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Hillel Kook (; 24 July 1915 –18 August 2001), also known as Peter Bergson (Hebrew: פיטר ברגסון), was a
Revisionist Zionist Revisionist Zionism is a form of Zionism characterized by territorial maximalism. Revisionist Zionism promoted expansionism and the establishment of a Jewish majority on both sides of the Jordan River. Developed by Ze'ev Jabotinsky in the 1920s ...
activist and politician. Kook led the
Irgun The Irgun (), officially the National Military Organization in the Land of Israel, often abbreviated as Etzel or IZL (), was a Zionist paramilitary organization that operated in Mandatory Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of th ...
's efforts in the United States during
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 ...
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 order to promote
Zionism 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 ...
, attempting thereby to save the abandoned Jews of Europe. His rescue group's activism was the main factor leading to President
Franklin D. Roosevelt Franklin Delano Roosevelt (January 30, 1882April 12, 1945), also known as FDR, was the 32nd president of the United States, serving from 1933 until his death in 1945. He is the longest-serving U.S. president, and the only one to have served ...
establishing the
War Refugee Board The War Refugee Board, established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January 1944, was a U.S. executive agency to aid civilian victims of the Axis powers. The Board was, in the words of historian Rebecca Erbelding, "the only time in American hi ...
, which rescued as many as 200,000 European Jews, partly via the Wallenberg mission. He later served in Israel's first Knesset, but resigned in 1951 after becoming disillusioned with Israeli politics.


Early life

Hillel Kook was born in
Kriukai Kriukai (Samogitian language, Samogitian: ''Kriokā'') is a small town in Šiauliai County in northern Lithuania. In 2011, it had a population of 533. Gallery File:Kriukai koplycia.JPG, Kriukai chapel (St. Laurence's Church) File:Kriukai var ...
in the
Russian Empire The Russian Empire was an empire that spanned most of northern Eurasia from its establishment in November 1721 until the proclamation of the Russian Republic in September 1917. At its height in the late 19th century, it covered about , roughl ...
(today in
Lithuania Lithuania, officially the Republic of Lithuania, is a country in the Baltic region of Europe. It is one of three Baltic states and lies on the eastern shore of the Baltic Sea, bordered by Latvia to the north, Belarus to the east and south, P ...
) in 1915, the son of Rabbi Dov Kook, the younger brother of
Abraham Isaac Kook Abraham Isaac HaCohen Kook (; 7 September 1865 – 1 September 1935), known as HaRav Kook, and also known by the Hebrew-language acronym Hara'ayah (), was an Orthodox Judaism, Orthodox rabbi, and the first Ashkenazi Jews, Ashkenazi Chief Rabbina ...
, the first
Ashkenazi Ashkenazi Jews ( ; also known as Ashkenazic Jews or Ashkenazim) form a distinct subgroup of the Jewish diaspora, that Ethnogenesis, emerged in the Holy Roman Empire around the end of the first millennium Common era, CE. They traditionally spe ...
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 ...
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 ...
. In 1924, his family
immigrated Immigration is the international movement of people to a destination country of which they are not usual residents or where they do not possess nationality in order to settle as permanent residents. Commuters, tourists, and other short- ...
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 ...
, where his father became the first Chief Rabbi of
Afula Afula () is a city in the Northern District of Israel, often known as the "Capital of the Valley" due to its strategic location in the Jezreel Valley. As of , the city had a population of . Afula's ancient tell (settlement mound) suggests habit ...
. Hillel Kook received a religious education in Afula and attended his uncle's Religious Zionist yeshiva,
Merkaz HaRav Mercaz HaRav (officially, , "The Center of Rabbi ook- the Central Universal Yeshiva") is a national-religious ( Hardal) yeshiva in Jerusalem, founded in 1924 by Ashkenazi Chief Rabbi Abraham Isaac Kook. Located in the city's Kiryat Moshe neighb ...
in
Jerusalem Jerusalem is a city in the Southern Levant, on a plateau in the Judaean Mountains between the Mediterranean Sea, Mediterranean and the Dead Sea. It is one of the List of oldest continuously inhabited cities, oldest cities in the world, and ...
. He also attended classes in Jewish Studies at the
Hebrew University The Hebrew University of Jerusalem (HUJI; ) is an Israeli public research university based in Jerusalem. Co-founded by Albert Einstein and Chaim Weizmann in July 1918, the public university officially opened on 1 April 1925. It is the second-ol ...
, where he became a member of ''Sohba'' ("Comradeship"), a group of students who would later become prominent in the Revisionist movement, including
David Raziel David Raziel (; 19 November 1910 – 20 May 1941) was a leader of the Zionist underground in British Mandatory Palestine and one of the founders of the Irgun. During World War II, Irgun entered a truce with the British so they could collabora ...
and
Avraham Stern Avraham Stern (, ''Avraham Shtern''; December 23, 1907 – February 12, 1942), alias Yair (), was one of the leaders of the Jewish paramilitary organization Irgun. In September 1940, he founded a breakaway militant Zionist group named Lehi, c ...
.


Military career

Kook joined the pre-state
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 ...
militia in 1930 following widespread Arab riots. In 1931, Kook helped found the
Irgun The Irgun (), officially the National Military Organization in the Land of Israel, often abbreviated as Etzel or IZL (), was a Zionist paramilitary organization that operated in Mandatory Palestine between 1931 and 1948. It was an offshoot of th ...
(Etzel), a group of militant Haganah dissidents, and fought with them in Palestine through most of the 1930s. He served as a post commander in 1936, and eventually became a member of the Irgun General Staff. In 1937, Kook began his career as an international spokesperson for the Irgun and
Revisionist Zionism Revisionist Zionism is a form of Zionism characterized by territorial maximalism. Revisionist Zionism promoted expansionism and the establishment of a Jewish majority on both sides of the Jordan River. Developed by Ze'ev Jabotinsky in the 1920s ...
. He first went to Poland, where he was involved in fundraising and establishing Irgun cells in Eastern Europe. It was there that he met the founder of the Revisionist movement,
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 ...
, and became friends with his son
Eri Eri may refer to: People * Eri (biblical figure) * Eri (given name), a Japanese feminine given name, including lists of people and fictional characters * Eri (king), the progenitor of the Umu-Eri and Umu-Nri-Igbo ancient Nigerian city-states * ...
(or "Ari"). At the founders' request, Kook traveled to the United States with Jabotinsky in 1940, where he soon served as the head of the Irgun and revisionist mission in America, following the elder's death in August. This assignment was clandestine, and Kook publicly denied he was affiliated with the Irgun many times while in America.


Activism in the United States

While in America, Kook led a group of Irgun activists under the pseudonym "Peter Bergson". The name "
Bergson Group The Bergson Group was group of Jewish activitists whose actions included trying to convince the Roosevelt administration to save Jews from the Nazi genocide in Europe. The group was active in the United States between 1940 and 1948. History Fou ...
" or "Bergsonites" eventually became used to refer to all the members of Kook's immediate circle. The Bergson Group was composed of a hard-core cadre of ten Irgun activists from Europe, America and Palestine, including
Aryeh Ben-Eliezer Aryeh Ben-Eliezer (; 16 December 1913 – 29 January 1970) was a Revisionist Zionist leader, Irgun member and Israeli politician. He was acting leader of Herut from August 1951, after Menachem Begin resigned as a result of the 1951 Israel ...
, Yitzhak Ben-Ami, Alexander Rafaeli, Shmuel Merlin, and Eri Jabotinsky. The Bergson Group was closely involved with various Jewish and
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 ...
advocacy groups, such as the American Friends for a Jewish Palestine and the Organizing Committee of Illegal Immigration. The group also founded some separate initiatives of its own, specifically the Committee for a Jewish Army of Stateless and Palestinian Jews, whose goal was the formation of an Allied fighting force of stateless and Palestinian Jews. Some credit the later formation of the
Jewish Brigade The Jewish Infantry Brigade Group, more commonly known as the Jewish Brigade Group or Jewish Brigade, was a military formation of the British Army in the World War II, Second World War. It was formed in late 1944 and was recruited among Yishuv, Y ...
, a British unit of Palestinian Jews, with Kook's activism. Two American members of the Bergson Group were author and screenwriter
Ben Hecht Ben Hecht (; February 28, 1894 – April 18, 1964) was an American screenwriter, director, producer, playwright, journalist, and novelist. A journalist in his youth, he went on to write 35 books and some of the most enjoyed screenplays and play ...
and cartoonist
Arthur Szyk Arthur Szyk ( ; see Polish phonology); June 3, 1894 – September 13, 1951) was a Polish-born Jewish artist who worked primarily as a book illustrator and political artist throughout his career. Arthur Szyk was born into a prosperous middle- ...
. Initially the Bergson Group largely limited its activities to Irgun fundraising and various
propaganda Propaganda is communication that is primarily used to influence or persuade an audience to further an agenda, which may not be objective and may be selectively presenting facts to encourage a particular synthesis or perception, or using loaded l ...
campaigns. The outbreak 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 ...
saw a dramatic transformation in the group's focus. As information about
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 ...
began to reach the United States, Kook and his fellow activists became more involved in trying to raise awareness about the fate of the Jews in Europe. This included putting full-page advertisements in leading newspapers, such as "Jews Fight for the Right to Fight", published in ''
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...
'' in 1942, and "For Sale to Humanity 70,000 Jews, Guaranteed Human Beings at $50 a Piece", in response to an offer by
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 ...
to send their Jews to safety if the travel expenses would be provided. On March 9, 1943, the Group produced a huge pageant in
Madison Square Garden Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
written by Ben Hecht, titled " We Will Never Die", memorializing the 2,000,000 European Jews who had already been murdered. Forty thousand people saw the pageant that first night, and it went on to play in five other major cities including
Washington, D.C. Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly known as Washington or D.C., is the capital city and federal district of the United States. The city is on the Potomac River, across from Virginia, and shares land borders with ...
, where First Lady
Eleanor Roosevelt Anna Eleanor Roosevelt ( ; October 11, 1884November 7, 1962) was an American political figure, diplomat, and activist. She was the longest-serving First Lady of the United States, first lady of the United States, during her husband Franklin D ...
, six
Supreme Court In most legal jurisdictions, a supreme court, also known as a court of last resort, apex court, high (or final) court of appeal, and court of final appeal, is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
Justices, and some 300 senators and congressmen watched it. In 1943, Kook established the ''Emergency Committee for the Rescue of European Jewry''. The Committee, which included Jewish and non-Jewish American writers, public figures, and politicians, worked to disseminate information to the general public, and also lobbied the
President of the United States The president of the United States (POTUS) is the head of state and head of government of the United States. The president directs the Federal government of the United States#Executive branch, executive branch of the Federal government of t ...
and
Congress A congress is a formal meeting of the representatives of different countries, constituent states, organizations, trade unions, political parties, or other groups. The term originated in Late Middle English to denote an encounter (meeting of ...
to take immediate action to save the remnants of Europe's Jews. US immigration laws at the time limited immigration to only 2% of the number of each nationality present in the United States since the
census A census (from Latin ''censere'', 'to assess') is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording, and calculating population information about the members of a given Statistical population, population, usually displayed in the form of stati ...
of 1890, which limited Jews from Austria and Germany to 27,370 and from Poland to 6,542; even these quotas often went unfilled, due to
United States State Department The United States Department of State (DOS), or simply the State Department, is an executive department of the U.S. federal government responsible for the country's foreign policy and relations. Equivalent to the ministry of foreign affairs o ...
pressure on US consulates to place as many obstacles as possible in the path of refugees. The proposal to admit more refugees was ratified by the
United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations The United States Senate Committee on Foreign Relations is a Standing committee (United States Congress), standing committee of the United States Senate, U.S. Senate charged with leading Foreign policy of the United States, foreign-policy legi ...
, and, in response to the pressure by the Bergson Group as well as Jewish Secretary of Treasury Henry Morgenthau Jr and his team, President Roosevelt subsequently issued an administrative order in January 1944 for the establishment of a special national authority, the
War Refugee Board The War Refugee Board, established by President Franklin D. Roosevelt in January 1944, was a U.S. executive agency to aid civilian victims of the Axis powers. The Board was, in the words of historian Rebecca Erbelding, "the only time in American hi ...
(WRB) to deal with Jewish and non-Jewish war refugees. An official government emissary sent to Turkey was of considerable assistance in the rescue of Romanian Jewry. Historian David Wyman felt that WRB saved about 200,000 Jews, which is an over-estimate. Those rescued through the WRB were probably mostly in Hungary, in part through the
Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)He is presumed to have died in 1947, although the circumstances of his death are not clear and this date has been disputed. Some reports claim he was alive years later. In ...
mission which was sponsored by the WRB. Some of the members of the Emergency Committee to Save the Jewish People of Europe were: Hillel Kook (Peter Bergson) and Alex Hadani Rafaeli, Alex Wilf, Arieh Ben-Eliezer, Arthur Szyk, Ben Hecht, Ben Rabinowitz (Robbins), Eri Jabotinsky, Esther Untermeyer, Gabe Wechsler, Senator
Guy Gillette Guy Mark Gillette (February 3, 1879March 3, 1973) was an American politician and lawyer who served as a Democratic U.S. Representative (1933–1936) and Senator (1936–1945; 1949–1955) from Iowa. Throughout his Senate service, Gillette was ...
, Harry Selden, Johan Smertenko,
Konrad Bercovici Konrad Bercovici (June 22, 1882 Together, they emigrated to North America. After some time in Montréal, Canada, the family settled on the Lower East Side, Manhattan, New York City. To make ends meet Bercovici worked in sweatshops, gave piano les ...
, M. Berchin, Shmuel Merlin,
Sigrid Undset Sigrid Undset (; 20 May 1882 – 10 June 1949) was a Danish people, Danish-born Norwegian people, Norwegian novelist. She was awarded the Nobel Prize in Literature, Nobel Prize for Literature in 1928 Nobel Prize in Literature, 1928. Born in Den ...
,
Stella Adler Stella Adler (February 10, 1901 – December 21, 1992) was an American actress and acting teacher. A member of Yiddish Theater's Adler dynasty, Adler began acting at a young age. She shifted to producing, directing, and teaching, founding the ...
, Congressman Will Rogers, Jr., Yitzchak Ben-Ami, and
John Henry Patterson John Henry Patterson may refer to: * John Henry Patterson (author) (1867–1947), Anglo-Irish soldier who wrote ''The Man-Eaters of Tsavo'' which was made into the film ''The Ghost and the Darkness'' in 1996 * John Henry Patterson (NCR owner) ...
. There were many others who actively supported the Bergson Group, including a number of the best known people in
Broadway theatre Broadway theatre,Although ''theater'' is generally the spelling for this common noun in the United States (see American and British English spelling differences#-re, -er, American and British English spelling differences), many of the List of ...
and
Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...
, probably due to Hecht's contacts (such as
Kurt Weill Kurt Julian Weill (; ; March 2, 1900April 3, 1950) was a German-born American composer active from the 1920s in his native country, and in his later years in the United States. He was a leading composer for the stage who was best known for hi ...
). The Irgun declared an open revolt against British rule in Palestine. To assist in recruiting and propaganda efforts, Kook established the Hebrew Committee for National Liberation and the American League for a Free Palestine, both of which were involved in lobbying U.S. and other diplomats and in trying to attract the American public to support the Irgun's rebellion. Kook remained strongly affiliated with the Revisionist camp after the war during the creation of the State of Israel. While he was unquestionably loyal to the cause, his position as the Irgun's leading American activist was not free from conflict. In 1946 Kook received a letter from
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 had become chief of the Irgun in 1943. Begin admonished Kook for various policy positions that strayed from the official Irgun party-line. These included Kook not focusing on illegal immigration to Palestine and arms shipments to Irgun fighters,. Begin also objected to Kook's (and others' rather common) usage of the term "Palestine". At the time Kook established the ''Hebrew Embassy'' in Washington and was in the habit of saying "Palestine Free State", which Begin thought left too much potential for bi-nationalism. Begin demanded that Kook refer to the future Jewish state as the "Free State of Eretz Israel".


Controversy

In July of 1943, Kook and his followers began a campaign to lobby Congress for a resolution to create an independent agency to save European Jews. In this effort, they were opposed by American Zionist and progressive Jewish organizations. In December 1943, the American Jewish Conference launched a public attack against Bergson and his supporters in an attempt to derail support for the resolution. The British embassy and several American Zionist groups, including 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 ...
,
American Jewish Committee The American Jewish Committee (AJC) is a civil rights group and Jewish advocacy group established on November 11, 1906. It is one of the oldest Jewish advocacy organizations and, according to ''The New York Times'', is "widely regarded as the wi ...
and other political opponents sought to have Kook deported or drafted for the war. They encouraged the
Internal Revenue Service The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) is the revenue service for the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government, which is responsible for collecting Taxation in the United States, U.S. federal taxes and administerin ...
to investigate the Bergson Group's finances in an attempt to discredit them, hoping to find misappropriation, or at least careless bookkeeping, of the large amount of funds the groups handled. The United States IRS found no financial irregularities. Among those trying to stop the Bergson Group's rescue activities were Chairman of the Foreign Affairs Committee Congressman
Sol Bloom Sol Bloom (March 9, 1870March 7, 1949) was an American song-writer and politician from New York City who began his career as an entertainment impresario and sheet music publisher in Chicago. He served fourteen terms in the United States House of ...
, and
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 ...
leaders
Stephen Samuel Wise Stephen Samuel Wise (March 17, 1874 – April 19, 1949) was an early 20th-century American Reform rabbi and Zionist leader in the Progressive Era. Born in Budapest, he was an infant when his family immigrated to New York. He followed his father ...
and
Nahum Goldmann Nahum Goldmann (; July 10, 1895 – August 29, 1982) was a leading Zionist. He was a founder of the World Jewish Congress and its president from 1951 to 1978 and was also president of the World Zionist Organization from 1956 to 1968. Biography ...
. A State Department protocol shows Goldmann telling the State Department that Hillel Kook did not represent organized Jewry, and suggested either deporting him or drafting him for the war effort.


Rabbis' march

One of the Committee's more memorable activities was a protest in Washington, D.C. that Kook organized, which took place on October 6, 1943three days before
Yom Kippur Yom Kippur ( ; , ) is the holiest day of the year in Judaism. It occurs annually on the 10th of Tishrei, corresponding to a date in late September or early October. For traditional Jewish people, it is primarily centered on atonement and ...
. Known as the
Rabbis' march The Rabbis' March was a demonstration in support of American and allied action to stop the destruction of European Jewry. It took place in Washington, D.C., on October 6, 1943, three days before Yom Kippur. It was organized by Hillel Kook, nephew ...
, the event involved solely
Orthodox Orthodox, Orthodoxy, or Orthodoxism may refer to: Religion * Orthodoxy, adherence to accepted norms, more specifically adherence to creeds, especially within Christianity and Judaism, but also less commonly in non-Abrahamic religions like Neo-pag ...
rabbis, who were intent on pleading for the lives of the European Jews before the US government. Sol Bloom tried unsuccessfully to deter the rabbis from carrying out the march. Joined by Bergson Group activists, the
Jewish War Veterans of the United States of America Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...
marched on the
United States Capitol The United States Capitol, often called the Capitol or the Capitol Building, is the Seat of government, seat of the United States Congress, the United States Congress, legislative branch of the Federal government of the United States, federal g ...
,
Lincoln Memorial The Lincoln Memorial is a List of national memorials of the United States, U.S. national memorial honoring Abraham Lincoln, the List of presidents of the United States, 16th president of the United States, located on the western end of the Nati ...
, and
White House The White House is the official residence and workplace of the president of the United States. Located at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue Northwest (Washington, D.C.), NW in Washington, D.C., it has served as the residence of every U.S. president ...
in Washington, DC, where the protesters plead for US intervention on behalf of the Jews in Europe. They were met by a number of prominent members of Congress including Senator
William Warren Barbour William Warren Barbour (July 31, 1888November 22, 1943) was an American Republican Party politician who represented New Jersey in the United States Senate from 1931 to 1937 and again from 1938 until his death in office in 1943. He was also a bus ...
(R; New Jersey). The delegation was received by
Vice President A vice president or vice-president, also director in British English, is an officer in government or business who is below the president (chief executive officer) in rank. It can also refer to executive vice presidents, signifying that the vi ...
Henry Wallace. Disappointed by the President's failure to meet with them, the rabbis stood in front of the US Capitol, where they were met by Barbour and other members of Congress. They refused to read their petition aloud, instead handing it to the Presidential secretary,
Marvin H. McIntyre Marvin Hunter McIntyre (November 27, 1878 – December 13, 1943) was an American journalist and Presidential Secretary to President Franklin D. Roosevelt (FDR). Biography McIntyre was born in La Grange, Kentucky, 27 November 1878 and was educated ...
. The march garnered much media attention, much of it focused on what was seen as the cold and insulting dismissal of many important community leaders, as well as the people in Europe they were fighting for. One Jewish newspaper commented, "Would a similar delegation of 500 Catholic priests have been thus treated?" Years later,
Joseph B. Soloveitchik Joseph Ber Soloveitchik ( ''Yosef Dov ha-Levi Soloveychik''; February 27, 1903 – April 9, 1993) was a major American Orthodox rabbi, Talmudist, and modern Jewish philosopher. He was a scion of the Lithuanian Jewish Soloveitchik rabbinic ...
, in recorded lectures, would bemoan the betrayal of the Rabbis' mission by Stephen Samuel Wise, who dismissed them as a group of Orthodox rabbis who didn't represent anyone. A week later, Barbour proposed legislation that would have allowed as many as 100,000 victims of the Holocaust to emigrate temporarily to the United States. A parallel bill was introduced in the House of Representatives by Rep.
Samuel Dickstein Samuel Dickstein (February 5, 1885 – April 22, 1954) was a Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Congressional Representative from New York (state), New York (22-year tenure), a New York State Supreme Court Justice, and a Soviet Union, ...
(D; New York). This also failed to pass.


Political career

In 1947, the Bergson Group had purchased a ship originally intended to carry new immigrants to Palestine, but, perhaps partially due to Begin's influence, was eventually used to ship arms. The ship, named ''
Altalena The ''Altalena'' Affair was a violent confrontation that took place in June 1948 between the newly created Israel Defense Forces and the Irgun (also known as Etzel), one of the Jewish paramilitary groups that were in the process of merging to ...
'', carried a large number of American
Mahal Mahal may refer to: Places * Mahal, India, a small town in Chittoor district of Andhra Pradesh, India * Mahal, Punjab, a village in Jalandhar district of Punjab State, India * Mahal, Paschim Bardhaman, a census town in Pandabeswar CD Block in ...
volunteers for the
War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...
. Differences about how to allocate the arms shipment soon led to a violent armed confrontation between the newly formed
Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...
and the Irgun on the beaches of
Kfar Vitkin Kfar Vitkin () is a moshav in central Israel. Located near Netanya, it falls under the jurisdiction of Hefer Valley Regional Council and was the first Jewish settlement in the valley. In it had a population of . History The community was esta ...
and
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 ...
. Many on the ship who jumped into the sea were killed. That night, Begin spoke on the radio and commanded his followers not to take revenge and prevented a probable civil war among Israel's Jewish residents. Following the
Altalena Affair The ''Altalena'' Affair was a violent confrontation that took place in June 1948 between the newly created Israel Defense Forces and the Irgun (also known as Etzel), one of the Jewish paramilitary groups that were in the process of merging to ...
, Kook was arrested with four other senior Irgun commanders and held for over two months. Of the five, only Kook was a member of the Bergson Group. The five were eventually released after about two months. Kook served in the first Knesset as part of the
Herut Herut () was the major conservative nationalist political party in Israel from 1948 until its formal merger into Likud in 1988. It was an adherent of Revisionist Zionism. Some of their policies were compared to those of the Nazi party. Early y ...
party list, but quit the party with his close friend and fellow Herut Member of the Knesset Eri Jabotinsky. This followed two years of ongoing disagreements with their colleagues, particularly Begin, over the party's leadership and direction. Kook, who had returned to Israel after a ten-year absence, was now confronted with the reality that the country and movement he had fought for bore little resemblance to his ideals. Kook and Jabotinsky served as independent or "single" MKs for the remaining months of their terms, the first ever to do so. Profoundly disillusioned with the Israeli political process and future of the Revisionist movement, Kook moved to the United States in 1951 with his wife and daughter and built a career as a
Wall Street Wall Street is a street in the Financial District, Manhattan, Financial District of Lower Manhattan in New York City. It runs eight city blocks between Broadway (Manhattan), Broadway in the west and South Street (Manhattan), South Str ...
stockbroker. In 1968, four years after his wife's death, he returned to Israel with his two daughters. He remarried in 1975 and lived near Tel Aviv in
Kfar Shmaryahu Kfar Shmaryahu (, ) is a local council in Israel, within the Tel Aviv District. History Kfar Shmaryahu was founded in May 1937, during the Fifth Aliyah. The founding members were German-Jewish immigrants, who named the village after Shmaryahu ...
until his death in 2001.


Views and opinions

While Kook never re-entered politics, he continued to give interviews in which he articulated his independent perspectives on Zionism, Jewish identity, and Israeli politics. He held that Jabotinsky's primary goal in creating a Jewish state was in making a country to which all Jews would want to belong, and that once Israel had been created, any Jews who refused to make
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 ...
had made a conscious choice to become "integrated" citizens of their naturalized countries. He specifically excluded American Jews from the "Right of Return" to the Land of Israel and wanted to limit that right in general to a very short period. He envisioned Israel having a "Hebrew Nation": an amalgam of all residents. Making a distinction between Jews and Hebrews was another point of contention between Kook and the Irgun leadership as early as the mid–1940s. Kook's views have been described as a more moderate version of the " Canaanist" ideology espoused by
Yonatan Ratosh Yonatan Ratosh () was the literary pseudonym of Uriel Shelach () (November 18, 1908 – March 25, 1981), an Israeli poet and journalist who founded the Canaanite movement. Biography Uriel Heilperin (later Shelach) was born in Warsaw, Poland i ...
. Like Ratosh, Kook was influenced by Adolf Gurevich, a Betar activist with connections to Bergson Group members Shmuel Merlin and Eri Jabotinsky. Kook had a specific body of critiques concerning what he saw as the distortion of Zionist philosophy and idealism by Israeli politics. He maintained that he had always conceived of Israel being a "Jewish state" by having a majority of Jewish citizens, not through specific associations to Jewish nationalism. Paradoxically, Kook's "
theocratic Theocracy is a form of autocracy or oligarchy in which one or more deities are recognized as supreme ruling authorities, giving divine guidance to human intermediaries, with executive and legislative power, who manage the government's daily a ...
" vision of Israel gave him a great deal of ideological flexibility regarding some of Israel's more intractable problems. Accordingly, he supported all non-Jewish citizens of Israel with full rights and privileges, and once, in an interview with an Israeli
Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...
, commented that, like Jabotinsky, he saw "no reason" why the State of Israel could not have a non-Jewish president. He suggested amending the
Law of Return The Law of Return (, ''ḥok ha-shvūt'') is an Israeli law, passed on 5 July 1950, which gives Jews, people with one or more Jewish grandparent, and their spouses the right to Aliyah, relocate to Israel and acquire Israeli nationality law, Isra ...
for Jews residing outside Israel to be limited to a few years after Independence (1948) and to consider prospective immigrants on an individual, and not on a national or religious basis, except for cases of immediate danger. Kook was also a strong supporter of Israel's constitution, which had been stalled during its writing in 1948 and never completed. Kook claimed that a formal constitution could have solved many ongoing issues in Israeli society, such as discrimination against
Israeli Arabs The Arab citizens of Israel form the country's largest ethnic minority. Their community mainly consists of former Mandatory Palestine citizens (and their descendants) who continued to inhabit the territory that was acknowledged as Israeli by ...
, by providing all of Israel's citizens with a clearly defined, and egalitarian, role in Israeli nationalism. He once remarked that the lack of a constitution was "Israel's greatest tragedy": that Ben-Gurion's decision to change the Israeli governing body from a
Constituent Assembly A constituent assembly (also known as a constitutional convention, constitutional congress, or constitutional assembly) is a body assembled for the purpose of drafting or revising a constitution. Members of a constituent assembly may be elected b ...
to a
Parliament In modern politics and history, a parliament is a legislative body of government. Generally, a modern parliament has three functions: Representation (politics), representing the Election#Suffrage, electorate, making laws, and overseeing ...
had been a putsch, and that he regretted not having resigned from the Knesset immediately after the decision had been made. Kook also favored the creation of a Palestinian state, albeit one established in modern-day
Jordan Jordan, officially the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, is a country in the Southern Levant region of West Asia. Jordan is bordered by Syria to the north, Iraq to the east, Saudi Arabia to the south, and Israel and the occupied Palestinian ter ...
. He was one of the first Israelis to call for a Palestinian state shortly after the
Six-Day War The Six-Day War, also known as the June War, 1967 Arab–Israeli War or Third Arab–Israeli War, was fought between Israel and a coalition of Arab world, Arab states, primarily United Arab Republic, Egypt, Syria, and Jordan from 5 to 10June ...
. For the remainder of his life, Kook adamantly claimed that his position would have been shared by his mentor Jabotinsky. Kook repeatedly referred to himself as a post-Zionist, and was one of the first in Israeli society to voluntarily (and positively) adopt the term.


Commemoration and legacy

Despite the important rescue activism of Kook and the Bergson Group during the Holocaust, there is scant public recognition of his activities in the state of Israel.
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 ...
, chief historian of
Yad Vashem Yad Vashem (; ) is Israel's official memorial institution to the victims of Holocaust, the Holocaust known in Hebrew language, Hebrew as the (). It is dedicated to preserving the memory of the Jews who were murdered; echoing the stories of the ...
, said at one point that "Hillel Kook didn't save anyone!" Although Kook was a founder of the Irgun underground group, appointed Menachem Begin as its commander, was a founding member of the Knesset, and fought valiantly in 1948 for the establishment of a Constitution, no public place in Jerusalem is named for Kook. Since the late 1990s, some historians have attempted to re-examine and evaluate the significance of his activities during World War II and his role as a political opponent of Begin. One allegation is that Kook's adversaries in Israel and America downplayed some of his accomplishments and minimized their own role in curtailing his activities.
David Wyman David Sword Wyman (6 March 1929 – 14 March 2018) was the Josiah DuBois professor of history at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst.Raoul Wallenberg Raoul Gustaf Wallenberg (4 August 1912 – disappeared 17 January 1945)He is presumed to have died in 1947, although the circumstances of his death are not clear and this date has been disputed. Some reports claim he was alive years later. In ...
mission. Despite his many important accomplishments there is no place in Jerusalem named after Hillel Kook and he and his committee are not mentioned the Yad Vashem museum. The street at a very prestigious location next to the Israel Museum, Israel National Library, Knesset is named for Wise. There is a large sign by the Jerusalem Municipality 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 ...
in honor of Goldman at the building where he resided. The above main obstructors of the rescue committee Kook formed and led received much recognition and very high positions after the war in the mainstream Jewish and Zionist world. The Accomplices is a play written by Bernard Weinraub and based on Kook's wartime efforts in the United States. It premiered at The New Group in 2007 and played thereafter in regional theatres. It also played in Jerusalem in April 2009 and at the Jerusalem Khan theater in early 2025. The role of Hillel Kook was played twice onstage by actor Steven Schub (lead singer of The Fenwicks), in 2008 at The Fountain Theatre and in 2009 at the Odyssey Theatre in Los Angeles. Actor Raphael (Rafi) Poch (Artistic Director of J-Town Playhouse) played Hillel Kook in Jerusalem. Film maker Pierre Sauvage directed a documentary about the activities of Kook during World War II: ''Not Idly By - Peter Bergson, America and the Holocaust''. The film won an award at the Toronto Jewish Film Festival. The work-in-progress was screened in short versions beginning in 2009, and the final version was released in 2017. There was an earlier 1982 documentary ''Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die'' by Larry Jarvik, including many of his mid-1970s interviews with Hillel Kook in Manhattan. The more recent 2009 ''Against the Tide'', directed by Richard Trank and produced by Moriah Films of the Simon Wiesenthal Center, includes narration by Dustin Hoffman.


Quotes


Recorded talks, statements and song

* Prof. David Kranzler: interview with Hillel Kook (New York

* Talk by daughter Dr. Becky Kook at Hillel Kook Memorial Lecture at Orthodox Union (OU) Israel Center, Jerusalem Aug 27 200

* Dr. Becky Kook talks about her father at International Rescuer Day 2006, Hebrew Universit

* Dr. Becky Kook. ''Hillel Kook the Unsung Hero'' via Zoom, organized by B'nei Brit, Dusseldor

* Dr. Becky Kook talks about her father MK Hillel Kook (aka Peter Bergson) via Zoom organized by Moadon Ivri club in Paris (in Hebrew

* Rabbi Dr. Norman Lamm. ''Beacons in the Dark'

* Professor MP Irv Cotler. ''Beacons in the Dark'

* ''The Rescuers'' song by David Ben Reuve


See also

* George Mantello, Holocaust rescuer, publicized the Auschwitz Protocols, Auschwitz Report * Gisi Fleischmann, Zionist activist and Holocaust rescuer * Michael Dov Weissmandl, Holocaust rescuer * Recha Sternbuch, Recha and Yitzchak Sternbuch, Holocaust rescuers * Solomon Schonfeld, Holocaust rescuer


References


Further reading

* * * * * * * * * * *


Videos

* ''ALTALENA'' (VHS video produced in Israel)
Laurence Jarvik, ''Who Shall Live and Who Shall Die'' (dist. on DVD by KINO International at: kino.com

Interview with Hillel Kook by Prof. David Kranzler
in New York

(2009 documentary short) by Pierre Sauvage, Varian Fry Institute * Richard M Trank, ''Against the Tide'', about Hillel Kook and the rescue group he led, as well as about obstruction by the American Jewish establishment leadership (Moriah Films, USA 2008)


External links


Jewish Journal interview with actor Steven Schub on playing Hillel Kook Hollywood Reporter review of the Los Angeles production of "The Accomplices"American League for a Free Palestine
at the American Jewish Historical Society, New York, NY
Wyman Conference 2007 VideosThe Day the Rabbis Marched on Washington
, from the American Jewish Historical Society
The Day the Rabbis Marched On-line Exhibit
from the ''David S. Wyman Institute for Holocaust Studies''.


Bergson Bio
from USHMM
The "Bergson Boys"
from ''America and the Holocaust'', Public Broadcasting Service, PBS. *
The Bergson Group, America, and the Holocaust: A Previously Unpublished Interview with Hillel Kook
by David S. Wyman, from ''American Jewish History'' 89:1 (2001)

by Eran Kaplan, from ''Israel Studies'' 10.3 (2005)
Jewish World Review op-ed
{{DEFAULTSORT:Kook, Hillel 1915 births 2001 deaths Abraham Isaac Kook Herut politicians Irgun members Members of the 1st Knesset (1949–1951) Post-Zionists The Holocaust and the United States Kook family, Hillel Mercaz HaRav alumni Lithuanian emigrants to Mandatory Palestine Lithuanian Zionists Israeli prisoners and detainees Prisoners and detainees of Israel Immigrants of the Fourth Aliyah