Brothers for Resistance and Rescue 1 - CENDO

Herzl himself visited Hungary a few times in order to convince Jewish personalities to join the
Zionist movement but without much success.
The first Zionist Congress of Hungarian Jews was held in Pozsony, nowadays Bratislava, in
Slovakia. János Rónai was elected president. In 1904 the first world convention of “Mizrahi” was
also held in Pozsony (Bratislava).
In 1903 the ‘Maccabea’ association, which included young Jews who were sportsmen and studied
at institutions of higher education was established in Budapest. Following the example of the
‘Maccabea’, another association similar to the first one, by the name of ‘Bar Kohba’, was
established.
In 1909 Hungarian Zionists composed a declaration, which was presented to the government and
the members of parliament, where they defined the goals of Zionism in their country. In that
declaration it was emphasized that the goal of the Zionists in Hungary was mainly social, economic
and ethical and definitely not national. One can also see this declaration as a tactical move to avoid
causing damage to the status of the Zionists in the eyes of the assimilated Jews and the Hungarian
government.
The First World War (1914-1918) and the defeat of Hungary caused many changes for the Jews as
Jewish communities were separated from Hungary when regions were transferred to
Czechoslovakia, Romania and Yugoslavia. These events also had a great influence on the Zionist
movement. The center of activities moved to the big cities: Budapest, Miskolc, Debrecen,
Nyiregyháza, Szeged, Székesfehérvár and others.
In 1927, after many experiments, the Hungarian Zionist Association (Magyar Cionista Szövetség) was
established and recognized by the authorities.
The relations between the new organization and the Jewish community were quite strained. The
leaders of the community resented that the Zionist center was beyond the Hungarian borders and
that the funds for financing the activities as well as the instructions for operations came from there.
Hungarian Zionists tried very hard to win the sympathy and support of the Jews all over Hungary
and especially in Budapest, but without success.
The Hungarian Zionists also did not derive any satisfaction from the World Zionist Movement that
did not accept their offer to hold the Zionist Congress in Budapest in 1933. In their opinion the
Hungarian Zionist Movement probably was not considered to be a ‘worthwhile investment’.
In the meantime there was a slow process of Jewish Aliya to Palestine: the number of olim was
between 200 and 300 per year and most of them left Hungary legally.
The number of members of the Zionist movement in Hungary never rose above 4,000-5,000
members.
The late 1920’s and early 1930’s were characterized by the establishment of Zionist movements
and organizations in Hungary. In 1927 the “Hashomer Hatzair” movement was founded by Dr.
Havas, an emissary who arrived from Transylvania to Budapest. In 1930 the first six Zionists made
aliya.
In 1931, in the elections for the Zionist Congress, there were four lists:
“Aviv-Barissia” (“Hatzionim Haclali’im”)
Brothers for Resistance and Rescue 11