Everyday Zionism in East-Central Europe: Nation-Building in War and Revolution, 1914–1920 by Jan Rybak (review)

Abstract

Reviewed by: Everyday Zionism in East-Central Europe: Nation-Building in War and Revolution, 1914–1920 by Jan Rybak Daniel Mahla Jan Rybak. Everyday Zionism in East-Central Europe: Nation-Building in War and Revolution, 1914–1920. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2021. 352 pp. In Everyday Zionism in East Central Europe, Jan Rybak examines the rise of Jewish nationalism during the turmoil of the First World War. The war not only brought unprecedented destruction and crisis to Jewish communities in east central Europe, but also represented an important breakthrough for the Zionist movement. Rybak attempts to answer the question of why the movement became such a central force during this period. Rather than focusing on ideological issues, he looks at local activism and argues that it was the active concern for welfare and communities that helped the Zionists become a significant player in Jewish life during this period. The book, based on Rybak’s dissertation, traces Zionist activism between 1914 and 1920 through the “vast area . . . from Vienna to Wilno (Vilne/Vilnius/Wilna/Vilna) and from Prague to Pińsk” (2). The author has a thorough knowledge of the complex and often rapidly changing political and social conditions in this area and bases his analysis on an impressive number of primary sources in several languages. In each of the thematically organized chapters, he devotes considerable attention to the differences and nuances of the situation in the various regions and to the interplay of local contexts and international developments. [End Page 487] The first chapter traces the changes in the region triggered by the outbreak of war and the German conquest of large areas in the west of the Russian Empire. The war, Rybak shows, forced the Zionists to reconsider their focus on Jewish settlements in Palestine and to devote their resources instead to relief efforts in east central Europe. Most importantly, he shows how the new realities of the war changed the dynamics between central Zionist institutions and local activists. In his second chapter, Rybak focuses on nationalist involvement in various forms of relief work and shows how Zionists amassed political capital and consolidated their authority as community leaders through such activities. “Throughout the region,” Rybak notes, “Zionists saw their political and relief efforts as instruments to win over and mobilize the Jewish nation” (94). At the same time, with an eye to regional specifics, he points out the different results these efforts achieved in various areas and regions. Chapter 3 looks at the importance Zionists placed on child care and education. Through their efforts to provide schooling, establish youth clubs, sports clubs, and more, local activists influenced large segments of the next generation, the generation that would reshape the movement after the collapse of the great empires and in the postwar period. One of the most fascinating parts of the book is its chapter on antisemitic violence and Zionist efforts to organize Jewish self-defense. Contrary to popular belief, Rybak argues, the collapse of imperial authorities was not immediately followed by an outbreak of anti-Jewish violence; rather, there was a brief period in which various actors attempted to work together. In this situation, the Zionists sought alliances with nationalist forces while building their own military units to defend Jewish communities. In a world of nations, they believed, only an autonomous national self-organization could guarantee the security of the Jews. The last two chapters deal with the new realities created by the collapse of empires. Zionist ideas fit well into a world in which national belonging was forcibly ascribed to the individual. In this situation, they were able to put their ideas of national self-expression into practice and position themselves as the new leaders of communities in many places. In the fateful year of 1917, the Russian Revolution, on the one hand, and the Balfour Declaration, on the other, steered Jewish political activism in different directions. Rybak examines the various ways in which local activists responded to these developments. Without questioning their relevance, he argues for a reassessment of the connection between such international trends and local contexts. “The significance of many of the ‘big’ events,” he concludes, “was not even their impact on local conditions, but...