NORDAU, MAX. (1849-1923). Hungarian-German physician, social commentator and Zionist leader; co-founder, with Theodor Herzl, of the World Zionist Organization. AMsS. (“Max Nordau”). 16½pp. 8vo. Hamburg, December 29, 1909. Nordau’s speech closely written on 17 sheets entitled “Judentum im 19. und 20. Jahrhundert” (“Judaism in the 19th and 20th Centuries”), which Nordau delivered at the Ninth World Zionist Congress, held in Hamburg, December 26-30, 1909. In German not translated. Published by the Judischer Verlag GmbH, Cologne and Leipzig, 1910.
Hover over image to magnify. Click to zoom.
Click image to magnify
Max Nordau
Although born to Orthodox Jewish parents, who named him Simon Maximilian Südfeld (meaning “south field”), Nordau felt little affiliation with his religion. After moving to Berlin in his 20s, he changed his name to Max Nordau (“north meadow”), married a protestant and identified himself more than anything else as a German. Nonetheless, he moved to Paris where he came to prominence as an author of social critiques. His principal work, Degeneration, was published in 1893 and criticized modern art, urbanization and other social phenomenon for their negative effect on humanity, reflecting a growing feeling in the late 19th century that society was degrading. Ironically, Nordau’s arguments would later be corrupted and used to justify the Nazi’s own condemnation of what they deemed “degenerate art.”
In 1894, French-Jewish artillery captain Alfred Dreyfus was tried and convicted of proffering military secrets to the Germans, and exiled to Devil’s Island while his family attempted to clear his name. While languishing for years in solitary confinement, a vast network of anti-Semitic French journals regularly circulated rumors and lies about him. The Dreyfus Affair coupled with increased French anti-Semitism attracted Nordau’s attention. In fact, Nordau was present at Dreyfus’s degradation on the École Militaire parade grounds where the captain was humiliated and stripped of his rank as the crowd of onlooker’s jeered “Death to the Jews.”
In reaction to the Dreyfus Affair, Nordau and Theodore Herzl (whom he had met in 1892) founded modern Zionism. In August 1897, Herzl, Nordau and others led the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, at which Nordau gave the opening speech on the condition of the Jewish people, which would become a tradition at subsequent Congresses, and the participants established the Zionist Organization (later called the World Zionist Organization) to pursue the establishment of a Jewish state. Despite his heavy involvement with the WZO, following Herzl’s death in 1904, Nordau was selected his successor as president, but he declined to serve, later distancing himself from the Zionist movement as it strayed from Herzl’s principles.
The Ninth World Zionist Congress at which Nordau delivered our speech was the first Congress to be held in Germany but was notable for its factional infighting. “The Ninth Zionist Congress, which met in the rooms of the Konzerthaus on Millerntorplatz in St. Pauli from December 26 to 31, 1909, was accompanied by heated debates on the Zionist ideology and leadership style of Herzl’s successor, David Wolffsohn, influenced by the recent Young Turks’ Revolution. In the dispute over the orientation of Zionist nationalism, the majority of Hamburg’s Zionists supported the leadership of the ZO. Nevertheless, the Ninth Zionist Congress marked the end of Wolffsohn’s presidency and with it the dominance of political Zionism,” (“The Local Chapter Hamburg-Altona as Part of the Zionist Movement in Germany,” Key Documents of German-Jewish History, Schütz).
Written in purple ink. Remnants of prior binding in the left margin; folded and in very good condition.
