Theodor Herzl Quotes
In Paris... I achieved a freer attitude toward anti-Semitism, which I now began to understand historically and to pardon. Above all, I recognized the emptiness and futility of trying to "combat" anti-Semitism.
Herzl, Theodor. The Complete Diaries of Theodor Herzl. Edited by Raphael Patai, translated by Harry Zohn, vol. 1, Herzl Press, 1960, p. 6.
As long as the bigotry took for form of speech, writing, and voting he was a defender even of anti-Semites. However, when that leads to violence or an infringement on other people’s rights, then the bigotry becomes criminal.
After the Holocaust and the rest of the Nazi era horrors, German leaders have led the way in trying to eliminate any anti-Semitism that emerges in Germany, and the German culture and attitudes have changed dramatically for the better.
Theodor Herzl was an Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist, playwright, political activist, and writer who was the father of modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the Zionist Organization and promoted Jewish immigration to Palestine in an effort to form a Jewish state. Though he died before its establishment, he is known as the father of the State of Israel.
