Tze'irei Zion (, "Youth of Zion", sometimes spelled as Zeire Zion) was a

Labor Zionist Labor Zionism () or socialist Zionism () is the Left-wing politics, left-wing, socialism, socialist variant of Zionism. For many years, it was the most significant tendency among Zionists and Zionist organizations, and was seen as the Zionist ...

youth movement in

Eastern Europe Eastern Europe is a subregion of the Europe, European continent. As a largely ambiguous term, it has a wide range of geopolitical, geographical, ethnic, cultural and socio-economic connotations. Its eastern boundary is marked by the Ural Mountain ...

, in the first half of the 20th century that branched into the

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

. The movement originated at the very beginning of the 20th century in the

Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...

.''The Jews of Kishinev'', translation of ''Yehudei Kishinev'', Tel Aviv, 195
p. 122, Section "Tze'irei Zion [Youth of Zion]"
/ref> The name is also translated as Young Zionists.A. Ludsk

from ''The Encyclopaedia of the Jewish Diaspora'', vol.2: Brest Lit(owsk) (''Brisk de-Lita: Encyclopedia Shel Galuyot'', Jerusalem, 1958), pp. 467-476 Initially Tze'irei Zion was opposed by more radical Zionist and socialist activists from

Socialist Revolutionary Party The Socialist Revolutionary Party (SR; ,, ) was a major socialist political party in the late Russian Empire, during both phases of the Russian Revolution, and in early Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic, Soviet Russia. The party memb ...

and

Bund Bund, BUND, or the Bund may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Der Bund'', a German-language newspaper published in Bern, Switzerland * Shanghai Bund (TV series), ''Shanghai Bund'' (TV series), a 2007 Chinese television remake of the 19 ...

, who viewed the movement as "reactionary". Among the major cities with cells of the movement were

Chișinău Chișinău ( , , ; formerly known as Kishinev) is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Moldova, largest city of Moldova. The city is Moldova's main industrial and commercial centre, and is located in the middle of the coun ...

(then known as Kishinev), Warsaw, Vilnius (then also known as Vilna), and Odesa (then known as Odessa), all initially within the Russian Empire and later in

Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...

, Lithuania and Poland as well after the collapse of the Empire after the

Russian Revolution of 1917 The Russian Revolution was a period of Political revolution (Trotskyism), political and social revolution, social change in Russian Empire, Russia, starting in 1917. This period saw Russia Dissolution of the Russian Empire, abolish its mona ...

. During the 1905

Kishinev Pogrom The Kishinev pogrom or Kishinev massacre was an anti-Jewish riot that took place in Kishinev (modern Chișinău, Moldova), then the capital of the Bessarabia Governorate in the Russian Empire, on . During the pogrom, which began on Easter Day, ...

Tze'irei Zion issued a circular in which it called on the Jewish youth to organize self-defense units. During the

Second Aliyah The Second Aliyah () was an aliyah (Jewish immigration to the Land of Israel) that took place between 1904 and 1914, during which approximately 35,000 Jews, mostly from Russia, with some from Yemen, immigrated into Ottoman Palestine. The Sec ...

, many of the members of the movement emigrated to Palestine. In 1920 there was a major split in the movement due to the difficult circumstances during the Third Conference of the movement in Kharkiv (then known as Kharkov), which happened a week after Poland invaded Ukraine and captured Kyiv (then known as Kiev), due to which a significant number delegates could not attend. The delegates who were present decided to cooperate with

Bolshevik Russia The Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic (Russian SFSR or RSFSR), previously known as the Russian Socialist Federative Soviet Republic and the Russian Soviet Republic, and unofficially as Soviet Russia,Declaration of Rights of the labo ...

and established the (1920–1926). It operated legally in the

Soviet Union The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...

, until the clamp-down and emigration of nearly all members to Palestine and joined

Ahdut HaAvoda Ahdut HaAvoda () was the name used by a series of List of political parties in Israel, political parties in Israel. Ahdut HaAvoda in its first incarnation was led by David Ben-Gurion. It was first established during the period of Mandatory Pales ...

. Another part joined the

Hapoel Hatzair Hapoel Hatzair (, "The Young Worker") was a Zionist group active in Palestine from 1905 until 1930. It was founded by A.D. Gordon, Yosef Aharonovich, Yosef Sprinzak and followed a non-Marxist, Zionist, socialist agenda. Hapoel Hatzair was a ...

Zionist group and operated illegally in the Soviet Union.מפלגת ציונים סוציאליסטיים
fro
תנועות מחתרת ציוניות בברה"מ
by Yaakov Bar-Haim, 1972 A similar left-right split happened in 1923 among the members of the movement which stayed in Poland after the Russian Revolution.

Notable members

Yisrael Bar-Yehuda Yisrael Bar-Yehuda (; 15 November 1895 – 15 May 1965) was a Zionist activist and Israeli politician. Biography Born Yisrael Idelson in Konotop, in the Chernigov Governorate of the Russian Empire (present-day Sumy Oblast, Ukraine) in 1895, Bar ...

Aharon Becker Aharon Becker (; 21 December 1905 – 24 December 1995) was an Israeli politician who served as a member of the Knesset between 1955 and 1974. Biography Born in Kobryn in the Russian Empire (today in Belarus), Becker was educated at a heder and ...

* Yitzhak Coren *

Max Lazerson Maksis "Max" Lazerson (; 1 February 1887 in Jelgava, Russian Empire (present day Latvia) – 29 November 1951 in New York City, New York, USA) was a Latvian politician, jurist and philosopher. He was a member of Saeima from 1922 to 1925 and a ...

Yosef Sprinzak Yosef Sprinzak (; ) was a leading Zionist activist in the first half of the 20th century, an Israeli politician, and the first Speaker of the Knesset, a role he held from 1949 until his death in 1959. Biography Yosef Sprinzak was born in Moscow, ...

References

{{authority control Jewish socialism Labor Zionism Zionist organizations Zionism in Europe Zionist youth movements Youth organizations based in Europe