Oldal 407 [407]
OCR
404 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 investments 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 intellectuals’ 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 Modern 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 streetmerchant 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 immigrants 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 allowed 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 opposition 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).
