“An island of Jewish autonomous life”: Paul Rosner’s Diary and the Story of the Young Maccabi Movement in Germany

Abstract

From April to August 1937, Paul Rosner recorded his experiences while attending the Beth Halutz/Maccabi Hatzair boarding school in Berlin, and while participating in the Maccabi youth movement in Germany. Clearly illuminating his personal history in the group, the diary describes daily life, and offers a glimpse into several important events of the Berlin Jewish community, particularly within Zionist circles. This article first covers the history of the Maccabi youth movement, before analyzing the diary’s coverage of various topics including culture, religion, politics, and leisure. Previously, the official writings of the movement’s leaders dominated the narrative of this group, but Rosner’s diary offers a youth’s perspective that is both unique and complex, exploring the movement’s successful attempt to create a parallel Jewish reality for its members during a period of ongoing persecution.