Complete Diaries of Theodor Herzl

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The Com p le te D iarie s o fTHEODOR HERZL

Edited byRaphael Patai

Translated byHARRY ZOHN

VOLUME I

New YorkHERZL PRESS

ANDTHOMAS YOSELOFF London


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10 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLhow to defend the state in time of war, and we must have beena highly gifted people to have endured two thousand years ofcarnage 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 anedict in the Imperial Gazette. When we emerged from theghetto, we were, and for the time being remained, GhettoJews. We should have been given time to get accustomed tofreedom. 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 ideathat these released men have been unjustly punished. Addedto this is the prevalent Socialist opposition to mobile privatecapital, the kind with which Jews have been forced to occupythemselves exclusively for centuries past."But if the Jews turn from money to professions that were

previously barred to them, they cause a terrible pressure onthe area in which the middle classes earn their living, a pressureunder which the Jews actually suffer most of allo"However, anti-Semitism, which is astrong and unconscious

force among the masses, will not harm the Jews. I consider itto be a movement useful to the Jewish character. It representsthe education of a group by the masses, and will perhaps lead toits being absorbed. Education is accomplished only throughhard knocks. A Darwinian mimicry will set in. The Jews willadapt themselves. They are like the seals, which an act ofnature cast into the water. These animals assume the appearanceand habits of fish,which they certainly are not. Once they returnto dry land again and are allowed to remain there for a fewgenerations, 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


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THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZL 211said: "Your Argentinian Jews behave in a disorderly fashion,

lam told. One item rather shocked me; the house built first wasone of-ill repute."Hirsch interjected: "Not true. That house was not built by my

colonists.'"Very weIl. But in any case, the whole thing should not have

been started the way you did it. You drag these would-be Jewishfarmers overseas. They are bound to believe that they have aright to be supported in the future, too, and the last thing inthe world that will be promoted by this is their eagemess towork.Whatever such an exported Jew may cost you, he isn't worthit. And how many specimens can you transport over there any-way?Fifteen to twenty thousand! More Jews than that live on onestreet in the Leopoldstadt. No, direct means are altogether un-suitable for moving masses of people. You can be effective onlythrough 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, andreaps will find gold in every sheaf. After all, it's almost true. Theonly thing is, the J ews know that it will be a tiny little lump.That is why you would be able to tell them, more rationaIly: theman who manages best will receive a bonus, one that might bevery 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 insmall-scale farming."With twenty thousand of your Argentinian Jews you will

prove nothing, even if those people do weIl. But if the experi-ment fails, you will have fumished a dreadful bit of evidenceagainst the J ews."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


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34 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLGigantic assista nce par Ze travaiZ [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 andinstalled 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 + sab + b2.For them you must calculate it in familiar terms .

I fuUy realize that the most immediate in my outlineis as sound as the most remote. But precisely in the mostimmediate (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 oppositionby threats of competition).3. Enrollment of land-seekers.


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48 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLundertaking is about to be created, I must be informed of itimmediately, 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.'* ' '* ' '* '

June 9It 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 reporton it. The very first year we shall send over a caravan (Raoulwill go along), and then there will be similar contingents atregular 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 willbe warned about this in advance).On the other hand, anyone who behaves properly will receivepriority for the foUowing year without having to bid for it.He can retain his position at the highest price offered for anadditional year. This is how it will go until the fifth or thetenth year (we shall determine this according to the circum-stances), and then the auctioning will cease and the brokers willbecome a closed corporation.Through the grand institution of this stock-exchange monopoly

I shall also get an astonished Europe to imitate us. This willcrowd the Jews out of the European stock exchanges, becausethe existing governments certainly will not give these sinecuresto Jews. That will yield me fresh emigrants.I shall insure the alertness and justice of the traveling com-


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THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZL 51To 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.,

1 can go to governments and tell them: R's are making thissacrifice (a kind of indirect self-taxation) to remove your sur-plus Jews.We must use the word "surplus," otherwise they will notlet 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 occasionaUy

(upon our request) an ungracious word, but with the main-tenance of order.Af ter 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 inwhich 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 opinionof the world (liberals, socialists, anti-Semites) against the im-prisonment 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 bymilitarism and socialism.This is Jewish emancipation.

To the Family Council:You are accustomed to transacting worldwide deals. Perhaps

you will understand me.I may issue the Jewish National Loan from our capital city.


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56 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLTo 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 9In Palestine's disfavor is its proximity to Russia and Europe,

its laek of room for expansion as well as its climate, whieh weare no longer aeeustomed to.In its favor is the mighty legend.In the beginning we shall be supported by anti-Semites through

a recrudescence" of perseeution (for 1 am eonvineed that theydo not expect sueeessand will want to exploit their "conquest.")

' " ' " ' "June 9

A possible further coneession for the removal of property.The states eoneerned shall aequire the immovable property

ofthe Jews.The priee, regardless of what has been paid by us, will be set

by a regulatory eommission on whieh we shaIl also be represented.'" * '"

June 9Language will present no obstacle. Switzerland too is a federal

state of various nationalities.We reeognize ourselves as a nation by our faith.Actually, German is, par la force des choses [ofneeessity], likely

to beeome the official language. Judendeutsch [the Germanspoken by Jews]! As the yellow badge is to beeome our blueribbon!I have nothing against French or English, either! I shall steer In French in the original.


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L THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZL 651-f

this is a fantasy. I am not an architect of castles in the air. I ambuilding a real house, with materials that you can see, touch,examine. Here are the blue-prints.e

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as

Note that the next European war cannot harm our enterprise,but only benefit it, because all ]ews will transport all their be-longings 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 inpeacetime, I shall impede it in wartime, on account of ]ewishhonor.Let anyone who has delayed his adherence until then do his

old duty and fight, and when the war is over we shall receivehim with all honors, much greater ones than his former father-land accorded him. In this way our fighting forces will getexperienced warriors who have faced death and will enhancethe prestige of our Army.

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Incidentally, when peace is concluded we shall already havea say as money-givers and achieve advantages of recognitionthrough diplomatie channels.

]une 10Draw limits of freedom of the press wisely. The pillory for

slanderers, and substantial fines.of *

A House of Lords for the aristocracy, but not inheritable. Firstthere must be an examination as to merit.I must give more thought to ways of guarding against the

absurd heirs of other countries.ofnk *


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THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZL 67aI S

In addition to transportation, industry, etc., it is also a hugefinancial transaction.

' * ' ' * ' '* '

teCome to think of it, in all this I am still the dramatist. I piek

poor people in rags off the streets, put gorgeous costumes onthem, and have them perform for the world a wonderful pageantofmy composition.I no longer operate with individuals, but with masses: thec1ergy,the army, the administration, the academy, etc., aU ofthem mass units to me.

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To the Family Council: I must call a spade a spade. Thisshould not make you think that I am a rude person. But at themoment I do not know whether I shall proceed with you or inopposition .to you. That is why the flourishes of courtesy mightcompromise me and give my later actions the appearance ofrevenge.

June 11, 1895Labor units will march off to work like an army amidst the

sounds of a fanfare and return home the same way.' * ' '* ' '* '

June 11, 1895No women or children shall work in our factories. We need

a sturdy race. Needy women and children will be taken careofby the State."Old maids" will be employed in kindergartens and as nurses

for the orphans of the working class, etc.1 shall organize these girls who have been passed over by

suitors into a corps of governesses for the poor. They will begiven housing by the State, enjoy due honors (just as everygentleman treats a governess courteously), and eventually will


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72 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLJune 11

The worth of my plan obviously lies in the facts that I amusing only available resources, making unutilized or unutilizablethings fruitful by combining them, that I have regard for allsuffering (certainly including the hurts inflicted by Jews onGentiles), proteet all acquired rights, take all human impulsesinto account, balance world supply and world demand, use theprogress of technology, and hold tradition sacred.Make this correction above: The prudent immediately recog-

nize the safe cobble-stones.'* ' '* ' '* '

Yes, we have become a scourge for the peoples which oncetormented us. The sins of their fathers are now visited on them.Europe is being punished for the ghettos now. To be sure, we aresuffering under the sufferings that we are causing. It is a scourg-ing with scorpions, live scorpions which are not to blame thatthey did not become lions, tigers, or sheep. After all, in the scourg-ing the scorpions suffer most of alloI could accept a mass request from the little Jews to lead them

out only if all the govemments concemed asked me to, promisedme their sympathetic cooperation, and gave me guarantees forthe peaceful completion of the enormous task, just as I wouldgive them guarantees for an exodus without economie ill-effects.(I don't know whether I should have this printed in Roman type).

, .'* ' '* '

(Addendum to Teweles' letter): I must read Daniel Deronda.Perhaps it contains ideas similar to mine. They cannot be iden-ticalones, because it took a concatenation of many specific cir-cumstances 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 theywere "fit for active service" when they reached the draft age,whether they are still of military age, whether they are healthy


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THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZL 73or sick. They must drag themselves to the army of their presentfatherland, and if they are on opposite sides, they must shootat 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 11Schiff came to see me today. 1 asked him to substitute for

me for a few days. Was 1 starting a newspaper? he asked when1 dropped a few vague hints.A newspaper! II y a belle lurette que je n'y pense plus [Ihaven't thought of that for a long time J .True enough, 1 first sought the practical ideas with the found-

ing of the "N eue Zeitung" in mind.Like Saul, who went forth. .!

June 11Schiff's brother-in-law said the other day: Emigrate? Yes, I'd

like to, all right. But where to? Switzerland? The first countryto make laws against the Jews!Where to? This question made me inwardly very happy.

June 11About the assistance par le travail [public works] 1 had some

correspondence with Chlumecky two years ago. He did not getthe idea.

Today 1 dined at a brasserie [smaH restaurant] near theChtelet. 1 am shunning aH my acquaintances. They tread on


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THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZL 83Afterall,wewant to proceed with the consent of the governments,but undisturbed by the mobs of parliament and press.

June 12It wil!, incidentally, spread like wildfire. One of my dreams

during the period of uncertainty was to force Alois Lichtenstein,Schnereror Lueger to a duel. If I had been shot, a letter leftbehind by me would have told the world that I feIl a victim toth is most unjust movement. Thus my death might at least haveimproved the heads and hearts of men. But if I had shot myopponent, I wanted to make a magnificent speech before theassizecourt, first expressing my regrets at "the death of anbonorable man," like Mors who had stabbed Captain Mayerl O death. Then I would have gone into the Jewish Question,makingapowerfui, Lassalle-like speech which would have shakenand moved the jury and inspired respect from the court, leadingto my acquittal. Thereupon the Jews would have offered tomakemeamember of parliament. But I would have been obligedtedecline that, because I did not want to become a representativeof the people over the dead body of a human being.-And nowlI find that the anti-Semites are fully within their rights.

It would be an excellent idea to call in respectable, accreditedant i -Semite s as liquidators of property.To the people they would vouch for the fact that we do not

wishto bring about the impoverishment of the countries thatweleave.At first they must not be given large fees for this; otherwisewe shall spoil our instruments and make them despicabie as

~stoogesof the Jews."Later their fees will increase, and in the end we shall havey Gentile officials in the countries from which we have emi-

grated.


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84 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLThe anti-Semites will become our most dependable friends,

the anti-Semitic countries our allies.We want to emigrate as respected people.

June 12No 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 NewYork H erald does in Paris.The transplantation of habits includes one's favorite paper atbreakfast.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 editionswill be the smaller ones. Then the old editions will shrink andthe new ones become big.The Gentile editors will stay here and feel liberated and

comfortable; the Jewish ones will go overseas and become richand respected, taking an active part in polities: in fact, at presentthe joumalists are the only Jews who know anything about poli-ties.I am the best proof of this.Amnesty for moral misdemeanors of the press, too. AU shall

start a new life. But let everyone be respectable over there fromthe outset! Tribunals of honor, like those of the lawyers. Thepress must be free, but let it have and preserve the priestlyhonor of its opinions. In this way we shall also have the mostdecent press in the world.

" " " " ""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""). In English in the original.


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110 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLperiod of time, and thus desired a respite of two or three daysfrom the enormous work which I would not have abandonedthereby, 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 thosepoints, spiritual or secular, where one of you might not haveunderstood me, the other disinterested man would have certifiedthat I was proceeding constantly on the basis of solid factoYour companion need not have been a wealthy man or a

philanthropist, for my project is dependent neither on the richnor on the charitable. It would really be bad if it were. Theonly 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 yourletter that you are the right helper after all. 1 should havefound others; and if not, I should simply have gone by myself.For I have the solution of the Jewish Question. I know it soundsmad; but in the initial period people will often think me maduntil they realize with deep emotion the truth of all I have beensaying. I have found the solution, and it no longer belongs tome; 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 firstjoint mission would have been to Albert Rothschild to whornyou would have given my message, and again the spiritual manwould have been supported by the worldly man in the clarifica-tion of questionable points. Albert Rothschild would have takenthe matter before his family council, and they would have askedme to appear there and give them a talk about my project.Let me hasten to clear up amisconception that may arise in

your mind. I am as little dependent on the Rothschilds' coopera-tion as I am on that of the other wealthy Jews. But the special


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118 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLI may remind Your Highness that you once spoke with an-

other Jew also without mandatory authority, a man named Las-salle, about matters not exclusively Jewish.What do I have to say on the Jewish Question? Actually it is

very hard for me to utter the word. For if I do, the first impulseof every rational human being must be to send me to the bserva-tion room-Department for Inventors of Dirigible Balloons.WeIl, how shall I preface it? Perhaps this way: two times two

is four, two times three issix, 17 X 7 = lIg, unless I ammistaken.I have five fingers on each hand. And I am writing with violetink. And now I shall finally risk it:I believe I have found the solution to the Jewish Question.Not a solution, but the solution, the only one.It is a very voluminous, complicated plan. After completing

it, 1have told it to two Jewshere, one very wealthy and one pOOf;the latter is acultured person.I can truthfully say that the rich man did not think me crazy.

Or was it only out of tact that he treated me as if I still seemedsane to him? At any rate, he went into the theoretical possibilityand finally said only, "You won't get the rich Jews for it; theyareno good." (I implore Your Highness not to reveal this familysecret.)But on the poor Jew it had a different effect. He sobbed bit-

terly. At first I thought, without being astonished at it, that Ihad overwhelmed his reason and wrung his heart. No! His sobswere not those of a Jew, but of a friend. He was worried aboutme. I had to cheer him up, swear to him that I was firmly con-vineed that two times two was still four and that I did not foreseethe time when two parallellines could converge.He said, "By this proposal you will make yourself ridiculous

-or tragici"I finally promised him everything he asked: that I would use

the plan only for a novel in which the tragic or comic hero isonly on paper. In this way I succeeded in raising my shatteredfriend up again.Being a tragic figure would not daunt me, nor would even the


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132 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLselves be intimidated by the Viennese rabble and deliver upthe Jews. There, you see, the mob can achieve anything once itrears up. It does not know this yet, but the leaders will teach it.Sothey will chase us out of these countries, and in the countries

where we take refuge they will kill us.Is there no salvation?Oh yes, gentlemen, there is one, one that has existed before.

It will be necessary to repeat a very old, very famous, very provenmaneuver, albeit in a different, modern, more refined form. AHthe resources of the present may be used for this simple, easilyunderstood purpose.This simple old maneuver is the exodus from Mitzraim[Egypt].I have intentionally prefaced my address with this brief critical

part, although everything in it was already known to you, andat the risk of boring you. My main aim was to convince you thatI am thinking along the same rationallines as you do, that I viewthings with the same calm eyes as you. I may have delineatedrather sharply a few dangers and complexities with which you donot concern yourselves frequently or willingly. But in any case,everything has been true, simple, and sensible.Do not, then, consider me a visionary. I shall now proceed to

develop the business aspects of the matter which will give youa chance to observe closely whether I am talking sense or .non-sense.The only possible, final, and successful solution of the J ewish

Question requires a billion francs. This billion will be worththree in twenty years-three billion exactly, as you will seelater.But before I present my plan to you, I will tell you in two

sentences the principle that it is based upon. This will help youunderstand everything more easily. 1.We shall solve the JewishQuestion by either safeguarding or liquidating the fortune ofthe wealthy Jews. 2. If we cannot do it with the help of thewealthy Jews, we shall do it in spite of them.


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136 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLharsh conditions as in Russia. In Germany, they don't like tohave Jews in the army, anyway; and the people who want toremove the Jews from the army are certainly right from theirpoint of view.But what about the free removal of property? In its present

form, movable property is easier to get out than ever. But whatabout immovables?In the beginning, befere our movement becomes a universal

one, the first Jews who go with us will find it easy to seIl theirimmovables. Gradually various contrarieties will appear. At firstthese emigrants will force one another's priees down. Without ouraid, all sorts of business crises would oeeur in the eountries af-feeted by the departure of the Jews, crises whose form and extenteould not even be ealculated. FinaIly the population would bedisconcerted and enraged, and it would hold the remaining J ewsresponsible. They might resort to legal chicanery, but certainlyto the administrative kind.The Jews who don't go with us eould fare badly. We

could, to be sure, leave them to their fate, sinee they were toocowardly or too mean to join us.But what we have in mind is a project of justiee and charity.

We want to have merey even on the contemptible. For are wenot offering the solution? And a solution is only what satisfiesalloNow, gentlemen, we come to a commercial key point of the

plan.You have already suspected that the Society will be piloting us

to our State. But we are still a long way from that point.(This is the point at which to make an interpolation; for, as

I have already said, many activities which I have described insuccession will in reality take place simultaneously.)We left our diplomatie negotiators in South America where

theywere concluding treaties of oeeupation with the states. Thesetreaties are now completed, and we are assured of the land thatwe are going to occupy.There can be no doubting that this operation is alegal one.


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THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZL 143there will be no impoverishment or economie crises in thecountries wehave left?I have already told you that we want to let respectable anti-

Semites participate in our project, respecting their independeneewhich is valuabie to us-as a sort of people's control authority.But the state, too, has fiscal interests which could be damaged.It loses a class of tax payers which enjoys little civic respect,but is highly valued financially. We must offer the state somecompensation for this. We are giving it an indirect one by leav-ing behind OUT businesses which Jewish astuteness and diligencehave fashioned, by letting our Gentile fellow citizens move intothe positions that we have abandoned, thus making it possiblefor masses to rise to prosperity in a manner unprecedented insuch scope and peacefulness. On a smaller scale, the FrenchRevolution produced something similar, but there the bloodhad to flow in streams under the guillotine, in all provincesof the country and on the battlefields of Europe, and inheritedand acquired rights had to be violated into the bargain. Andthis only served to feather the nests of the shrewd buyers ofnational property.Another indirect advantage the states will have is the tremen-

dous growth of their export trade. Since over there we shallbe dependent on European products for a long time to come,it will be essential for us to import them. And in this, too, mysystem of Local Groups (more about which soon) will createan equitable adjustment. The customary requirements willbe met by the customary places for a long time. But thegreatest indirect advantage, one that may nor immediately beappreciated in its full import, is the social alleviation. Socialdiscontent will be put at rest for some time, perhaps twentyyears, possibly even longer. As for the social question, gentle-men, I consider it a merely technological question. Steam powerhas gathered men around the machines in factories where theyare squeezed together and make one another unhappy. Pro-duction is enormous, indiscriminate, unplanned, and every


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THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZL 145Ministers of Finance about it. They will clearly see our goodintentions and will everywhere grant us those special considera-tions which we demonstrably need for the successful completionof our historie project.Another direct contribution which we shall make is in the

field of freight and passenger transportation. In the case of staterailroads this is immediately obvious. In the case of privaterailroads we shall get special rates, like every major shippingagent. We must, of course, transport our people and theirbelongings as cheaply as possible, because everybody pays hisown way across. For middle-class people we shall have the CookSystem, and for the poor classes, travel at special reduced rates.For the freight we have our experienced agents. We couldmake a big profit on passenger and freight discounts. But inthis area, too, our principle must be merely to break even.We must not make any more profits in Europe. Therefore weshall divide the discount between our emigrants (fare reduction)and the states (providing surface through the establishmentof shipping agencies and freight-insurance companies).It will not be necessary to establish new moving agencieseverywhere. In many places the moving business is in the handsof Jews. These companies will be the first we will need andthe first we will liquidate. Their present owners will eitherenter our service or freely establish themselves over there. Afterall, receiving agents will be needed at the point of debarkation;and since this is an excellent business and people not only may,but should, immediately make money on the other side, it isevident that there will be no shortage of enterprising spiritsin this field.We ourselves will undertake the management of the boats, and

at the same time we shall encourage Jewish ship-owners, At firstwe shall buy the boats (and through secret and simultaneouspurchases, similar to the centralized system of land purchasewhich will have been developed earlier, we shall prevent priceincreases); later, and as soon as possible, we shall build ourown ships over there. We shall encourage the shipbuilding of


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152 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLI am not imagining aU this to be easier than it actually is;

on the other hand, you must not imagine it to be harder.The middle classes will automatically be drawn along by our

movement. Some will have their sons on the other side, asofficials of the Society) judges, lawyers, physicians, architects,railroad engineers, bridge-builders, etc. Others will havedaughters married to our workers. These will all be goodmatches, for those who come with us will rise high, especiallythe pioneers who will be rewarded for their devotion, and alsobecause the positions which do not lend themselves to anyactions d' clat [striking deeds] wiU be governed strictly accordingto seniority rather than infiuence.Then one of our unmarried people will send for his fiance,

another for his parents, brothers, and sisters. In a new civiliza-tion, people marry young. This can only benefit general morality,and we shall have sturdy offspring-not those delicate childrenof fathers who have married late, having already spent theirenergies in life's struggles. It is evident that espeeially the poorestwill go with us. The already existing Emigrants' Committees invarious eities will accept our leadership. Since they were foundedby well-meaning men who have a heart for their poor brethren,there is no doubt that they will readily submit to our higherpurpose, our higher institutions. If they do not, we shall forgetabout the envious ones. But I don't think there will be any suchpeople. It would be pitiful; and they would incur disgrace assurely as we shall gladly honor them if they join forces with us.

June15Address to the Family:Any person of discernment must see the development clearly

even now. But no great exertion will be necessary to stimulatethe migration movement. The anti-Semites are already takingcare of this for us. As soon as our institution becomes known, theanti-Semites will agitate for the Society in the government, inparliament, at rallies, and in the papers. Good for the Jews who


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THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZL 159our unskilled* laborers by means of the truck system. Let me heremention the fact that we shall also establish a liquor monopoly.In addition to the profits on the manufacture, this will give usa large number of small retail outlets for pensioners and widows.Small outlets, I say, because as a rule our people are not drinkers.They are not, at present, but physical labor might make themdrink; a state must take preventive measures. And this is theplace to speak of the tobacco monopoly, the last form of indirecttaxation for the time being. If at a later date we need more andbigger sourees of revenue, this will have been caused by ourneeds, i.e., our standard of living. But once we are establishedwe can find whatever forces are required.The tobacco monopoly has several points in its favor: most

Jews are familiar with it from their present locations; it enablesus to exact bigger amounts from bigger consumers; it gives us anynumber of smaU pensions in the form of tobacco-shops. Thelast-named will at the same time be the exclusive vending placesfor newspapers; there they will be available to the public, and tothe government, if need be.This is all I have to say about the stock-exchange monopoly.Of all the fine institutions which we shall create over there,this will probably be the first to be copied by Europe.Right now, of course, it would be a tremendous hardship if

we were barred from the stock-exchanges. Where should the un-fortunate Jewish brokers turn? But once we start migrating, thiswill suddenly be a great boon to the Jews, and at the same timethe states will create great resources for themselves and get controlof speculation with government credits, as we shaU do in ourState. Over there we shall offer rich fields to industrious tradersand enterprising capitalists. Let the gamblers, the dissolute fel-lows, stay in Monte Carlo. If they follow us uninvited, we shalltame them, just as we keep mutinous elements among our un-skilled laborers in check through our protective troops.It will be said that we make people unhappy by our measures. In English in the original.


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THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZL 161needy Gentiles in the cities concerned. Over there we shall givethe Local Groups credit for this by not charging them for build-ing sites when the land is distributed and giving them special con-sideration in construction. Also, it shall be credited in theauctioning offof the local community.I shall speak in a moment about the distribution and auction-

ing off of the land. I am trying to present everything as succinctlyaspossible.Over there we shall from the very beginning put the charitable

institutions in a centralized system, and I have already workedit out. If you believe me implicitly, I shall spare you an elabora-tion of this now.Private philanthropy must cease, because it ishaphazard. Those

unable to work will all be provided for by the State and the free,Charity Headquarters. Beggars will not be tolerated. Anyonewho refuses to choose his own occupation will go to the Work-house.You see how we pull some along and let others tag after us,

how the third kind is swept along, and the fourth pushed after us.If the stock-exchange monopoly is instituted after we have left,

it will hasten all vacillators after us, overseas, where they may nolonger find the best berths.You see, gentlemen, how cog meshes with cog, how I slowly

build a great iron machine out of familiar components that youcan touch with your own hands. I shall also show you the coalswith which I shall make fire, and the water which I shall turninto steam.Then there will be a whistle that will mean: Get aboard, or

out of the way!I have already mentioned some of the Jewish State's forms

of revenue. It will have still others. Any kind of undertakingthat has already been completely investigated, like railroads andinsurance of all kinds known up to now, will be nationalized.All Jews who have been serving as officials of such institutionsin Europe will freely transfer into the service of our State, re-ceiving positions at least as good and, besides, chances for


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164 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLthe rat thactlyW

rulershallhistoentir

Juan elwhocientshallGod.

Alwhat

W'

THexpenses of the five Great Powers have been estimated at fourbillion francs, and their actual peacetime military strength at2,800,000 men. And these military forces, which are unparalleledin history, you command financially, regardless of the conflictingdesires of the nationsl

Who has given you the right to do this? What universal humanideal are you serving? And who are you, anyway? A handful ofbankers, now more than ever "Schutzjuden," who are occasionallyinvited to court-with what repugnance you can imagine, if youare not shown it. For you are nowhere given full rights or evenregarded as regular citizens. And you who are in a position totighten the beits of almost three million soldiers, you and yourcash-boxes have to be anxiously guarded everywhere, from thepeople who, to be sure, do not know everything yet.

And your accursed wealth is still growing. Everywhere it in-creases more rapidly than the nat ional wealth of the countriesin which you reside. Therefore this increase takes place only atthe 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 toler-ate your alarming wealth, which would stifle our economie andpolitical freedom. Not even if you go with usl Do you understandthat, gentlemen? And how do we intend to keep you from gettingricher over there when we should like to make everyone richer?Do we by any chance have speciallegislation 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 barredfrom the country.

But if you do go with us, we shall enrieh you one last timemore. And we shall make you big beyond the dreams of themodest founder of your House and even of his proudest grand-children.

We shall make you richer by tripling your contribution, thebillion with which we started. The Jewish State will be given


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Jl.A

THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZL 165the right to redeem the shares of the Society within twenty yearsat three times their face value. These are the three billions ex-actly 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 weshall place atop the finished Eiffel Tower of your fortune. Inhistory it will seem as though that had been the object of theentire edifice.

J ust a few words about the Constitution. A principality withan elected head. We shall choose a quiet, modest, sensible manwho will not think that he is our master. We shall impose suffi-cient restrictions on him in our Constitution anyway. For weshall be free men and have no one over us but the AlmightyGod.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 likesomething bought, like some dubious marquisate. In order toprevent for all time sub tie pressure from those in power, thesecond prince will not be a Rothschild, and never will a son beallowed to succeed his father. Any J ew can become our prince,with the exception of the au thor of this plan. Otherwise theJ ews would say that he did everything for his own benefit. Andif you examine it closely, even the first Prince Rothschild willnot 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, helpingus to carry out the enormous undertaking without a fight, andsparing the whole civilized world the severest upheavals. For thisyou 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 sym-bols. That is why we shall aU be in glittering gala dress when wemarch to the Temple to crown the Prince. Only one man in our


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THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZL 169tion of the state. But our history has been interrupted too long forus to attempt to resume this institution.I am against democracy because it is extreme in its approval

and disapproval, tends to idle parliamentary babble, and pro-duces that base class of men, the professional politicians. Nor arethe present-day nations really suited to the democratie form ofgovernment; and I believe they will become less and less suitedto it. For democracy presupposes a very simple morality, andour morality is becoming ever more complex with the advanceof commerce and civilization. Le ressort d'une dmocratie est lavertu [the concern of a democracy is virtue], said wise Montes-quieu. And where will you find this virtue-political virtue, Imean? I have no faith in the political virtue of our people, be-cause we are no different from the rest of modem men andbecause freedom will at first make our heads swell. Governmentby referendum does not make sense, in my opinion, because inpolities there are no simple questions which can be answeredmerely by Yes or No. The masses are more prone even thanparliaments to be misled by every kind of heresy and lend awilling ear to every ranting demagogue. As you know, the Swisspeople, which is famous for its love of freedom and now subsistson its tourist trade, was the first to pass speciallegislation againstthe J ews. Neither internal nor external policy can be formulatedin popular assembly. I could not even explain the protective tariffor free trade to the people, let alone some currency problem orinternational treaty, and least of all those sensible principles ofpopular education which must be our prime concern.Polities must work from the top down. This does not mean

that we shall put anyone in bondage, for we shall let every capableJ ew rise, and everyone will want to rise. Can you imagine whata powerful upward surge is bound to move through our people?Every individu al will think he is only raising himself, and yetthe entire community will be raised. We shall bind this rise inmoral forms which will be useful to the State and further theNationalldeal.


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170 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLTherefore I am thinking of an "aristocratie republic," as.

Montesquieu termed it. This would also be in keeping with theambitious spirit of our people which has now degenerated intofatuous vanity. Many of the institutions of Venice come to mind,but we shall avoid all the features that caused the ruin of thatcity. We shall learn from the commercial mistakes of others, justas we shall learn from our own. Our people, to whom we arepresenting the new country, will also gratefully accept the newConstitution that we give it. But wherever opposition may ap-pear, we shall break it down. Everywhere we shall try it withfriendly persuasion, but if need be we shall push it through bybrute force.I am not going into detail on the public institutions. Take

my word for it: I understand the State. We shall also have agrand council of State jurists. We shall impose extensive but firmlimits on publie opinion, especially in the beginning. You canimagine that I as a journalist am concerned about the freedomand honor of my profession. But we certainly cannot permit ourwork to be disturbed by obtuse or malicious individuals.

(Here I wish to insert incidemment [incidentally] somethingthat will show how easily we can transplant many of our customs.The newspapers whieh are now being hawked as Jewish sheets-and rightly so, I believe-will have editions over there, like theParis edition of the N ew York H erald. The news will be ex-changed between both sides by cable. After all, we shall remainin contact with our old homelands. Gradually the demand fornewspapers will increase, the colonial editions will grow, theJewish editors will move overseas, leaving the Gentile ones bythemselves. Little by little and imperceptibly, the Jewish paperswill turn into Gentile papers, until the overseas editions are asindependent as the European ones. It is an amusing thought inthis serious plan that many a government will be willing to helpus for that reason alone.)Let me just add a few remarks about other public institutions.

Someone may think that our lack of a common language wouldpresent difficulties. After all, we cannot converse in Hebrew.


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THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZL 171Who among us knows enough Hebrew to ask for a railroad ticketin this language? We have no such people. But it is really a verysimple matter. Everyone retains his own language. I am a Ger-man-speaking Jew from Hungary and can never be anything buta German. At present I am not recognized as a German. But thatwill come once we are over there. And so let everyone keep his ac-quired nationality and speak the language which has become thebeloved home land of his thoughts. Switzerland offersvisible proofthat a federated state of different nationalities can exist.I believe that German will be our principal language. I draw

this conclusion from our most widespread jargon, "judeo-Cer-man." But over there we shall wean ourselves from this ghettolanguage, too, which used to be the stealthy tongue of prisoners.Our teachers will see to that.Actually, the only thing by which we still recognize our kinship

is the faith of our fathers. Shall we, then, end up by having atheocracy? No! Faith unites us, science makes us free. Thereforewe shall permit no theocratie velleities on the part of our clergyto arise. We shall know how to restriet them to their temples,just as we shall restriet our professional soldiers to their barracks.The army and the clergy shall be honored to the extent that theirnoble functions require and deserve it. But they will have noprivileged voice in the State which confers distinction upon themand pays them, otherwise they would cause us trouble externallyand internally. Every man will be as free and unrestricted in hisbelief or unbelief as he is in his nationality. And should it hap-pen later that men of other creeds and other nationalities cometo live among us, we shall accord them honorable protection. Wehave learned toleranee in Europe. I am not saying this sar-castically. Present-dav anti-Sernitism can only in a very few placesbe taken for the old religious intolerance. For the most part itis a movement among civilized nations whereby they try toexorcize a ghost from out of their own past.I believe that by now it must be clear from every aspect: aJewish State is a world necessity!And that is why it will come into being-with you, gentle-


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172 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLmen, or in opposition to you! Sooner or later it -would arise,par la force des choses [of necessity], even without this proposal.They cannot throw us into the sea, at least not all of us, nor burnus alive. After all, there are societies for the prevention of crueltyto animals everywhere. What, then? They would finally have tofind us some piece of land on the globe-a world ghetto, if youplease.Thus my plan does not invent a need; it only demonstrates one

and shows at the same time how things can be accomplished toeveryene's satisfaction without upheaval, struggle, or suffering.That is why it is the solution.We shall found the new Jewish State in arespectabIe manner.After all, we have in mind our future honor in the eyes of theworld.For that reason all obligations in our old places of residence

must be scrupulously fulfilled. We shall grant cheap passage andsettlement benefits only to those who produce an official certifi-cate saying "Affairs left in good order." Every private claim orig-inating in the abandoned countries will be heard more readily inthe Jewish State than anywhere else. We shall not even wait forreciprocity, but act purely for the sake of our own honor. Thusour claims will later get more consideration from law courts'than may now be the case in some places.It is self-evident, from the foregoing remarks, that we shall

extradite the Jewish criminals more readily than any other state,until the time comes when we can enforce our penal code on thesame principles as all other civilized nations. For the time beingwe shall admit Jewish criminals only after they have paid allpenalties, but then we shall receive them without any restrietion.The criminals among our people shall start a new life, too. Theonly exception will be made in the case of deserters. Desertersin wartime we shall not let in. If they try to take refuge in ourState, we shall arrest them immediately and extradite them. Any-one who remains in his old home until war breaks out must staythere until the war is over, and of course he must fight like anyother man who can carry a rifle. But after the war we shall re-


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~

180 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLWill there be Jews who will consider me a traitor to the cause

of the Jews because I say all this?I shall immediately enlighten and calm them. I am not rep-

resenting and defending the bad Jewish cause, but I believe Iam performing a service to the good Jewish cause by makingthese thoughts public.But their publication will not even harm the selfish and preda-

tory swindlers among the Jews.For, all this can only be carried out with the free consent of

the majority of Jews. It can be done against the will of individ-uals, even against groups of those now most powerful, but eer-tainly not by the State against all Jews.The emancipation of the Jews, which I consider just as much

a failure on political grounds as I approve of it enthusiasticallyand gratefully for human reasons, came too late. It was no longerpossible to emancipate us by legislation and in our old places ofresidence.Nevertheless, the legal equality of the Jews,where it exists, can

no longer be abolished. Not only because it would run counterto modern sensibilities-Good Lord, necessity knows no law-but also because that would immediately drive all Jews, poor andrich alike, into the arms of the revolutionary parties.Therefore, no effective measures can actually be taken againstus. And yet, anti-Semitism increases among the nations every

day, every hour, and must continue to grow, because the causeshave not been and cannot be removed.The causa remota [indirect cause] is the loss of our assimilabil-

ity which dates from the Middle Ages.The causa proxima [immediate cause] is our overproduction

of average minds who cannot sink and cannot rise-that is, can-not do so in a healthy way. At the bottom we are forced intobecoming proletarian revolutionaries, constituting the petty of-ficers of all revolutionary parties. And, at the same time, ourfrightful financial power grows at the top.That is how it is. That is how things really are. I am not ex-


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.~~>:182 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZL

June 17Now it might seem as though this were a long-drawn-out pro-

ject. I keep speaking of months, years, decades. In the meantime,in a thousand places the Jews are being teased, insulted, scolded,whipped, plundered, and slain.No, gentlemen, it is the immediate solution. I shall stop anti-

Semitism instantly all over the world. It is the making ofpeace.For, after we have taken all initial steps with the greatest dis-

patch and discretion; after we have secured our independenee asa State through treaties under public law, and the land throughpurchases under civil law; after we have acquired cables andboats and made contracts on customs and special rates-in short,after we have done everything that is necessary to carry out ourplan inexpensively, we shall make our entire program puhlic.This will be done in the pages of the Neue Freie Presse. For

I have a debt of gratitude to this paper to discharge. It sent meto Paris and gave me the means and the opportunity of acquiringmuch of the knowledge that is now in the service of the cause.Therefore, any literary aspect of my armouncement shall be theproperty of this paper.On the next morning, a message will fly out into the whole

world: PeacelPeace to the Jews, victory to the Gentiles.We must make peace because we can no longer fight, because

later we should have to surrender under less favorable conditions.The anti-Semites will have carried the day. Let them have this

satisfaction, for we too shall be happy. They will have turnedout to be right because they are right. They could not have letthemselves be subjugated by us in the army, in government, inall of commerce, as thanks for generously having let us out of theghetto. Let us never forget this magnanimous deed of the civilizednations.By liberating them from us we shall also relieve them of theatavistic pressure of the Middle Ageswhich they have been under


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196 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLclass Prussians, he says, are not anti-Semites at all: they feel justas superior to the middle-class Gentiles as they do to the Jews.Thus Wolff does not notice that the upper-class people he ad-mires only substitute one kind of contempt for another. He issatisfied to be thrown in the same pot with the middle-class Gen-tiles and to be despised along with them. He finds it quite naturalthat he will not get an officer's commission although he got thehighest marks on the examinations.By the way, if there is one thing I should like to be, it is a mem-

ber of the old Prussian nobility.

July 6Yesterday with Nordau, over a glassof beer. Also discussed the

J ewish question, of course. Never before had I been in such per-fect tune with Nordau. Each took the words right out of theother's mouth. I never had such a strong feeling that we belongedtogether. This has nothing to do with religion. He even said thatthere was no such thing as a Jewish dogma. But we are of onerace. Frth was also present, and I noticed a certain gne [em-barrassment] in his manner. I think he felt ashamed of havinghad himself baptized when he saw and heard our strong profes-sion of adherence to Judaism. Another point on which Nordauand I agreed was that only anti-Sernitism had made Jews of us.Nordau said: "What is the tragedy of Jewry? That this most

conservative of peoples, which yearns to be rooted in some soil,has had no home for the last two thousand years."We agreed ,on every point, so that lalready thought that the

same ideas had led him to the same plan. But he comes to a dif-ferent conclusion: "The Jews," he says, "will be compelled byanti-Semitism to destroy among all peoples the idea of a father-land." Or, I secretly thought to myseH, to create a fatherland oftheir own.Frth said: "It is not good for the Jews to develop such a

strong nationalist feeling within themselves. This will only in-tensify the persecutions."


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226 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLThe miscellaneous news column in his paper is ghastly: There

are persecutions like that every week, every day!

August 6Spoke with old Simon, the president of the Vienna Jewish

Community. My words visibly inspired him. Of course I toldhim only the negative things, and that the rich Jews must bedestroyed if they lead lives of avarice, epicureanism, and vanity,while the poor are being persecuted.

August 7Received a letter from Meyer-Cohn. The letter is a good one.

I am wiring him:Thanks for letter. I wrote you the day before yesterday. Please

do your utmost to arrange a meeting soon, anywhere.Let us communicate about this by telegram.

Regards,Herzl.

August 10Yesterday received a letter from Gdemann in which he ex-

cuses himself for the ironie tone of his next-to-last letter.No word from Meyer-Cohn.I am writing him as follows:

Dear Sir:I was very pleased with your letter which arrived on August 7.

But unfortunately I did not receive the notification which I askedyou to send me by telegram. Permit me therefore to tell you onefinal time what it is all about.To the extent that I can give information in writing I have

already given it to you directly and through Dr. Gdemann in-directly. I should like to submit my plan to J ews of integrity;that means that I am ready to listen to sensible advice coneerning


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IERZL THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZL 231

urantGde-vered,ewish

cause, and saw to it that we remained undisturbed. This is thesort of human material we possess in our people. They divinewhat one would have to hammer into other people's heads. Theycarry it out with intelligence and devotion.At table the subject came up quite naturally. Gdemann had

already won his way to my heart during the forenoon. More andmore I found in him a fine, open-minded, splendid human being.Naturally, our conversation had a theological and philosophicalflavor. I ineidentally mentioned my views on the Deity. I wantto bring up my children with a belief in what might be calledthe historical God. To me, "God" is a beautiful, dear old wordwhich I want to retain. It is a wonderful abbreviation for concep-tions that might be beyond the grasp of a childlike orIimitedintellect. By "God" I understand the Will to Good! The omni-present, infinite, omnipotent, eternal Will to Good, which doesnot immediatly prevail everywhere but is always victorious inthe end. For which Evil, too, is but a means. How and why, fotexample, does the Will to Good permit epidemi es to exist? Be,cause epidemics cause musty old eities to be torn down and new,bright, healthful cities to come into being, with inhabitants whodraw a freer breath .Thus, anti-Semitism, too, probably contains the divine Will to

Good, because it forces us to close ranks, unites us through pres-sure, and through our unity will make us free.My conception of God, is, after all, Spinozistic and also resem-

bles the natural philosophy of the Monists. But I think of Spi-noza's "substance" as something inert, so to speak, and thatincomprehensible universal ether of the Monists seems too in-tangible and too vague to me. But I can conceive of an omni-present will, for I see it at work in the physical world. I see it asI can see the functioning of a muscle. The world is the body andGod is the functioning of it. The ultimate pur pose I do not andneed not know; for me it is enough that it is something higherthan our present condition. This I can again express with oldwords, and I gladly do so. Eritis sicut dei) scientes bonum et rna-lum [Ye shall be as gods, knowing good and evilJ.

V IranlIS grayom theA littleoirit to1about. Trivi-ikes upand de-om, solas few

~

ressest, doesan he, to besed toGde-. Theilitaryresem-marck1 wasknowe wasemple.

lf. Fordream

N.B: "Good" is hier economische bedoeld.


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ZLgh THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZL 241

n-

me that he took my outline completely seriously. For example,he said he was against the stock exchange monopoly.In the end he gave me the positive answer which I had desired

and in just the way I had foreseen it.I asked him to answer yes or no to the question whether Bacher

and Benedikt, one or both, might be won over for the cause.Ehrlich thought not.Who else in Vienna might be interested in it? Ehrlich didn't

know of any outstanding and prominent Jew.He thinks that the project could cause great danger for the

Jews, that is, emigration could give rise to persecution.But this very apprehension on the part of Ehrlich shows me

how right I am in the major points. For, if I can manage to makethe problem an acute one, this is the only effective instrument ofpower at my disposal, and it is a terrifying one. That is why, forthe time being, I must not make it into a piece of writing, buttreat it as action.Ehrlich finally asked me to stop, saying that the discussion had

been too much of a strain on him.He said he was my man and was ready to go along with kithand kin.

in-tittomyishyo e i -es.nes

'sigars,s awdthef ant-led ~~~ ~~~~~f u~~~Th~~lich's judgment was gratifying and important even though he had

thought the immediate realization of my plan through Bacherand Benedikt quite improbable.Meanwhile, Gdemann had been visited by aParis member of

the Alliance Isralite. About th is man, Leven by name, Gde-mann told me wonderfui things; what a concerned and also de-voted Jew he was. He was just the man to whom my project oughtto be presented; he could then work in Paris for its advancement.Unfortunately Leven had left town af ter participating in a

session of the Vienne se Alliance Isralite (which has nothing todo with the one in Paris).I sent him a telegram in Gdemann's name: "One of my

ichrad1 a'adl Z yofed


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266 THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZLfocal point in Vienna in the Caf Stierbck. You created an organfor the need, the Fruit Exchange on the Schottenring, and thenthis facility organized the trade and expanded it so greatly thatnow they have that palatial building on Taborstrasse. For thisis how it happens in economie life: first comes the need, thenthe organ, then the trade. The need must be recognized, theorgan must be created-the trade then comes by itself if the needhas been a genuine one. Surely, no one will deny that in the caseof the jews there is a need which has grown into dire necessity.The organ will be the Society. First the small Study Commission;then, when it has convineed itself that the mood is there, the bigone.That seemed to make sense to Bacher. He promised me to speak

with David Gutmann and to teIl him of my impending visit.Gutmann was a fanatical jew, he said, although he did not liveby the seaeither.

'* ' '* ' '* '

Bacher joked: "The 1ewswilllisten to you more peevishly thanthe Gentiles. You will become an honorary anti-Semitel"

November 6A deeply discouraging day. Community Councillor Stern and

others came to the office. They are all people who expect salva-tion to come from the government and who go on bended kneeto the ministers. Therefore, they would have believed in meif I had become Badeni's journalistic right-hand man. And sonow I have no authority with them.

'* ' ' * ' '* '

In the evening I was with Professor Singer and told him every-thing.He raised my spirits again, saying I had done the right thing!If I had accepted a semi-official position I would have dis-

graced myself and the cause.


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THE COMPLETE DIARIES OF THEODOR HERZL 267November 7

Met Dr. Schwitzer in the street and took him into my confi-dence.He is against my plan for the loftiest reasons. He does not want

nations, but human beings.I said to him: "Primum oiuere, deinde philosophari [First live,

then philosophize]. Over there I shall build you a splendid ivorytower where you can pursue the loftiest thoughts untroubled bybarbarians."He said that in addition to the misery of the Jews there were

many other kinds ofmisery.I said: "For the time being I can worry only about my people.

Incidentally, with the seven-hour day and other social easementsand innovations, we shall give a great example to the world."It is a matter of drawing the right conclusions from the

wonderful technical achievements of this century. The electriclight was not invented in order to illuminate the drawing roomsof a few rich snobs. It was invented so that with its aid we mightsolve the Jewish Question."

* *Bacher told me that he had spoken with David Gutmann

and prepared him for my visit. I immediately wrote to Gutmannand asked him to set a date.Gutmann's reply had a comical element. He gave me an ap-

pointment for Sunday and signed his letter "Most respectfullyyours," which sounds a bit condescending. Unless this compli-mentary close is indicative of commercial man's lack of refine-ment, it reveals that the man is not going to understand me. VetI don't want to be too lazy. Perhaps he will get scared. But I amnot likely to stir up the good man who signs himself "Most re-spectfully yours."

NovembergSpoke with David Gutmann "and Son" yesterday. The old

man was a bit condescending at first but I cured him of that by

Documents

Complete Diaries of Theodor Herzl