DER JUDENSTAAT VERSUCH EINER MODERNEN LOSUNG DER JUDENFRAGE VON THEODOR HERZL The Jewish State by Theodor Herzl, Published by Judischer Verlag, Cologne, 1908. German.
In 'The Jewish State' [Der Judenstaat], Herzl outlines his vision for the future Jewish state in great detail. Herzl outlined the structure of the future state, at a time when it was considered a distant dream among most Jews. The book was first published in Vienna and Leipzig by M. Breitenstein on February 14, 1896, under the subtitle: "An Attempt at a Modern Solution to the Jewish Problem", about a year and a half before the First Zionist Congress. About the way the book was written, Herzl wrote: "I don't remember writing anything in my life in such a state of elation, when I wrote this book.. When I wrote this book. I worked on it every day, until all my strength was exhausted." No reputable publisher wanted to publish the book, including Herzl's regular publishers, Donkner and Humboldt from Leipzig. The Cronbach publishing house in Berlin, which was owned by a Jew, also refused to publish it. Finally, Herzl was published by Max Breitenstein, an assimilated Jew and the owner of a small bookstore in Vienna. Breitenstein himself did not believe in the Zionist idea as a whole as well as in the commercial success of the book, and agreed to publish it against the background of his personal acquaintance with Herzl's close family circle. When it was published, most members of the public dismissed the ideas presented in it, and one of the editors of the Jewish newspapers even offered to donate his chariot to drive Herzl to the madhouse. Despite this, the ideas presented in the book began to gain momentum, and additional editions – in Yiddish, Russian, English, etc. – appeared shortly after the German edition, and within a short time it became the foundational book of the originators of the Zionist movement.
94 p. Original cardboard cover. Good Condition.
