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Motzkin, Leo

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Leo Motzkin (1867-1933) was a well-known Zionist leader. He was born in Brovary, near Kiev, and studied in Berlin where he was one of the founders of the Russian-Jewish Scientific Society (1887), whose members were Jewish students who supported the Hibbat Zion movement. With the appearance of Theodor Herzl, Motzkin joined the newly formed Zionist Organization. At the First Zionist Congress he headed a group of delegates that took part in the formulation of the Basel program, and in 1901 he joined the Democratic Fraction, which he represented at the Fifth Zionist Congress (1901) and at the Conference of Russian Zionists in Minsk (1902). In 1909–10 Motzkin published a book in German on anti-Jewish violence and the wave of pogroms in the Russian Empire under the name Die Judenpogrome in Russland (signed A. Linden). The book contained detailed descriptions of pogroms in various areas and towns of Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Moldova, and Poland and stressed the role of Jewish self-defense. During the Beilis Trial (1911–13), Motzkin organized an information service in West European countries and Russia for the purpose of fighting against the blood libel. He was also a leading activist in the Hebrew language revival movement. During the First World War, Leo Motzkin headed the Zionist Organization office in Copenhagen. He mobilized support for the Jewish war victims on the East European front, and also for the struggle to ensure equal rights for the Jews of Russia. After the war Motzkin settled in Paris where he continued to play a central role in the Zionist movement. The personal collection of Leo Motzkin contains materials relating to the pogroms in 1905 in various areas and towns of the Russian Empire. These materials include, inter alia, testimonies of the victims, questionnaires, reports and descriptions of the pogroms. The collection includes also various documents concerning blood libels and the Beilis Trial including minutes of a court session in the Beilis Trial; press clippings; and correspondence regarding the trial. Another important part of the collection include materials from 1921-1923 about Jewish aid work in the former Russian Empire during the Russian Civil War –

Reference Code
P10
Dates
1903-1923
Consists of
65 files..
Languages
Russian; French; Yiddish; German; Polish; Hebrew;
Description
The personal collection of Leo Motzkin contains materials about the 1905 pogroms in Ukraine, Belarus, Russia, Moldova and Poland. These materials include: description of the pogroms; reports; descriptions of Jewish self-defense; testimonies; questionnaires with the victims' answers; press clippings; and letters. There are also records about the organization of aid by Jewish forces for the pogroms’ victims, articles about the organization of the pogroms and the activity of the Russian reactionary ultra-nationalist movement "Black Hundred". The collection includes various records concerning blood libels and the Beilis Trial. For example, there are minutes of a court session during the Beilis Trial, press clippings, telegrams and correspondence regarding the trial. There are also minutes of a court session in the Saratov Trial (1852-53) accusing Jews of the ritual murder of two Christian boys. Another important part of the collection are materials from 1921-1923 about the Jewish aid work of the EKOPO (Jewish Committee to Aid Victims of the War) in the former Russian Empire during the Russian Civil War. There are: letters; circulars; instructions and memoranda of the EKOPO Ukrainian Central Committee for Aid in Kyiv; information about the activities of the various EKOPO branches; personal claims of the victims for aid; lists of benefactors; minutes from the meetings on the immigrants and refugees’ problems; reports of the activities of the Central Committee; orders and instructions of the authorities; press clippings and photographs belonging to the Central Ukrainian Committee.
Title Motzkin, Leo.
Contributors Theodor,Herzl 1860-1904
Mendel,Beilis 1874-1934
Vserossiĭskoe Pravoslavnoe patrioticheskoe dvizhenie Chernai︠a︡ Sotni︠a︡
World Jewish Congress
Ḥibat Tsiyon
Zionist Organization
Gegnṭ ḳomiṭet "Yeḳopo" in Ṿilne
ha-Arkhiyon ha-Tsiyoni ha-merkazi
Zionist Congress (1st : 1897 : Basel)
Zionist Congress (5th : 1901 : Basel)
Notes הערה: כל תיאורי הפרעות בגרמנית – הם כתב יד לספר Die Juden Pogromme in Russland. על כל קהילה ראה לפי שמות הקהילות ברשימה [בספר].
Another private collection of Leo Motzkin and other materials related to his activities and life are located at The Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem
Host Item Motzkin, Leo - Private Collection
Level of Description Fonds Record
Biographical summary Leo Motzkin was born in Brovari near Kiev in 1867. He received a traditional Jewish education and at the age of fifteen he travelled to Berlin to continue his higher education. He attended the University of Berlin, where he studied mathematics and sociology. In Berlin Motzkin founded the Russian Jewish Academic Association, the Jewish student society that supported the Hibbat Zion movement. In 1897 Motzkin joined the Zionist movement and was active at the First Zionist Congress where he took part in the formulation of the Basel Program. In 1901 he was a founding member of the Zionist Democratic Faction which he represented at the Fifth Zionist Congress (1901) and at the Conference of Russian Zionists in Minsk (1902). In 1905 Motzkin anonymously edited the revolutionary Russische Korrespondenz, which was published in Berlin and provided West European press with information on Russia and anti-Jewish violence there. The Zionist Organization requested Motzkin to publish a book on the wave of pogroms in Russia, and he published it in German in two parts in 1909–10 under the name Die Judenpogrome in Russland (signed A. Linden). During the Beilis Trial (1911–13), Motzkin organized an information service in West European countries and Russia to fight against the blood libel. He was also a leading activist in the Hebrew language revival movement. During World War I, Motzkin headed the Copenhagen Office of the World Zionist Organization. He was especially active in mobilizing support for aid to Jewish war victims in the Russian Empire. After the war Motzkin settled in Paris and supported the establishment of a World Jewish Congress that would present Jewish interests to national and international forums. When the Nazis came to power in Germany, he organized political and financial aid to German Jewry. Leo Motzkin died in 1933 in Paris.
Language Note In Russian, French, Yiddish, German, Polish and some Hebrew
National Library system number 990043211710205171
Links פרטים על מיקום החומר/Location&access
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