerland too is a federal state of various nationalities. We recognize ourselves as a nation by our faith. Actually, German is, par la force des choses [of necessity], likely to become the official language. Judendeutsch [the German spoken by Jews]! As the yellow badge is to become our blue ribbon! I have nothing against French or English, either! I shall steer [Page 57] the jeunesse doree [gilded youth] toward English sports and in this way prepare them for the army.
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June 9
On the trip to the Grand Prix, outside and on the way back, the main features of the Doge's coronation and of duelling occurred to me.
When I thought that someday I might crown Hans as Doge and address him in the Temple in front of the country's great men as "Your Highness! My beloved son!" I had tears in my eyes.
The procession, which starts from the Doge's palace, will be opened by Herzl Cuirassiers. Then come the artillery and the infantry. The officials of all ministries, deputations from the cities, the clergy, finally the High Priest of the capital city. The flag with a guard of honor composed of generals. The Doge! And here the procession attains its symbolic splendor. For, while all are marching in gold-studded gala dress, the high priests under canopies, the Doge will wear the garb of shame of a medieval Jew, the pointed Jew's hat and the yellow badge! (The procession might move through the Ghetto which will in any case be constructed as a reminder and a memorial.) Behind the Doge there will be the Chancellor, the potentates representing foreign countries, the ministers, generals, etc., the diplomatic corps (provided one already exists), the Council of Ancients (Senate), the Parliament, freely-chosen deputations from the professions, the chambers of commerce, the attorneys, the physicians, etc. The artillery and infantry will bring up the rear.
---
June 9
My punishments for suicide: for an unsuccessful attempt, permanent confinement in an insane asylum; for accomplished suicide, refusal of an honorable burial.
[Page 60]
June 9
Schiff's brother-in-law, after only two weeks, is home-sick for the Vienna coffee-houses. Consequently, I shall faithfully transplant Viennese cafes to the other side. With such little expedients I shall achieve the desired illusion of the old environment.
Have an ear for such small needs. They are very important.
To the Family Council: There are two categories of Jews: those with and those without ...
[Page 65] this is a fantasy. I am not an architect of castles in the air. I am building a real house, with materials that you can see, touch, examine. Here are the blue-prints.Note that the next European war cannot harm our enterprise, but only benefit it, because all Jews will transport all their belongings across, to safety. Cowards will want to shirk military duty in our State if it comes to war. But just as I want to favor desertion to our side in peacetime, I shall impede it in wartime, on account of Jewish honor. Let anyone who has delayed his adherence until then do his old duty and fight, and when the war is over we shall receive him with all honors, much greater ones than his former father-land accorded him. In this way our fighting forces will get experienced warriors who have faced death and will enhance the prestige of our Army.
---
Incidentally, when peace is concluded we shall already have a say as money-givers and achieve advantages of recognition through diplomatic channels.
---
June 10
Draw limits of freedom of the press wisely. The pillory for slanderers, and substantial fines.
---
A House of Lords for the aristocracy, but not inheritable. First there must be an examination as to merit. I must give more thought to ways of guarding against the absurd heirs of other countries.
[Page 67] In addition to transportation, industry, etc., it is also a huge financial transaction.---
----
To the Family Council: I must call a spade a spade. This should not make you think that I am a rude person. But at the moment I do not know whether I shall proceed with you or in opposition to you. That is why the flourishes of courtesy might compromise me and give my later actions the appearance of revenge.
----
June 11, 1895
Labor units will march off to work like an army amidst the sounds of a fanfare and return home the same way.
---
June 11, 1895
No women or children shall work in our factories. We need a sturdy race. Needy women and children will be taken care of by the State. "Old maids" will be employed in kindergartens and as nurses for the orphans of the working class, etc. I shall organize these girls who have been passed over by suitors into a corps of governesses for the poor. They will be given housing by the State, enjoy due honors (just as every gentleman treats a governess courteously), and eventually will
[Page 69]
ment: Running and ball games, cricket for boys, tennis for girls.
The inactive games must be designed to prepare the future development of the intellect. Drawing, painting, reading significant fairy-tales, games of construction for increasing the pleasure in synthesis, and the like.
---
Old men may play cards, but not for money, because this might tempt the onlookers and is unseemly for patriarchs. I want to have a patriarchal spirit in families. However, I shall permit refined card-clubs, but with no members under forty years of age and with a stiff tax on playing cards for State revenue.
---
June 11
The Jews who have hitherto been in the consular service of various powers can be taken over into our diplomatic service. Of course, each individual will be tested for his qualifications. There may be among them capable men who have acquired the polish and the forms of diplomacy. But no one has an a priori right to be appointed; the decisive factor is his usefulness to us. But since for the time being we shall not be able to afford them any protection, we shall not give them any ringing titles, but call them agents, something that they can combine with their current consular assignments. Thus they will be covered by the respect they have at present. We must not let our diplomatic titles, which will later attain high prestige, be made ridiculous at the outset. Yacht owners can become our professional seamen and prepare to take command of our future Navy.
Should we go to South America, which would have a lot in its favor on account of its distance from militarized and seedy Europe, our first state treaties will have to be with South American republics. [Page 70] We shall grant them loans in return for territorial privileges and guarantees. One of the most important concessions they will have to make to us is to allow us to have defensive troops.
In the beginning we shall need their permission. Gradually we shall get strong, grant ourselves everything that we need, and be able to defy everyone.
For the time being we must get protection from the troops of the state that receives us. Later we shall make an independent alliance with it.
We must have a South American and a European policy.
If we are in South America, the establishment of our State will not come to Europe's notice for a considerable period of time. In South America we could at first live according to the laws, extradition treaties, etc. of the receiving state (vis-a-vis Europe).
Our defensive troops will always comprise ten percent of the male emigrants. In this way we shall get an Army together unobserved, but will for a long time proceed cautiously, exploiting the enmities of the republics and preserving their friendship through presents, bribes, loans, etc.
The crossing is to take place by local groups and social units. There will be first-class, second-class, and third-class ships, each with instruction and entertainment appropriate to it.
In this way the inciting example of class differences (observed at close proximity over many days) will be avoided.
Everyone will pay for his passage himself. I want luxury, but not fruitless envy. I want luxury as a patron of the arts, as goal and prize. To see the enjoyments of the earth and to know that they are attainable through honest labor is a spur to great effort. If I do not succeed in winning over the R's or the midget millionaires, I shall publish the entire plan in book form: The Solution of the Jewish Question, Duncker and Humblot, publishers, to whom I shall give only the first five editions under the
[Page 72] The worth of my plan obviously lies in the facts that I am using only available resources, making unutilized or unutilizable things fruitful by combining them, that I have regard for all suffering (certainly including the hurts inflicted by Jews on Gentiles), protect all acquired rights, take all human impulses into account, balance world supply and world demand, use the progress of technology, and hold tradition sacred. Make this correction above: The prudent immediately recognize the safe cobble-stones.
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Yes, we have become a scourge for the peoples which once tormented us. The sins of their fathers are now visited on them. Europe is being punished for the ghettos now. To be sure, we are suffering under the sufferings that we are causing. It is a scourging with scorpions, live scorpions which are not to blame that they did not become lions, tigers, or sheep. After all, in the scourging the scorpions suffer most of all. I could accept a mass request from the little Jews to lead them out only if all the governments concerned asked me to, promised me their sympathetic cooperation, and gave me guarantees for the peaceful completion of the enormous task, just as I would give them guarantees for an exodus without economic ill-effects. (I don't know whether I should have this printed in Roman type).
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(Addendum to Teweles' letter): I must read Daniel Deronda. Perhaps it contains ideas similar to mine. They cannot be identical ones, because it took a concatenation of many specific circumstances to bring my plan into being. If we have not yet emigrated by the outbreak of the next war, all Jews of quality must go to the front, regardless of whether they were "ht for active service" when they reached the draft age, whether they are still of military age, whether they are healthy
[Page 73] or sick. They must drag themselves to the army of their present fatherland, and if they are on opposite sides, they must shoot at one another. Some may regard this as paying a debt of honor, others as a down-payment on our future honor. But all will have to do it.June 11
Schiff came to see me today. I asked him to substitute for me for a few days. Was I starting a newspaper? he asked when I dropped a few vague hints. A newspaper! 11 y a belle lurette que je n'y pense plus [I haven't thought of that for a long time]. True enough, I first sought the practical ideas with the founding of the "Neue Zeitung" in mind. Like Saul, who went forth. . . !
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June 11
Schiff's brother-in-law said the other day:
Emigrate? Yes, I'd like to, all right. But where to? Switzerland? The first country to make laws against the Jews! Where to?
This question made me inwardly very happy.
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June 11
About the assistance par le travail [public works] I had some correspondence with Chlumecky two years ago. He did not get the idea.
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Today I dined at a brasserie [small restaurant] near the Chatelet. I am shunning all my acquaintances. They tread on
[Page 83] After all, we want to proceed with the consent of the governments, but undisturbed by the mobs of parliament and press.June 12
It will, incidentally, spread like wildfire. One of my dreams during the period of uncertainty was to force Alois Lichtenstein, Schonerer or Lueger to a duel. If I had been shot, a letter left behind by me would have told the world that I fell a victim to this most unjust movement. Thus my death might at least have improved the heads and hearts of men. But if I had shot my opponent, I wanted to make a magnificent speech before the assize court, first expressing my regrets at "the death of an honorable man," like Mores who had stabbed Captain Mayer to death. Then I would have gone into the Jewish Question, making a powerful, Lassalle-like speech which would have shaken and moved the jury and inspired respect from the court, leading to my acquittal. Thereupon the Jews would have offered to make me a member of parliament. But I would have been obliged to decline that, because I did not want to become a representative of the people over the dead body of a human being.—And now I find that the anti-Semites are fully within their rights.
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It would be an excellent idea to call in respectable, accredited anti-Semites as liquidators of property. 1 o the people they would vouch for the fact that we do not wish to bring about the impoverishment of the countries that we leave. At first they must not be given large fees for this; otherwise we shall spoil our instruments and make them despicable as "stooges of the Jews." Later their fees will increase, and in the end we shall have only Gentile officials in the countries from which we have emigrated.
[Page 84] The anti-Semites will become our most dependable friends, the anti-Semitic countries our allies. ---
June 12
No Jewish paper! Jewish papers! I will induce the publishers of the biggest Jewish papers (Neue Freie Presse, Berliner Tageblatt, Frank-furter Zeitung, etc.) to publish editions over there, as the New York Herald does in Paris. The transplantation of habits includes one's favorite paper at breakfast. The newspapers will keep their readers, satisfy the needs (which will soon be enormous) of those who have stayed behind, and exchange news by telegraph. At first the overseas editions will be the smaller ones. Then the old editions will shrink and the new ones become big. The Gentile editors will stay here and feel liberated and comfortable; the Jewish ones will go overseas and become rich and respected, taking an active part in politics; in fact, at present the journalists are the only Jews who know anything about poli-tics. I am the best proof of this. Amnesty for moral misdemeanors of the press, too. All shall start a new life. But let everyone be respectable over there from the outset! Tribunals of honor, like those of the lawyers. The press must be free, but let it have and preserve the priestly honor of its opinions. In this way we shall also have the most decent press in the world.
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The insurance business! It will become a big department, probably requiring a ministry of its own. We shall start with a Director of Insurance. The capital is contained in the State (at first in the Society).
[Page 88]
This will have to be recognized conclusively in the drawing up of the Company contract and the statutes. For the Society will have enormous profits with which the stockholders will be reluctant to part.
From the moment at which the State comes into being the Society will be placed under public ownership, probably in such a way that the State acquires all shares at a stipulated price, but leaves the Society in its present legal status, subject to British law; for it will be some time before we ourselves shall have the power to push through the claims of our citizens or of the State itself.
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June 12
When we occupy the land, we shall bring immediate benefits to the state that receives us. We must expropriate gently the private property on the estates assigned to us. We shall try to spirit the penniless population across the border by procuring employment for it in the transit countries, while denying it any employment in our own country. The property-owners will come over to our side. Both the process of expropriation and the removal of the poor must be carried out discreetly and circumspectly. Let the owners of immovable property believe that they are cheating us, selling us things for more than they are worth. But we are not going to sell them anything back.
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June 12
It goes without saying that we shall respectfully tolerate persons of other faiths and protect their property, their honor, and their freedom with the harshest means of coercion. This is another area in which we shall set the entire old world a wonderful example.
At first, incidentally, people will avoid us. We are in bad odor. By the time the reshaping of world opinion in our favor [Page 89] has been completed, we shall be firmly established in our country, no longer fearing the influx of foreigners, and receiving our visitors with aristocratic benevolence and proud amiability.
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June 12
The voluntary expropriation will be accomplished through our secret agents. The Company would pay excessive prices. We shall then sell only to Jews, and all real estate will be traded only among Jews. To be sure, we shall not be able to do this by declaring other sales invalid. Even if this did not run counter to the modern world's sense of justice, our power would not suffice to force it through. Therefore we must safeguard each of our sales of immovables through an option of re-purchase on the part of the Company. That is, if the owner wants to sell the property, we shall have the right to buy it back at our original sale price. However, we shall add a compensation, to be fixed by a board of experts, for any improvements that have been made. The owner will name an expert and we shall name one of our own. If these two cannot agree, they will choose a disinterested third to make a decision.
This option of re-purchase will be a special privilege that cannot be revoked by a mortgage.
The Society will have a department for the granting of mortgage credit. This will be a branch bank, nationalized, of course, like all other subsidiary institutions "over there." The employees of private banks on this side will gradually become state employees on the other side, with bigger salaries, honors, etc. For the voluntary expropriation we shall have to use local sub-agents who must not know that their employer is himself a secret agent who takes instructions from the centralized 'Commission for for Property Purchases'.
[Page 90] These secret purchases must be carried out simultaneously as upon the pressing of an electric button. Our secret agents, who will appear over there as purchasers on their own account, will receive the signal: Marchez! Within a week all sales must have been completed. Otherwise the prices will increase exorbitantly.
Of course, this will have to be preceded by painstaking preliminary research in land registers (where they exist), through discreet inquiries and investigation of specific situations, etc.
Estate owners who are attached to their soil because of old age, habit, etc., will be offered a complete transplantation to any place they wish, like our own people. This offer will be made only when all others have been rejected.
[Page 92]
June 12
Those South American republics must be obtainable for money. We can give them annual subsidies. But only for about twenty years, ie, until we are strong enough to protect ourselves; otherwise this would become a tribute which would be incompatible with our future dignity and the stoppage of which could lead to war.
The duration of these subsidies should be determined by the length of time indicated by our military head as sufficient for us to become a match for all these republics together.
But at the start, before they even know that we are coming over, we could get big concessions in return for the mere prospect of loaning them money at one percent less!
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June 12
Discreet, delicate investigations should first be carried on regarding the financial needs, the internal political situation, and currents in these South American republics. On the whole, it will be a voluntary parting with the land.
But especially for these things do I need the Rothschilds. And what if they refuse?
Well, then they will simply take the consequences. Since my plan is now dependent on the Rothschilds, I naturally think about them a lot. I only know a few of them by sight. I know something about only two. Albert in Vienna seems to be an industrious banker and a clear thinker. At the
[Page 98]
June 12
If we move into a region where there are wild animals to which the Jews are not accustomed (big snakes, etc.), I shall use the natives, prior to giving them employment in the transit countries, for the extermination of these animals. High premiums for snake skins, etc., as well as their spawn.
[Page 110] period of time, and thus desired a respite of two or three days from the enormous work which I would not have abandoned thereby, because I must not abandon it any longer. I should have given you a verbal explanation of everything, observed the impression it made on you, dispelled your doubts, and constantly appealed from one to the other. For on those points, spiritual or secular, where one of you might not have understood me, the other disinterested man would have certified that I was proceeding constantly on the basis of solid fact. Your companion need not have been a wealthy man or a philanthropist, for my project is dependent neither on the rich nor on the charitable. It would really be bad if it were. The only requirement was that he be an independent Jew. You two were intended to be my first helpers. Since I cannot have you right away, I do not need the other man either. I should immediately have approached other men if, as I have already said, I had not recognized from the contents of your letter that you are the right helper after all. I should have found others; and if not, I should simply have gone by myself. For I have the solution of the Jewish Question. I know it sounds mad; but in the initial period people will often think me mad until they realize with deep emotion the truth of all I have been saying. I have found the solution, and it no longer belongs to me; it belongs to the world. As I have said, you two would have been my first assistants, or, more correctly, my messengers, for the time being. Your first joint mission would have been to Albert Rothschild to whom you would have given my message, and again the spiritual man would have been supported by the worldly man in the clarification of questionable points. Albert Rothschild would have taken the matter before his family council, and they would have asked me to appear there and give them a talk about my project. Let me hasten to clear up a misconception that may arise in your mind. I am as little dependent on the Rothschilds' cooperation as I am on that of the other wealthy Jews. But the special[Page 127]
June 22
How can I make suicide something dishonourable? It will be easy with attempted suicide: insane asylum, involving loss of all civil and personal rights. Harder if death results. Burial in a separate place, after the body has been used for scientific purposes, will not suffice. There must be legal consequences as well. The last will and testament of the suicide (provided it can be established that he made it with suicide in mind) will be declared invalid as the work of a lunatic. His letters and posthumous writings must not be published.
His funeral must take place at night.
June 22
Sometimes one hears it said: this man has been driven mad by the Jewish Question; another by Jewish exploitation; a third, by socialism; a fourth, by religion; a fifth, by doubt, and so on. No, these people were already mad. The only thing is that their hitherto imperceptible madness or colorless wandering wits have taken on the hue of some fashionable trend, just as jets of steam in a stage production may be tinted red, yellow, blue, etc.
[Page 163] in the early stages. There will be neither small nor big bankers any more. Those with capital must and will shrewdly invest it in other enterprises. Let the little ones, the hole-and-corner usurers and speculation agents, enter State service. There they will be subject to a sound code of discipline, and they need not be placed in a Ministry, but can also be in branch offices, like manager of Postal Savings, etc. You are quite aware, gentlemen, that I am not talking non-sense about the state centralization of the money-exchange. And it is also common knowledge where and how the states even now engage in financial deals with themselves, either in the open (savings banks) or under cover, by entering into silent partner-ship with the issuing bank. But if that were not so, what would your World House be? I do not believe that our State or any other state will ever have a bigger money-exchange. You know, then, that the large-scale money-exchange not only can stand centralization, but actually thrives on it. By going from one of your windows to the next, I can collect a claim in London and pay a debt in Naples. I can even save myself this little trip, you can take care of it for me. And wherever centralization does not already exist, it is widely sought. For larger financial transactions the banks stand together in groups and form those evil financial cartels which have not yet been recognized in their full harmfulness. And you are right in the midst of everything! On vous volt trop, messieurs [One sees too much of you, gentlemen]! I know, of course, that you do not come in uninvited, that people seek you out, that you wait to be asked. And that is your curse! People can no longer do without you. You are forced to become richer and richer, whether you want to or not. You have lost control of your fortune, you are drifting on this stream of gold and no longer know where you are going! I don't know whether all governments already realize what an international menace your World House constitutes. Without you no wars can be waged, and if peace is to be concluded, people are all the more dependent on you. For the year 1895 the military
[Page 164] expenses of the five Great Powers have been estimated at four billion francs, and their actual peacetime military strength at 2,800,00o men. And these military forces, which are unparalleled in history, you command financially, regardless of the conflicting desires of the nations I Who has given you the right to do this? What universal human ideal are you serving? And who are you, anyway? A handful of bankers, now more than ever "Schutzjuden," who are occasionally invited to court—with what repugnance you can imagine, if you are not shown it. For you are nowhere given full rights or even regarded as regular citizens. And you who are in a position to tighten the belts of almost three million soldiers, you and your cash-boxes have to be anxiously guarded everywhere, from the people who, to be sure, do not know everything yet. And your accursed wealth is still growing. Everywhere it in-creases more rapidly than the national wealth of the countries in which you reside. Therefore this increase takes place only at the expense of the national prosperity, even though you your-selves may be the most decent persons in the world. For that reason, the Jewish State from the outset will not tolerate your alarming wealth, which would stifle our economic and political freedom. Not even if you go with us! Do you understand that, gentlemen? And how do we intend to keep you from getting richer over there when we should like to make everyone richer? Do we by any chance have special legislation against you in mind? What ingratitude, if you help us, or what nonsense! Gentlemen, if you do not go with us, we shall probably have to outlaw you. We shall not admit you to our country, just as in France the pre-tenders, all of them scions of famous French families, are barred from the country. But if you do go with us, we shall enrich you one last time more. And we shall make you big beyond the dreams of the modest founder of your House and even of his proudest grand-children. We shall make you richer by tripling your contribution, the billion with which we started. The Jewish State will be given 
[Page 165] the right to redeem the shares of the Society within twenty years at three times their face value. These are the three billions exactly of which I spoke earlier. We shall make you big, because we shall take our first elected ruler from your House. That is the shining beacon which we shall place atop the finished Eiffel Tower of your fortune. In history it will seem as though that had been the object of the entire edifice. Just a few words about the Constitution. A principality with an elected head. We shall choose a quiet, modest, sensible man who will not think that he is our master. We shall impose sufficient restrictions on him in our Constitution anyway. For we shall be free men and have no one over us but the Almighty God. Alas, many of our brethren cannot even imagine in their dreams what it means to be a free man! We shall not found a hereditary principality. We cannot make ourselves ridiculous in the eyes of the world. It would look like something bought, like some dubious marquisate. In order to prevent for all time subtle pressure from those in power, the second prince will not be a Rothschild, and never will a son be allowed to succeed his father. Any Jew can become our prince, with the exception of the author of this plan. Otherwise the Jews would say that he did everything for his own benefit. And if you examine it closely, even the first Prince Rothschild will not have attained this high position because of his money. As you will soon see, we are not dependent on your money. But by giving us your contribution you will perform a moral act. You will be subjecting yourself to the National Ideal, helping us to carry out the enormous undertaking without a fight, and sparing the whole civilized world the severest upheavals. For this you shall be rewarded and the world will not deride it, To make them comprehensible to the people, ideas of this kind must be presented in the simple and moving form of symbols. That is why we shall all be in glittering gala dress when we march to the Temple to crown the Prince. Only one man in our 
[Page 166] midst will wear the shabby garb of shame of a medieval Jew, including the pointed Jew's hat and the Yellow Badge, and that very man will be our Prince. Only in the Temple shall we put a princely cloak about his shoulders and a crown on his head. The meaning of this will be: To us you are but a poor Jew; you shall never forget what we have endured and take care not to expose us to fresh dangers. But in the eyes of the world you are our Prince; as such you shall be resplendent and represent us with distinction. Oh, now you will again think that I am telling you a tale. You are touched and shaken, and yet feel like mocking. Am I speaking of the impossible? In what way is my plan unrealistic? The Temple? I am going to build it wherever I please. Our gala dress? We shall be rich and free enough to wear it. The crowds? Them I shall draw wherever I want. The wondrous garb of the Prince? You must have been moved when I described it, and if you were not, tant pis pour vows [so much the worse for you]! Other nations also see old costumes in such festive processions and do not regard them as masquerades, but as meaningful remembrances of the past. And why do I, who am talking to, and counting on, business-men, dwell so long on this kind of description? Because the intangible element of popular enthusiasm, surging like steam out of boiling water, is the power with which I run the great machine! All right, and now to the as yet unsolved question of what will be done with your fortune if you come with us. It is extremely simple. Your wealth consists of two parts: of the actual funds, which we shall even increase by two billion (within twenty years the Jewish State will redeem the shares at three times their face value), and of your credit. The funds you keep. We shall then no longer be afraid of this wealth, great though it is. A large part of it will remain in Europe, but it will no longer be active. Your castles, palaces, all luxury establishments may remain; you can use them for future visits to Europe, when members of your family return on pleasure 
[Page 167] trips or represent us as diplomats. The natural disintegration of great fortunes will set in: through marriages, ramification of the lineage, and wastefulness. Then, too, over there you will set a good example to the rich by gtarting beautiful art collections, erecting fine buildings, and making gorgeous gardens. We will subtly entice the intellectually backward to culture. As for the main part of your fortune, the dangerous international power of your credit, we shall take it over for the benefit of our Society of Jews. We shall liquidate the Rothschilds in the same way that we liquidate the smallest shipping agent or shopkeeper. This means that the Society will absorb the House of Rothschild. This, too, will happen in the most natural way in the world. For the time being, all your employees will remain where they are, and you yourselves will remain at the helm everywhere—until such time as you, the present-day Rothschilds, will be used in our State, as directors of our financial system or as other gov-ernment officials, as governors of provinces or as our diplomatic representatives to foreign powers. Through your connections with the European aristocracy you will be well suited for the diplo-matic service. That way you will not need to tear yourselves away from your accustomed surroundings either. We shall not give you any titles that might sound ridiculous in the beginning. You will simply be the representatives of the Jews in this place or that. Even now you occasionally identify your-selves as representatives of the Jews when, upon the conclusion of a loan, you beg for a bit of protection for the local Jews. Once the time has come when other nations consider it expedi-ent, and us worthy enough, to send ambassadors to us, we shall gladly return this compliment. When the other Jews, those of moderate wealth, who are now Consuls-General and the like, join us, we shall make them our representatives in their present localities until such time as we summon them. We shall recognize the present noblemen among the Jews if they bring proof to our free Office of Nobility by a certain date. [Page 208]
July 23
Prophylactic quinine!
Official distribution and administration while standing in line. The quinine must be taken daily in the presence of the health inspectors.
Greatest sanitary precautions in transit and on the other side.
Move very rapidly through fever regions. In such areas, have necessary work on railways, roads, and, later, swamp drainage (Maremma) done by natives who are used to the climate. Otherwise deaths will be puffed up and demoralize the people who, as it is, will be afraid of the floorless water and the unknown. Old prisoners don't like to leave prison. They have to be coaxed and all obstacles inside and outside them have to be cleared away.
[Page 284] He asked me for a resume of my pamphlet for the Jewish Chronicle, and I promised him one. As I was leaving, Solomon consoled me. He believed that the Study Commission I desired would be created within the Maccabean Club. His brother-in-law Bentwich, he said, was filled with enthusiasm. The club would devote several Sundays in succession to a consideration of my pamphlet. Good enough.
Paris, November 28
Rev. Singer accompanied me to the Charing Cross station. So as to be able to talk with him a while longer, I left at eleven o'clock instead of ten.
I shall send the pamphlet and the letters to him. For the time being he is my chief representative in London. He does seem to be very devoted to the cause. He was remarkably attentive during that final hour. Then a good crossing, but I was ill when I arrived in Paris. ...
[Page 656]
Zionist movement and had been informed that the Sultan viewed our cause with favor. Later remarks brought out the fact that the inquiry was made through Herr von Marschall who enjoys great favor with the Sultan.
I was able to supplement this information with the news that the day
[Page 701]
{October 9, 1898} Hohenlohe looked at me with his dim, blue, old man's eyes in anything but a kindly fashion. From him, too, I heard the first anti-Semitic remark in these exalted circles:
"Do you think that the Jews are going to desert their stock exchange and follow you? The Jews, who are comfortably installed here in Berlin?"
I replied: "Your Highness - not in Berlin West, but Berlin East or North - I don't know exactly where the poor Jews live here - will go with me."
All of Hohenlohe's objections were terre a terre [on a low level] - somewhat in the vein of Agliardi during that talk in the nunciature in Vienna. The Catholic objections, so-to-speak.
He also asked what territory we wanted to have, whether as far north as Beirut, or even beyond that.
I said: "We will ask for what we need: the more immigrants, [Page 702] the more land. It will, of course, be purchased from its present owners in accordance with civil law."
Hohenlohe: "Who are these?"
I: "Arabs, Greeks, the whole mixed multitude of the Orient."
Hohenlohe: "And you want to found a state there?"
I: "We want autonomy and self-protection."
Hohenlohe: "And what does Turkey say to all this?"
Je le croyais mieux renseigne [I had believed him better informed], and replied: "The Grand Duke told me that favorable reports had come in from Herr von Marschall."
Bulow, who had been sitting in the corner of the sofa next to Hohenlohe's armchair, with his lips pursed tight and his eyes deliberately vacant, interjected: "I don't know anything about that. I've seen nothing from Marschall on the subject."
I did not allow myself to be disconcerted, and said: "I have reports that the sentiment is favorable. I recently telegraphed to the Sultan and he replied."
Hohenlohe then asked a few skeptical questions about the number of those ready to migrate, and the funds available. I referred to the various funds which would combine when things reached a serious stage. One of these funds, I said, amounted to ten million pounds. Bulow, who had been listening en poupee rose aux yeux de porcelaine [like a pink doll with china eyes], now remarked: "That's a lot! . . ." And, half turning to Hohenlohe: "The money might do the trick. With it one can swing the matter."
Hohenlohe was silent.
Earlier, when I was taking a seat opposite him in a rococo armchair, he had taken his white-plumed two-cornered hat from the table between us and put it on the little side-table so as to have a good view of me. Now he picked up his hat, said to Bulow, "Let's go to that [Page 703] dinner now." and got up; we also rose. He gave me his hand and went out.
Bulow too was suddenly in a great hurry:
"See you in Constantinople, doctor!" And he adjusted the gold shoulder-cord of his blue court-dress.
"Where will the Kaiser receive me? In Constantinople and in Jerusalem?" "In any case only once!" said Bulow. I said: "Shall I, then, submit at Constantinople the address which I am to deliver at Jerusalem?" "Yes, oh yes!" And he was already in the next room, where I heard him call out in an irritated voice, "Neumann! Neumann!" Evidently the valet. His Excellency was, or pretended to be, in a rush to get to "that dinner." Back again through the long long corridor; in the office one could see even more feverish preparations for "that dinner."
When I was downstairs and was walking alongside the palace, a brilliant suite of officers was just coming from the park and towards the ramp of the palace. The Kaiser! - who has certainly spoken about me a number of times today and is quite enthusiastic, according to the Grand Duke.
But why the depressingly cool behavior of Hohenlohe and Bulow?
There are two explanations for this. Either they are at odds with their Imperial master, but do not dare as yet to stand up to him. So for the present they treat the matter with dilatory coldness, in order to trip it up at the proper moment and bring the whole thing to the ground. Or is it merely the official face of diplomacy? This is how they probably always sit back in sofa corners and armchairs, with eyes which practically suck dry the person they are watching. This is how they probably always display the utmost indifference, even toward matters which fill them with the greediest excitement. I believe this is the vieux jeu [old style] of diplomacy.
[Page 705]
October 10, morning, on the train, nearing Vienna
Supplement to the Bulow-Hohenlohe conversation:
Bulow: "In any case it would be the first eastward migration of the Israelites. Until now they have always moved westward."
I: "Not at all! This time too it's toward the west. It is simply that the Jews have already circled the globe. East is west again."
At which both smiled.
Throughout the conversation I was en en pleine possession de moi-meme [in full control of myself]. Not flustered for a moment.
---
Vienna, October 11
Addendum to the conversation with the Grand Duke.
He spoke about Rome. "We may have nothing good to expect for our cause from Rome. A Protestant empire is odious to the Jesuits down to their souls, their black souls. Now, our empire as such is not Protestant, to be sure, but embraces all creeds. Yet it is a fact that a Protestant is at its head, and this is what bothers them . Therefore we must expect opposition from that quarter in Palestine, too."
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October 11, Vienna
Immediately upon my arrival in Vienna I had Marmorek convene the Actions Committee. Marmorek himself declared he could not go on the trip, because he might lose a lot of money on a building he had started for his ...
[Page 711]
Discussed with Bodenheimer the demands we will make.
Area: from the Brook of Egypt to the Euphrates. Stipulate a transitional period with our own institutions. A Jewish governor for this period. Afterwards, a relationship like that between Egypt and the Sultan. As soon as the Jewish inhabitants of a district amount to 2/3 of the population, Jewish administration goes in force politically, while local government (communal autonomy) always depends on the number of voters in the community.
These are Bodenheimer's ideas, in part excellent.
A transitional stage is a good idea.
At the station we were met by Danusso and that servile Greek, Konstantinides. No sooner had I arrived and changed than I drove to Yildiz
[Page 720]
succeed now, because mankind has grown so rich in means of communication and technical achievements. Enterprises that would have seemed fantastic as recently as half a century ago are commonplace today. Steam power and electricity have altered the face of the earth. Humand conclusions should be drawn from this as well.
Above all, we have aroused the national consciousness of our scattered brethren. At the Congresses of Basel the program of our movement was formulated before all the world. It is: The creation, under public law, of a home for the Jewish people. creation, under public law, of a home for the Jewish people.
This is the land of our fathers, a land suitable for colonization and cultivation. [Colonisirung u. Cultivirung] . Your Majesty has seen the country. It cries out for people to build it up. And we have among our brothers a frightful proletariat. These people cry out for a land to cultivate. Now we should like to create a new welfare out of these states of distress, of the land and of the people, by the systematic combination of both. We consider our cause so fine, so worthy of the sympathy of the most magnanimous minds, that we are requesting Your Imperial Majesty's exalted aid for the project. But we would not venture to do so if our plan contained anything that could offend or encroach upon the ruler of this land. Your Imperial Majesty's friendship with His Majesty the Sultan is so well known that there can be no doubt as to the intentions of those who are turning to Your Majesty for the most gracious transmission of their desires. We are honestly convinced that the implementation of the Zionist plan must mean welfare for Turkey as well. Energies and material resources will be brought to the country; a magnificent fructification of desolate areas may easily be foreseen and, from this, more happiness and civility will flourish for all human beings. We plan to establish a Jewish Land Society for Syria and Palestine, which is to undertake this great work and request the protection of the German kaiser for this company. Our idea threatens no one's rights or religious feelings; it breathes a long- desired reconciliation. We understand and respect the devotion of all faiths on this soil, upon which the beliefs of our fathers also arose.
[Page 743]
{October 29, 1898 entry} . . . guest of Mikveh and therefore should not introduce him, the director. Actually, this was a mild reprimand, but I did not resent it from the otherwise amiable man.
At nine o'clock a commotion on the highway, which was lined with a mixed multitude of Arab beggars, womenfolk, children, and horsemen, heralded the approach of the Imperial procession. Fierce-looking Turkish cavalry came galloping toward us at full tilt, rifles at the ready and shooting even more threatening glances all around. Then the outriders of the Kaiser. And there,
[Page 759]
It should also be mentioned that Mr. Niego, the director of Mikveh Israel, expressly requested me not to pay a second visit there, which, at Mmme. Niego's urgent invitation, I had promised to do pro forma [as a matter of courtesy]; the Turkish authorities, he said, might take it amiss. This is the effect of the chatter on the part of the Rothschild officials, which I had foreseen right after the encounter at Mikveh.
[Page 1194, in volume 3]
11 January 1902, From a letter by Herzl to Cecil Rhodes
You are being invited to help make history. This cannot frighten you... It is not your accustomed line; it doesn’t involve Africa, but a piece of Asia Minor; not Englishmen but Jews... How, then, do I happen to turn to you since this is an out-of-the-way matter for you? How indeed? Because it is something colonial ... [Y]ou, Mr. Rhodes, are a visionary politician or a practical visionary... I want you to.. put the stamp of your authority on the Zionist plan and to make the following declaration to a few people who swear by you: I, Rhodes have examined this plan and found it correct and practicable. It is a plan full of culture, excellent for the group of people for whom it is directly designed, and quite good for England, for Greater Britain.
===*===*=== * ===*===*===
Excerpts from "Theodor Herzls tagebücher, 1895-1904", 3 vols. (Berlin: Judischer Verlag, 1922/23), presented in the original German, followed by a machine translation into English.
Read volume 1 at [archive.org/details/theodorherzlsta00herzgoog].
Sie kann über die Befreiten wieder verhängt oder erhöht werden, als Begleitstrafe zu einer Verurteilung wegen Mißbrauches der Preßgewalt.
Den Mißbrauch der Preßgewalt (ein neues Delikt) möchte ich aber einem Schöffengericht zur Beurteilung vorlegen. Nie und nimmer darf ein Blatt wegen oppositioneller Haltung verfolgt werden, solange es sich nicht verwerflicher Mittel bedient. Die Frage ist sehr ernst zu erwägen, wie der Presse eine gesunde Freiheit erhalten, und die Frechheit verhindert wird. Vielleicht delegierte Schöffengerichte ?
* * *
12. VI.
Jedenfalls Branntweinmonopol.
Einige Vorteile, ähnlich wie beim Tabakmonopol, Fabrikation und Trafiken. Letztere dienen auch zur Bekämpfung der Trunksucht, wie Maklerschaften zur Bekämpfung der Spielsucht. Denn die Verleitung zum Trinken durch Kreditgewährung usw. kann man unter graduierte Geldstrafen, die bis zur Entziehung des Verschleißes gehen können, stellen.
* * *
12.VI
Der Übergang von Society zum Staat ist ein kompliziertes Problem.
Das muß man beim Verfassen des Gesellschaftsvertrages und der Statuten bereits in endgültiger Weise feststellen. Denn die Society wird ungeheuren Gewinn haben, von denen sich der Aktionär nicht gerne trennt.
In dem Augenblick, wo der Staat ins Leben tritt, wird die Society verstaatlicht - wahrscheinlich so, dass der Staat zu einem festgesetzten Preise sämmtliche Actien erwirbt, aber die Society in ihrer bisherigen Rechtssubjectivität beläßt, also als englisches Rechtssubjekt, weil wir nicht so bald die Machtmittel haben werden, Ansprüche unserer Staatsangehörigen oder des Staates selbst durchzusetzen
12.VI.
Bei der Landnahme bringen wir dem Aufnahmestaate gleich Wohlfahrt zu. Den Privatbesitz der angewiesenen Ländereien müssen wir sachte expropriiren. Die arme Bevölkerung trachten wir unbemerkt über die Grenze zu schaffen, indem wir ihr in den Durchzugsländern Arbeit verschaffen, aber in unserem eigenen Lande jederlei Arbeit verweigern.
Die besitzende Bevölkerung wird zu uns übergehen. Das Expropriationswerk muss ebenso wie die Fortschaffung der Armen, mit Zartheit und Behutsamkeit erfolgen.
Die Immobilienbesitzer sollen glauben, uns zu prellen, uns über dem Wert zu verkaufen.
Aber zurückverkauft wird ihnen nichts.
Selbstverständlich werden wir die Andersgläubigen achtungsvoll dulden, ihr Eigentum, ihre Ehre und Freiheit mit den härtesten Zwangsmitteln schützen. Auch darin werden wir der ganzen alten Welt ein wunderbares Beispiel geben.
Anfangs wird man uns übrigens meiden. Wir stehen in schlechtem Geruch.
Bis der Umschwung in der Welt zu unsern Gunsten sich vollzogen haben wird, werden wir schon fest in unserem Land sitzen, Zurüge Fremder nich mehr fürchten, und unsere Gäste mit edlem Wohlwollen, mit stolzer Liebenswürdigkeit aufnehmen. Die gutwillige Expropriation wird durch unsere geheimen Agenten gemacht. Die Gesellschaft würde zu teuer kaufen.
Wir verkaufen dann nur an Juden, und alle Liegenschaften bleiben nur im Commercium der Juden. Nur wird das freilich nicht in der Form von Ungültigkeitserklärung anderer Verkäufe geschehen können. Selbst wenn das nicht gegen das moderne Rechtsgefühl der Welt wäre — reichte unsere Macht nicht aus, es durchzusetzen.
Wir müssen daher jeden unserer Immobilienverkäufe durch Rückkaufsvorzug der Gesellschaft sichern. Und zwar, haben wir, wenn sich der Eigenthümer, des Guts entäußern will, das Recht, zu unserem ursprünglichen Verkaufspreis zurückzukaufen.
Wir fügen jedoch eine expertgerichtlich festgestellte Entschädigung für angebrachte Verbesserungen hinzu. Der Eigentümer ernennt einen Sachverständigen, wir einen der unseren ; und wenn sie sich nicht einigen können, wählen sie zur Entscheidung einen freien Dritten.
Dieses Vorzugsrecht des Rückkaufes ist privilegiert und kann durch keine Hypothek gebrochen werden.
Übrigens wird die Society auch Hypothekar-Credit gewähren, in einer Abtheilung. Das ist eine Tochterbank, die natürlich wie alle anderen Töchterinstitute „drüben" verstaatlicht wird.
Die Privat-Bankbeamten hüben, werden allmälig Staatsbeamte drüben, mit reicheren Bezügen, Ehren usw.
* * *
Für die gutwillige Expropriation muß man sich einheimischer Subagenten bedienen, die nicht wissen dürfen, daß ihr Auftraggeber selbst ein geheimer Agent ist und den centralisirten Weisungen der „Güterkauf-Kommission" gehört.
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[Begin machine translation into English]
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They may be imposed or increased again over the liberated, as an accompanying punishment to a criminal conviction for abuse of Preßgewalt.
The abuse of Preßgewalt (a new offense) but I want to present a common jury for evaluation. Never ever a leaf may be prosecuted for oppositional attitude, as long as it is not served reprehensible means. The question is very serious to consider how the press get a healthy freedom, and the audacity is prevented. Perhaps delegated Schöffengerichte?
* * *
12. VI.
Anyway spirits monopoly.
Some benefits, similar to the tobacco monopoly, fabrication and tobacconists. The latter are also used to combat alcoholism, such as brokers machinations to combat gambling addiction. Because the inducement for drinking by lending so you can put under graduated fines which can go up to the deprivation of wear.
* * *
12.VI
The transition from Society to the state is a complicated problem.
This must be stated in writing of the memorandum and articles of association already in a definitive way. After all, the Society will have immense profit, of which the shareholders do not like to cut.
In the moment when the state enters life, the Society will be nationalized - probably so that the state acquires at a fixed price Sämmtliche Actien, but the Society leaves in their previous Rechtssubjectivität, so as an English entity, because we do not so soon will have power means to enforce our claims nationals or of the state itself
12.VI.
In the Conquest we bring the receiving state equal to welfare. The privately owned by the estates assigned to us must expropriate gently. The poor we seek to create undetected across the border by procuring employment for it in the passage countries work, while denying it employment in our own country.
The propertied population will pass to us. The expropriation and needs as well as the creation of Fort arms, carried out discreetly and circumspectly.
The property owners may believe that they are cheating us, selling us on the figure.
But they are not resold.
Of course, we will not tolerate the heterodox sincerely protect their property, their honor and freedom with the harshest means of coercion. Also the fact we will give a wonderful example of the whole ancient world.
At first you will avoid us the way. We're in bad odor.
Will have in our favor completed by the turnaround in the world, we are already stuck in our country, Zurüge stranger fear nothing around, and pick up our guests with exquisite benevolence, with proud amiability. The well-meaning expropriation is made by our secret agents. The company would buy too expensive.
We then sell only to Jews, and all buildings remain only in Commercium the Jews. Only that is of course can not be done in the form of nullification of other sales. Even if that were not against the modern sense of justice in the world - gave our power not to enforce it.
We therefore need to ensure each of our real estate sales through repurchase preference of society. Namely, we have, as the owner, the estate wants to divest, the right to buy back to our original sales price.
We add an expert court decision that compensation for relevant improvements. The owner appoints an expert, we one of our; and if they can not agree, they choose to decide an available third party.
This preferential right of repurchase is privileged and can not be broken by any mortgage.
Incidentally, the Society will also provide Mortgage Credit, in a party. This is a subsidiary, which is of course like all other daughters Institute "over there" nationalized.
The private bank officials strokes, civil servants are gradually over there, with richer salary, honors, etc.
* * *
For the well-meaning expropriation must make use of local subagents, which may not know that your client is a secret agent himself and heard the centralisirten instructions of "goods purchase commission".
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