Jewish Politics in Czechoslovakia, 1920–1938

CHAPTER 7 Jewish Politics in Czechoslovakia, 1920–1938

In October 1917, Hans Kohn spent his time as an Austro-Hungarian prisoner of war in disintegrating Russia with spreading Zionist propaganda among his fellow-POWs. Writing home to Robert Weltsch, a Bar Kochba Zionist fraternity ‘brother,’ Kohn reported: “You would be astounded by the Zionist vigor here [. . .] We all hope here that everything would not be in vain and that a new era of human co-existence will arrive, in which all coercion and unconscious self-deception crumble.”1 This kind of post-World War I messianism was not limited to Zionists. In November 1918, the Czech-Jewish assimilationist ideologist Jindřich Kohn (no relation) was invited to speak at a meeting of Prague’s Jewish National Council, a Zionist-dominated group that tried to steer local Jews through the stormy days of the dissolution of Austria-Hungary.2 In his speech Jindřich Kohn offered the Zionists the unconditional acceptance as both Jews and Czechs: “Whoever experiences his Czechness Jewishly, let them call themselves a Jew. Whoever experiences their Jewishness through Czechness is a Czech. Let us defend both directions, the purity of their ultimate intentions.”3 While the acceptance of Zionists as Czechs by the Czech-Jews was hardly relevant, for it did not assure the acceptance by Christian Czech nationalism, Jindřich Kohn was at least consistent enough to offer the Zionists the same comprehensive integration deal, which Czech Christian nationalism continu- ously withheld from the Czech-Jews themselves. And the Czech-Jewish ideologist had good reasons for trying to close ranks with Zionism. In late December 1918, during the wave of anti-Jewish riots (see Chapter 4), his father’s shop in Příbram near Prague was plundered by a Czech Christian mob.4 A few months later, Jindřich Kohn elaborated on his ideas at another Zionist meeting, this time in his hometown Plzeň/Pilsen:

1 Rachamimov, “Arbiters of Allegiance,” 157–58 [translation of quote by Rachamimov]. 2 Hecht, Zwischen Feminismus und Zionismus, 200–201; see also: Wein, “Zionism in Interwar Czechoslovakia,” 24–25 [on Jewish council]. 3 Kohn, “My a Sionisté,” 41 [emphasis in original]; comp. to a slightly different translation in Kieval, Making of Czech Jewry, 158. 4 Otokar Guth to T.G. Masaryk, Prague, December 21, 1918, source: CZA-FA1 [original: AUTGM, R-církve, 2, Židé].

Castle

Communism Red Bloc Green Bloc Fascism

SECULARISTS ROMAN-/GREEK-CATHOLICS Poale Tsiyon Protestants Russian-Orthodox Mainstream Zionists Revisionist-Zionists Czech-Jews Agudas Yisroel Hasidic Jews FIGURE 6 Religious and political identities in interwar Czechoslovakia (generalized).

Among the Jewish masses living in the Bohemian lands not only the Czech but also the Jewish [national] consciousness is in a state of twilight. The Czech one, because the Germanization has disrupted the connections with Czech life. The Jewish one, because Western civiliza- tion has disrupted many connections to Jewish life. I will not ask which direction will win. It is not a struggle. It is about growth. I will not ask, which direction should be supported by the Czech [!] state.5

Neither Zionist nor Czech-Jewish post-war messianism would stand the test of reality for long, however. As we have seen earlier (Chapter 5), Czechoslovakia’s interwar parliament was characterized by a tension between the two major par- ties and their blocs, the ‘red’ Social Democrats and the ‘green’ Agrarians. Jewish politics soon replicated this ‘red-green’ split, increasingly pitting Zionists and Czech-Jews against each other. Jews would thus mirror the tension between the Czechoslovak state-building of the left and the Czech (or Slovak) nation- building of the right, projects that were similar, but not identical. The Zionist mainstream (Socialist-Zionists, liberal General-Zionists and Orthodox Mizrahi-Zionists), as well as the re-founded Zionist Social Democratic Party Poale Tsiyon emerged as the main Jewish allies of the ‘red bloc.’ The Czech-Jewish movement mainly supported the ultra-conservative ND or else the ČSNS, which started out at the center-left but was increasingly pulled into the ‘green’ Agrarian orbit. The ‘green bloc’ also cooperated with Agudas Yisroel

5 Kohn, “Otázka židovská a česká víra,” 44.