Kurt Blumenfeld (May 29, 1884 – May 21, 1963) was a

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany (of or related to) ** Germania (historical use) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law **Ge ...

-born

Zionist Zionism ( he, צִיּוֹנוּת ''Tsiyyonut'' after ''Zion'') is a nationalist movement that espouses the establishment of, and support for a homeland for the Jewish people centered in the area roughly corresponding to what is known in Je ...

from

Marggrabowa Olecko (former since 1560, colloquially also , since 1928, lt, Alėcka) is a town in northeastern Poland, in the Warmian-Masurian Voivodeship, located in Masuria near Ełk and Suwałki. It is situated at the mouth of the Lega river which flow ...

East Prussia East Prussia ; german: Ostpreißen, label=Low Prussian; pl, Prusy Wschodnie; lt, Rytų Prūsija was a province of the Kingdom of Prussia from 1773 to 1829 and again from 1878 (with the Kingdom itself being part of the German Empire from 187 ...

. He was the secretary general of the

World Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization ( he, הַהִסְתַּדְּרוּת הַצִּיּוֹנִית הָעוֹלָמִית; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the ...

from 1911 to 1914. He died in

Jerusalem Jerusalem (; he, יְרוּשָׁלַיִם ; ar, القُدس ) (combining the Biblical and common usage Arabic names); grc, Ἱερουσαλήμ/Ἰεροσόλυμα, Hierousalḗm/Hierosóluma; hy, Երուսաղեմ, Erusałēm. i ...

. He had served as secretary of the

Zionist Federation of Germany The Zionist Federation of Germany (german: Zionistische Vereinigung für Deutschland) also known as the Zionist Association for Germany was a Zionist organisation in Germany that was formed in 1897 in Cologne by Max Bodenheimer. It had attracted 1 ...

from 1909 to 1911 and later served as president of that organization from 1924 to 1933, when he fled the rising tide of antisemitism in Nazi Germany for Palestine, after they had searched his Berlin home. He was a good friend of

Hannah Arendt Hannah Arendt (, , ; 14 October 1906 – 4 December 1975) was a political philosopher, author, and Holocaust survivor. She is widely considered to be one of the most influential political theorists of the 20th century. Arendt was born ...

. Blumenfeld opposed the Anti-Nazi boycott saying “The boycott harms German Jews first and foremost. The boycott has no favorable results for us.” He died in Jerusalem, Israel in 1963 at the age of 79.

Works

* Kurt Blumenfeld und Hans Tramer: ''Erlebte Judenfrage. Ein Viertel-Jahrhundert deutscher Zionismus''. Stuttgart 1962 * ''Im Kampf um den Zionismus. Briefe aus fünf Jahrzehnten''. Stuttgart 1976 * Hannah Arendt und Kurt Blumenfeld: ''... in keinem Besitz verwurzelt.'' Die Korrespondenz, hrsg. von Ingeborg Nordmann und Iris Pilling, Hamburg 1995,

References

Bibliography

* * * Laqueur. ''History of Zionism''. p. 156. 1884 births 1963 deaths People from Olecko Jewish emigrants from Nazi Germany to Mandatory Palestine German Zionists People from East Prussia {{Judaism-bio-stub