Arthur Menachem Hantke (March 5, 1874 – October 9, 1955) was a jurist, lawyer and economist, one of the leaders of

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 ...

in Germany and one of the leaders of the Zionist fundraising organization Keren Hayesod.

Biography

Arthur Hantke was born in Berlin into a Jewish religious family from Posen, and received a traditional Jewish education. He studied at the

Humboldt University of Berlin The Humboldt University of Berlin (, abbreviated HU Berlin) is a public research university in the central borough of Mitte in Berlin, Germany. The university was established by Frederick William III on the initiative of Wilhelm von Humbol ...

and the

University of Freiburg The University of Freiburg (colloquially ), officially the Albert Ludwig University of Freiburg (), is a public university, public research university located in Freiburg im Breisgau, Baden-Württemberg, Germany. The university was founded in 1 ...

, and graduated as a doctor of law. He opened his own law firm in 1900. From 1909 he was married to Edith née Heiman (died in Jerusalem in 1949) and was the father of Yonatan (Theodore) Hantke.

Zionist activism

As a student he was influenced by Russian Jews and approached the Zionist idea, in 1893 he was among the founders of the Jewish Humanities Society (Jüdische Humanitätsgesellschaft), a national Jewish organization in Berlin. He later joined the Zionist Organization and from 1901 was a delegate to all Zionist congresses. In 1903, he was elected to the board of directors of the Jewish National Fund, where he held until 1928. In 1910 he was appointed chairman of the Zionist Organization in Germany, a position he held until 1920. In 1911 he was elected to the Zionist Executive in Berlin. With the outbreak of the First World War, he transferred with Otto Warburg the Zionist Executive to Copenhagen, which was neutral, and at the same time worked with the aid of the Jews of Eastern Europe who were under German occupation and with the Germans trying to influence the Turks not to destroy the Jewish community in Eretz Israel. He opposed the establishment of the

Jewish Legion The Jewish Legion was a series of battalions of Jewish soldiers who served in the British Army during the First World War. Some participated in the British conquest of Palestine from the Ottomans. The formation of the battalions had several ...

because he wanted the Zionists to remain neutral. He gladly accepted the

Balfour Declaration The Balfour Declaration was a public statement issued by the British Government in 1917 during the First World War announcing its support for the establishment of a "national home for the Jewish people" in Palestine, then an Ottoman regio ...

and worked to receive parallel statements from the Central Powers. Following the deportation of the Jewish population of Tel-Aviv and Jaffa during World War I by the Ottoman commander

Djemal Pasha Ahmed Djemal (; ; 6 May 1872 – 21 July 1922), also known as Djemal Pasha or Cemâl Pasha, was an Ottoman military leader and one of the Three Pashas that ruled the Ottoman Empire during World War I. As an officer of the II Corps, he was ...

, Zionist support for the Entente grew. In an attempt to undermine the Entente's war effort, the German government attempted to elicit Zionist support. Hantke met with Ottokar Czernin, the foreign minister of

Austria-Hungary Austria-Hungary, also referred to as the Austro-Hungarian Empire, the Dual Monarchy or the Habsburg Monarchy, was a multi-national constitutional monarchy in Central Europe#Before World War I, Central Europe between 1867 and 1918. A military ...

, and received the following statement:Reshaping Palestine: From Muhammad Ali to the British Mandate, 1831–1922
Praeger, 1999, Martin Sicker, pp. 134–135 In 1919, he initiated the establishment of the

Central Zionist Archives Central Zionist Archives (CZA; ) is the official archive of the institutions of the Zionist Movement: the World Zionist Organization, the Jewish Agency, the Jewish National Fund, and Keren Hayesod/the United Israel Appeal as well as the archive ...

. With the establishment of Keren Hayesod, he was appointed head of the Fund's Central European Department. In 1926 he was appointed as a director of the Keren Hayesod and immigrated to Israel, where the Central Bureau of the Fund was located. In 1933 he was appointed to head Keren Hayesod. As part of his job, he was required to deal with the issue of the immigration of German Jews after the Nazis came to power.

Death and legacy

Hantke died in 1955 in Jerusalem.

Even Menachem Even Menachem () is a moshav in northern Israel. Located in the Western Galilee, about six kilometers northwest of Ma'alot-Tarshiha, it falls under the jurisdiction of Ma'ale Yosef Regional Council. In it had a population of . History The mosha ...

, a

moshav A moshav (, plural ', "settlement, village") is a type of Israeli village or town or Jewish settlement, in particular a type of cooperative agricultural community of individual farms pioneered by the Labour Zionists between 1904 and 1 ...

in Northern Israel, is named for him, as are streets in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, Haifa, Kiryat Motzkin, and Kiryat Bialik.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hantke, Arthur Menachem 1874 births 1955 deaths German emigrants to Mandatory Palestine German Zionists Jurists from Berlin University of Freiburg alumni Humboldt University of Berlin alumni