Zionism in Sweden, its beginnings until the end of World War I

The history of Zionism in Sweden has never been written. This work presents materials culled from archives in Israel and Sweden in chronological order from the founding of the first clubs in Malmo and Lund at the turn of the century until the end of 1918, especially the activities of the Stockholm society established in 1910.;Stockholm took the initiative in forming a Scandinavian Zionist Union. Two conferences were held: January 1913 in Stockholm; May 1915 in Copenhagen. In the name of this Union a Swedish language publication, Zionisten, in 1913, and a Yiddish newspaper, Jidishe Folkschtime, 1917, were published. Both failed.;The Stockholm Zionists were instrumental in the election of Marcus Ehrenpreis as Chief Rabbi of the community. Arriving in September 1914 Ehrenpreis was able to use Swedish neutrality to aid Jewish War victims through personal contacts. In 1915 he successfully organized a relief committee, thereby activating some of the wealthiest and most influential leaders of Stockholm's Jewish Community. The Zionists later formed their own relief committee. In the winter of 1918 Ehrenpreis played a minor role in transferring relief money to Germany (1,200,000 Swedish Kronor in gold). It was primarily Isaak Feuerring, an influential merchant, who received permission to send these funds through the Swedish National Bank. Their destination was Arthur Ruppin in Constantinople who, upon receipt, distributed them to poverty stricken Jews in Northern Palestine and in Damascus, still under Turkish control.;From August through December 1914 important telegrams were sent via Mauritz Tarschis in Stockholm to leading Zionists on the opposing sides. Zionist activities were numerous throughout the years of World War I: Jabotinsky visited in 1915 and inspired a secret resolution; a Blau-Weiss hiking club was established; a Poale Zion office and Press Bureau under Berl Locker and Leon Chasanowitsch functioned between 1917 and 1919, in close contact with the Swedish Social Democratic Workers Movement. Internal strife between the leaders may have affected its work.;The Zionists in Stockholm during the period under review were few in number and had little influence on the Jewish Community. There existed social, educational, financial and ideological differences between the Zionists, who were mostly immigrants, and the non-Zionist establishment. Some of these are analyzed in the sections about (a) prayer-book revision; (b) the events leading to the election of a Zionist rather than an assimilationist rabbi; and (c) in conjunction with the gold shipments.