Dr Herzl Berger ( be, Герцаль Бергер; ‎; 31 July 1904 – 28 August 1962) was a

Minsk Minsk ( be, Мінск ; russian: Минск) is the capital and the largest city of Belarus, located on the Svislach and the now subterranean Niamiha rivers. As the capital, Minsk has a special administrative status in Belarus and is the admi ...

-born

Israel Israel (; he, יִשְׂרָאֵל, ; ar, إِسْرَائِيل, ), officially the State of Israel ( he, מְדִינַת יִשְׂרָאֵל, label=none, translit=Medīnat Yīsrāʾēl; ), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated ...

i activist and politician. He served as a member of the

Knesset The Knesset ( he, הַכְּנֶסֶת ; "gathering" or "assembly") is the unicameral legislature of Israel. As the supreme state body, the Knesset is sovereign and thus has complete control of the entirety of the Israeli government (with ...

for

Mapai Mapai ( he, מַפָּא"י, an acronym for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', lit. "Workers' Party of the Land of Israel") was a democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger in ...

between 1951 and 1962.

Biography

Born in

in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire and the final period of the Russian monarchy from 1721 to 1917, ruling across large parts of Eurasia. It succeeded the Tsardom of Russia following the Treaty of Nystad, which ended the Great Northern War. ...

(today in

Belarus Belarus,, , ; alternatively and formerly known as Byelorussia (from Russian ). officially the Republic of Belarus,; rus, Республика Беларусь, Respublika Belarus. is a landlocked country in Eastern Europe. It is bordered by ...

), Berger attended the Reali High School in his home city. Between 1917 and 1921, he was a member of the Zionist Hashomer Hatzair and HaHaver youth movements, which had been banned by the Soviet authorities. In 1921 he moved to Berlin, where he joined the Right section of

Poale Zion Poale Zion (also spelled Poalei Tziyon or Poaley Syjon, meaning "Workers of Zion") was a movement of Marxist–Zionist Jewish workers founded in various cities of Poland, Europe and the Russian Empire in about the turn of the 20th century after ...

, serving as secretary of its central committee between 1930 and 1931. He also studied at the

University of Jena The University of Jena, officially the Friedrich Schiller University Jena (german: Friedrich-Schiller-Universität Jena, abbreviated FSU, shortened form ''Uni Jena''), is a public research university located in Jena, Thuringia, Germany. The un ...

and gained a doctorate in law and political science. In 1932, he moved to

Poland Poland, officially the Republic of Poland, is a country in Central Europe. It is divided into 16 administrative provinces called voivodeships, covering an area of . Poland has a population of over 38 million and is the fifth-most populou ...

, and between 1933 and 1934, was a member of the Poale Zion Socialist Zionists' central committee. He also worked on the editorial board of the '' Das Vert'' newspaper. In 1934, he made aliyah to

Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine ( ar, فلسطين الانتدابية '; he, פָּלֶשְׂתִּינָה (א״י) ', where "E.Y." indicates ''’Eretz Yiśrā’ēl'', the Land of Israel) was a geopolitical entity established between 1920 and 1948 ...

, where he worked for the ''

Davar ''Davar'' ( he, דבר, lit. ''Word'') was a Hebrew-language daily newspaper published in the British Mandate of Palestine and Israel between 1925 and May 1996. It was relaunched in 2016, under the name ''Davar Rishon'' as an online outlet by th ...

'' newspaper. He also joined the Haganah, and was a political commentator for

Kol Yisrael ''Kol Yisrael'' or ''Kol Israel'' ( lit. "Voice of Israel", also "Israel Radio") is Israel's public domestic and international radio service. It operated as a division of the Israel Broadcasting Service from 1951 to 1965, the Israel Broadcasti ...

. In the 1949 elections he was given a place on the

list, but the party did not win enough seats for him to make it into the Knesset. However, he entered the parliament on 5 February 1951 as a replacement for

Yehudit Simhonit Yehudit Simhonit (sometimes Simhoni;Her actual surname is "Simhoni"; however it was customary for Russian speakers to add a "t" ( he, "ת") suffix to surnames of women he, יהודית שמחונית; 24 January 1902 – 5 December 1991) was a ...

, who had resigned her seat.Knesset Members of the First Knesset
Knesset website He retained his seat in the July 1951 elections, and was re-elected in 1955,

1959 Events January * January 1 - Cuba: Fulgencio Batista flees Havana when the forces of Fidel Castro advance. * January 2 - Lunar probe Luna 1 was the first man-made object to attain escape velocity from Earth. It reached the vicinity of E ...

and

1961 Events January * January 3 ** United States President Dwight D. Eisenhower announces that the United States has severed diplomatic and consular relations with Cuba (Cuba–United States relations are restored in 2015). ** Aero Flight 311 (K ...

. He died in 1962 whilst still a Knesset member, and was replaced by Gideon Ben-Yisrael.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Berger, Herzl 1904 births 1962 deaths Politicians from Minsk Belarusian Jews University of Jena alumni Israeli journalists Haganah members Soviet emigrants to Germany Polish emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Mapai politicians Members of the 1st Knesset (1949–1951) Members of the 2nd Knesset (1951–1955) Members of the 3rd Knesset (1955–1959) Members of the 4th Knesset (1959–1961) Members of the 5th Knesset (1961–1965) Burials at Nahalat Yitzhak Cemetery 20th-century journalists