International Network
What is remarkable is not the degree of intolerance, but the extent to which Jews were tolerated and even encouraged in Germany. Jews were permitted to wield tremendous power and influence even though so many of them -- with the Warburgs at the forefront -- were part of a mighty, supra-national Jewish network that was dedicated above all to its own particular interests.
Members of this international Jewish elite cemented its ties through marriage. For example, Felix Warburg married Frieda Schiff, daughter of probably the most powerful Jew in America, the German-born Jacob Schiff. Felix's brother Paul married Nina Loeb, daughter of another prominent Jewish banker, Solomon Loeb.
An international network of Jewish organizations and charities devoted to the well-being of Jewish communities around the world operated as a shadow government for this scattered, stateless population. As leading members of the "Jewish royalty," the Warburgs played an important role in resettling hundreds of thousands of Russian and eastern European Jews in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries, underwriting the development of a Jewish cultural center in Palestine, and other projects. They also played an major role in domestic and international politics. During the Russo-Japanese war (1904-1905), Felix Warburg's father-in-law, Jacob Schiff, a fierce enemy of Tsarist Russia, helped finance the Japanese war effort. Driven by intense hatred of Russia's conservative, anti-Jewish government, Schiff kept Russia from obtaining Wall Street financing prior to the overthrow of the Tsarist regime and American entry into World War I.
A little-known but very ambitious Warburg project between the wars was the "Agro-Joint." Established in 1924 and financed by Felix Warburg, Julius Rosenwald (of Sears, Roebuck), and John D. Rockefeller, Jr., the "American Jewish Joint Agricultural Corporation" funnelled millions of dollars into Soviet Russia to transplant hundreds of thousands of Jews to 215 farming colonies on two and a half million acres. "Agro-Joint" money purchased land, livestock, agricultural machinery and more than a thousand tractors. Four hundred trade schools were established to train Jews in metal, woodworking, printing and other skills. (Regrettably, Chernow provides little information about the Soviet officials who dealt with the Warburgs in this venture.)
In 1927 Felix Warburg toured the Soviet republic, visiting 40 of the Jewish agricultural colonies in Ukraine and Crimea (including two named after him). At meetings in their community halls, an elated and inspired Warburg praised the colonists and their pioneering work. Back in United States, he responded to critics with a vigorous defense of the Communist regime. Felix Warburg was, writes Chernow, "quick to note that the Soviet government was improving the economic lot of the Jews."
The utopian scheme lasted until 1937 when the Soviets double-crossed the American capitalists and absorbed the Jewish colonies into local Soviet agencies. The last "Agro-Joint" assets were transferred to the Soviet government in 1940.
This channeling of money to Soviet Russia greatly upset Zionist leaders such as Stephen Wise and Chaim Weizmann, who grumbled that the millions should have been directed instead to building a Jewish presence in Palestine. Weizmann worked very hard to win Warburg family support for the establishment of a Jewish state there. The Warburgs were skeptical of Zionism, though, fearing that a Jewish state would supplant the traditional organizations, which they headed, as the nexus of Jewish political power. To reassure the reluctant Warburgs, Weizmann told them that the term "Jewish state" was only meant metaphorically.
Re: Malaysian Plane MH17 shot down with over 295 on board. But by who?
Reply With Quote
Re: Malaysian Plane MH17 shot down with over 295 on board. But by who?
EGO vs Experience? 
Seriously ?
Bookmarks