Bernard Hausner (March 11, 1874 – August 8, 1938) was a Polish rabbi, politician, and diplomat.

Life

Hausner was born on March 11, 1874, in

Chortkiv Chortkiv (, ; ; ) is a List of cities in Ukraine, city in Chortkiv Raion, Ternopil Oblast, western Ukraine. It is the administrative center of Chortkiv Raion, housing the district's local administration buildings. Chortkiv hosts the administratio ...

, Galicia,

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 ...

, the son of Shlomo and Tsherna Hausner. Hausner became an active

Zionist Zionism is an Ethnic nationalism, ethnocultural nationalist movement that emerged in History of Europe#From revolution to imperialism (1789–1914), Europe in the late 19th century that aimed to establish and maintain a national home for the ...

while in high school. He was ordained a rabbi at the rabbinical seminary in

Vienna Vienna ( ; ; ) is the capital city, capital, List of largest cities in Austria, most populous city, and one of Federal states of Austria, nine federal states of Austria. It is Austria's primate city, with just over two million inhabitants. ...

and received a doctorate in philosophy from the

German University in Prague Charles University (CUNI; , UK; ; ), or historically as the University of Prague (), is the largest university in the Czech Republic. It is one of the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, oldest universities in the world in conti ...

. He returned to Galicia in 1903 and taught Jewish studies at the government high school in

Lviv Lviv ( or ; ; ; see #Names and symbols, below for other names) is the largest city in western Ukraine, as well as the List of cities in Ukraine, fifth-largest city in Ukraine, with a population of It serves as the administrative centre of ...

. As an administrator, he granted financial aid to poor students and started programs to encourage Galician Jews to work in crafts, industry, and agriculture. He also participated in Zionist activities there. When the Russians occupied Lviv from 1914 to 1916 during

World War I World War I or the First World War (28 July 1914 – 11 November 1918), also known as the Great War, was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War I, Allies (or Entente) and the Central Powers. Fighting to ...

, he became the rabbi of the city's Progressive community and acted as the representative of the city's Jews before the occupation authorities. During that time, he was also the main secretary of the Va‘adat ha-‘Ezrah, which helped the city's Jews and refugees. After the Austrians regained control of the city, he volunteered for the

Austro-Hungarian Army The Austro-Hungarian Army, also known as the Imperial and Royal Army,; was the principal ground force of Austria-Hungary from 1867 to 1918. It consisted of three organisations: the Common Army (, recruited from all parts of Austria-Hungary), ...

and served as a chaplain in the Italian front. After the war, Hausner reorganized Mizrachi and helped establish school under its sponsorship. In 1921, he was elected first president of the movement in eastern Galicia, serving in that office until 1925. He was also chairman of the

Jewish National Fund The Jewish National Fund (JNF; , ''Keren Kayemet LeYisrael''; previously , ''Ha Fund HaLeumi'') is a non-profit organizationProfessor Alon Tal, The Mitrani Department of Desert Ecology, The Blaustein Institutes for Desert Research, Ben Gurion ...

in Galicia from 1921 to 1924. He resigned from all his Mizrachi positions in 1927, declaring the movement needed to become a nonpolitical ideological organization within the larger Zionist movement in order to reduce polarizations between secular and Orthodox Zionists. He was elected to the

Sejm The Sejm (), officially known as the Sejm of the Republic of Poland (), is the lower house of the bicameralism, bicameral parliament of Poland. The Sejm has been the highest governing body of the Third Polish Republic since the Polish People' ...

1922 Events January * January 7 – Dáil Éireann (Irish Republic), Dáil Éireann, the parliament of the Irish Republic, ratifies the Anglo-Irish Treaty by 64–57 votes. * January 10 – Arthur Griffith is elected President of Dáil Éirean ...

, serving as a deputy there until 1927. An executive committee member of the Jewish parliamentary faction Koło, he tried to bridge the gaps between

Congress Poland Congress Poland or Congress Kingdom of Poland, formally known as the Kingdom of Poland, was a polity created in 1815 by the Congress of Vienna as a semi-autonomous Polish state, a successor to Napoleon's Duchy of Warsaw. It was established w ...

Zionists (who were radically opposed to the authorities) and the more compromising Galician Zionists. In the Sejm, he dealt with both Jewish and general economic issues. In 1927, Hausner was appointed Polish Commercial Representative for

Palestine Palestine, officially the State of Palestine, is a country in West Asia. Recognized by International recognition of Palestine, 147 of the UN's 193 member states, it encompasses the Israeli-occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and th ...

and

Syria Syria, officially the Syrian Arab Republic, is a country in West Asia located in the Eastern Mediterranean and the Levant. It borders the Mediterranean Sea to the west, Turkey to Syria–Turkey border, the north, Iraq to Iraq–Syria border, t ...

. He was initially stationed in

Haifa Haifa ( ; , ; ) is the List of cities in Israel, third-largest city in Israel—after Jerusalem and Tel Aviv—with a population of in . The city of Haifa forms part of the Haifa metropolitan area, the third-most populous metropolitan area i ...

, although in 1928 he was transferred 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 ...

. In 1932, he became the Polish

Consul-General A consul is an official representative of a government who resides in a foreign country to assist and protect citizens of the consul's country, and to promote and facilitate commercial and diplomatic relations between the two countries. A consu ...

at Tel Aviv, with jurisdiction at

Jaffa Jaffa (, ; , ), also called Japho, Joppa or Joppe in English, is an ancient Levantine Sea, Levantine port city which is part of Tel Aviv, Tel Aviv-Yafo, Israel, located in its southern part. The city sits atop a naturally elevated outcrop on ...

and authorization from Alexander K. Sloan to act as U.S. Consul at Jerusalem for Palestine and

Transjordan Transjordan may refer to: * Transjordan (region), an area to the east of the Jordan River * Oultrejordain, a Crusader lordship (1118–1187), also called Transjordan * Emirate of Transjordan, British protectorate (1921–1946) * Hashemite Kingdom o ...

. While in Tel Aviv, he was a sponsor and president of Palestine Polish Chamber of Commerce. In 1933, he returned to Poland to work as a councillor for the

Ministry of Foreign Affairs In many countries, the ministry of foreign affairs (abbreviated as MFA or MOFA) is the highest government department exclusively or primarily responsible for the state's foreign policy and relations, diplomacy, bilateral, and multilateral r ...

. In 1934, he was sent to the United States as part of a mission to improve trade relations between Poland and the United States. He resigned from all his positions in the Polish government in 1935 and spent the rest of his life in

. Hausner was active in public affairs in both Poland and Palestine. He published essays on Jewish subjects in Polish, Including Hebrew grammar, the Polish poet Juliusz Slowacki's use of scripture, and parallels between the

Book of Job The Book of Job (), or simply Job, is a book found in the Ketuvim ("Writings") section of the Hebrew Bible and the first of the Poetic Books in the Old Testament of the Christian Bible. The language of the Book of Job, combining post-Babylonia ...

and Greek tragedy. In 1912, he wrote a translation of the ''

machzor The ''machzor'' (, plural ''machzorim'', and , respectively) is the prayer book which is used by Jews on the High Holy Days of Rosh Hashanah and Yom Kippur. Many Jews also make use of specialized ''machzorim'' on the three pilgrimage festiva ...

'' called ''Modlitwy Na Dni Swiateczne''. In 1926, he published a booklet called ''Sanacja Polskiego Pieniadza'' (Rehabilitation of Polish Currency). In 1929, he was made an officer of the Polish

Order of Polonia Restituta The Order of Polonia Restituta (, ) is a Polish state decoration, state Order (decoration), order established 4 February 1921. It is conferred on both military and civilians as well as on alien (law), foreigners for outstanding achievements in ...

. Hausner had a wife and three children. One of his children was

Gideon Hausner Gideon Max Hausner (; 26 September 1915 – 15 November 1990) was an Israeli jurist and politician. Between 1960 and 1963, he served as Attorney General and was later elected to the Knesset and served in the cabinet. Hausner is most widely known ...

, the chief prosecutor of the

Eichmann trial The Eichmann trial was the 1961 trial of major Holocaust perpetrator Adolf Eichmann who was Operation Eichmann, captured in Argentina by Israeli agents and brought to Israel to stand trial. Eichmann was a senior Nazi party member and served at t ...

. Another was Meriam, whose husband Joseph Fisch was the Commercial Attaché of the Polish Consul in New York. Hausner died from a brief illness in Assutah Hospital in Tel Aviv on August 8, 1938. The funeral procession stopped outside the Great Synagogue, where Chief Rabbi

Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel Ben-Zion Meir Hai Uziel (; born 23 May 1880, died 4 September 1953), sometimes rendered as Ouziel, was the Sephardi chief rabbi of Mandatory Palestine from 1939 to 1948, and of Israel from 1948 until his death in 1953. Biography Ben-Zion Meir Ha ...

spoke. He was buried in the Old Cemetery, where D. Smilansky, Zvi Karl, Dr. R. Rosenbaum, S. Margalit, and J. Straus delivered eulogies and his son Gideon recited the doxology.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hausner, Bernard 1874 births 1938 deaths People from Chortkiv Rabbis from Lviv Politicians from Lviv Orthodox rabbis from Galicia (Eastern Europe) Charles University alumni 19th-century Polish Jews 20th-century Polish rabbis 20th-century Ukrainian Jews Members of the Sejm of the Second Polish Republic (1922–1927) Consuls-general for Poland Diplomats of the Second Polish Republic Officers of the Order of Polonia Restituta Burials at Trumpeldor Cemetery