Central Zionist Archives (CZA; ) is the official archive of the institutions of the

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 ...

Movement: the

World Zionist Organization The World Zionist Organization (; ''HaHistadrut HaTzionit Ha'Olamit''), or WZO, is a non-governmental organization that promotes Zionism. It was founded as the Zionist Organization (ZO; 1897–1960) at the initiative of Theodor Herzl at the F ...

, the

Jewish Agency The Jewish Agency for Israel (), formerly known as the Jewish Agency for Palestine, is the largest Jewish non-profit organization in the world. It was established in 1929 as the operative branch of the World Zionist Organization (WZO). As an ...

, the Jewish National Fund, and Keren Hayesod/the United Israel Appeal as well as the archives of the World Jewish Congress. The archive is located in

West Jerusalem West Jerusalem or Western Jerusalem (, ; , ) refers to the section of Jerusalem that was controlled by Israel at the end of the 1948 Arab–Israeli War. As the city was divided by the Green Line (Israel's erstwhile border, established by ...

adjacent to Binyanei HaUma.

Overview

The CZA preserves the files created in the course of the activities of these bodies and the secondary bodies created by them. In addition, the Central Zionist Archives holds the files of the institutions of the Jewish population in Palestine before the establishment of the State of Israel. Similarly, the Central Zionist Archives preserves more than 1,500 personal papers of the leaders and activists of the Zionist Movement and the Jewish population in Palestine before the establishment of the State. The list of personal papers includes well-known figures in modern Zionist history, such as

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 ...

, Nahum Sokolow, David Wolffsohn, Max Bodenheimer, Henrietta Szold, Eliezer Ben Yehuda, Haim Arlosoroff and other functionaries and professionals. The CZA collections include: files and printed material, a Maps and Plans Collection, a Photograph Collection, a Posters and Handbills Collection, a Newspaper and Periodicals Collection, a library, a Microfilm Collection, an Audio Collection and an Artifacts Collection.

History

The Central Zionist Archives was founded in 1919 in

Berlin Berlin ( ; ) is the Capital of Germany, capital and largest city of Germany, by both area and List of cities in Germany by population, population. With 3.7 million inhabitants, it has the List of cities in the European Union by population withi ...

by the historian George Herlitz who was nominated to the position of the archivist of the Zionist Executive, by the member of the Executive, Arthur Hantke. At the start, files of the Central Zionist Offices in Vienna and Cologne were transferred to the new institution, and thereafter the files of the Jewish National Fund and the Central Zionist Office in London. Concurrently the Archives began to collect books, periodicals and photographs that documented the history of the Zionist Movement and Palestine in the modern era. With the rise to power of the Nazis in 1933, Dr. Herlitz asked for permission from the German authorities to remove the Archives from Germany. When permission was received, the material was packed in boxes and transferred to Jerusalem. The Archives was housed in the basement of the National Institutions building in Jerusalem. It was opened to the public in the autumn of 1934. With the Archives' transfer to Jerusalem, its collections expanded considerably; in addition to holding the material of the various Zionist bodies, it also undertook to be the historical archives for the institutions of the

new Yishuv The Yishuv (), HaYishuv Ha'ivri (), or HaYishuv HaYehudi Be'Eretz Yisra'el () was the community of Jews residing in Palestine (region), Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The term came into use in the 1880s, whe ...

. Concurrently, the systematic collection of the private papers of the leaders of the Zionist Movement and the Yishuv was begun. After the

Second World War 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 ...

, an increased effort was made to bring to Palestine/Israel the scarce archival material that had survived the War. The 24th

Zionist Congress The Zionist Congress was established in 1897 by Theodor Herzl as the supreme organ of the Zionist Organization (ZO) and its legislative authority. In 1960 the names were changed to World Zionist Congress ( ''HaKongres HaTsioni HaOlami'') and Wor ...

convened in Jerusalem in 1956, and defined the status and the functions of the Central Zionist Archives as the "historic archives of the Zionist Movement and Organization and the Jewish Agency". The Congress passed a resolution that all the offices and institutions of the Executive of the Zionist Organization and the

are obliged to make all the files accessible to the Archives that are no longer necessary for their ongoing work. The construction of the new building began in 1985 in proximity to the International Convention Center in Jerusalem. The architect Moshe Zarhi designed the new building. The building has six floors: two upper floors where there are the reading hall, a lecture room, a lobby for exhibitions and the offices of the Archives, and four underground floors where the various collections are stored. The new building was inaugurated in 1987. In the 2000s, the CZA embarked on a project to computerize and digitize its materials. The computer system contains about 2,876,000 records, and about 12,518, 000 scanned documents, photographs, maps, posters and graphic material.

Notable collections

Central Zionist Archives Building in Jerusalem

*The personal papers of

were transferred from Vienna to Palestine in 1937.Central Zionist Archives in Jerusalem
/ref> *With the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948, many files of the General Council (the Va'ad Leumi) and of various departments of the

were transferred to the Archives, including the files of the Political Department of the Jewish Agency. Alex Bein was appointed Director of the Central Zionist Archives in 1955. Among the objectives that he set for himself were the locating of archives of Zionist personalities and associations that survived 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 ...

, including the archives of

Max Nordau Max Simon Nordau (born Simon Maximilian Südfeld; 29 July 1849 – 23 January 1923) was a Hungarian Zionism, Zionist leader, physician, author, and Social criticism, social critic. He was a co-founder of the Zionist Organization together with Theo ...

and Nahum Sokolow, and their transfer to Israel.

References

External links

The Central Zionist Archives websiteGuide to the record groups and collections of the Central Zionist ArchivesThe World Zionist OrganizationThe Jewish AgencyThe Jewish National FundThe United Israel AppealWorld Jewish Congress
{{authority control Buildings and structures in Jerusalem Jews and Judaism in Jerusalem Zionism in Israel Archives in Israel World Zionist Organization