David Wolffsohn, 1856-1914. Second president of the World Zionist=20 Organization. I His Life=20 Born in Lithuania, Wolffsohn received a religious education=20 and in 1873 was sent to live with his brother in order to avoid=20 conscription into the czarist army. He studied at a talmud torah run=20 by one of the leaders of the future Hibbat Zion=20 movement. As a young adult, he held a number of jobs before going=20 into the timber business, eventually becoming quite wealthy.=20 Wolffsohn's Zionist leanings increased with the appearance of=20 Herzl=92s book, The Jewish State. He met Herzl in 1896, promised his=20 help and became Herzl=92s constant companion. Their relationship was=20 so strong that he became guardian of Herzl=92s children.=20 Following Herzl=92s death, there was a vacuum in the movement=92s=20 leadership. Different candidates were suggested to succeed Herzl,=20 but in the end, three were agreed on at the Seventh Zionist=20 Congress: Wolffsohn, Max Nordau and Otto Warburg. After the Eighth=20 Congress, when Wolffsohn was elected president of the Zionist=20 Organization, an official visit to Turkey was cut short by the=20 revolution there. The same year he visited Russia, where he was=20 received by both the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minster and then=20 visited Hungary. His presence in Russia and Hungary bolstered the=20 Zionist cause in both countries.=20 Wolffsohn was re-elected president at the Ninth Zionist Congress in=20 1909, but by the Tenth Congress, his health was failing and the=20 opposition, the "practical" Zionists, was gaining strength. He=20 resigned from the presidency, remained active in the financial and=20 economic side of the organization, and intended to move to Eretz=20 Yisrael, but never fulfilled this wish. He died in 1914 and was=20 buried in Cologne. In 1952 his remains were moved to Jerusalem where=20 they were re-interred next to Herzl=92s.=20 II His Accomplishments=20 Beginning as Herzl=92s friend, David Wolffsohn met the challenge of=20 leadership of the Zionist movement, and despite his early=20 reluctance, made a number of fundamental decisions. While Herzl was=20 still alive, it was Wolffsohn, with his religious background, who=20 suggested that the movement=92s flag be blue on white like a tallit.=20 He also suggested that members pledge a shekel to the movement.=20 The Uganda Plan was defeated at the Seventh Zionist Congress and the=20 Basle Program which endorsed increased settlement activity was=20 adopted. At this point Wolffsohn was already involved in attempting=20 to bridge the gap between the "political" and the "practical"=20 Zionists.=20 After the Seventh Zionist Congress, Wolffsohn was instrumental in=20 moving all the Zionist offices to Cologne. This encouraged the=20 Jewish National Fund to move there as well. He asked Nahum Sokolow=20 to be the organization=92s general secretary and in 1907 he founded=20 HaOlam, the organization=92s official newspaper. Although debate at=20 the Eighth Zionist Congress was particularly heated, Wolffsohn=20 proved himself to be an accomplished mediator by insisting that all=20 of the organization=92s practical programs (including JNF activities=20 and new settlements) were in keeping with Herzl=92s plan.=20 Already in failing health, he went on vacation to South Africa in=20 1906, a Zionist milestone, because he set in motion the founding of=20 the South African Zionist Federation. After his return, he overcame=20 serious opposition and agreed to grant a JNF loan to the first=20 settlers in Ahuzat Bayit which would later become the center of Tel=20 Aviv.=20 Wolffsohn's personality and work were only really appreciated=20 posthumously. Even his opponents later admitted that he was a man of=20 the people who had come up through the ranks as a result of decades=20 of hard work. Recognized as a symbol of the synthesis of Eastern and=20 Western Europe, he was thought to combine the best qualities of both=20 Jewish communities. After his death, Wolffsohn=92s estate provided the=20 means to build the National and University Library building at the=20 Hebrew University in Jerusalem.

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