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Anna M. Rosner
Maurice de Hirsch, a German-Jewish philanthropist and a businessman. He had
spent part of his life in London and became well known for his large-scale invest¬
ments and involvement in the issues of the Jewish minority in Russia. He had been
devoted to the educational work of Alliance Israélite Universelle, a Jewish intellectu¬
als’ movement funded in 1860 in Paris (Laskier 1983: 147) and in 1891 had created
the Jewish Colonization Association. The main goal of the organization was to find
a place suitable for Jewish settlement and to finance the migration itself. The plan
for eastern European Jews was to move to the territories purchased for them by the
Jewish Colonization Association and organize self-sufficient communities. Although
the organization owned land in a few places, such as Palestine, the United States,
and Canada, its biggest achievements were connected to the Argentinean part of
the plan. The Jewish Colonization Association actions never gained the scale Hirsch
had hoped for, but his involvement and publicity of the association had resulted in
increased awareness of the problems of eastern European Jews among European
communities.
The Archive of the Jewish Museum London holds a cartoon entitled “The Mod¬
ern Moses” (ill. 178)?” (catalog number: AR 1561). It comes from 1891 and was
drawn by George Hutchinson. This caricature refers to Hirsch’s plans of organized
migrations and settlement. He is presented as a traveller, or even a wanderer. Though
dressed in fashionable clothes and looking like a gentleman, he is supporting himself
on a walking stick made of a simple branch. Behind him there is an endless line of
Ashkenazim, all seemingly traditional and resembling characters of the early street¬
merchant cartoons. They look poor and their faces show sadness and misfortune.
Two of them, following Maurice de Hirsch closely, hold a sign “Jewish Colonization
Company Limited.” The scene refers to the history of Moses leading the Jews out
of Egyptian slavery.
Massive migration of Ashkenazim from eastern Europe, which took place after
1881, caused a discussion about the possibility of limiting the admission of new im¬
migrants to Great Britain. Many Britons shared the opinion that the immense flow
of immigrants posed a threat to the stability of the economy. In response to that fear,
in 1905, the Aliens Act was brought to life. It did not limit the number of people al¬
lowed to enter Great Britain but gave basis to refuse entry to anyone with a criminal
history as well as to people whom authorities deemed could not support themselves
in Great Britain. In the eyes of a large part of the community, the law stood in oppo¬
sition to the rwo-hundred-years old tradition of offering shelter to anyone persecuted
in their homeland. The cartoon “The Aliens Act at Work” (ill. 179)?° from 1906
represents the views of the people who opposed the new regulations.
29 http://www.jewishmuseum.org.uk/search-our-collections-new?adlibid=79808offset=6 (accessed
04.07.2012).
30. hetp://www.jewishmuseum.org.uk/search-our-collections-new?adlibid=15787&offset=0 (accessed
04.07.2012).