„Rola“ wobec syjonizmu
„Rola” vs. Zionism

Summary/Abstract: The article looks at the attitude of the anti-Semitic Warsaw weekly “Rola” to the Zionist movement. “Rola”, which rejected the ideas of assimilation, was initially sympathetic toward the plan to establish a Jewish state in Argentina or in Palestine, formulated by Baron Hirsch. Over time, however, it decided that the concept was not realistic, the main reason being that, in its opinion, European Jews got so accustomed to engage in various sorts of intermediation that they would not be prepared to take up productive employment. For “Rola” this constituted a confirmation of the conviction that the Jews were organically unable to engage in productive activity. Herzl’s plan met with a similar reception: “Rola” supported his idea, albeit in the predictable sarcastic form, while at the same time airing doubts as to the practicality of this new concept. That attitude also prevailed when successive Zionist initiatives were reported: on the one hand, the plan to establish a Jewish state in Palestine was dismissed as a “figment of the imagination of sick brains of the Jewish ideologues, but on the other its writers wished it success because that would mean mass emigration of the Jews from Poland, which “Rola” would be delighted to see. In the end it was accepted, however, that the idea of a Jewish state is but a “huge new Jewish scam,” whose real objective was to “divert attention and subvert the alertness of Christian folks and states”. The Zionist movement was likened to the prior activities of Alliance Israélite, which “Rola” was consistently denouncing as a “centre of Israel’s rule” and a “Jewish-internationalist monster.” With this approach, Zionism became just another convenient excuse for anti-Semitism.

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