Avram Leib Zissu
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Abraham Leib Zissu (first name also Avram, middle name also Leiba or Leibu; ; January 25, 1888 – September 6, 1956) was a
Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast Europe. It borders Ukraine to the north and east, Hungary to the west, Serbia to the southwest, Bulgaria to the south, Moldova to ...
n writer, political essayist, industrialist, and spokesman of the Jewish Romanian community. Of modest social origin and a recipient of
Hasidic Hasidism () or Hasidic Judaism is a religious movement within Judaism that arose in the 18th century as a spiritual revival movement in contemporary Western Ukraine before spreading rapidly throughout Eastern Europe. Today, most of those aff ...
education, he became a cultural activist, polemicist, and newspaper founder, remembered primarily for his '' Mântuirea'' daily. During the 1910s, he involved himself in the effort to unify and reactivate the local
Zionist movement Zionism is an ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the Jewish people, pursued through the colonization of Palestine, a region roughly co ...
. By the end of World War I, Zissu also emerged as a theorist of
Religious Zionism Religious Zionism () is a religious denomination that views Zionism as a fundamental component of Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' (), and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the fi ...
, preferring
communitarianism Communitarianism is a philosophy that emphasizes the connection between the individual and the community. Its overriding philosophy is based on the belief that a person's social identity and personality are largely molded by community relation ...
and
self-segregation Self-segregation or auto-segregation is the separation of a religious, ethnic, or racial group from other groups in a country by the group itself naturally. This usually results in decreased social interactions between different ethnic, racial or ...
to the
assimilationist Cultural assimilation is the process in which a minority group or culture comes to resemble a society's majority group or fully adopts the values, behaviors, and beliefs of another group. The melting pot model is based on this concept. A relat ...
option, while also promoting
literary modernism Modernist literature originated in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and is characterised by a self-conscious separation from traditional ways of writing in both poetry and prose fiction writing. Modernism experimented with literary form a ...
in his activity as novelist, dramatist, and cultural sponsor. He was the inspiration behind the Jewish Party, which competed with the mainstream
Union of Romanian Jews The Union of Romanian Jews (, ''UER'') was a political organisation active in Romania in the first half of the 20th century. The UER targeted all Romanian Jews who had obtained citizenship and accepted its programme of integration into the Romanian ...
(UER) for the Jewish vote. Zissu and UER leader
Wilhelm Filderman Wilhelm Filderman (last name also spelled Fieldermann; 14 November 1882 – 1963) was a lawyer and the leader of the Romanian-Jewish community between 1919 and 1947; in addition, he was a representative of the Jews in the Romanian parliament. E ...
had a lifelong disputation over religious and practical politics, which gave way to a mutual dislike punctuated by episodes of fraternization. Always a confrontational critic of
antisemitism Antisemitism or Jew-hatred is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who harbours it is called an antisemite. Whether antisemitism is considered a form of racism depends on the school of thought. Antisemi ...
, Zissu found himself marginalized by fascist regimes in the late 1930s and for most of
World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...
. During
the Holocaust The Holocaust (), known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (), was the genocide of History of the Jews in Europe, European Jews during World War II. From 1941 to 1945, Nazi Germany and Collaboration with Nazi Germany and Fascist Italy ...
, he risked his personal freedom to defend the interests of his community, and was especially vocal as a critic of the collaborationist Central Jewish Office. He eventually reached a compromise with the
Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and Mareșal (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''Conduc ...
regime when the latter curbed its deportations of Jews to
Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...
, and, after 1943, helped initiate the ''
Aliyah Bet ''Aliyah Bet'' (, "Aliyah 'B'" – bet being the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet) was the code name given to illegal immigration by Jews, many of whom were refugees escaping from Nazi Germany or other Nazi-controlled countries, and la ...
'' exodus of Romanian and
Hungarian Jews The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived ...
to
Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...
. Such efforts required that he contact and build a working relationship with high-ranking officials of the regime, including
Mihai Antonescu Mihai Antonescu (18 November 1904 – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister during World War II, executed in 1946 as a war criminal. Early career Born in Nucet, Dâmbovița County, he ...
,
Radu Lecca Radu D. Lecca (February 15, 1890–1980) was a Romanian spy, journalist, civil servant and convicted War crime, war criminal. A World War I veteran who served a prison term for espionage in France during the early 1930s, he was a noted support ...
, and
Pamfil Șeicaru Pamfil is a Romanian given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: * Pamfil Polonic (1858–1943), Romanian archaeologist and topographer * Pamfil Yurkevich Pamfil Danilovich Yurkevich (; 28 February 1826 – 16 October 1874) w ...
. Though backed by the Rescue Committee of the Jewish Agency and the
World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) is an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations, founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in August 1936. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress's main purpose is to act as ...
, his contribution is at the center of an enduring controversy, focusing on his alleged favoritism of Zionist Jews and his cantankerousness. He had a reluctant collaboration with the more junior Zionist
Mișu Benvenisti Mișu Benvenisti, also known as Mishu or Moshe Benvenisti, sometimes Benveniste (; July 1, 1902 – 1977), was a Romanian-Israeli lawyer, Zionism, Zionist militant, and leader of the History of the Jews in Romania, Romanian Jewish community. Born ...
, who emerged as one of his key rivals. In 1942, while held at
Târgu Jiu internment camp The Târgu Jiu internment camp was a detention facility in Târgu Jiu, Romania. It was a regular prison from 1895 to 1939 and again after 1945, but is best known for its role as an internment camp for various categories of individuals during World ...
, Zissu was co-opted by the Romanian resistance cells, and formed a political bond with Antonescu rival
Nicolae Rădescu Nicolae Rădescu (; 30 March 1874 – 16 May 1953) was a Romanian army officer and political figure. He was the last pre- communist rule Prime Minister of Romania, serving from 7 December 1944 to 1 March 1945. Biography Early life and education ...
. Assisting
M. H. Maxy Max Hermann Maxy (also known as M. H. Maxy, born Max Herman; October 26, 1895 – July 19, 1971) was a Romanian painter, art professor, scenographer, and professor of German-Jewish descent. Early life and education Maxy was born in Brăila ...
of the
Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...
, he established links with the more mainstream
National Peasants' Party The National Peasants' Party (also known as the National Peasant Party or National Farmers' Party; , or ''Partidul Național-Țărănist'', PNȚ) was an Agrarianism, agrarian political party in the Kingdom of Romania. It was formed in 1926 throu ...
. He and Maxy also formed a Jewish Democratic Front, holding seats on its Central Committee alongside
Leon Ghelerter Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
. From 1944, they helped finance the underground movement against Antonescu. As part of such organizational efforts, Zissu personally handled the accommodation of Jewish parachutists, including Shaike Dan Trachtenberg. He also persuaded the increasingly defeatist Romanian regime not to tolerate pogroms on its territory. Shortly after the Coup of August 1944, which restored democracy, Zissu's Zionism merged with explicit anti-communism, clashing directly with the Communist Party's anti-cosmopolitan agenda; he also found himself opposed to the mainstream groups in Romania and Palestine, criticizing
Labor Zionism Labor Zionism () or socialist Zionism () is the left-wing, socialist variant of Zionism. For many years, it was the most significant tendency among Zionists and Zionist organizations, and was seen as the Zionist faction of the historic Jewish ...
and celebrating
Zionist political violence Zionist political violence refers to acts of political violence or terrorism committed by Zionists in support of establishing and maintaining a Jewish state in Palestine. These actions have been carried out by individuals, paramilitary groups, ...
when used against British authorities. The creation of a monopolistic
Jewish Democratic Committee The Jewish Democratic Committee or Democratic Jewish Committee (, CDE, also ''Comitetul Democrat Evreesc'', ''Comitetul Democratic Evreiesc''; ; , DZSK) was a left-wing political party which sought to represent History of the Jews in Romania, Jewis ...
, led by Maxy and favored by Benvenisti, resulted in Zissu's near-complete marginalization in political life; friends quarreled with him when he publicized his
anticlericalism Anti-clericalism is opposition to clergy, religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secul ...
, which specifically targeted
Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...
Alexandru Șafran. In that context, Zissu veered toward a non-communist " Biblical socialism", which he envisaged as the doctrine of a new political group in Israel. After 1948, his renewed effort to ensure the mass emigration of Romanian Jews, and his contacts with Israeli government officials, made him a target for the
communist regime A communist state, also known as a Marxist–Leninist state, is a one-party state in which the totality of the power belongs to a party adhering to some form of Marxism–Leninism, a branch of the communist ideology. Marxism–Leninism was ...
. In 1951, he was arrested and tortured into confessing that he had spied for Israel; in 1954, he was sentenced to life imprisonment for the crime of high treason. Zissu was granted amnesty after two years, having spent most of them in the notoriously harsh
Pitești prison Pitești Prison () was a penal facility in Pitești, Romania, best remembered for the reeducation experiment (also known as ''Experimentul Pitești'' – the "Pitești Experiment" or ''Fenomenul Pitești'' – the "Pitești Phenomenon") which wa ...
. Finally allowed to emigrate in July 1956, he died less than two months later in a
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
hospital. He left a corpus of works in various languages, including Hebrew, many of which survive as manuscripts.


Biography


Hasidic scholar and journalistic debut

Abraham Leib was born into a Hasidic Jewish family in
Piatra Neamț Piatra Neamț (; ; ) is the capital city of Neamț County, in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in northeastern Romania. Because of its very privileged location in the Divisions of the Carpathians, Eastern Carpathian mountains, it is con ...
.
Leon Volovici Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...

Zissu, Abraham Leib
in ''
The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe ''The YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern Europe'' is a two-volume, English-language reference work on the history and culture of Eastern Europe Jewry in this region, prepared by the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research and published by Yale Univ ...
''
Crăciun, p. 88 Christel Wollmann-Fiedler
"'Casa Zissu', o nestemată în brățara vilelor din Berlin-Grunewald – 1929"
in ''
Observator Cultural ''Observator Cultural'' (meaning "The Cultural Observer" in English) is a weekly literary magazine based in Bucharest, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast ...
'', Issue 930, July 2018
His surname was the Romanianized form of the given name "Züs", but is coincidentally spelled the same as an Aromanian name, also used in Romania, which signifies "living sibling". His parents were Pincu Zissu, a bank accountant, and his wife Hinda-Lea; he had nine siblings.Ilie Rad, in Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', Vol. II, p. 877. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. Teșu Solomovici, "A. L. Zissu — mare personalitate a evreimii române", in ''
Realitatea Evreiască ''Realitatea Evreiască'' ( Romanian for "The Jewish Reality") is a Romanian cultural and news magazine, based in Bucharest, and addressed to the local Jewish community. The magazine was founded in 1956 under the name ''Revista Cultului Mozaic ...
'', Issues 416–417, November 2013, p. 11
The Zissus were traditionally involved in Jewish community life, with Pincu cited as an organizer of vigils held in
Bârlad Bârlad () is a city in Vaslui County, Romania. It lies on the banks of the river Bârlad (river), Bârlad, which waters the high plains of Western Moldavia. At Bârlad the railway from Iași diverges, one branch skirting the river Siret (river ...
for the victims of the 1905 Kishinev pogrom. Several sources describe Abraham as the brother-in-law of poet-journalist
Tudor Arghezi Ion Nae Theodorescu (21 May 1880 – 14 July 1967) was a Romanian writer who wrote under the pen name Tudor Arghezi (. He is best known for his unique contribution to poetry and children's literature. Biography Early life He graduated from Sai ...
and uncle of photographer Eleazar "Eli" Teodorescu, through his sister Constanța Zissu. However, more detailed accounts show Constanța as being born in
Pitești Pitești () is a city in Romania, located on the river Argeș (river), Argeș. The capital and largest city of Argeș County, it is an important commercial and industrial center, as well as the home of two universities. Pitești is situated in th ...
to an unrelated Zissu family. Zissu held the belief that his birthplace was intimately connected with Hasidic history, proposing that parts of
Ceahlău Massif The Ceahlău Massif () is one of the most famous mountains of Romania. It is part of the Bistrița Mountains range of the Eastern Carpathians division, in Neamț County, in the Moldavia region. The two most important peaks are Toaca (1904 m e ...
, known as ''Valea Jidovului'' ("Jew's Valley"), were named for
Baal Shem Tov Israel ben Eliezer (According to a forged document from the "Kherson Geniza", accepted only by Chabad, he was born in October 1698. Some Hasidic traditions place his birth as early as 1690, while Simon Dubnow and other modern scholars argue f ...
. He received a semi-formal
Talmud The Talmud (; ) is the central text of Rabbinic Judaism and the primary source of Jewish religious law (''halakha'') and Jewish theology. Until the advent of Haskalah#Effects, modernity, in nearly all Jewish communities, the Talmud was the cen ...
ic education, excelling in the study of both
Hebrew Hebrew (; ''ʿÎbrit'') is a Northwest Semitic languages, Northwest Semitic language within the Afroasiatic languages, Afroasiatic language family. A regional dialect of the Canaanite languages, it was natively spoken by the Israelites and ...
and
Yiddish Yiddish, historically Judeo-German, is a West Germanic language historically spoken by Ashkenazi Jews. It originated in 9th-century Central Europe, and provided the nascent Ashkenazi community with a vernacular based on High German fused with ...
sources; he may also have been well acquainted with the
Kabbalah Kabbalah or Qabalah ( ; , ; ) is an esoteric method, discipline and school of thought in Jewish mysticism. It forms the foundation of Mysticism, mystical religious interpretations within Judaism. A traditional Kabbalist is called a Mekubbal ...
, which informed his later work as a novelist. At age twenty, he obtained a rabbi's diploma; although this was recognized by ''Casa Școalelor'' agency, he never practiced. At Piatra Neamț, the Zissu siblings had for a friend the younger Eugen Relgis, later a noted anarchist ideologue and writer of Jewish topics. Visiting
Iași Iași ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names), also referred to mostly historically as Jassy ( , ), is the Cities in Romania, third largest city in Romania and the seat of Iași County. Located in the historical ...
, Zissu formed a lasting bond with the Jewish intellectuals
Elias Elias ( ; ) is the hellenized version for the name of Elijah (; ; , or ), a prophet in the Northern Kingdom of Israel in the 9th century BC, mentioned in several holy books. Due to Elias' role in the scriptures and to many later associated tradit ...
and Moses Schwarzfeld, being introduced to their literary circle.Cărăbaș, p. 183 In December 1907, Zissu and D. Kahane represented Piatra at the 10th Zionist Conference, held in
Galați Galați ( , , ; also known by other #Etymology and names, alternative names) is the capital city of Galați County in the historical region of Western Moldavia, in eastern Romania. Galați is a port town on the river Danube. and the sixth-larges ...
. Here, he advocated for a "spiritual Zionism", which he viewed as more important than group organization. Zissu had begun writing for the Iași-based ''Egalitatea'' magazine in 1904, aged sixteen, and did so until 1910. That year, he entered into conflict with the city's students, who were under the influence of antisemitic professor
A. C. Cuza Alexandru C. Cuza (8 November 1857 – 3 November 1947), also known as A. C. Cuza, was a Romanian far-right politician and economist. Early life Cuza was born in Iași into a family of mixed Armenian-Greek origins. He was the grandson of Moldav ...
. Also in 1910, he was hired at Iași's Moldova Bank, where he led a workers' strike in 1914. He was also involved with the Jewish cultural movement in Iași, working alongside Samson Lazăr-Șaraga, Iacob Ashel Groper, and Jacob Itzhak Niemirower. Roxana Sorescu
"B. Fundoianu – anii de ucenicie" (I)
in ''
Observator Cultural ''Observator Cultural'' (meaning "The Cultural Observer" in English) is a weekly literary magazine based in Bucharest, Romania Romania is a country located at the crossroads of Central Europe, Central, Eastern Europe, Eastern and Southeast ...
'', Issue 500, November 2009
In February 1912, he and I. Schoenberg represented Iași at the "30 Years of Zionism" celebration in
Bucharest Bucharest ( , ; ) is the capital and largest city of Romania. The metropolis stands on the River Dâmbovița (river), Dâmbovița in south-eastern Romania. Its population is officially estimated at 1.76 million residents within a greater Buc ...
, where they met writer
Nahum Sokolow Nahum ben Joseph Samuel Sokolow ( ''Nachum ben Yosef Shmuel Soqolov'', ; 10 January 1859 – 17 May 1936) was a Jewish-Polish people, Polish writer, translator, and journalist, the fifth President of the World Zionist Organization, editor of ''H ...
. Around that time, Zissu also met and befriended the painter
Reuven Rubin Reuven Rubin (, ; November 13, 1893 – October 13, 1974) was a Romanian-born Israeli painter and Israel's first ambassador to Romania. Biography Reuven Zelicovici (later Reuven Rubin) was born in Galaţi to a poor Romanian Jewish Hasidic f ...
, "a sort of disciple" of his who emigrated to France in 1923. Together with
Petre Constantinescu-Iași Petre Constantinescu-Iași (25 November 1892 – 1 December 1977) was a Romanian historian, academic and communist politician. Biography Early life and education Petre Constantinescu was born in the city of Iași, in a modest family of teach ...
, Zissu published the weekly literary magazine ''Floare Albastră'' (" Blue Flower"), which ran for six editions at Iași in 1912Crăciun, p. 89 and had the young poet
Benjamin Fondane Benjamin Fondane () or Benjamin Fundoianu (; born Benjamin Wechsler, Wexler or Vecsler, first name also Beniamin or Barbu, usually abridged to B.; November 14, 1898 – October 2, 1944) was a Romanian and French poet, critic and existentialist ph ...
(of the Schwarzfeld family) among its noted contributors. The publication was mostly traditionalist and
neo-romantic The term neo-romanticism is used to cover a variety of movements in philosophy, literature, music, painting, and architecture, as well as social movements, that exist after and incorporate elements from the era of Romanticism. It has been used ...
, opposed to both the Symbolist movement and the left-wing '' Viața Romînească''. Zissu and most of the contributors, including Fondane and Sandu Teleajen, were pseudonymous; signed contributions included pieces by
Ludovic Dauș Ludovic Dauș ( – November 17, 1954) was a Romanian novelist, playwright, poet and translator, also known for his contributions as a politician and theatrical manager. He was born into a cosmopolitan family, with a Czech father and a boyaress ...
,
Enric Furtună Enric () is a Catalan common given name, the Catalan variant of '' Heinrich'' of Germanic origin. Equivalents in other languages include Henry (English), Enrico (Italian), Henrik (Scandinavian), Henri (French, German), Enrique (Spanish) or Henriqu ...
,
Constantin Motaș Constantin is an Aromanian, Megleno-Romanian and Romanian male given name. It can also be a surname. For a list of notable people called Constantin, see Constantine (name). See also * Constantine (name) * Konstantin The first name Konstant ...
and
Grigore T. Popa Grigore T. Popa (sometimes Anglicization, Anglicized to Gregor T. Popa; 1 May 1892 – 18 July 1948) was a Romanian physician and public intellectual. Of lowly peasant origin, he managed to obtain a university education and become a professor ...
. In parallel, also in 1912, Zissu and Menahem Mendel Braunstein put out the Hebrew-language ''Ha-Mekits'' ("The Awakener"). He debuted as an author in 1914, with the play ''David Brandeis'', and began writing for the Yiddish revival journal ''Likht'' ("Light"). In July 1913, Romania intervened in the
Second Balkan War The Second Balkan War was a conflict that broke out when Kingdom of Bulgaria, Bulgaria, dissatisfied with its share of the spoils of the First Balkan War, attacked its former allies, Kingdom of Serbia, Serbia and Kingdom of Greece, Greece, on 1 ...
. As leaders of the Zionist Union of Iași, Zissu and Lazăr-Șaraga urged Romanian Jews to volunteer for service in the
Land Forces Land, also known as dry land, ground, or earth, is the solid terrestrial surface of Earth not submerged by the ocean or another body of water. It makes up 29.2% of Earth's surface and includes all continents and islands. Earth's land surface ...
, and thus to give proof of their "most profound patriotic sentiments". The period brought a decline in Zionist activities, which began as the Federal Committee of Galați went inactive. The Zionist Union of Iași participated in the Bucharest Zionist Conference of May 1915, which was called up by I. Herșcovici and his dissident lodge, ''Idealul''. He, Lazăr-Șaraga, and the other Iași delegates asked for the Federal Committee to be deposed. When this proposal was vetoed, they still called on the Committee to immediately convene a meeting of the "regional conferences". In November, Zissu himself was the Union's delegate to the Zionist Consultation, also held in Bucharest; while there, he participated in the creation of a Romanian-wide Propaganda Committee. Around that time, Zissu married the seven-years-younger Rachel Zimmer, daughter of oils trader Carol Zimmer, who was based in Bucharest.Kuller, p. 155 Their son Theodor (later Theodore) Zissu, himself a prominent Zionist, was born in 1916."Zissu, Theodore A. L.", in William D. Rubinstein, ''The Palgrave Dictionary of Anglo-Jewish History'', p. 1059. London:
Palgrave Macmillan Palgrave Macmillan is a British academic and trade publishing company headquartered in the London Borough of Camden. Its programme includes textbooks, journals, monographs, professional and reference works in print and online. It maintains offi ...
, 2011. . See also Trașcă & Obiziuc, pp. 132–133
He was Abraham and Rachel's only child. In 1918, together with the
Romanian Orthodox The Romanian Orthodox Church (ROC; , ), or Romanian Patriarchate, is an autocephalous Eastern Orthodox church in full communion with other Eastern Orthodox Christian churches, and one of the nine patriarchates in the Eastern Orthodox Church. S ...
priest
Gala Galaction Gala Galaction (; the pen name of Grigore or Grigorie Pișculescu ; April 16, 1879—March 8, 1961) was a Romanian Orthodox clergyman, theologian, writer, journalist, left-wing activist, as well as a political figure of the People's Republic ...
(with whom he had a long-lasting friendship) and Léon Algazi, Zissu published ''Spicul'' magazine, which closed after two numbers. In 1919, he founded the Zionist daily newspaper '' Mântuirea'' in Bucharest; he served as director and constant contributor from 1919 to 1921, inviting Fondane and
Isac Ludo Isac Ludo (1894–1973) was a Romanian writer and political figure. Born into a Jewish-Romanian family, Ludo was active in left-wing literary circles prior to World War II. After the Communist take-over in 1947, he rose to important positio ...
to join him as co-editors. The team also included B. Florian, husband of the avant-garde writer who signed with the masculine pen name Filip Corsa. According to historian Camelia Crăciun, the publication may be seen as Zissu's "masterpiece", "one of the most important Jewish political publications during the interwar period and also as the major Zionist journal in Romania". In tandem, Zissu joined Fondane and
Armand Pascal Armand refer to: People * Armand (name), list of people with this name *Armand (photographer) (1901–1963), Armenian photographer *Armand (singer) (1946–2015), Dutch protest singer *Sean Armand (born 1991), American basketball player *Armand, ...
's modernist theater company, ''Insula''. These cultural and political activities blended with Zissu's activity in the realm of business. He was highly successful in this field, because he never shunned any lucrative activity and displayed "extremely sharp intelligence", but also because of his marriage into the Zimmer family. In March 1920, he joined up with the Peasant Bank, together with whom he purchased Constantin Vernescu's inheritance from its institutional inheritor, namely the
Romanian Academy The Romanian Academy ( ) is a cultural forum founded in Bucharest, Romania, in 1866. It covers the scientific, artistic and literary domains. The academy has 181 active members who are elected for life. According to its bylaws, the academy's ma ...
. Also in 1920, Zissu was running a sugar factory in
Ripiceni Ripiceni is a commune in Botoșani County, Western Moldavia, Romania. It is composed of seven villages: Cinghiniia, Lehnești, Movila Ruptă, Popoaia, Râșca, Ripiceni and Ripicenii Vechi. It lies along the river Prut that forms the border with ...
,
Botoșani County Botoșani County () is a county (județ) of Romania, in Western Moldavia (encompassing a few villages in neighbouring Suceava County from Bukovina to the west as well), with the county seat at Botoșani. Demographics As of 1st of December 20 ...
. He also worked in an iron forge and for several forestry firms in
Neamț County Neamț County () is a county ( județ) of Romania, in the historic region of Moldavia, with the county seat at Piatra Neamț. The county takes its name from the Neamț River. Demographics Population In 2011, it had a population of 470,766 ...
, and later owned both the Ripiceni factory and the Omega Oil Press in Bucharest. His work in forestry and the sugar processing industry was bridged once he began using a novel recipe for extracting sugar out of fir trees. In mid-1922, ''Viața Romînească'' agreed to publish Zissu's play, ''În slujba celorlalți'' ("A Servant to Others"). As recounted by editorial secretary Mihail Sevastos, they only did so upon being urged by staff member Dimitrie D. Pătrășcanu, in hopes that the "filthy rich" Zissu, "that guy with the sugar", would then sponsor the struggling magazine (he never did). Sevastos reports that most of the group agreed that the text, while not disastrously bad, was below their aesthetic standard, and "mannerist". ''Mântuirea'' was closed through a government order in December 1922, following Zissu's open letter to Cuza's
National-Christian Defense League The National-Christian Defense League (, LANC) was a far-right political party of Romania formed by A. C. Cuza. Origins The LANC had its roots in the National Christian Union, formed in 1922 by Cuza and the famed physiologist Nicolae Paulescu. ...
, which resulted in the editorial offices being stormed by angered far-right students. Reportedly, Zissu's wealth allowed him to act as a lender or benefactor for Romanian and Jewish intellectuals, including journalist-philosopher
Nae Ionescu Nae Ionescu (, born Nicolae C. Ionescu; – 15 March 1940) was a Romanian philosopher, logician, mathematician, professor, and journalist. Life Born in Brăila, Ionescu studied Letters at the University of Bucharest until 1912. Upon graduati ...
(before Ionescu's turn to antisemitism). From 1924, he sponsored the Jewish modernist
Vilna Troupe The Vilna Troupe (; ; ; ), also known as Fareyn Fun Yiddishe Dramatishe Artistn (Federation of Yiddish Dramatic Actors) and later ''Dramă şi Comedie'', was an international and mostly Yiddish-speaking theatre, one of the most famous in the history ...
, which he relocated to Bucharest. The Zissus were mainly based in
Weimar Germany The Weimar Republic, officially known as the German Reich, was the German Reich, German state from 1918 to 1933, during which it was a constitutional republic for the first time in history; hence it is also referred to, and unofficially proclai ...
from as early as 1920. In 1929, with revenues from the sugar industry, Zissu commissioned Michael Rachlis, the Russian architect, to build him a luxurious
Art Deco Art Deco, short for the French (), is a style of visual arts, architecture, and product design that first Art Deco in Paris, appeared in Paris in the 1910s just before World War I and flourished in the United States and Europe during the 1920 ...
home in Berlin-Grunewald, currently known as ''Villa Zissu''. The project's completion cost him 20 million lei. Before 1925, Zissu also paid for a monument to be erected on the grave of Galați poet Barbu Nemțeanu, who had been his close friend.


Religious Zionism

A deeply devout individual (he wrote in 1947 that: "my childhood and adolescence were consumed by the incandescent flame of a religious frenzy"), Zissu is described by historian Hildrun Glass as "the best-known propagandist of the Jewish national movement in the
Romanian Old Kingdom The Romanian Old Kingdom ( or just ''Regat''; or ) is a colloquial term referring to the territory covered by the first independent Romanian nation state, which was composed of the Romanian Principalities: Wallachia and Moldavia. The union of the ...
."Glass, p. 163 He described himself as generally influenced by the metaphysics of
Martin Buber Martin Buber (; , ; ; 8 February 1878 – 13 June 1965) was an Austrian-Israeli philosopher best known for his philosophy of dialogue, a form of existentialism centered on the distinction between the I and Thou, I–Thou relationship and the I ...
, the politics of
Theodor Herzl Theodor Herzl (2 May 1860 – 3 July 1904) was an Austria-Hungary, Austro-Hungarian Jewish journalist and lawyer who was the father of Types of Zionism, modern political Zionism. Herzl formed the World Zionist Organization, Zionist Organizat ...
, and the "modern rationalist protest" of
Ahad Ha'am Asher Zvi Hirsch Ginsberg (18 August 1856 – 2 January 1927), primarily known by his Hebrew name and pen name Ahad Ha'am (, lit. 'one of the people', ), was a Hebrew journalist and essayist, and one of the foremost pre-state Zionist thinkers. ...
.Wexler & Popov, p. 133 In effect, Zissu adopted
Religious Zionism Religious Zionism () is a religious denomination that views Zionism as a fundamental component of Orthodox Judaism. Its adherents are also referred to as ''Dati Leumi'' (), and in Israel, they are most commonly known by the plural form of the fi ...
, favoring a return to "authentic Judaism", but also an "
integral In mathematics, an integral is the continuous analog of a Summation, sum, which is used to calculate area, areas, volume, volumes, and their generalizations. Integration, the process of computing an integral, is one of the two fundamental oper ...
" Jewish nationalism that resembled the Revisionist variety.Sami Sjöberg, ''The Vanguard Messiah: Lettrism between Jewish Mysticism and the Avant-Garde'', p. 24. Berlin & Boston:
Walter de Gruyter Walter de Gruyter GmbH, known as De Gruyter (), is a German scholarly publishing house specializing in academic literature. History The roots of the company go back to 1749 when Frederick the Great granted the Königliche Realschule in Be ...
, 2015.
By 1944, he was confessing his admiration for Revisionist ideologue
Ze'ev Jabotinsky Ze'ev Jabotinsky (born Vladimir Yevgenyevich Zhabotinsky; 17 October 1880  – 3 August 1940) was a Russian-born author, poet, orator, soldier, and founder of the Revisionist Zionist movement and the Jewish Self-Defense Organization in O ...
.
University of Haifa The University of Haifa (, ) is a public research university located on Mount Carmel in Haifa, Israel. Founded in 1963 as a branch of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, the University of Haifa received full academic accreditation as an inde ...
scholar Béla Vágó describes Zissu as the "authoritarian" and "rightist" exponent of Romanian Zionism, while historian
Yehuda Bauer Yehuda Bauer (; 6 April 1926 – 18 October 2024) was a Czech-born Israeli historian and scholar of the The Holocaust, Holocaust. He was a professor of Holocaust studies at the Avraham Harman Institute of Contemporary Jewry at the Hebrew Univer ...
indicates that, though he never joined the Revisionists, his political views "gradually veered" into that territory. At ''Mântuirea'', Zissu celebrated the presence of
Menachem Ussishkin Menachem Ussishkin ( ''Avraham Menachem Mendel Ussishkin'', ; August 14, 1863 – October 2, 1941) was a Russian-born Zionist leader and head of the Jewish National Fund. Biography Menachem Ussishkin was born in Dubrowna in the Belarusian ...
as Jewish representative at the
Paris Peace Conference Agreements and declarations resulting from meetings in Paris include: Listed by name Paris Accords may refer to: * Paris Accords, the agreements reached at the end of the London and Paris Conferences in 1954 concerning the post-war status of Germ ...
; he also saluted the setting aside of
Mandatory Palestine Mandatory Palestine was a British Empire, British geopolitical entity that existed between 1920 and 1948 in the Palestine (region), region of Palestine, and after 1922, under the terms of the League of Nations's Mandate for Palestine. After ...
as a home for the "one and indivisible" Jewish nation. In March 1919, he began arguing that Zionism was "virtually the entirety of Romanian Judaism", professing his belief that the
Union of Romanian Jews The Union of Romanian Jews (, ''UER'') was a political organisation active in Romania in the first half of the 20th century. The UER targeted all Romanian Jews who had obtained citizenship and accepted its programme of integration into the Romanian ...
(UER), which supported
Jewish assimilation Jewish assimilation (, ''hitbolelut'') refers either to the gradual cultural assimilation and social integration of Jews in their surrounding culture or to an ideological program in the age of emancipation promoting conformity as a potential so ...
, was politically irrelevant. The solution was to establish an all-Zionist National Council (''Sfat Național''), which would have reduced the assimilationists to their actual position in society. In opposing the UER's
Wilhelm Filderman Wilhelm Filderman (last name also spelled Fieldermann; 14 November 1882 – 1963) was a lawyer and the leader of the Romanian-Jewish community between 1919 and 1947; in addition, he was a representative of the Jews in the Romanian parliament. E ...
, Zissu favored self-segregated cohabitation ("the right of legal self-administration in all the matters connected to national life"). During the early years of
Greater Romania Greater Romania () is the Kingdom of Romania in the interwar period, achieved after the Great Union or the related pan-nationalist ideal of a nation-state which would incorporate all Romanian speakers.Irina LivezeanuCultural Politics in Greate ...
, he rejected offers made by
Take Ionescu Take or Tache Ionescu (; born Dumitru Ghiță Ioan and also known as Demetriu G. Ionnescu; – 21 June 1922) was a Romanian Centrism, centrist politician, journalist, lawyer and diplomat, who also enjoyed reputation as a short story author. Sta ...
and his Nationalist Conservatives, who wanted the Jews fully integrated as Romanians of the Judaic faith. Zissu called the notion "archaic" and uncultured. His own influence was exercised through the Zionist splinter group and newspaper ''Renașterea Noastră'' ("Our Revival"), founded in 1922, and, from ca. 1931, through the Jewish Party (PER). Mihai Pelin
"Controverse. Plecarea fruntașilor evreimii din România"
in ''
Jurnalul Național ''Jurnalul Național'' is a Romanian newspaper, part of the INTACT Media Group led by Dan Voiculescu, which also includes the popular television station Antena 1. The newspaper was launched in 1993. Its headquarters is in Bucharest Buchares ...
'', November 30, 2006
After initially declining inne-party promotion,
Ion Călugăru Ion Călugăru (; born Ștrul Leiba Croitoru, Ion Călugăru, Ioan Lăcustă''"Uzina care încearcă să gonească morții". Note nepublicate (1948)'' at thMemoria Digital Library retrieved February 17, 2010 also known as Buium sin Strul-Leiba Cro ...
, "Evreii și alegerile generale. Cum s'a stecurat U.E.R. pe listele guvernului. Convorbire cu d. A. L. Zissu", in ''
Cuvântul ''Cuvântul'' (, meaning "The Word") was a daily newspaper, published by philosopher Nae Ionescu in Bucharest, Romania, from 1926 to 1934, and again in 1938. It was primarily noted for progressively adopting a far-right and fascist agenda, an ...
'', May 15, 1931, p. 3
Zissu served as honorary president of the PER. As noted by historian
Idith Zertal Idith Zertal (; born 1945) is an Israeli historian, considered one of the " New Historians". Career After a career in journalism, Zertal began a career as a professor of history and cultural anthropology at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. She ...
, Zissu mounted "an aggressive campaign ..against Filderman's 'assimilationist' tendencies. Only his party, issuclaimed, represented the ethnic political interests of the Jewish population in Romania; all the other bodies were capitulationist and collaborationist and detrimental to Jewish interests." Scholars
Jean Ancel Jean Ancel (; 1940 – 30 April 2008) was a Romanian-born Israeli author and historian; with specialty in the history of the Jews in Romania between the two World wars, and the Holocaust of the Jews of Romania. Biography Jean Ancel was born to ...
and Camelia Crăciun also see Zissu as an unjust critic of Filderman, noting that the latter was not ever adverse to Zionism. Yet, Filderman "insisted in continuing to fight for civic and political rights in Diaspora, here conflicting with the Zionists." The Zissu–Filderman dispute was expanded in 1922, the year of complete
Jewish emancipation Jewish emancipation was the process in various nations in Europe of eliminating Jewish disabilities, to which European Jews were then subject, and the recognition of Jews as entitled to equality and citizenship rights. It included efforts withi ...
: Filderman proposed that Jews be granted Romanian citizenship on the basis of individual pledges, while Zissu insisted that recognition of their native status needed to be seconded by local Jewish bodies. This became a philosophical dissensus, with Zissu accusing Filderman of having forsaken the legal tenets of the ''
Halakha ''Halakha'' ( ; , ), also Romanization of Hebrew, transliterated as ''halacha'', ''halakhah'', and ''halocho'' ( ), is the collective body of Judaism, Jewish religious laws that are derived from the Torah, Written and Oral Torah. ''Halakha'' is ...
''. For his part, Filderman expressed fears that Zissu's "integral" concept of Judaism and his party's self-segregationist stance "would cast an abyss between the Romanian people and the Jewish population." His channel of communication with Nae Ionescu was ensured through Nae Ionescu's newspaper, ''
Cuvântul ''Cuvântul'' (, meaning "The Word") was a daily newspaper, published by philosopher Nae Ionescu in Bucharest, Romania, from 1926 to 1934, and again in 1938. It was primarily noted for progressively adopting a far-right and fascist agenda, an ...
''. According to the recollections of publicist M. Saul, Zissu personally intervened to have the Jewish author
Ion Călugăru Ion Călugăru (; born Ștrul Leiba Croitoru, Ion Călugăru, Ioan Lăcustă''"Uzina care încearcă să gonească morții". Note nepublicate (1948)'' at thMemoria Digital Library retrieved February 17, 2010 also known as Buium sin Strul-Leiba Cro ...
, whom he had personally trained in the Kabbalah, as a ''Cuvântul'' staff writer. In a 1931 interview with Călugăru, Zissu indicated that the PER was also a "bourgeois" group, which was similar to, and compatible with, all other middle-class parties in Romania, and that this shared agenda could dissuade fears about self-segregation. He noted that Jewish nationalism was advantageous for the centralized state—since, in the newly-acquired
Transylvania Transylvania ( or ; ; or ; Transylvanian Saxon dialect, Transylvanian Saxon: ''Siweberjen'') is a List of historical regions of Central Europe, historical and cultural region in Central Europe, encompassing central Romania. To the east and ...
and
Bessarabia Bessarabia () is a historical region in Eastern Europe, bounded by the Dniester river on the east and the Prut river on the west. About two thirds of Bessarabia lies within modern-day Moldova, with the Budjak region covering the southern coa ...
, it placed non-assimilated Jews under the cultural dominance of Romanian Jews. Zissu only left the Germany for important assignments: ahead of the general election of June 1931, he was in Bucharest, trying to usurp an alliance formed between the UER and the governing Romanian Democratic Nationalists. In that context, he argued that the UER was a "fictitious organization" existing for "Mr Filderman's political ascent", and proposed that the PER be instead recognized as a legitimate government partner. He was still present in numerous interwar publications of a leftist or avant-garde bent: ''Egalitatea'', ''Curierul Israelit'', ''Opinia'', '' Steagul'', ''Hatikvah'' of Galați, ''Lumea Evree'', ''Integral'', ''
Bilete de Papagal ''Bilete de Papagal'' was a Romanian left-wing publication edited by Tudor Arghezi, begun as a daily newspaper and soon after issued as a weekly satirical and literary magazine. It was published at three different intervals: 1928–1930, 1937–1938 ...
'', ''Puntea de Fildeș'', ''Adam'' and ''Hasmonaea''. ''David Brandeis'' was followed by two volumes of short stories: ''Spovedania unui candelabru'' ("Confession of a Chandelier"), 1926; and ''Ereticul de la Mânăstirea Neamțu'' ("The Heretic at
Neamț Monastery The Neamț Monastery () is a Romanian Orthodox Church, Romanian Orthodox religious settlement, one of the oldest and most important of its kind in Romania. It was built in the 15th century, and it is an example of medieval Moldavian architectur ...
"), 1930. He followed up with polemics and essays: ''"Noi" – breviar iudaic'' ("'Us' – A Primer for Judaism"), 1932; ''Logos, Israel, Biserica'' ("Logos, Israel, The Church"), 1937. In the latter work, Zissu spoke of "mystification and falsehood" contained in the
New Testament The New Testament (NT) is the second division of the Christian biblical canon. It discusses the teachings and person of Jesus in Christianity, Jesus, as well as events relating to Christianity in the 1st century, first-century Christianit ...
, remarking that the Christian Church had historically acted as a "straitjacket of the peoples". This period saw him debating with priest
Toma Chiricuță Toma or TOMA may refer to: Places *Toma, Burkina Faso, a town in Nayala province * Toma Department, a department in Nayala province *Toma, Banwa, Burkina Faso, a town * Tōma, Hokkaidō, Japan, a town **Tōma Station, its railway station *Toma, a ...
, who advocated the mass Christianization of Jews. With his comedic fragments in ''Integral'', Zissu took on avant-garde trappings, and, critic
Paul Cernat Paul Cernat (born August 5, 1972 in Bucharest) is a Romanian essayist and literary critic. He has a Ph.D. summa cum laude in philology. Cernat has been a member of the Writers' Union of Romania since 2009. As of 2013, he is lecturer of Romanian l ...
notes, provided a "timid" Romanian version of international
Futurism Futurism ( ) was an Art movement, artistic and social movement that originated in Italy, and to a lesser extent in other countries, in the early 20th century. It emphasized dynamism, speed, technology, youth, violence, and objects such as the ...
. His other texts were poems and stories of life in the ''
shtetl or ( ; , ; Grammatical number#Overview, pl. ''shtetelekh'') is a Yiddish term for small towns with predominantly Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Jewish populations which Eastern European Jewry, existed in Eastern Europe before the Holocaust. The t ...
'', which broke with ''Integral''s modernist agenda, and were possibly only published there on Fondane's request; Fondane also translated and published some of them upon his relocation to France. According to Zissu himself, "all of them are mystical and mostly inspired by the 'Hasidic' movement for the spiritual emancipation of Jewish masses". They include ''Spovedania unui candelabru'', as ''La confession d'un candélabre'' (1928). Praised by reviewer Jean Martory as "one of mankind's most admirable works", this story gives voice to a '' menorah'' whose metal was mixed with tears. In ''Ereticul...'', a Jewish convert turned Orthodox monk returns to his original faith; included in the same collection, the story ''Uziel'' follows a Jewish man on his doomed path to become ''
Baal Shem A ''Baal Shem'' (Hebrew: בַּעַל שֵׁם, pl. ''Baalei Shem'') was a historical Jewish practitioner of Practical Kabbalah and miracle worker. Employing various methods, ''Baalei Shem'' are claimed to heal, enact miracles, perform exorcisms ...
''. According to critic
Leon Feraru Leon Feraru (born Otto Engelberg,Aurel Sasu (ed.), ''Dicționarul biografic al literaturii române'', Vol. I, p. 580. Pitești: Editura Paralela 45, 2004. Ghena Pricop, "Personalități ale Comunității Evreiești din Brăila", in Hristian ''et ...
, both works show a "startling craft". While active in the interwar press, Zissu engaged himself in renewed polemics with both the radical left and the radical right. In March 1932,
Ion Vinea Ion Vinea (born Ioan Eugen Iovanaki, sometimes Iovanache; April 17, 1895 – July 6, 1964) was a Romanian poet, novelist, journalist, literary theorist, and political figure. He became active on the Modernist literature, modernist scene during hi ...
hosted in ''
Facla ''Facla'' ("The Torch") was a Romanian political and literary magazine. ''Facla'' was published weekly in Bucharest between 13 March 1910 and 15 June 1913, daily from 5 October 1913 to 5 March 1914, weekly from 1 January to 7 August 1916 and daily ...
'' Zissu's critique of
Stalinism Stalinism (, ) is the Totalitarianism, totalitarian means of governing and Marxism–Leninism, Marxist–Leninist policies implemented in the Soviet Union (USSR) from History of the Soviet Union (1927–1953), 1927 to 1953 by dictator Jose ...
(and comparatively positive assessment of
Trotskyism Trotskyism (, ) is the political ideology and branch of Marxism developed by Russian revolutionary and intellectual Leon Trotsky along with some other members of the Left Opposition and the Fourth International. Trotsky described himself as an ...
), with a caveat that observed its noncompliance with the editorial line. In May, the same newspaper hosted a rebuttal of Zissu's stance. In November 1933, Zissu debated with the increasingly radical Nae Ionescu about the "
Jewish Question The Jewish question was a wide-ranging debate in 19th- and 20th-century Europe that pertained to the appropriate status and treatment of Jews. The debate, which was similar to other " national questions", dealt with the civil, legal, national, ...
" in Romania. Responding in ''Cuvântul'', Ionescu noted that he shared Zissu's anti-assimilationist goals, and that he only wanted to see "Romanians of the Mosaic faith" returning to the status of "Jews with Romanian citizenship" (a position that Ionescu would soon discard in favor of racial exclusion). The debate was mocked by the left-wing writers at '' Șantier'', who suggested that Zissu and Ionescu favored equally authoritarian stances. During that interval, a polemic over Zissu also opposed Arghezi to the radical avant-garde author,
Stephan Roll Stephan Roll (pen name of Gheorghe Dinu, also credited as Stéphane, Stefan or Ștefan Roll; June 5, 1904 – May 14, 1974) was a Romanian poet, editor, film critic, and communist militant. An autodidact, he played host to the Romanian avant-garde ...
: in October 1931, Arghezi published an encomium of Zissu; according to Roll, the piece was sponsored by the industrialist.


Nazi persecution

In 1934, Zissu prefaced Theodor Loewenstein-Lavi's primer for the Zionist youth, expressing his confidence that the movement had reached "maturity" and overcome "sterility". His Zionist-themed novels, also published at the time, made a particular impression. They include: ''Manuel sin Marcu'' (1934), ''Calea Calvarului'' ("The Path of Calvary", 1935), ''Samson și noul Dragon'' ("Samson and the New Dragon", 1939). The former book was mistakenly printed as ''Marcu sin Marcu'', and is still known to many historians under that title; according to literary critic Răzvan Voncu, this indicates that many reviewers had not actually read the book beyond the title page. Răzvan Voncu, "Cronica edițiilor. Redescoperirea lui A. L. Zissu", in ''
România Literară ''România Literară'' is a cultural and literary magazine from Romania. In its original edition, it was founded on 1 January 1855 by Vasile Alecsandri and published in Iași until 3 December 1855, when it was suppressed. The new series appeared ...
'', Issue 26/2019, p. 6
It shows Manuel, the title character, as torn between his attraction for European modernism and his longing for the Moldavian ''shtetl''. A secondary character, Nusen, is seen by Voncu as based on Fondane. While Fondane himself described Zissu as a writer who went beyond the cliches of modern Jewish literature, scholar
Leon Volovici Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
argued: "Zissu's passion for ideological debate ..led him to produce fiction that is highly rhetorical and excessively discursive." Crăciun also notes "the unevenness of his works", with Zissu being more of a "great thinker" than a writer of "artistic value". In a sympathetic review for ''Cuvântul'' in 1932, fellow Jewish novelist
Mihail Sebastian Mihail Sebastian (; born Iosif Mendel Hechter; October 18, 1907 – May 29, 1945) was a Romanian playwright, essayist, journalist and novelist. Life Sebastian was born to a Jewish family in Brăila, the son of Mendel and Clara Hechter (née We ...
described Zissu as a "surprising" author, but identified sad undertones in his Zionist enthusiasm: "Mr. Zissu believes that he has found a spiritual island on which the nation of Israel may settle calmly and constructively. I fear that this belief of his comprises more desperation than tranquility." Critic Mihai Mîndra discusses ''Samson și noul Dragon'' (with a Hasidic protagonist) as a sample of
Gothic fiction Gothic fiction, sometimes referred to as Gothic horror (primarily in the 20th century), is a literary aesthetic of fear and haunting. The name of the genre is derived from the Renaissance era use of the word "gothic", as a pejorative to mean me ...
, but also a "huge allegorical representation of the drama of non-acculturation of the Romanian Jew", producing "spiritual solitude". He finds a parallel in
Isac Ludo Isac Ludo (1894–1973) was a Romanian writer and political figure. Born into a Jewish-Romanian family, Ludo was active in left-wing literary circles prior to World War II. After the Communist take-over in 1947, he rose to important positio ...
's novels, in that both writers seek to escape a direct confrontation with the contemporary rise of antisemitism, by delving into "Romanian Jewish evasionism." Zissu and his wife lived in Berlin before and after the
Nazi seizure of power The rise to power of Adolf Hitler, dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 to 1945, began in the newly established Weimar Republic in September 1919, when Hitler joined the '' Deutsche Arbeiterpartei'' (DAP; German Workers' Party). He quickly rose t ...
. In December 1934, they received a visit from Nae Ionescu's son, Radu, who found the senior couple to be glib, and described Rachel as "ugly". As the same Ionescu reports, Theodore had been "suddenly forgotten" by all his German friends, and no longer wished to spend time in Berlin. He had been sent to live in England, taking a law degree from
Trinity College, Cambridge Trinity College is a Colleges of the University of Cambridge, constituent college of the University of Cambridge. Founded in 1546 by King Henry VIII, Trinity is one of the largest Cambridge colleges, with the largest financial endowment of any ...
. His parents finally relocated to Bucharest in 1936, upon which their estate in Grunewald was confiscated by
Nazi Germany Nazi Germany, officially known as the German Reich and later the Greater German Reich, was the German Reich, German state between 1933 and 1945, when Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party controlled the country, transforming it into a Totalit ...
.Sevastos, p. 376 Describing Zissu as stingy, Mihail Sevastos noted that his economizing was for nothing, and that Zissu escaped
Adolf Hitler Adolf Hitler (20 April 1889 – 30 April 1945) was an Austrian-born German politician who was the dictator of Nazi Germany from 1933 until Death of Adolf Hitler, his suicide in 1945. Adolf Hitler's rise to power, He rose to power as the lea ...
"only with the clothes on his back." Abraham and Rachel took up residence on
Lascăr Catargiu Boulevard Lascăr is both a Romanian surname and a masculine Romanian given name. Notable people with the name include: * Bogdan Lascăr (born 1974), Romanian sculptor, graphic designer, and film maker * Lascăr Catargiu (1823–1899), Romanian statesman * ...
, Dorobanți. Later, their home was in west-central Bucharest, on Aurel Vlaicu Street.H. D., "Elocvența documentelor — Aprilie 1943. Ostaticii din București", in ''Buletinul Centrului, Muzeului și Arhivei Istorice a Evreilor din România'', Issue 11, 2005, p. 48 From 1937 to 1944, under a series of increasingly authoritarian regimes which reintroduced antisemitic laws, Zissu had no literary occupation, being banned from journalism and writing. The
Siguranța ''Siguranța'' was the generic name for the successive secret police services in the Kingdom of Romania. The official title of the organization changed throughout its history, with names including Directorate of the Police and General Safety () ...
secret police followed his contacts with both Nae Ionescu and the ''Renașterea Noastră'' group, and monitored his correspondence with Roll, who had become ''Integral''s communist poet. With a self-coup in February 1938,
King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...
Carol II Carol II (4 April 1953) was King of Romania from 8 June 1930, until his forced abdication on 6 September 1940. As the eldest son of Ferdinand I of Romania, King Ferdinand I, he became crown prince upon the death of his grand-uncle, King Carol I, ...
established the
National Renaissance Front The National Renaissance Front (, FRN; also translated as ''Front of National Regeneration'', ''Front of National Rebirth'', ''Front of National Resurrection'', or ''Front of National Renaissance'') was a Romanian political party created by King Ca ...
. It dissolved all opposition groups, ending Zissu's tenure as honorary president of the Jewish Party. Jewish representation was reduced to one seat in the
Senate A senate is a deliberative assembly, often the upper house or chamber of a bicameral legislature. The name comes from the ancient Roman Senate (Latin: ''Senatus''), so-called as an assembly of the senior (Latin: ''senex'' meaning "the el ...
, automatically assigned to the
Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...
. Zissu had become a leading critic of
Rabbinic Judaism Rabbinic Judaism (), also called Rabbinism, Rabbinicism, Rabbanite Judaism, or Talmudic Judaism, is rooted in the many forms of Judaism that coexisted and together formed Second Temple Judaism in the land of Israel, giving birth to classical rabb ...
, and therefore questioned this arrangement. With articles in the communitarian journal ''Cuvântul Evreesc'', he suggested that Judaism did not fit a religious definition—and that rabbis did not represent anyone; his verdict was positively quoted by the antisemitic publication '' Porunca Vremii'', which proposed that Zissu himself needed to be made Chief Rabbi. Zissu also maintained good relations with regime politicians and, also in 1938, was appointed manager of the National Sugar Trust. In 1939, he was manager of an
oil company The petroleum industry, also known as the oil industry, includes the global processes of exploration, extraction, refining, transportation (often by oil tankers and pipelines), and marketing of petroleum products. The largest volume products o ...
, ''Compania Română de Petrol'', owning 50% of its stock; he was demoted to its financial adviser in 1940. The period also brought questions about his wealth. In July 1938, the Romanian Consul General in Berlin,
Constantin Karadja Prince Constantin Jean Lars Anthony Démétrius Karadja (24 November 1889 – 28 December 1950) was a Greeks in Romania, Greek-Romanian diplomat, barrister-at-law, bibliographer, bibliophile and honorary member (1946) of the Romanian Academy. He ...
, argued that Romania had an interest in protecting Zissu's German properties, which could then be sold and used as taxable income in Romania. After the start of World War II, the elder Zissus briefly relocated to neutral Switzerland. Theodore remained in Britain, and actively involved himself with the Jewish movement in Palestine. He testified before the
Woodhead Commission The Woodhead Commission (officially the Palestine Partition Commission''Palestine Partition Commission Report'', Command Paper 5854, Printed and published by His Majesty's Stationery Office, London, 1938 (310 pages and 13 maps)) was a British tech ...
and campaigned for the inclusion of
Negev The Negev ( ; ) or Naqab (), is a desert and semidesert region of southern Israel. The region's largest city and administrative capital is Beersheba (pop. ), in the north. At its southern end is the Gulf of Aqaba and the resort town, resort city ...
in the Jewish colonization zone. Theodore then became a Lieutenant in the
Royal Armoured Corps The Royal Armoured Corps is the armoured arm of the British Army, that together with the Household Cavalry provides its armour capability, with vehicles such as the Challenger 2 and the Warrior tracked armoured vehicle. It includes most of the Ar ...
, and was killed in action during the
Second Battle of El Alamein The Second Battle of El Alamein (23 October – 11 November 1942) was a battle of the Second World War that took place near the Egyptian Railway station, railway halt of El Alamein. The First Battle of El Alamein and the Battle of Alam el Halfa ...
. From late 1940, Romania was ruled upon by
Ion Antonescu Ion Antonescu (; ; – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian military officer and Mareșal (Romania), marshal who presided over two successive Romania during World War II, wartime dictatorships as Prime Minister of Romania, Prime Minister and ''Conduc ...
, who proceeded to uphold antisemitic laws, originally as a partner of the
Iron Guard The Iron Guard () was a Romanian militant revolutionary nationalism, revolutionary Clerical fascism, religious fascist Political movement, movement and political party founded in 1927 by Corneliu Zelea Codreanu as the Legion of the Archangel M ...
. Unusually, Zissu managed to preserve his estate, including an eponymous restaurant, which was Bucharest's "most selective"; it was located on Batiștei Street, just north of University Square. He was also allowed to continue working for the Sugar Trust, as a sales manager.Leibovici-Laiș (1995), p. 12 Surviving the pogrom of January 1941, he remained a prominent but controversial figure in his persecuted community, sponsoring his increasingly hostile friend Sebastian. Sebastian described Zissu as "honest but uninteresting", and his wife as a "perfect example of a Jewish parvenue." He also found Zissu's Zionism unpalatable: "
e is E, or e, is the fifth letter and the second vowel letter of the Latin alphabet, used in the modern English alphabet, the alphabets of other western European languages and others worldwide. Its name in English is ''e'' (pronounced ); plu ...
a theorist of full-blown Jewish nationalism who goes out every evening to a cinema or restaurant, two months after a pogrom." The Jewish poet-activist Meir Rudich suggests that such verdicts are "off-putting ..but unfortunately true".Meir Rudich, "Pagini. Jurnal", in ''Minimum'', Vol. XVII, Issue 198, September 2003, p. 63 As argued by Glass, Sebastian's characterization is partial, and fails to cover the basics of Zissu's wartime activity; likewise, critic Marcel Marcian notes that Sebastian "despised A. L. Zissu, though there were things he should have leaned from him". Zissu found himself at odds with the Antonescu dictatorship, which announced plans to deport Romania's Jews into
Transnistria Transnistria, officially known as the Pridnestrovian Moldavian Republic and locally as Pridnestrovie, is a Landlocked country, landlocked Transnistria conflict#International recognition of Transnistria, breakaway state internationally recogn ...
. Sebastian wrote that Zissu and his family initially considered emigrating to Palestine via Turkey, and spent "hundreds of thousands of lei" on obtaining visas. Eventually, however, Zissu chose to partake in a collective effort to protect the Jewish community at large. From November 1941, he was directly involved in obtaining safe passage for the MV ''Struma'', but may have done so for an exorbitant profit: as reported by Jewish passengers who lodged complaints with the Romanian authorities, he charged as much as 600 thousand lei per person, and avoided paying taxes. According to Sebastian, Zissu claimed to have voluntarily
divested In finance and economics, divestment or divestiture is the reduction of some kind of asset for financial, ethical, or political objectives or sale of an existing business by a firm. A divestment is the opposite of an investment. Divestiture is a ...
from Romanian oil, and thus to have "ruined himself", because the industry was catering to the German war machine—Sebastian dismissed the claim as "cheap theater". At around that time, Zissu also became close friends with
Franz Babinger Franz Babinger (15 January 1891 – Durrës, 23 June 1967) was a well-known German orientalist and historian of the Ottoman Empire, best known for his biography of the great Ottoman emperor Mehmed II, known as "the Conqueror", originally published ...
, the Bavarians, Bavarian historian and Wehrmacht Colonel. He described Babinger as "a fanatic anti-Nazi and a friend of the English."


Resistance movement

By 1942, Zissu had come into conflict with the Central Jewish Office (CE), a sort of Romanian ''Judenrat'' created by Antonescu and
Radu Lecca Radu D. Lecca (February 15, 1890–1980) was a Romanian spy, journalist, civil servant and convicted War crime, war criminal. A World War I veteran who served a prison term for espionage in France during the early 1930s, he was a noted support ...
. In later records, he claims to have been Lecca's first pick as CE president, but implies that he never accepted. He subsequently stood out one of the most vocal Jewish critics of the CE, rejecting all collaboration—a stance also embraced by Călugăru and Ury Benador. With his assimilationist rival Filderman and Chief Rabbi Alexandru Șafran (who mediated between them), he set up ''Sfatul Evreiesc'' (the "Jewish Council"), which coordinated anti-CE efforts. Zissu quelled his animosity and began corresponding with Filderman, acknowledging his "remarkable skills" and "impressive energy", but still reproaching him his "doctrinal and conceptual sins". He presented himself as the Jews' "spiritual guide" and "seismograph", suggesting that Filderman could remain their "political representative". Filderman eventually put a stop to the exchange of letters, after Zissu asked him to resign and recognize him as the sole representative of their community. Zissu later claimed that Șafran also endorsed Filderman's resignation, but to no effect.Wexler & Popov, p. 136 In September 1942, Zissu, Filderman and Carol Reiter played a part in persuading Antonescu and Lecca not to send Banat's Jews to a likely death at Majdanek concentration camp, Majdanek. Also around that time, Zissu publicly declared the CE leader, Henric Streitman, who had allegedly asked him to contribute money for Antonescu, to be a renegade of the Jewish people. Consequently, he was sacked from his position as state financial adviser and imprisoned for two months at Târgu Jiu internment camp, Târgu Jiu's camp for political opponents,Wexler & Popov, pp. 108, 159 where Sebastian visited him. According to his later depositions, Zissu joined the "Romanian resistance movement during World War II, internees' resistance movement", sabotaging the collection of funds for soldiers while redirecting money toward inmates slated for deportation into Transnistria. It was also in Târgu Jiu that Zissu first learned of his son's death under the British flag. Upon his release, he was placed under watch by the Romanian Police. In early 1943, he was included on a list of Jewish hostages who had to account for their whereabouts with the authorities (in his case, those of Bucharest's 4th Police Precinct). During mid 1943, the Rescue Committee of the Jewish Agency appointed Zissu as its Romanian liaison and leader of the local Palestine Office, which sparked controversy throughout the community, who supported another Zionist,
Mișu Benvenisti Mișu Benvenisti, also known as Mishu or Moshe Benvenisti, sometimes Benveniste (; July 1, 1902 – 1977), was a Romanian-Israeli lawyer, Zionism, Zionist militant, and leader of the History of the Jews in Romania, Romanian Jewish community. Born ...
. Glass wrote that Zissu "was universally respected, but had the reputation of an extremist who could jeopardize the Zionist movement and the Jewish populace." Zissu confessed his dislike for Benvenisti, seeing him as a parvenu and a Streitman collaborator. Benvenisti reports that Zissu took over with the help of a younger Zionist, Jean Cohen. Cohen informed others that Zissu would be best positioned to direct the efforts of Jewish Parachutists of Mandate Palestine, parachutists from Palestine, who were sent in to train local Jewish paramilitaries. They also embarked on a long conflict with the Jewish left, embodied by the Ihud group, who had previously controlled the Romanian Rescue Committee. Zissu audited boos kept by the Palestine Office manager, Shlomo Entzer, allegedly prompting the latter to flee Romania; he allowed another Ihud man, Rubin, to take over for Entzer, but found that he was similarly taking bribes, and went public with the information. At Târgu Jiu, Zissu had met General
Nicolae Rădescu Nicolae Rădescu (; 30 March 1874 – 16 May 1953) was a Romanian army officer and political figure. He was the last pre- communist rule Prime Minister of Romania, serving from 7 December 1944 to 1 March 1945. Biography Early life and education ...
, a supporter of the Allies of World War II, Allies and therefore an Antonescu critic. Also liberated in late 1942, Rădescu was planning to defect; he asked Zissu to provide him with details on the political standing and demands of the Romanian Jewry, which he was to include in his political program for a government-in-exile. Though Rădescu's plan failed to materialize, his contacts with Zissu were criticized by Jean Cohen: "I was aware of Rădescu's antisemitic views, as well as of his not representing any political force or aspiration of the people". In his later depositions, Zissu confirmed that, in 1943, he and Benvenisti, alongside Cornel Iancu, were looking into "illegally reestablishing" the PER. He also recalled having ensured contacts between the underground
Romanian Communist Party The Romanian Communist Party ( ; PCR) was a communist party in Romania. The successor to the pro-Bolshevik wing of the Socialist Party of Romania, it gave an ideological endorsement to a communist revolution that would replace the social system ...
and Iuliu Maniu, chairman of the more traditional
National Peasants' Party The National Peasants' Party (also known as the National Peasant Party or National Farmers' Party; , or ''Partidul Național-Țărănist'', PNȚ) was an Agrarianism, agrarian political party in the Kingdom of Romania. It was formed in 1926 throu ...
(PNȚ), hoping to establish the unified opposition to Antonescu's rule. According to these records, he did so as a favor for his communist friend, the Jewish painter
M. H. Maxy Max Hermann Maxy (also known as M. H. Maxy, born Max Herman; October 26, 1895 – July 19, 1971) was a Romanian painter, art professor, scenographer, and professor of German-Jewish descent. Early life and education Maxy was born in Brăila ...
. The Siguranța stepped in to stop that collaboration, and Zissu, together with Octav Livezeanu, was again ordered to show up for regular interrogation at police headquarters. In January 1944, with Benvenisti under temporary arrest, Zissu took control of the Jewish emigration and self-help movement, establishing the Zionist Executive. According to Cohen, this was a "revolutionary" act, whereby Zissu submitted all Zionist organizations under his unique command. Only "one or two" groups expressed objections, fearing that "his political extremism, as they called it, may expose the whole movement, and perhaps the whole Jewish population, to serious dangers." As a representative of "national Judaism in all its categories", he also joined the Central Committee of the Jewish Democratic Front, established by Maxy—who was also envoy of the "Jewish communists". Wilhelm Filderman represented the UER, while
Leon Ghelerter Leon, Léon (French) or León (Spanish) may refer to: Places Europe * León, Spain, capital city of the Province of León * Province of León, Spain * Kingdom of León, an independent state in the Iberian Peninsula from 910 to 1230 and again fro ...
and Poldi Filderman were delegates of the Romanian Social Democratic Party (1927–1948), Social Democratic Party; the sixth member, Arnold Schwefelberg, was mandated by the Jewish social welfare bodies. According to Zissu's own claims, he and Benvenisti were directing 1 million lei a month toward the underground communists, represented by Maxy and Alexandru Lăzăreanu; half of these went to the International Red Aid. He alleges that any such efforts were weakened by Șafran, who turned out to be "a great hypocrite and a coward." Reportedly, Lecca used Șafran and Wilhelm Filderman's testimonies as evidence that Zissu was not a trusted figure in the community, and further contended that he was an "English spy". During those months, as the Axis powers, Axis alliance slowly disintegrated, Zissu reached a stalemate with both Lecca and the CE's Nandor Gingold. Lecca now awarded him recognition, and allowed him to carry on with the emigration project in exchange for bribes. The Antonescu regime even proposed that he replace Gingold as CE manager, but Zissu stated his refusal, calling the institution a "bureau of the Gestapo", and accusing Gingold of "high treason". In 1943, the regime was persuaded by ''Renașterea'' to give Jewish orphans stranded in Transnistria a free pass to leave for Palestine. Allegedly, Zissu had played an important part in the deal, persuading the regime's Deputy Prime Minister of Romania, Deputy Premier,
Mihai Antonescu Mihai Antonescu (18 November 1904 – 1 June 1946) was a Romanian politician who served as Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister during World War II, executed in 1946 as a war criminal. Early career Born in Nucet, Dâmbovița County, he ...
. Aware of the officials' interest in negotiating a separate peace with the Allies, and their interest in finding "a partial alibi for their crimes against the Jews", Zissu pushed them to accept mass emigration,Bauer, p. 353 and effectively made emigration Romania's own solution to the "Jewish Question".Ofer, p. 254


Jewish leadership

Zissu's agenda pitted him against other relief organizers. He claimed that Pastor Richard Wurmbrand had kidnapped "three or five children" from an orphanage for Transnistrian survivors, and that he himself stepped in to have them returned. Filderman and Zissu had quarreled again before March 1944. They each preserved their own channels of communication with the Romanians and Allies who talked peace in Cairo. Zissu also had a long-standing conflict with the Greek freighter Yannos Pandelis, who organized sea transports to Palestine. Like Filderman, he accused Pandelis of extorting Romanian Jews, and obtained official approval for his ouster. In the process, Zissu exposed shady dealings between Lecca and Pandelis: the former reserved special seats on the departing ships, possibly intended for his CE accomplices. He appeared before an Antonescu government panel which acknowledged the seriousness of the scandal and recognized the Rescue Committee as the prime authority, effectively legalizing emigration. Zissu believed that, with his network of Jewish "favorites", Lecca had attempted to plant the Gestapo in Palestine. In the end, the two sides agreed that the alleged spies would not be sent over, though Zissu was also coerced into contributing 75 million lei to a charity run by Maria Antonescu. In mid-1944, Mihai Antonescu boasted his defense of Filderman and Zissu's line on emigration, against notes of protest from both Joachim von Ribbentrop and Amin al-Husseini. According to historian Dalia Ofer, he could now count this younger Antonescu as a friend—since Antonescu was "the chief Rumanian proponent of disengagement from Germany, whose position steadily improved as the notion of an Axis victory faded." After ousting Pandelis "out of fundamentally positive motives", Zissu took over as head of the Romanian Red Cross emigration committee, in direct contact with the Rescue Committee's Mossad LeAliyah Bet and Shaul Avigur, Shaul Meirov. Mossad agents found him to be a belligerent egoist and an obstacle to the success of Zionism. Rudich similarly noted that Zissu greatly enjoyed the attention he got from "the Antonescus", as well as from the lesser officials, and that such "pride" was hampering actual emigration efforts. However, Zissu was held in high esteem by those who reached Palestine, and this impressed the Rescue Committee. Tensions emerged during May 1944, when Bulgaria intercepted and arrested several of the Mossad's vessels, which threatened the Zionist project in its entirety. Zissu's radicalism in this time of crisis led the Yishuv sponsors to parachute in Shaike Dan Trachtenberg, whose mission was to instill discipline among Romanian Zionists and non-Zionists. Filderman was brought in by Meirov to supervise Zissu's initiatives, the Mossad being largely unaware of their irreconcilable differences. Filderman fought against his rival's decision to prioritize the ships for Zionist families while Jews of other convictions were pushed back. In late July, the Mossad concluded that Zissu's contacts with the Antonescu government had little strategic value, and Haim Barlas informed him that the Rescue Committee no longer considered him its representative. Having secured Trachtenberg's support, Zissu fought against this decision, and threatened that the entire Zionist Executive would leave with him. Cohen recounts that Zissu was persuaded by Chaim Weizmann of the
World Jewish Congress The World Jewish Congress (WJC) is an international federation of Jewish communities and organizations, founded in Geneva, Switzerland, in August 1936. According to its mission statement, the World Jewish Congress's main purpose is to act as ...
(WJC) to adopt a more generic strategy, which implied assisting with the survival of Jews from various other areas of German-occupied Europe. By early August 1944, Zissu and the Mossad were again collaborating on the rescue of
Hungarian Jews The history of the Jews in Hungary dates back to at least the Kingdom of Hungary, with some records even predating the Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin in 895 CE by over 600 years. Written sources prove that Jewish communities lived ...
escaping the Holocaust. As reported by Cohen, he and
Ion Vinea Ion Vinea (born Ioan Eugen Iovanaki, sometimes Iovanache; April 17, 1895 – July 6, 1964) was a Romanian poet, novelist, journalist, literary theorist, and political figure. He became active on the Modernist literature, modernist scene during hi ...
contacted
Pamfil Șeicaru Pamfil is a Romanian given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: * Pamfil Polonic (1858–1943), Romanian archaeologist and topographer * Pamfil Yurkevich Pamfil Danilovich Yurkevich (; 28 February 1826 – 16 October 1874) w ...
, editor of ''Curentul'' newspaper, who pleaded with Ion Antonescu and his ministers that the refugees be allowed safe passage. Șeicaru warned Antonescu that failing to mend the Holocaust guilt could only aggravate sanctions against Romania at a future peace conference.Teodor Wexler, "Tot despre Pamfil Șeicaru", in ''Magazin Istoric'', July 2001, p. 12 Arie Hirsch, at the time a Zionist youth assisting from Turda, argued that Zissu took personal responsibility for the 2,000 Jewish refugees already arriving in from Northern Transylvania. As reported by Hirsch, Zissu played upon the dictator's patriotism, suggesting that returning formerly Romanian Jews to the Kingdom of Hungary (1920–1946), Kingdom of Hungary would have implicitly meant recognizing the loss of Northern Transylvania. Zissu's own account diverges from these details. He notes that crucial assistance came from Swiss envoy René de Weck, together with whom he persuaded Mihai Antonescu not to carry out any shootings at the border. The refugees were to be held at Târgu Jiu, whence Zissu would take them to Palestine. Zissu and Cohen recall that Benvenisti unwittingly jeopardized the plan, when he showed up for direct talks with Lecca without consulting other Jewish leaders. The Hungarian rescue effort was ultimately tolerated by Ion Antonescu, on condition that no refugees would be allowed to linger in Romania-proper; also on Zissu's behalf, Șeicaru contacted Bukovina Governorate, Bukovina's Governor, Corneliu Dragalina, who promised to protect Holocaust survivors in Cernăuți. According to later records partly corroborated by Cohen, Zissu viewed his contacting Dragalina as futile, its only result being that Șeicaru, a "notorious fascist and antisemite", had taken 5,000 Swiss francs for his services. Instead, Zissu took credit for stopping a false-flag operation by the Germans, who intended to plant weapons among the Jewish graves in Filantropia cemetery, and use this as a pretext for another pogrom. In all, Zissu claimed to have personally rescued some 14,000 of his coreligionists by obtaining them safe passage to Turkey. He is also credited with having sent over seven individual transports, of which the ''MV Mefküre, Mefküre'' was torpedoed in the Black Sea. Zissu was reportedly persuaded that the sinking of the ''Mefküre'' was carried out by the Germans, who knew that it carried six officials of the Polish Underground State—this runs contrary to reports which implicate the Soviet Navy. Zissu was approached by the regime on August 22, 1944, that is two say two days after the beginning of a Second Jassy–Kishinev Offensive, Soviet invasion in eastern Romania. Ion Antonescu, who faced the prospect of a full Soviet occupation of Romania, Soviet occupation upon his surrender, asked Zissu to contact the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee and, through it, the Western Bloc, Western Allies, urging for some Anglo–American guarantees. Various authors argue that Zissu agreed to comply, and that he and sent the Joint his letter early on August 23. The interpretation is contradicted by both Zissu and Cohen, who note that the relevant part of this correspondence had already been performed by Filderman, and that Zissu did not intend to antagonize the Soviets. Zissu's impressions of the meeting were recorded on the spot by his colleagues Ernő Marton and Leon Itzacar. According to this testimony, Zissu met a "very pale" Mihai Antonescu and his secretary, Ovidiu Vlădescu. The latter invoked Zissu's patriotism, as a political representative of the Jewish population. Just hours later, Antonescu was deposed in 1944 Romanian coup d'état, a palace coup, and Romania capitulated to the Allies. On August 24, a General Jewish Council was convened in Ghelerter's home, with Cohen as Zissu's stand-in. Maxy showed up as an envoy of the Red Aid (now dubbed ''Apărarea Patriotică''), and called for mobilizing Jews to defend Bucharest against the Nazi counteroffensive. As Cohen argues, the appeal was "pointless", since Maxy had no weapons to distribute. During the democratic episode that followed, Zissu re-founded the Jewish Party, and became its president on September 18, 1944. ''Mântuirea'' also reappeared that month, as the weekly organ of Romania's Zionist federation, bringing in new talents such as Isidore Isou, while Zissu also reactivated the national chapter of the WJC. During October, he and Marton were particularly invested in obtaining Romanian government protection for Jewish Transylvanians, whom the Government of National Unity (Hungary), Arrow Cross Government was in the process of deporting to Nazi extermination camps. Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Romania), Foreign Minister Grigore Niculescu-Buzești supported the effort, and, on October 25, publicized a statement demanding the release of all such Jewish deportees; Zissu and Marton asked for additional guarantees, proposing that the Germans of Romania, Germans and Hungarians of Romania be treated as hostages, and subjected to a population exchange. Zissu also returned as managing director of his own publishing house, Editura Bicurim, known for its translations from Jewish literary classics. Although the Zionist movement experienced a resurgence, Zissu's Hasidic discourse and disdain for secularism soon drove away younger activists, including Isou. On December 23, 1944, F. Brunea-Fox issued his first-hand account of the 1941 pogrom, as ''Orașul Măcelului'' ("City of Slaughter"). It carried a preface by Zissu, which, reviewers noted, was written as a satirical piece against the Iron Guard. Zissu also involved himself in the public denunciation of Gingold and other CE men.


Against communism

According to historian Lucian Nastasă, Zissu "hoped for a truly democratic change in Romania, as the one chance for Jews to obtain citizenship rights." Zissu, Benvenisti, Cohen and Marton all approached Maniu and the PNȚ for talks to end racial policies. As Cohen noted, Maniu defended antisemitic measures, since they advanced economic Romanianization, and alleged that too many Jews were Jewish Bolshevism, natural affiliates of communism. From December 1944 to March 1945, Zissu's former co-conspirator, General Rădescu, served as Prime Minister of Romania. Zissu visited him to obtain a dispensation for Jews from conscription into the Romanian Army, until such time as the last antisemitic laws were formally overturned. Alongside Pál Benedek, he issued international appeals to obtain humane treatment and legal protection for Jewish Transylvanians. Adamantly anti-communist while the country experienced gradual communization (after Rădescu's ouster), he mapped out a two-stage plan for his community: obtaining recognition for the Jews as a distinct Minorities of Romania, ethnic minority; in the long run, mass emigration to Palestine. This policy was rejected outright by the governing Communist Party and Gheorghe Vlădescu-Răcoasa, the Minister for Minorities, who refused to award ethnic recognition to the Jews. Although ''Mântuirea'' was being put out from the same offices as the central communist daily ''Scînteia'',Victor Russu, "Amintiri de la ''Scînteia''", in ''Minimum'', Issue 11, February 1988, p. 46 Zissu and Benvenisti spoke out against the communist-controlled
Jewish Democratic Committee The Jewish Democratic Committee or Democratic Jewish Committee (, CDE, also ''Comitetul Democrat Evreesc'', ''Comitetul Democratic Evreiesc''; ; , DZSK) was a left-wing political party which sought to represent History of the Jews in Romania, Jewis ...
(CDE), arguing that it was neither democratic nor Jewish. This episode followed a breakdown of negotiations between Zissu and Iosif Ebercohn, of the PER, and the CDE—represented by Iosif Șraier. While coordinating a CDE meeting in October 1945, the Communist Party's Vasile Luca identified both Zissu and Filderman as "very dangerous" enemies, who "never tire of besmirching Romanian democracy like it's some kind of fascist dictatorship." The clash also brought Zissu into another conflict with Filderman, who supported the CDE as a pragmatic measure, fearing that "otherwise the government will view the [Jewish] community as a reactionary element", resulting in "thousands of Jews [being] Gulag, sent to Siberia". Meanwhile, Zissu's own refusal to cooperate with the Romanian Red Cross in organizing transports to Palestine infuriated the Mossad and the Yishuv, who demanded that he step down from the Zionist Executive. He ultimately did so in autumn 1945, leaving the Executive to be controlled by Bernard Rohrlich. In his clashes with Rohrlich, Zissu noted that the WJC had come to share his and Jabotinsky's assumptions about Palestine. Reviewing this argument, Zionist polemicist Ben Israel compared Zissu to a village idiot always set on arguing for the same solution; he also noted that Zissu "is all too absorbed by his polemics across the globe". Cohen claims that, as early as 1945, the WJC and the Ihud endorsed an forced merger of the UER and the PER under Filderman's chairmanship, with Zissu relegated to honorary president of the consolidated body; at the local chapter of the WJC, Zissu was to share his functions with Tivadar Fischer. The plan only fell apart because Zissu and Cohen were still in a position to veto it. The Ihud interrupted contacts with the Jewish Party, and soon after adhered to the CDE platform. Zissu called this a "grave sin toward the national idea and toward Jewish honor". He then found that his anti-CDE boycott was questioned from within the party by Benvenisti, who also garnered support from Rohrlich and Ebercohn. On July 7, 1946, the PER voted itself a new leadership committee: Ebercohn, Wilhelm Fischer, Doctor Harschfeld, Cornel Iancu, Itzacar, Sami Iakerkaner, Edgar Kanner, M. Rapaport, Rohrlich, Leon Rozenberg, Tully Rosenthal, and Isaia Tumarkin. Disappointed with these setbacks, Zissu renounced all his official functions in mid 1946, stepping down as PER president on July 21. In a 1951 interrogation, he asserted that, ever since the CDE's creation, he was persuaded him that "centrifugal organizations will not be authorized by government." He claimed to have happily resigned, "eluding burdens and worries that I had never sought"; his main activity thereafter was to translate his earlier literary works into Hebrew. He was reportedly asked to appear as a defense witness during Mihai Antonescu's trial by the Romanian People's Tribunal, but failed to show up. At around that time, Zissu publicly expressed the belief that "the antisemitic hobbyhorse will be taken out of the ill-reputed capitalist stable, and led into the brand new one, that of revolution." The communized Siguranța began keeping new taps on him, noting his closeness to Betar, his alleged corruption, and his covert support for
Zionist political violence Zionist political violence refers to acts of political violence or terrorism committed by Zionists in support of establishing and maintaining a Jewish state in Palestine. These actions have been carried out by individuals, paramilitary groups, ...
while under formal British protection. In fact, Zissu resented the policies of Foreign Secretary (United Kingdom), Foreign Secretary Ernest Bevin, and especially his commitment to the White Paper of 1939, which still restricted Jewish settlement in Palestine. He claimed that the British Legation sought to buy him off with a Mandatory Palestine passport, passport to Palestine in 1946, also noting that Filderman, a committed Anglophile, had been tempted to accept that same type of gift. Cohen records that his mentor's "stiff opposition" to the WJC leadership was also in answer to their policy of "placating England". Upon the start of 1947–48 Civil War in Mandatory Palestine, civil war in Palestine, Zissu refused to receive any British awards, and his ''Mântuirea'' articles became so harshly anti-British that they had to be censored. Upon Zissu's advice, Cohen also returned a British certificate attesting his role in wartime resistance. Zissu's departure enshrined a left-wing domination of the Zionist movement, which was now split between the CDE and the Ihud. At the time, Maxy, who had taken over as CDE leader, publicly accused his former friend Zissu of being a reactionary element and a Siguranța informant. In August 1945, the CDE volunteered to the Siguranța a "Table of relevant Jewish organizations on Bucharest's Municipal Territory". It listed Zissu for his activities at the WJC, noting that both he and Benvenisti were "centrist" opponents of the communist line; this contrasted with its assessments of Jewish politicians such as Filderman and Marco Prezente, who were listed as "neutral". Late that year, Zissu was questioning the communist theses on "Wrecking (Soviet Union), wrecking" by industrial saboteurs, noting that such incidents could not account for market shortages. ''Scînteia'' viewed his comments as "characteristically naive". Other communist sources alleged that Zissu had been a Gestapo man, citing as proof his Grunewald villa and his friendship with Babinger, and that he was a sponsor of the "fascist" Betar. In an interview with Agerpres published just before the 1946 Romanian general election, general election of 1946, Zissu "expresses his chagrin that the Jewish party never managed to present its own lists", but "urges all members of this party to vote for the government lists." His polemical essay, titled ''Nu există cult mozaic'' ("No Such Thing as a Mosaic Religion"), came out in March 1947. It was his definitive answer to Vlădescu-Răcoasa, and repeated the beliefs he first stated in the 1920s, that Judaism "may be considered a race, a nation, an idea, a vision of existence, a tragedy, a permanent universal digression, but it is definitely not a religious denomination." He contended that, over the centuries, rabbis had preferred to emulate Christian priesthood, and had done so "for material gain." His
anticlericalism Anti-clericalism is opposition to clergy, religious authority, typically in social or political matters. Historically, anti-clericalism in Christian traditions has been opposed to the influence of Catholicism. Anti-clericalism is related to secul ...
was illustrated by articles in ''Mântuirea'', which specifically targeted Șafran. This stance alienated his friends Cohen and Itzacar, who had formed a General Zionists, Klal-Zionist Party of Romania; also in 1947, Klal took control of the publication and obtained that Zissu lose all his editorial privileges.


Securitate set-up and imprisonment

Filderman offered to take Zissu out of the country with a transport set up by the Joint Distribution Committee. Zissu allegedly rejected that offer because the Joint had "turned Jews into a heap of cadgers". He also recalls shunning a similar offer made by Itzacar: "there's a thousand reasons why I'm not interested". Meanwhile, Filderman's UER had been taken over by the pro-communist Moise Zelțer-Sărățeanu. The latter joined hands with the CDE, and launched an ideological attack against Zissu. The authorities were testing some forms of repression against Zissu and his movement, which centered on confiscating their assets—including Zissu's factories. Unable to support himself, the Zionist leader attempted an escape from the country, but was captured in Timișoara and had to spend three months in Timișoara Prison, the local jail. He returned to civilian life as a tutor of Hebrew, but, as he put in his April 1948 letter to Teohari Georgescu, the communist Ministry of Internal Affairs (Romania), Minister of the Interior, he mainly lived from selling his remaining property. Zissu demanded that Georgescu allow him to leave Romania, since: "I have no income, I'm not in the workforce. ..I'm not equipped to learn a new trade to get by on it. My skills as a former industrial assets manager are presently unusable, and as a writer and journalist I'm no longer in tune with this era, nor in line with its imperatives." Cohen notes that, in late 1947, Zissu had embarked on a collaboration with Rădescu, who had escaped to the United States and was leading the Romanian National Committee (1948), Romanian National Committee (RNC). Preparing for the possibility of an American–Soviet hot war, he considered the RNC a legitimate government, who could extend its protection to the Romanian Jews. In early 1948, Romania was brought under Communist Romania, a fully-fledged communist regime. Shortly after, Zissu resigned from the WJC, though the latter continued to seek his collaboration as an informer. Late that year, on the initiative of Iancu Mendelovici, he and Cohen sketched out a plan to collect funds for victims of the Anti-Jewish violence in Central and Eastern Europe, 1944–1946, postwar pogroms—the project also drew support from two former PNȚ-ists, namely Gheorghe Zane and Emil Hațieganu, prompting the regime to investigate. By 1949, Zissu had entered the clandestine opposition movement against communism, attempting to reestablish the old emigration network. He formed a conspiratorial group called ''Sfatul Sionist'' (the "Zionist Council"), on which he co-opted Cohen, Ebercohn, Mendelovici, Rohrlich, and Schwefelberg. The latter remained an ardent socialist of "very advanced social conceptions"; his daughter, Veronica Porumbacu, was a noted communist poet. Zissu received only minimal support from Israeli officials, who found his project too risky; he also vetoed any collaboration with Filderman and the Joint, though both Schwefelberg and Cohen now supported it. Instead, he and his ''Sfatul'' were closely monitored by the communist secret police, now reorganized as the Securitate. Securitate operatives such as Andrei Niculescu Brentano and the Jewish officer Condrea were initially ordered to approach Zissu and obtain from him a full list of Jews who had signed up for emigration. They presented themselves as envoys of the Politburo, and assured him that his collaboration would ensure safe passage for Romania's Jews. As part of the ruse, Niculescu arranged contacts between Zissu and some lesser officials, including Ministry of Labor and Social Protection (Romania), Minister of Labor Lothar Rădăceanu, who offered to traffic in Jews, but only in exchange for "strategic supplies". Zissu was thus deluded into providing the authorities with the records they needed. Still unaware of the implications, Zissu requested a meeting with the communist General Secretary, Gheorghe Gheorghiu-Dej, asking him to approve of his emigration project. In September 1948, Simion Schwartz, a Jewish worker at Nicolae Cristea Rolling Mills, described Zissu and Filderman as "capitalist Jews who were just as adept as exploiting their workers as the non-Jewish capitalists." Zissu was initially arrested in 1949, with the Securitate invested in obtaining his submission. One report suggests that his captors, unaware that Zissu's son was dead, presented him with a forged letter supposedly sent by Theodore, which described the advantages of collaborating with the authorities. Shortly after this incident, Zissu began corresponding with Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Israel), Israel's Foreign Minister, Moshe Sharett, to inform him that the communists were preparing to clamp down on Romanian Zionism—a tip Zissu had received from Cohen. He proposed that Sharett grant him a diplomatic posting for Israel, which would have forced the Romanian government to strip him of his citizenship. Zissu was still cautiously dissociating himself from Sharett's radical leftist party (the Mapai), and overall from Israel's
Labor Zionism Labor Zionism () or socialist Zionism () is the left-wing, socialist variant of Zionism. For many years, it was the most significant tendency among Zionists and Zionist organizations, and was seen as the Zionist faction of the historic Jewish ...
: "although a socialist, I'm not a Marxism, Marxist, so, though I were to receive a diplomatic commission for Israel from his Marxist hands, I should hope to be serving only the state".Wexler & Popov, p. 128 He dreamed of forming a "Biblical socialist party" upon his resettlement into the Jewish state—he now taught that dialectical materialism was opposed to Jewish ethics, though social ownership was not. Zionist Moți Moscovici recounts that, "at some point in 1947–1948", Zissu had completed a manuscript of the same name (''Socialismul Biblic''), and was reading from it to his friends. In July 1950, the Romanian communist regime openly embarked on Anti-Zionism, anti-Zionist and anti-cosmopolitan campaigns, arresting waves of Jewish nationalists and nonconformists. Zissu joined Zalman Rabinsohn, brother of the Communist Party politico Ana Pauker and a returnee from Israel, trying to find sympathetic ears in the party leadership. They received a blunt reply and a warning from Iosif Chișinevschi, who allegedly told Rabinsohn that antisemitism had been liquidated from the country, and that Romania sided with the Arab League. That year, Iosif Bercu published a brochure which alleged that: "the 'big Zionists' have all worked with the German fascists [...]. A. L. Zissu, for example, who was the president of the Zionist organization for many years, stayed in Berlin during the war and made deals with the Hitlerites." In the meantime, Zissu's old friend
Reuven Rubin Reuven Rubin (, ; November 13, 1893 – October 13, 1974) was a Romanian-born Israeli painter and Israel's first ambassador to Romania. Biography Reuven Zelicovici (later Reuven Rubin) was born in Galaţi to a poor Romanian Jewish Hasidic f ...
, who was serving as Israel's first ambassador in Bucharest, tried to redress Zissu's fortunes. He asked Zissu to write a monograph "on the Jewish tragedy under the Antonescu government", with financial support from the Jewish Agency for Israel. Zissu rejected the sponsorship, but agreed to start writing it for free, "in Israel, and in the Hebrew language." Upon Rubin's intervention, Sharett sent him a gift of 50,000 lei in April 1951. In his reply, Zissu confirmed that what he actually needed was his own Israeli passport. He also asked Sharett to call on Frédéric Joliot-Curie, who, as a friend of the Romanian communists, might have intervened on Zissu' behalf. Zissu was perfecting his own brand of antimalarial medication, intending to share the patents and profits with the Israeli state, Teva Pharmaceuticals, and the Histadrut. At the time, several branches of his family had emigrated—including those formed by his brothers-in-law Aron Rappaport and Isidor Zimmer, and his brother Ehud Achiazar. As reported by Zissu, Sharett sent a reply through Rubin that "he could not and cannot offer me Israeli citizenship". Zissu then followed up with displays of radical defiance: he made a public mockery of the Stockholm Appeal, Stockholm Peace Appeal, which was being circulated in the Romanian intellectual community, refusing to sign it because he "wanted war". Writer Nicolae Steinhardt, who recounts the incident, admired Zissu as an "insane man breaking his own windows". On May 3Trașcă & Obiziuc, p. 657 or May 10, 1951, the Securitate arrested Zissu and some 200 of his fellow activists. On May 16, ''România Liberă'' informed the public that "the former great industrialist A. L. Zissu of Aurel Vlaicu Street 34" had refused to sign the Peace Appeal. The newspaper claimed that, as one of the "former collaborators with the fascist regime in our country", Zissu was hoping for a return to the "halcyon days when our people was being bled out to enrich a handful of exploiters."


Trial, reprieve, and death

Held at Jilava Prison until September 27, 1954, Zissu was initially charged with having provided information on the "political and administrative life" of Communist Romania to the Israeli government. Interrogated throughout his time in Jilava, he was regularly tortured at the hands of Securitate Lieutenant-Major Teodor Micle. As noted by researcher Teodor Wexler, the regime's only solid charge against Zissu was that, along with Ambassador Rubin and Cohen, he had provided material assistance to people already in Securitate custody. Adolf Bleicher, a communist-turned-Zionist, said in 1979 that Zissu had caved in and "[fallen] into the trap they had set for him." For long, Zissu had refused to acknowledge any preordained confession, and made sure to write down and sign all his statements. He also engaged Micle in ideological debates, describing his "Biblical socialism" as rooted in Jewishness and inherently superior to Soviet-type economic planning.Wexler & Popov, p. 96 His stance antagonized another Zionist prisoner, Menahem Fermo, who later wrote about Zissu being "the most conceited man I ever chanced upon". On March 12, 1952, possibly after Micle had been allowed to use his most brutal methods on him (and months ahead of Gheorghiu-Dej's clarification that he viewed all Zionists as "agents of Israel"), Zissu confessed that he had been an "inveterate spy"; he also declared that all his previous confessions were therefore incomplete. According to Wexler and Mihaela Popov, nothing corroborates Zissu's spying throughout the 5,000 pages of interrogations. Some three days after this unique confession, Zissu had returned to a more defiant stance, noting that Jewish organizations had no business adhering to the CDE in the absence of any guarantees of Jewish cultural survival. By February 1953, the inquiry came to implicate Rabinsohn, arrested for his contacts with Zissu, and then Pauker herself, who was deposed by Gheorghiu-Dej and other rivals. Zissu made a point of not implicating people that were still at large; when pressed by Micle to name his accomplices, he mentioned Kiva Orenștein, who had been in prison since 1949. In April 1953, ''România Liberă'' published an exposé by Iosif Bercu, which referred to the Zionists as "agents of imperialism". Bercu reminded his readers that: "One of the most rabid Zionist propagandists was the industrialist A. L. Zissu, owner of a sugar factory, who, in 1933–1934, for all the Hitlerist takeover in Germany, casually lived in Berlin, where he ran some very lucrative deals." Zissu was eventually found guilty of high treason ("conspiracy against the social order") and sentenced to life imprisonment on March 31, 1954. This was a group trial of "thirteen leaders of the Romanian Zionist movement"; life sentences were also handed to Benvenisti and Cohen. The thirteenth defendant was a Swiss Gentile and former Gestapo spy, Charles Philippe Gyr, whom the Securitate had infiltrated into the group "for diversionary purposes." During the proceedings, Zissu lashed out at his co-defendant Benvenisti, whose own interrogation had produced a full confession to all crimes attributed by his captors. As reported by Steinhardt, Zissu told Benvenisti: "This court I shall not recognize, it has no authority over us. But when we'll be together in our own land, there I shall call you out and make sure you get the punishment worthy of such cowardice."Steinhardt, "1956", "Note. Fragmente inedite în varianta de față: 1956", [n. p.] Zissu's wife was not imprisoned, but she was forced out of their apartment, and lived in the hallway. In late September 1954, Zissu was transported by rail to
Pitești Pitești () is a city in Romania, located on the river Argeș (river), Argeș. The capital and largest city of Argeș County, it is an important commercial and industrial center, as well as the home of two universities. Pitești is situated in th ...
, alongside his political adversary Rudich. Both were then dispatched to the infamous Pitești Prison, and were reportedly psychologically abused by their guards on arrival. Zissu's case was presented for review in October, but reprieve was ruled out; his regimen in the Pitești facility was by then proving to be exceptionally harsh. Wexler notes that Zissu was one of the test subjects for Re-education in Communist Romania, an experiment in reeducation inaugurated by Eugen Țurcanu and Petrică Fux, namely: "a regimen of political indoctrination under the threat of beatings. A regimen that defies logical reason." That same year, Zissu's colleague Orenștein died as a result of being tortured by Țurcanu, who was acting on orders received from Securitate officer Tudor Sepeanu. Zissu himself was granted an amnesty upon interventions made by Israeli diplomats, being moved to Văcărești Prison in June 1955, and ultimately reprieved on April 14, 1956. He then moved into his old Bucharest home, and was allowed to resume work as manager of his former sugar factory. His health compromised by mistreatment in prison, he became the focus of another campaign, which was meant to ensure his right to emigrate.
Chief Rabbi Chief Rabbi () is a title given in several countries to the recognized religious leader of that country's Jewish community, or to a rabbinic leader appointed by the local secular authorities. Since 1911, through a capitulation by Ben-Zion Meir ...
Moses Rosen was among those involved in negotiating the issue with Gheorghiu-Dej's government. He obtained an audience with Deputy Prime Minister of Romania, Deputy Premier Emil Bodnăraș, who was cheerful about granting Zissu and Benvenisti their Romanian passports: "They wish to leave, so ''Mazel tov, Mazal tov''!" Avram and Rachel Zissu finally emigrated on July 17, 1956, reaching Vienna first, and then taking an El Al flight to
Tel Aviv Tel Aviv-Yafo ( or , ; ), sometimes rendered as Tel Aviv-Jaffa, and usually referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the Gush Dan metropolitan area of Israel. Located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline and with a popula ...
; they arrived there, alongside Jean Cohen and Moscovici with their families, on the night of July 18."Zissu: 'Vannak még csodák'. A román cionista vezérek megható fogadtatása", in ''Új Kelet'', Vol. 37, Issue 2423, July 1956, p. 4 Addressing the small crowd gathered for an impromptu welcome ceremony, Zissu noted that his time in prison, as well as his ultimate arrival in Israel, had solidified his belief in miracles. He was rushed into a hospital, but died of a heart attack in Tel Aviv less than two months after his arrival. Journalist Henry Marcus delivered his obituary, which he had initially prepared as a biographical notice to celebrate Zissu's arrival, over Kol Yisrael, Israel Radio. His funeral was attended by some of Israel's leading figures, among them Golda Meir, Yosef Sprinzak, and the WJC's Nahum Goldmann. Goldmann personally delivered the funeral oration.


Legacy

The writer and activist was further honored by having a Haifa street and an Acre, Israel, Acre school named after him later in the 1950s; Mella Revici-Iancu also founded a Zissu Library, inaugurated in September 1960 as part of the Israeli Romanian Association (''Hitachdut Olei Romania''). In December 1963, ''Libertatea'' journal, published in Israel by the Romanian Betar, put out a special issue on Zissu, featuring an homage by Theodor Loewenstein-Lavi. Two other Zissu streets exist, one in Tel Aviv and the other in Beersheba. He was also honored in the anti-communist Romanian diaspora, including by those he secretly despised: in 1957,
Pamfil Șeicaru Pamfil is a Romanian given name and surname. Notable people with the name include: * Pamfil Polonic (1858–1943), Romanian archaeologist and topographer * Pamfil Yurkevich Pamfil Danilovich Yurkevich (; 28 February 1826 – 16 October 1874) w ...
published an overview of Zissu's work, referring in particular to his role in rescuing Bukovina's Jews from extermination. In 1989, Alexandru Șafran, the "last survivor among the leaders of Romania's Jewish Community", referred to Zissu, Filderman and Benvenisti as having acted "with belief in the God of Israel and the eternity of the people of Israel as their only comfort." Romanian reviewers continued to regard Zissu as a minor figure: in 1974 critic Ioan Adam reiterated that ''Spovedania unui candelabru'' was undeserving of Arghezi's praise (which had been reprinted as part of Arghezi's collected works). Until the Romanian Revolution of 1989, fall of communism in December 1989, extant copies of ''Nu există cult mozaic'' and other Zionist books were withdrawn from private use in Romania, and placed alongside fascist works in the most inaccessible fund of public libraries. Zissu's manuscripts, which he wrote down in pencil and sent to be preserved by his friend Joseph Klarman "for editing", were still unpublished at the time of his death. They include essays about Romanian Jews, a novel on the same topic, as well as a number of Yiddish translations of his own work. His memoirs and diaries were collected and revised by
Jean Ancel Jean Ancel (; 1940 – 30 April 2008) was a Romanian-born Israeli author and historian; with specialty in the history of the Jews in Romania between the two World wars, and the Holocaust of the Jews of Romania. Biography Jean Ancel was born to ...
, and published in 2004 by Yad Vashem and Tel Aviv University.Crăciun, pp. 80, 105 According to author Teșu Solomovici, the 125th anniversary of Zissu's birth, nine years later, "went by unnoticed". Upon the 2019 reissue of ''Manuel sin Marcu'' (curated by Emil Nicolae), Voncu observed that: "[Zissu's] close rapport with men on the right, including some who were outspoken antisemites, from Nae Ionescu to Mihai Antonescu, has established his rather poor reputation in democratic circles, hence his merits in rescuing thousands of Jews during the Holocaust, as well as in organizing emigration to what would then become the State of Israel, are still not afforded the recognition they deserve."


Notes


References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Zissu, A. L. 1888 births 1956 deaths 20th-century Romanian male writers 20th-century Romanian poets 20th-century Romanian essayists 20th-century Romanian memoirists 20th-century Romanian novelists 20th-century Romanian dramatists and playwrights 20th-century Romanian short story writers 20th-century Romanian translators Romanian male short story writers 20th-century Romanian diarists Romanian male poets Jewish Romanian writers Jewish dramatists and playwrights Romanian avant-garde Futurist writers Writers of Gothic fiction Romanian magazine editors Romanian magazine founders Romanian newspaper editors Romanian newspaper founders Romanian book publishers (people) Modern Hebrew writers Translators to Hebrew Translators to Yiddish People from Piatra Neamț 20th-century Romanian Jews Jews from Western Moldavia Romanian Zionists Religious Zionists Revisionist Zionists Hasidic Judaism in Romania Critics of Christianity Anti-Christian sentiment in Romania Romanian propagandists Romanian activist journalists Yiddish-language journalists Leaders of political parties in Romania Romanian politicians of ethnic minority parties Jewish Romanian politicians Romanian trade unionists Romanian civil servants 20th-century Romanian businesspeople Romanian industrialists Romanian restaurateurs 20th-century Romanian philanthropists 20th-century Romanian inventors Romanian people of the Second Balkan War Romanian people of World War I Red Cross personnel Romanian anti-communists Romanian socialists Jewish socialists Anti-Stalinist left Romanian dissidents Jewish Romanian writers banned by the Antonescu regime The Holocaust in Romania The Holocaust in Hungary Jewish resistance members during the Holocaust People who rescued Jews during the Holocaust Aliyah Bet activists Inmates of Târgu Jiu camp Romanian people taken hostage People detained by the Securitate Inmates of Jilava Prison Inmates of Pitești prison Inmates of Văcărești Prison Prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment by Romania Romanian prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment People convicted of treason against Romania Romanian torture victims Romanian expatriates in Germany Romanian expatriates in Switzerland Romanian emigrants to Israel Romanian Jews in Israel Censorship in Romania Recipients of Romanian pardons