UNDER FIRE (1936-1940)

"Under Fire" was the phrase used by the movement to describe the period during which the Young Poale Zion Alliance-Habonim convention met in Chicago in April, 1938. It was at a time when the riots in Palestine and the ever-increasing persecutions of Jews in Europe made it seem as if the whole world had turned against the Jewish people. Indeed, the entire period from 1936, when Habonim celebrated its first anniversary, to the end of 1940, when the Cincinnati convention took place, can be described as an "under-fire" period. The entire movement conducted its activities under the influence of these tragic events, which had their impact, in turn, on the final steps in the establishment of the unified Labor Zionist youth movement as it exists today.

Helping the movement chart its course during those early critical years were the first of the shlichim, the emissaries who were sent by Eretz Israel to work with the youth movements overseas. Ben Zion (Appelbaum) Ilan of Afikim was the first official shaliach to Habonim. During part of the time that he was in America, Enzo Sereni served as the shaliach to Hechalutz. Together, Ben Zion and Sereni set the tradition for shlichim to America which has been followed to this very day. Ben Zion Ilan was a graduate of the Young Poale Zion Alliance and rendered yeoman service in all aspects of Young Poale Zion Alliance and Habonim work. He visited all parts of the United States and Canada, conducted seminars and conferences, and assisted in every aspect of the educational work of the entire movement.

Wherever Ben Zion went, he brought with him the message of chalutziut. He not only impressed the chaverim with the adventure and romance of chalutziut, but clearly delineated the reality of life in Israel with its numerous problems and difficulties. He contributed immensely in doing away with the concept of "easy chalutziut," which was then prevalent in the movement. He introduced Eretz Israel into the movement as a living reality with its manifold problems and struggles in the economic, political, cultural, and social fields. He was a disciple of Berl Katzenelson and introduced his techniques into the movement. As a result of the appearance of Berl's essays in the pamphlet Revolutionary Constructivism and the popularization of his teachings, the movement was freed in its socialist Welfanschaung from certain fetishes, dogmas, and phraseology; the chaverim learned to analyze socialist and Jewish problems without being afraid of "ma yomru hagoyim" (what will the gentiles say!) and learned to associate with Labor Zionist ideology the finer arts, music, Hebrew poetry, and good reading.

Those were dark years for political Zionism. Following upon the abandonment of the proposed Partition Plan came the first intimation of a change in the British policy in Palestine in the direction of appeasing the Arabs. The American Zionist movement was called upon time and again to protest against the proposed changes in the status of Palestine. The most vigorous of these protests actions was that of October, 1938, when the first reports of the proposed White Paper became known. Our movement played an active part in this protest action. With our active cooperation, the National Emergency Youth Committee for Palestine was convoked in New York and performed a useful function in drawing in many Jewish and some non Jewish youth organizations into the protest. It was under the guidance of this committee that our chaverim in many cities sent telegrams, signed petitions, distributed literature, attended mass meetings in protest against the proposed policy. In a few cities our chaverim were instrumental in convoking committees similar to the one in New York. There were several occasions after this when Zionism in America was called upon to demonstrate against British appeasement in the Near East. Our voice was again heard loudly at the issuing of the White Paper of February, 1939.

On the positive side, the major political Zionist activity of the period was the shekel campaign in the spring of 1939. Except for a few cities where youth divisions were established, our chaverim conducted their campaign in close collaboration with the senior chaverim. Reports indicated that our contribution to the shekel campaign was, in many cases, considerable. This resulted in the sending of a delegation of two chaverim, Jacob Katzman and lrv Sternberg, to the Zionist Congress.

It was the National Emergency Youth Committee for Palestine which gave the first stimulus to leaders of various Zionist youth organizations to plan a program of joint Zionist youth activity. But it took over a year and a half until something was crystallized in the form of the Council of Zionist Youth Organizations. Our representatives at the meetings of Zionist youth leaders constantly urged a maximum program of cooperation, with a view toward the eventual establishment of a federation of Zionist youth. However, inertia, exaggerated organizational loyalties, some basic ideological differences among the various Zionist youth groups, and the ever-fluctuating interest of senior Zionists in concerted youth activity hampered the execution of any ambitious plans. Parallel with New York developments, our chaverim were, in many cases, the sponsors and initiators of local Zionist youth councils and local Jewish National Fund youth councils.

Contact with other than Zionist youth organizations was meager. The Youth Division of the American Jewish Congress disintegrated completely, largely due to the infiltration of several Communist groups and individuals. The attempts on the part of the Zionist groups to oust the Communists from the Youth Division and later to check the spread of their influence were futile, often because of lack of unity among the Zionists themselves. Then the change in the Communist line came; the Communists in the American Jewish Congress were easily exposed, and the Youth Division fell apart.

Our relations with the American Student Union came to a formal end with a decision adopted in February, 1940, instructing all of our members to withdraw from that organization. The direct cause of this action was the failure of the American Student Union convention at Madison, Wisconsin, to condemn Russians invasion of Finland. The Madison convention offered final testimony of the complete Communist domination of the American Student Union. Our decision, however, was largely a formality, since our chaverim had left the American Student Union individually long before, as Communist domination of the organization was becoming more and more apparent.

The period under review coincided with the rise and fall of the American Youth Congress, with which we had severed our affiliation in 1937. The Stalin-Hitler pact revealed to all what was generally known to us before, namely that the American Youth Congress was merely a Communist-front organization. An attempt was made by the Young People's Socialist League to bring together all types of youth in an organization called the Campaign for Youth Needs. Our representatives were observers on the provisional committee of the Campaign, and the national executive committee weighed carefully whether or not the Young Poale Zion Alliance should officially affiliate with it. The purposes of the Campaign seemed worthy, but the national executive committee was very skeptical about its efficacy since it succeeded in attracting very few youth organizations and hardly any beyond the immediate periphery of the Young People's Socialist League. Locally, there were several cities where attempts at joint activity with labor groups were undertaken. Outstanding among these was the Chicago Labor Youth Council, in which our chaverim played a prominent part.

An outstanding event in our relationships with other youth groups was the Habonim appearance at the second World Youth Congress, held at Vassar College, New York, in August, 1938. We were represented at the congress through unofficial observers, but we made our most outstanding contribution to it by having a group of our chaverim from the Accord Camp Kvutza participate in the Pageant of All Nations, sponsored by the World Youth Congress at one of its sessions. Our chaverim presented a pageant of song, drama, and dance on the subject of the rebuilding of Palestine and our struggle against Arab German-ltalian fascism. The presentation made a great impression on the very large audience and served to counteract the anti-Zionist propaganda of the Arab delegation to the Congress.

The main method of internal organization work was that of stationing organizers and shlichim in various parts of the country. This process reached its peak in the fall of 1940, when an intensive organizational activity was undertaken in New York. The city was divided into a number of distinct units, each treated as a machaneh (branch) with its own organizer. The work was conducted by a group of six competent chaverim, who were brought to New York from all parts of the country. A special arrangement was reached with all sections of the senior movement to conduct an intensive membership enrollment campaign, as a result of which New York became the outstanding center of Habonim in the country. In addition to the work of the organizers in the larger cities of United States and Canada, intensive touring was done by the shlichim, the organizers, and members of the merkaz. Excluding the shlichim and the New York staff, the services of thirteen chaverim were used in various major organizational assignments.

The major fund raising was for the Jewish National Fund, and records indicate that in 1938-39 close to five thousand dollars was raised. In order to stimulate the work for this institution, the first Habonim Conference on the Jewish National Fund was held in February, 1940. A quota of fifteen thousand dollars was adopted, to be raised during the following eighteen months. The system of Jewish National Fund chairmen and special JNF committees and quotas in every machaneh and every kvutza was instituted. In addition, substantial sums were raised for the Histadrut Campaign and the movement's own fund.

Haboneh appeared regularly as the publication for the younger chaverim. News and Views, the publication for the older chaverim, was published every two weeks. In the fall of 1940, News and Views made its appearance in printed form. The Menahel appeared as the publication for group leaders, and a series of mimeographed pamphlets for the general membership was issued. Several mid-winter seminars were held in 1938 and 1939. The number of camps grew from six to nine and the end of the summer became a favorite time for get togethers. The outstanding events of these summers were the National pegisha (conference) in 1939 and the machaneh menahalim (leaders' camp) in 1940.

The 1939 pegisha in Accord was a memorable occasion for many reasons. It was there that our chaverim first met with the newly arrived shlichim, who were destined to remain in America throughout the war. The pegisha was convoked while the clouds of war were hanging overhead. In fact, the pegisha itself commenced with the outbreak of the war in Europe. The days of September 1st and 2nd, when the news of the invasion of Poland reached us, and particularly the night of September 3rd, when the British ultimatum was in the hands of the German government and when the final declaration of war by Britain was announced over the radio, will long be remembered by all the participants in the pegisha, who spent most of that night glued to a few radio sets in the cars that were parked on the premises. Discussions were held on the international situation, and the pegisha served the important purpose of consolidating our ranks in view of the approaching crisis.

The machaneh menahelim of 1940 was the most important educational project undertaken by our movement up till that time. Nearly one hundred chaverim assembled at Camp Kvutza in Pipersville, Pa., for a period of three weeks. For the first time the program included not only a significant list of lectures and discussions, but also well prepared instruction in handicraft, singing, dancing, Hebrew, and scouting.
Young Poale Zion Alliance-Habonim activities within Hechalutz were intensified. The outbreak of the war placed new problems before Hechalutz, in the field of extending training. As a result, plugot (units) were established, including two groups formed for aviation training. Immediately after the outbreak of the war a substantial group of chaverim left on aliya, the last group to leave until the war ended.

In February, 1940, a group of eighteen chaverim Joined Kibbutz Anglo-Balti at Binyamina. This was the beginning of the concentration of our chaverim within one kibbutz, leading to the formation of Kfar
Blum, the first official settlement of American Habonim. Kibbutz Aliya, the framework decided upon at the Chicago convention, was organized. Alot began to appear, and groups were established in many cities throughout the United States and Canada.

The intensification of aliya-centered activities had its roots not only in the situation in Palestine and Europe or the work of the shlichim. From the time of the formation of the children's movement, Habonim had its own impact on its parent organization, the Young Poale Zion Alliance. With chalutziut the chief emphasis of Habonim's program, the group leader, feeling a personal responsibility for his work, very often reached the conclusion that there could be no dichotomy between the ideals he was seeking to inculcate and his subjective attitude toward these values.

Throughout this period, basic discussions were held about the aims of the movement and its organizational structure, as Habonim continued to crystallize from the Young Poale Zion Alliance and groped for proper youth movement forms.

In April, 1938, the Young Poale Zion Alliance and Habonim united with the youth movement Gordonia. Though the latter was a relatively small group, the merger was important as an indication of the path to the unification of the Labor Zionist youth movements on a world scale, as indicated by the resolution of the 1938 convention:
The convention festively ratifies the union of the Young Poale Zion Alliance-Habonim with Gordonia and views this union as a significant step forward in the development of the Labor Zionist youth movement.

In this crucial moment in Jewish life the existence of separate organizational frameworks for movements believing in the same ideals, nursing from the same sources, and expressing themselves in the same patterns of behavior, is a deplorable phenomenon. Our movement has always aspired towards inner unity—towards removing even the slightest organizational barriers between those who believe in the fundamentals of the redemption of our people, the upbuilding of a cooperative labor commonwealth in Eretz Israel and throughout the world, the rehabilitation of the Jewish people and preservation of all Jewish cultural values wherever Jews are found, cooperative colonization, the revival of Hebrew, hagshama atzmit.

The urge for complete unification of all pioneering forces must be ever active within our ranks. Thus the convention greets the fermentation in Eretz Israel aiming at a unification of the kibbutz movement. It is likewise the fervent hope of the convention that the union in America will serve as a stimulus to bring about a union of all Labor Zionist youth forces in the world.

In 1939, there were about three thousand members enrolled in the youth movement, of which three-quarters were in Habonim and the rest in the Young Poale Zion Alliance; and the movement had functioning units in thirty cities. During this period, some ten YPZA groups, having reached the age of twenty-one, were transferred to the senior movement.

The final step in the creation of Habonim as it is known today came at the Cincinnati convention in 1940, when the YPZA and Habonim were formally merged, and the following aims and principles adopted as part of the constitution of the movement:

As an educational youth movement, aiming to develop within its ranks chaverim who shall in their own lives realize its aims, Habonim has the following purposes:

1. To strengthen the bonds between American Jewry and Eretz Israel, and actively to support the rebuilding of the Jewish National Home, 

2. To train young Jews to become chalutzim in Eretz Israel and, as members of the Histadrut Haovdim, to create a cooperative Jewish commonwealth.

3. To prepare young Jews for participation in the upbuilding of a new social order throughout the world, based on the principles of economic and political democracy. 

4. To educate young Jews toward the revitalization of traditional Jewish values; for the study of Jewish life, history and culture; toward a feeling of identification with the Jewish people.

5. To prepare young Jews for the defense of Jewish rights everywhere.

6. To prepare young Jews for active participation in American Jewish community life.

Thus the organization was transformed from a youth party into an educational, chalutz-centered youth movement, rooted in the tradition of chalutziut and Hebrew culture.

D.B., 1960