To Haifa? Not now.
Uncle Alfred advises his nephew against visiting
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"To my way of thinking, the moment when we should come here will be designated by a higher authority. Fate will show us when we should come here. I have never seen as many unhappy people concentrated in one country as here."
Haifa/Merano
After six years in Palestine, Alfred Hirsch’s verdict was unequivocal: given the country’s political, climatic and economic structure, even people of the highest intelligence and stamina could not achieve much. He did not mince words in trying to dissuade his nephew, Ulli, from coming. Living in the very secular Haifa, Alfred Hirsch was convinced that for a young, Orthodox Jew like Ulli, life in Palestine would be a big disappointment at that point in history. Between the atmosphere generated by the collective misery of a large number of uprooted, depressed people and the political unrest, which led to major economic problems, the timing just didn’t feel right to Uncle Alfred. (The political unrest mentioned is the 1936-39 Arab Revolt in reaction to the massive influx of European Jews and the prospect of the establishment of a national home for the Jews in Palestine, as stipulated by the Balfour Declaration in 1917.)
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Institution:
Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin
Collection:
Julius and Elisabeth Hirsch Family Collection, AR 25585
Original:
Box 1, folder 10
on the days before
Curated by Leo Baeck Institute – New York | Berlin © 2018 Leo Baeck Institute
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