Official Postcard of the Sixth Zionist Congress
Emil Ranzenhofer
1903
Those Who Sow in Tears Will Reap the Harvest, official postcard of the Sixth Zionist Congress, Basel, 1903, with postmark. The Sixth Zionist Congress marked a watershed moment for the Zionist movement in Europe. The British government presented Theodor Herzl with the option to settle an autonomous Jewish community in British East Africa (in land now part of Kenya). Herzl believed this option would be an appropriate temporary solution to the immediate dangers faced by the Jews of Europe and continued to maintain belief in a Jewish homeland in the Land of Israel. However, many of the delegates at the Congress were incensed by the proposal. Despite the backlash, the delegates voted to explore the "Uganda Plan," as it was known. At the Seventh Zionist Congress in 1905, the proposal was ultimately rejected.
Credits
Courtesy of Levy Auctions, Jerusalem / Wikipedia.
Published in: The Posen Library of Jewish Culture and Civilization, vol. 7.
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Creator Bio
Emil Ranzenhofer
Born in Vienna, Emil Ranzenhofer entered the Vienna Academy of Fine Arts in 1880 to study painting. Interrupted by military service, Ranzenhofer completed his studies in the late 1880s. By 1900, he was well known locally as a designer of posters and other commercial art forms. In addition to his design work, Ranzenhofer produced etchings and illustrations, including for postcards, certificates, and pamphlets issued by the Zionist Jewish National Fund. While serving in the Austrian military during World War I, he created a number of sketches and designs depicting scenes of the war.