Hashomer Hatzair (, , 'The Young Guard') is a
Labor Zionist
Labor Zionism () or socialist Zionism () is the Left-wing politics, left-wing, socialism, socialist variant of Zionism. For many years, it was the most significant tendency among Zionists and Zionist organizations, and was seen as the Zionist ...
, secular Jewish
youth movement founded in 1913 in the
Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria
The Kingdom of Galicia and Lodomeria, also known as Austrian Galicia or colloquially Austrian Poland, was a constituent possession of the Habsburg monarchy in the historical region of Galicia (Eastern Europe), Galicia in Eastern Europe. The Cr ...
,
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 ...
. It was also the name of the
Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party, the group's political party in the
Yishuv
The Yishuv (), HaYishuv Ha'ivri (), or HaYishuv HaYehudi Be'Eretz Yisra'el () was the community of Jews residing in Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The term came into use in the 1880s, when there were about 2 ...
in
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 ...
.
Hashomer Hatzair, along with
HaNoar HaOved VeHaLomed of
Israel
Israel, officially the State of Israel, is a country in West Asia. It Borders of Israel, shares borders with Lebanon to the north, Syria to the north-east, Jordan to the east, Egypt to the south-west, and the Mediterranean Sea to the west. Isr ...
, is a member of the
.
Early formation
Hashomer Hatzair came into being as a result of the merger of two groups, ''Hashomer'' ('The Guard'), a
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 ...
scouting
Scouting or the Scout Movement is a youth social movement, movement which became popularly established in the first decade of the twentieth century. It follows the Scout method of informal education with an emphasis on practical outdoor activi ...
group, and ''
Ze'irei Zion'' ('The Youth of Zion'), which was an ideological circle that studied Zionism,
socialism
Socialism is an economic ideology, economic and political philosophy encompassing diverse Economic system, economic and social systems characterised by social ownership of the means of production, as opposed to private ownership. It describes ...
and
Jewish history
Jewish history is the history of the Jews, their Jewish peoplehood, nation, Judaism, religion, and Jewish culture, culture, as it developed and interacted with other peoples, religions and cultures.
Jews originated from the Israelites and H ...
. Hashomer Hatzair is the oldest Zionist youth movement still in existence. Initially
Marxist
Marxism is a political philosophy and method of socioeconomic analysis. It uses a dialectical and materialist interpretation of historical development, better known as historical materialism, to analyse class relations, social conflic ...
-Zionist, the movement was influenced by the ideas of
Ber Borochov and
Gustav Wyneken as well as
Baden-Powell and the German
Wandervogel
''Wandervogel'' (plural: ''Wandervögel''; English: "Wandering Bird") is the name adopted by a popular movement of German youth groups from 1896 to 1933, who protested against industrialization by going to hike in the country and commune with na ...
movement. Hashomer Hatzair believed that the liberation of
Jew
Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, religion, and community are highly inte ...
ish youth could be accomplished by
aliyah
''Aliyah'' (, ; ''ʿălīyyā'', ) is the immigration of Jews from Jewish diaspora, the diaspora to, historically, the geographical Land of Israel or the Palestine (region), Palestine region, which is today chiefly represented by the Israel ...
(immigration; literally "ascent") to
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 living in
kibbutz
A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
im. After the
First World War
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 ...
the movement spread to Jewish communities throughout the world as a scouting movement.
Psychoanalysis
PsychoanalysisFrom Greek language, Greek: and is a set of theories and techniques of research to discover unconscious mind, unconscious processes and their influence on conscious mind, conscious thought, emotion and behaviour. Based on The Inte ...
was also an influence, partly through
Siegfried Bernfeld; so was the philosopher
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� ...
.
Otto Fenichel
Otto Fenichel (; 2 December 1897, Vienna – 22 January 1946, Los Angeles) was an Austrian psychoanalyst of the so-called "second generation". He was born into a prominent family of Jewish lawyers.
Education and psychoanalytic affiliations
Otto ...
also supported Hashomer Hatzair's efforts to integrate Marxism with psychoanalysis. Hashomer Hatzair's educators sought to shape the image of the child from birth to maturity; some were aware of the work of the Soviet educator
Anton Makarenko, who also propounded collectivist education.
Members of the movement settled in
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 early as 1919. In 1927, the four kibbutzim founded by Hashomer Hatzair banded together to form the
Kibbutz Artzi
The Kibbutz Movement (, ''HaTnu'a HaKibbutzit'') is the largest settlement movement for kibbutzim in Israel. It was formed in 1999 by a partial merger of the United Kibbutz Movement and Kibbutz Artzi and is made up of approximately 230 kibbutzim. I ...
federation. The movement also formed a political party that shared the name Hashomer Hatzair, advocating a
binational solution
The one-state solution is a proposed approach to the Israeli–Palestinian peace process. It stipulates the establishment of a single state within the boundaries of what was Mandatory Palestine between 1920 and 1948, today consisting of the co ...
in mandatory Palestine with equality between
Arabs
Arabs (, , ; , , ) are an ethnic group mainly inhabiting the Arab world in West Asia and North Africa. A significant Arab diaspora is present in various parts of the world.
Arabs have been in the Fertile Crescent for thousands of yea ...
and Jews. That is why, when a small group of Zionist leaders met in New York in May 1942 in the
Biltmore Hotel, Hashomer Hatzair representatives voted against the so-called
Biltmore Program.
In 1936, the kibbutz-based Hashomer Hatzair party launched an urban political party, the
Socialist League of Palestine, which would represent non-kibbutzniks who shared the political approach of the members of Hashomer Hatzair kibbutzim and the youth movement in the political organizations of the ''
Yishuv
The Yishuv (), HaYishuv Ha'ivri (), or HaYishuv HaYehudi Be'Eretz Yisra'el () was the community of Jews residing in Palestine prior to the establishment of the State of Israel in 1948. The term came into use in the 1880s, when there were about 2 ...
'' (as the Jewish community in
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 ...
was known). The Socialist League was the only Zionist political party within the Yishuv to accept Arab members as equals, support Arab rights, and call for a
binational state in Palestine. In the 1930s, Hashomer Hatzair (along with
Mapai
Mapai (, an abbreviation for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', ) was a Labor Zionist and democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in January ...
) was affiliated with the
centrist Marxist
Centrist Marxism represents a position between revolution and reformism. Within the Marxist movement, ''centrism'' thus entails a specific meaning between the left-wing revolutionary socialism (exemplified by communism and orthodox Marxism) and ...
"Two-and-a-half" International, the
International Revolutionary Marxist Centre
The International Revolutionary Marxist Centre was an international association of left-socialist parties. The member-parties rejected both mainstream social democracy and the Third International.
Organizational history
The International was for ...
(also known as the "London Bureau") rather than either the more mainstream socialist
Labour and Socialist International
The Labour and Socialist International (LSI) was an international organization of socialist and labourist parties, active between 1923 and 1940. The group was established through a merger of the rival Vienna International and the Berne Intern ...
or the
Leninist
Leninism (, ) is a political ideology developed by Russian Marxist revolutionary Vladimir Lenin that proposes the establishment of the Dictatorship of the proletariat#Vladimir Lenin, dictatorship of the proletariat led by a revolutionary Vangu ...
Third International
The Communist International, abbreviated as Comintern and also known as the Third International, was a political international which existed from 1919 to 1943 and advocated world communism. Emerging from the collapse of the Second Internation ...
.
Growth and the Holocaust
By 1939, Hashomer Hatzair had 70,000 members worldwide. The movement's membership base was in Eastern Europe. With the advent of World War II and
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 ...
, members of Hashomer Hatzair focused their attention on resistance against the
Nazis
Nazism (), formally named National Socialism (NS; , ), is the far-right politics, far-right Totalitarianism, totalitarian socio-political ideology and practices associated with Adolf Hitler and the Nazi Party (NSDAP) in Germany. During H ...
.
Mordechai Anielewicz, the leader of Hashomer Hatzair's
Warsaw
Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
(JCO) branch, became head of the
Jewish Combat Organization and one of the leaders of the
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany's final effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to the gas chambers of the ...
. Due to ideological differences JCO declined to fight together with the Betar fighting group. Other members of the movement were involved in Jewish resistance and rescue in Hungary, Lithuania and Slovakia. The leaders of Hashomer Hatzair in
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 ...
were arrested and executed for
antifascist
Anti-fascism is a political movement in opposition to fascist ideologies, groups and individuals. Beginning in European countries in the 1920s, it was at its most significant shortly before and during World War II, where the Axis powers were op ...
activities. A personal account of the Holocaust, ''
In the Mouth of the Wolf'' details the escape of Hashomer Hatzair member
Rose Zar (née Ruszka Guterman) from the Piotrków Ghetto and hiding in plain sight, by working for the Wehrmacht and the SS.
The former head of Hashomer Hatzair in
Łódź
Łódź is a city in central Poland and a former industrial centre. It is the capital of Łódź Voivodeship, and is located south-west of Warsaw. Łódź has a population of 655,279, making it the country's List of cities and towns in Polan ...
,
Abraham Gancwajch, on the other hand, formed the Jewish Nazi collaboration network
Group 13 (also known as the Jewish Gestapo) in December 1940,
[Israel Gutman, ''The Jews of Warsaw, 1939-1943: Ghetto, Underground, Revolt'', Indiana University Press, 1982, ]
Google Print, p. 90–4
active in the
Warsaw Ghetto
The Warsaw Ghetto (, officially , ; ) was the largest of the Nazi ghettos during World War II and the Holocaust. It was established in November 1940 by the Nazi Germany, German authorities within the new General Government territory of Occupat ...
. He was also the leader of the infamous
Gestapo
The (, ), Syllabic abbreviation, abbreviated Gestapo (), was the official secret police of Nazi Germany and in German-occupied Europe.
The force was created by Hermann Göring in 1933 by combining the various political police agencies of F ...
-sponsored,
Nazi-collaborationist Jewish organisation
Żagiew, which was formed in February 1943
[Tadeusz Piotrowski, ''Poland's Holocaust: Ethnic Strife, Collaboration with Occupying Forces and Genocide in the Second Republic, 1918–1947'', McFarland 1998, ]
Google Print, p. 66
at the beginning of the
Warsaw Ghetto Uprising
The Warsaw Ghetto Uprising was the 1943 act of Jewish resistance in the Warsaw Ghetto in German-occupied Poland during World War II to oppose Nazi Germany's final effort to transport the remaining ghetto population to the gas chambers of the ...
.
After the war, the movement was involved in organizing illegal immigration of Jewish refugees to Palestine. Members were also involved in the
Haganah
Haganah ( , ) was the main Zionist political violence, Zionist paramilitary organization that operated for the Yishuv in the Mandatory Palestine, British Mandate for Palestine. It was founded in 1920 to defend the Yishuv's presence in the reg ...
military movement as well as in the leadership of the
Palmach
The Palmach (Hebrew: , acronym for , ''Plugot Maḥatz'', "Strike Phalanges/Companies") was the elite combined strike forces and sayeret unit of the Haganah, the paramilitary organization of the Yishuv (Jewish community) during the period of th ...
.
After
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 ...
, the movement was largely Stalinist into the 1950s and in 1953 cancelled its Purim festivities due to
Stalin
Joseph Vissarionovich Stalin (born Dzhugashvili; 5 March 1953) was a Soviet politician and revolutionary who led the Soviet Union from 1924 until Death and state funeral of Joseph Stalin, his death in 1953. He held power as General Secret ...
's death. Support for Stalin and the
Soviet Union
The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics. (USSR), commonly known as the Soviet Union, was a List of former transcontinental countries#Since 1700, transcontinental country that spanned much of Eurasia from 1922 until Dissolution of the Soviet ...
began to wane in 1952 as a result of the
Slánský trial
The Slánský trial (officially English: "Trial of the Leadership of the Anti-State Conspiracy Centre Headed by Rudolf Slánský") was a 1952 antisemiticBlumenthal, Helaine. (2009). Communism on Trial: The Slansky Affair and Anti-Semitism in P ...
s which targeted Jewish leaders in the
Communist Party of Czechoslovakia
The Communist Party of Czechoslovakia ( Czech and Slovak: ''Komunistická strana Československa'', KSČ) was a communist and Marxist–Leninist political party in Czechoslovakia that existed between 1921 and 1992. It was a member of the Com ...
in a series of
show trial
A show trial is a public trial in which the guilt (law), guilt or innocence of the defendant has already been determined. The purpose of holding a show trial is to present both accusation and verdict to the public, serving as an example and a d ...
s, and also resulted in the arrest, torture and four-and-a-half year improsonment of Mapam official
Mordechai Oren while he was visiting the country to intervene in support of two local Hashomer Hatzair members who had been arrested and falsely accused.
File:MEMBERS OF "HASHOMER HATZAIR" YOUTH MOVEMENT IN KFAR SABA BRANCH BLOWING THE TRUMPET AS THEY WAVE THE MOVEMENT'S FLAG. תרועת חצוצרות והנפת דגל תנועת הD623-029.jpg, Members of Hashomer Hatzair in Kfar Saba
Kfar Saba ( ), officially Kfar Sava , is a List of Israeli cities, city in the Sharon plain, Sharon region, of the Central District (Israel), Central District of State of Israel, Israel. In 2019 it had a population of 110,456, making it the 16th-l ...
branch blowing the trumpet as they wave the movement´s flag, 1941
File:Flickr - Government Press Office (GPO) - May Day Parade.jpg, Members of the Hashomer Hatzair youth movement march in the May Day parade in 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 ...
, 1946
File:PikiWiki Israel 4143 Gan-Shmuel sg9- 31.jpg, Members of the Hashomer Hatzair in Gan Shmuel kibbutz
A kibbutz ( / , ; : kibbutzim / ) is an intentional community in Israel that was traditionally based on agriculture. The first kibbutz, established in 1910, was Degania Alef, Degania. Today, farming has been partly supplanted by other economi ...
, circa 1955
File:PikiWiki Israel 4177 Gan-Shmuel sg29- 31.jpg, Gan Shmuel, circa 1957
Present
Hashomer Hatzair continues as a youth movement based in Israel, and operates internationally. In Europe, North and Latin America, as well as in Australia, Hashomer Hatzair organizes activities and camps (machanot) for the youth. Activities are still ideological, but over time have been adapted to the needs of modern communities, vastly different from the context in which Hashomer Hatzair was created.
The movement has more than 7,000 members worldwide (excluding Israel) running weekly youth activities and camps in Germany, Canada, the United States, Mexico, Venezuela, Brazil, Argentina, Uruguay, Chile, France, Belgium. Austria, Italy, Switzerland, Netherlands, Hungary, Bulgaria, Belarus, Ukraine, Australia and Poland.
Famous alumni include
Evelyn Torton Beck,
Arik Einstein,
Dan Shechtman,
Bella Abzug,
Tony Cliff,
Ehud Gazit,
Ernest Mandel
Ernest Ezra Mandel (; 5 April 1923 – 20 July 1995), also known by various pseudonyms such as Ernest Germain, Pierre Gousset, Henri Vallin, Walter, was a Belgian Marxian economist, Trotskyist activist and theorist, and Holocaust survivor. He f ...
,
Mordecai Anielewicz,
Abraham Leon,
Martin Monath,
Benny Morris
Benny Morris (; born 8 December 1948) is an Israeli historian. He was a professor of history in the Middle East Studies department of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev in the city of Beersheba, Israel. Morris was initially associated with the ...
,
Eliane Karp,
Leopold Trepper,
Amnon Linn,
Zahara Rubin,
Haviva Reik,
Aaron Klug
Sir Aaron Klug (11 August 1926 – 20 November 2018) was a British biophysicist and chemist. He was a winner of the 1982 Nobel Prize in Chemistry for his development of crystallographic electron microscopy and his structural elucidation of biol ...
,
Abba Hushi,
Sam Spiegel,
Irv Weinstein,
Manès Sperber,
Leon Rosselson,
Juliana Rozestan,
José Gurvich,
Ilan Goldfajn,
Joel Westheimer,
Avi Levacov,
Prisoner X (Ben Zygier),
Milo Adler Gilles,
Gila Martow
Gila Deborah Gladstone-Martow ( Gladstone; born June 5, 1961) is a politician in Ontario, Canada. She has represented Ward 5 on Vaughan City Council since 2022. She previously represented the electoral district of Thornhill in the Legislativ ...
, and even
Isser Harel and
Menachem Begin
Menachem Begin ( ''Menaḥem Begin'', ; (Polish documents, 1931–1937); ; 16 August 1913 – 9 March 1992) was an Israeli politician, founder of both Herut and Likud and the prime minister of Israel.
Before the creation of the state of Isra ...
who were briefly members before joining
Mapai
Mapai (, an abbreviation for , ''Mifleget Poalei Eretz Yisrael'', ) was a Labor Zionist and democratic socialist political party in Israel, and was the dominant force in Israeli politics until its merger into the Israeli Labor Party in January ...
and the right wing
Betar
The Betar Movement (), also spelled Beitar (), is a Revisionist Zionism, Revisionist Zionist youth movement founded in 1923 in Riga, Latvia, by Ze'ev Jabotinsky, Vladimir (Ze'ev) Jabotinsky. It was one of several right-wing youth movements tha ...
respectively, as well as
Kerem B'Yavneh's Rabbi
Avraham Rivlin.
Noam Chomsky
Avram Noam Chomsky (born December 7, 1928) is an American professor and public intellectual known for his work in linguistics, political activism, and social criticism. Sometimes called "the father of modern linguistics", Chomsky is also a ...
sympathized with and worked with the group, although he was never a member.
With the merger of the United Kibbutz Movement and Kibbutz Artzi, the likelihood of a merger between Hashomer Hatzair and UKM's youth movement,
Habonim Dror
Habonim Dror (, "the builders–freedom") is a Jewish Labor Zionist youth movement formed in 1982 through the merger of two earlier movements: Habonim and Dror.
Habonim (, "the builders") was established in 1929 in the United Kingdom and later e ...
, has increased and the two youth movements, once rivals, have increasingly co-operated in various countries where they co-exist. The movements even share an office in New York. However, the views of each movement on religion may be an obstacle to merger as Habonim Dror has a stronger identification with
cultural Judaism as opposed to Hashomer Hatzair, which has been at times stridently secular and anti-religious — seeing itself as a leader of a legitimate expression of a secular stream of Judaism.
File:Logo de los 100 años.png, This is the logo of the 100th anniversary of Hashomer Hatzair (2013).
File:Hashomer Hatzair.png, The old tnua Semel (Hashomer Hatzair) until 2013
Image:Shomrit1.png, The shirt of Hashomer Hatzair
File:Demonstration against the housing prices in Israel (2011)(6).jpg, Hashomer Hatzair at a demonstration against the housing prices in Israel 2011
Argentina
Once a huge movement inside the large Argentinian Jewish Community, Hashomer Hatzair Argentina suffered from decay common to all Zionist youth movements in Argentina during the last decades, as well as several military dictatorships in the country's history that directly or indirectly led to the closure of several of its kenim.
The movement operates in ''Tzavta Centro Comunitario'' (Tzavta Community Center), in the neighborhood of Almagro, City of
Buenos Aires
Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
. It is one of 9 Zionist Youth Movements in the city. It has around 120 members, running regular Saturday activities and secular Kabalat Shabat service, besides two machanot per year.
Australia
The movement in Australia is located in
Melbourne
Melbourne ( , ; Boonwurrung language, Boonwurrung/ or ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city of the States and territories of Australia, Australian state of Victori ...
and was established in 1953 as a break away from
Habonim Dror
Habonim Dror (, "the builders–freedom") is a Jewish Labor Zionist youth movement formed in 1982 through the merger of two earlier movements: Habonim and Dror.
Habonim (, "the builders") was established in 1929 in the United Kingdom and later e ...
. There was briefly a ''ken'' (branch) in Sydney during the 1960s, but it closed due to a lack of members. Many of the original ''bogrim'' (leaders) of Australian Hashomer Hatzair settled in kibbutz
Nirim. Its building in Melbourne is known as Beit Anielewicz, located in the suburb of
St Kilda East. It runs weekly meetings as well as bi-annual camps which take place in the Australian countryside, during the summer and winter months. Hashomer Hatzair Australia is a member of the Australasian Zionist Youth Council (AZYC).
Currently, there are around 70 members of 'Hashy' Australia in Melbourne. Meetings for chanichim/ot (participants) from school years 3-12 are on Sunday afternoons and evenings. During Year 10 (age: 15–16) chanichim/ot undergo a 'hadracha' (leadership) course. This course is run by current bogrim/ot in the movement and teaches the chanichim/ot leadership skills which are used when they lead members of the Junior movement in Year 11. The current Year 11 madatzim/ot (leaders) are from the kvutzat (group) Negba.
All other 'Hashy' Australia members are situated in
Byron Bay, where Madrachim/ot travel 3 times annually.
Hashomer Hatzair Australia has a strong belief that chanichim/ot should be active in the community, helping whenever they can. Members often go to rallies, actively pursue social justice locally and abroad, and run programs for disadvantaged children.
As with most of the kenim around the world, every year Hashy sends the chanichim/ot who have just completed school on a 10-month Shnat program in Israel. Hashy is an active part of the Hashomer Hatzair World Movement and regularly interacts with other kenim as well as other movements.
Austria
The Austrian Hashomer Hatzair traces its roots to the original Hashomer Hatzair founded in the
Galicia region of the
Austro-Hungarian Empire
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 between 1867 and 1918. A military and diplomatic alliance, it consist ...
. The Hashomer were among the earliest members of the
Österreichischer Pfadfinderbund in 1914. They also founded the first ken. It holds around a hundred members, and meets weekly. The ken usually has five active kvutzots and one Bogrim kvutza. The ken has two machanot each year in the winter and summer and a couple of tijulim, every second year the oldest kvutzot the bogrim and the oldest kvutza go to machane Israel in which they attend the Seminar Tzofi or Tzofinodet.
Belgium
In Belgium, Hashomer Hatzaïr was established in 1920. Each Saturday 250 hanihim take part in folk dancing (rekudei'am), ludic activities (peoulot), and Shabbat celebrations (oneg shabbat). Four camps are organized throughout the year. The November, Winter, and Easter camps usually take place in the Netherlands, and the Summer camp in France. The shaliah is Matan and the is composed of the kvutzot of Narshonim (2005) and Mizrah (2006). Until 2006 there was a ken in Liege, but it closed because it was too small. Hashomer Hatzaïr in Belgium is part of the Brith which is composed of the five Zionist youth groups of Belgium: Hashomer Hatzair,
Hanoar Hatzioni, Habonim Dror, Bnei Hakiva and Jeunesse Juive Laïque.
Brazil
In Brazil, the movement is informally called "Shomer" and has six branches: Rio de Janeiro (2), São Paulo, Florianópolis, Brasília, and Natal. Normally, the activities encompass weekly meetings as well as two summer camps (machané) per year. Besides Haflagot, Acantonamentos, Machane de Lag Baomer. In Rio, where the tnuah is bigger, it embodies one of the left-wing Zionist institutions in the local Jewish community, playing a leading role in subjects like the peace process in the Middle East. The educational activities are also aimed at the challenges of Brazilian society, such as social and environmental issues. There are about 300 members in the national movement
Bulgaria
In Bulgaria, Hashomer Hatzair has been active for more than 20 years and has a branch in Sofia.
Тhe Bulgarian branch of Hashomer Hatzair was established after WWII but it closed down when the communist regime in Bulgaria began. The Bulgarian branch was reestablished in 1992 and it has been active ever since.
Currently, members are ages 11–20. Meetings for chanichim*ot (the peulots) are on Saturday mornings. Also, there are two camps organized every year - one during the winter and one scouting camp during the summer.
US and Canada
In the United States and Canada
camps last through the school summer vacation. The two summer camps in
Liberty, New York
Liberty is a Administrative divisions of New York#Town, town in Sullivan County, New York, Sullivan County, New York (state), New York, United States. The population was 10,159 at the 2020 census.US Census Bureau, 2020 Census Report QuickFacts, ...
, USA and
Perth, Ontario
Perth is a town in Eastern Ontario, Canada. It is located on the Tay River (Ontario), Tay River, southwest of Ottawa, and is the seat of Lanark County.
History
The town was established as a military settlement in 1816, shortly after the War of ...
, Canada are both called
Camp ''Shomria'' or "Mosh". In addition, the movement runs activities in cities across the continent throughout the year promoting the
Israeli–Palestinian peace process
Intermittent discussions are held by various parties and proposals put forward in an attempt to resolve the Israeli–Palestinian conflict through a peace process. Since the 1970s, there has been a parallel effort made to find terms upon which ...
, socialist-Zionism, Hagshama Atzmit (self-actualization), social activism (
tikkun olam), and withdrawal from the
West Bank
The West Bank is located on the western bank of the Jordan River and is the larger of the two Palestinian territories (the other being the Gaza Strip) that make up the State of Palestine. A landlocked territory near the coast of the Mediter ...
and
Gaza.
Through seminars, camps (winter/summer), worldwide programs, and weekly activities wherein youth lead youth, Hashomer Hatzair aims to create a just world through socialism, equality, and the betterment of Israel and the world.
There are currently kenim in Toronto, northern New Jersey (
Tenafly), central New Jersey (
East Brunswick), New York City, Washington D.C., and Philadelphia. The United States is currently in the process of recreating ''kenim'' in Westchester, NY and Albany, NY.
Hashomer Hatzair has collaborated with
Habonim Dror
Habonim Dror (, "the builders–freedom") is a Jewish Labor Zionist youth movement formed in 1982 through the merger of two earlier movements: Habonim and Dror.
Habonim (, "the builders") was established in 1929 in the United Kingdom and later e ...
and other left-wing Zionist groups to form the
Union of Progressive Zionists campus network.
In October 2011, Hashomer Hatzair participated in
Occupy Toronto and built a
sukkah
A or succah (; ; plural, ' or ' or ', often translated as "booth") is a temporary hut constructed for use during the week-long Jewish festival of Sukkot. It is topped with branches and often well decorated with autumnal, harvest or Judaic ...
at the site of the protest.
Chile
The Chilean branch of Hashomer Hatzair was founded more than 60 years ago and it continues educating young Jewish Chileans with the values of social justice, fraternity, Judaism and love for Israel. Currently there are 50–100 members aged 9–22 who meet every Saturday in the Ken located in Santiago. These are young chaverim that self organize and most of them do not belong to any Jewish collectivity or entity, thus most of them will have no link to anything Jewish if it wasn't for the tnua. For further info, visit the up-to-date website in Spanish.
France
In France, the youth movement spells Hachomer Hatzaïr with a "c". It was founded in
Paris
Paris () is the Capital city, capital and List of communes in France with over 20,000 inhabitants, largest city of France. With an estimated population of 2,048,472 residents in January 2025 in an area of more than , Paris is the List of ci ...
in
Belleville area, in 1933, by Jews from Poland and Tunisia. The French branch now has about 500 members in two kenim, in Paris and Lyon. The khanikhim (children) (literally, "students") and Bogrim (organizers) (literally, "adults") meet weekly in groups and run 3 makhanot ("Resorts & Leisure") (literally, "camps") in November (or late October), around the end of December, and for 3 weeks in July. The French movement has 3 branches: An educational branch, a political arm, and an "emsheh" branch.
Germany
Hashomer Hatzair Germany (German:
Hashomer Hatzair Deutschland, HHD) is the youth movement in Germany, that operates Ken Berlin (the activity center). It is legally a non-profit, registered association in Germany. It was re-established in 2012 for the first time since it was prohibited during 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 ...
and 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 ...
. In the past, the movement was active in several cities in Germany until 1938.
The movement organises weekly activities in Berlin for children and youth ages 8–21, led by the Ken Team, as well as an annual summer camp (Sommermachane). The activity year starts annually in September, around
Rosh Hashana.
In 2021, Hashomer Hatzair Germany took part in the
#2021JLID – Jüdisches Leben in Deutschland line of events and activities, to celebrate 1,700 years since the first evidence of Jewish lives in Germany and Europe. Following a
Pessach Seminar in March 2021, a booklet on Jewish Lives in Germany by HHD and its sub-project
ROSBOT was published in July 2021, and was dedicated to
Esther Bejarano,
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 ...
survivor, artist and activist, who died on the day of the official publication. The summer camp and booklet event were both reported in an article by
Micha Brumlik as part of a book on the history of the Jewish youth movements in Germany, which describes the renewal process of the youth movement in Germany. The book was published in its second edition with the support of
Berliner Landeszentrale für politische Bildung in 2022, and was also made available digitally.
HHD is currently in the process of growth, through intergenerational projects and initiatives aimed at educators and activists. It offers subsidised activities to its members, allowing participants with less means to take part.
In 2022, on its 10th anniversary of re-establishing the work in Germany, HHD was leading an intergenerational historical project to connect and commemorate the present generation to its generation in the 30s. As part of the project a team of volunteers was established, travelled to Israel to work around materials in the Kibbutzim archives and the
Yad Yaari Research & Documentation Center, as well as meeting the former members and their families. The project outcome are "Chaverschaft - the Hashomer Hatzair Card Game" and a board game that is still being developed. For its work around the history of the youth association in Germany, Hashomer Hatzair Deutschland e.V. won the Shimon-Peres-Prize in 2023, given by the German foreign minister, for outstanding initiatives of successful cooperation between young people from Germany and Israel.
Hungary
Hashomer Hatzair has been re-established in 1989 in Budapest. It is one of the largest Zionist youth movements in Hungary. HH Hungary organizes two camps every year and also offers various programs for Jewish youngsters: bringing charity to Hungarian Holocaust Survivors, cleaning out Jewish cemeteries in the countryside etc. Hashomer Hatzair has approximately 50 members nowadays in Budapest. Hashomer Hatzair was the first Jewish youth movement to be re-established in Hungary after the fall of Communism (1989).
Israel
The movement has around 80 kenim all over Israel. A
Knesset
The Knesset ( , ) is the Unicameralism, unicameral legislature of Israel.
The Knesset passes all laws, elects the President of Israel, president and Prime Minister of Israel, prime minister, approves the Cabinet of Israel, cabinet, and supe ...
report in 2010 stated that there were around 7,000 official members, making Hashomer Hatzair the fifth largest youth movement in Israel by members.
"Youth Movements in Israel", 2010
/ref> The main actions of the movement are regular activities for youth ages 9–18, education for the tnua values and social actions.
Every year the movement has a conference for the whole "Gub" (''Guf Boger'', the guides of each ken, ages 15–18) to discuss a yearly topic related to Israeli society, the kenim, and the movement in general. At the end of the conference the members formulate the results of the discussions and chart the future of the movement. Examples of past topics include Zionism and peace, equality between genders, socialism, Judaism in Hashomer Hatzair, and so forth.
After the 1948 Arab-Israeli War
Events January
* January 1
** The General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT) is inaugurated.
** The current Constitutions of Constitution of Italy, Italy and of Constitution of New Jersey, New Jersey (both later subject to amendment) ...
, the Hashomer Hatzair Workers Party merged with other left wing parties to form Mapam
File:Pre-State_Zionist_Workers'_Parties_chart.png, chart of zionist workers parties, 360px, right
rect 167 83 445 250 Hapoel Hatzair
rect 450 88 717 265 The non-partisans (pre-state Zionist political movement), Non Partisans
rect 721 86 995 243 ...
, a socialist party, which became the political party of both the youth movement and the Kibbutz Artzi federation. In Israel it was traditionally aligned with Mapam
File:Pre-State_Zionist_Workers'_Parties_chart.png, chart of zionist workers parties, 360px, right
rect 167 83 445 250 Hapoel Hatzair
rect 450 88 717 265 The non-partisans (pre-state Zionist political movement), Non Partisans
rect 721 86 995 243 ...
and later Meretz; however, it was not officially aligned with Meretz. After the merger of the Meretz-aligned Kibbutz Artzi Federation with the Labor Party's United Kibbutz Movement
The Kibbutz Movement (, ''HaTnu'a HaKibbutzit'') is the largest settlement movement for kibbutzim in Israel. It was formed in 1999 by a partial merger of the United Kibbutz Movement and Kibbutz Artzi and is made up of approximately 230 kibbutzim. I ...
in 1999, Hashomer Hatzair did not officially align with either party, though by tradition, it was close in outlook to Meretz.
Italy
Hashomer Hatzair operates four kenim (branches) in Italy—in Rome, Milan, Florence, and Turin. Local members organize two camps per year. The Italian movement can count on about 400 members.
Mexico
The Mexican branch of Hashomer Hatzair was established in 1940. Since 1983, its "ken" (Hebrew for "nest", i.e., its headquarters), named after Mordechai Anielewicz, is currently located in the Polanco neighbourhood, western part of Mexico City.
Hashomer Hatzair Mexico was founded by Avner Aliphas, a Hebrew professor at the Yiddish school of Mexico and later founder of the "Tarbut" Jewish day school in 1942. Aliphas was born in Kolno, Poland, in 1911, and made aliyah (immigrated to Eretz Israel) in 1936 to join Kibbutz Negba, and in 1938 he helped establish Kibbutz Hanita. In 1939 he returned to Kolno after his mother died and luckily got out before the Nazi invasion to attend a Zionist conference in Paris. When the war broke out and he could not go back to Israel, he traveled to Mexico where he became active in the Zionist movement.
In 1940, supported by the Zionist Organization in Mexico, Aliphas founded Hashomer Hatzair in Mexico, thus giving an option for young people who had been educated towards Zionism at home. This was the first Jewish youth movement that existed in the country; its first Ken was in Tacuba 15, in the city center.
During the next decades, Hashomer Hatzair was one of the places for secular socialization for the Jewish community. As of the present day, the Mexican branch of Hashomer Hatzair comprises approximately fifty members who regularly attend cultural, educational and sporting events as a group.
Uruguay
Hashomer Hatzair has existed in Uruguay since 1946. In its early stages, there were two different but now there is only one in the centre of the city, consisting of two kvutzot of younger children (ages 6 to 7 and 8 to 10) and another two of older kids (11 to 13 and 14 to 16).
The ken is called Ken Mordejai Anilevich and is in the capital city of Montevideo
Montevideo (, ; ) is the capital city, capital and List of cities in Uruguay, largest city of Uruguay. According to the 2023 census, the city proper has a population of 1,302,954 (about 37.2% of the country's total population) in an area of . M ...
in the neightboard of Pocitos.
Netherlands
Hashomer Hatzair is active in the Netherlands from the 1950s. Until somewhere in the 1970s there were kenim in Rotterdam and Amsterdam. A ken in Maastricht
Maastricht ( , , ; ; ; ) is a city and a Municipalities of the Netherlands, municipality in the southeastern Netherlands. It is the capital city, capital and largest city of the province of Limburg (Netherlands), Limburg. Maastricht is loca ...
has been active since around the year 2000. The ken has two kvutzot of older and younger kids (9-12 and 5-8). Ken Maastricht has been part of the World Movement since 2011.
Switzerland
In Switzerland, Ken Yitzhak Rabin in Zürich consists of some 100 hanihim, meeting on Shabbat afternoon and for two or three camps (annually in autumn and winter, bi-annually in summer), next to the Bogrim's bi-annual trips to Israel or Poland. Special events are held for Pessach, Chanuka and the Yitzhak Rabin memorial. The Ken was founded in 1935 and joined World Hashomer in 1938. During the 2nd world war, there were five major Kenim (Zurich, Basel, Berne, Biel, Geneva) plus activities in a few smaller cities and in the refugee centers. Swiss Shomer members having made aliya can be encountered e.g. in Lehavot Habashan and Magen. the Shomer was the largest Jewish youth movement in Switzerland.
Venezuela
Hashomer Hatzair in Venezuela
Venezuela, officially the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, is a country on the northern coast of South America, consisting of a continental landmass and many Federal Dependencies of Venezuela, islands and islets in the Caribbean Sea. It com ...
was founded in 1954 in Caracas
Caracas ( , ), officially Santiago de León de Caracas (CCS), is the capital and largest city of Venezuela, and the center of the Metropolitan Region of Caracas (or Greater Caracas). Caracas is located along the Guaire River in the northern p ...
, coming through Tamar Campo, an immigrant girl from Cuba, who began doing educational activities in September 1954 for young Jews of Venezuela, during the Rosh Hashana festivities. The name is Ken Najshon, inspired like the prince of the tribe of Judah, who led the Jewish people out of Egypt across the waters opened by Moses .
The Ken Najshon the young of the Jewish community of Venezuela, every Saturday at the Hebraica club by peulot where they teach about Zionism, socialism and humanistic Judaism and are taught values of equality, social justice and brotherhood through non-formal education.
Life Movement (Tnuat Bogrim / Kidmah / Kidma / Kidmat Anilewicz)
Around the world, Hashomer Hatzair members have founded a life movement to pick up where the youth movement leaves off. Groups have been organized in Israel by Israelis and non-Israelis, and others were formed in their countries of origin (such as in Canada, the United States, Switzerland and Hungary).
Canada and the United States
The Life Movement in the United States and Canada has created three urban communes, one in New York and two in Toronto where members are experimenting with the Israeli model of communot in their home societies. In addition, a new winter trip to Israel for Bogrim called Mifgash takes place yearly.
See also
* Hashomer - a Jewish defense organization in Palestine founded in April 1909
* Kibbutz Artzi
The Kibbutz Movement (, ''HaTnu'a HaKibbutzit'') is the largest settlement movement for kibbutzim in Israel. It was formed in 1999 by a partial merger of the United Kibbutz Movement and Kibbutz Artzi and is made up of approximately 230 kibbutzim. I ...
- federation of kibbutzim founded by Hashomer Hatzair
* Habonim Dror
Habonim Dror (, "the builders–freedom") is a Jewish Labor Zionist youth movement formed in 1982 through the merger of two earlier movements: Habonim and Dror.
Habonim (, "the builders") was established in 1929 in the United Kingdom and later e ...
- Labor Zionist youth movement
* Zionist youth movement
A Zionist youth movement () is an organization formed for Jewish children and adolescents for educational, social, and ideology, ideological development, including a belief in Zionism, Jewish nationalism as represented in the State of Israel. Yout ...
* Poale Zion
Poale Zion (, also romanized ''Poalei Tziyon'' or ''Poaley Syjon'', meaning "Workers of Zion") was a movement of Marxist–Zionist Jewish workers founded in various cities of Poland, Europe and the Russian Empire at about the turn of the 20th c ...
- early Marxist-Zionist political party
References
External links
*
Hashomer Hatzair World Movement
Hashomer Hatzair Germany
{{Authority control
Zionist youth movements
Jewish youth organizations
Non-aligned Scouting organizations
International Falcon Movement – Socialist Educational International
Labor Zionism
1913 establishments in Austria-Hungary