Ben-Zion Sternberg
Encyclopedia
Ben-Zion Sternberg (1894 - May 31, 1962), Zionist and signatory of the Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel
, was born in Czernowitz, Bukovina
, a region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was born to a comparatively prosperous local Jewish family. His father Abraham was a landowner in the thriving Jewish community of Bukovina.
) in Hebrew, marking the first significant attempt to bring the rebirth of the language to the attention of a non-Jewish audience.
Following the Treaty of Versailles
and Britain’s assuming the mandate for Palestine, Sternberg affiliated himself closely with the Revisionist
movement - an affiliation which he was to retain for the rest of his political life. Sternberg gradually emerged as a leading light of the Revisionist-Zionist movement. He received Dr. Chaim Weizmann
during his visit to Czernowitz, who, in a friendly barb, thanked "his esteemed opposition" for the greeting.
In 1926 Vladimir Jabotinsky visited Czernowitz for the first time. During this visit he and Sternberg began their close political alliance. Sternberg was elected chairman of the All Romanian Revisionist Federal Organisation, following which he became a leading exponent of Revisionism at multiple Zionist Congresses.
Sternberg maintained his prominent political role during the War and in the years leading up to the birth of the State of Israel. With Jabotinsky’s death in 1940, Sternberg took on an increasingly visible role in leading the Revisionist movement. During these years he played a central role in coordinating efforts to aid Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis migrate to Mandate Palestine. The British White Paper of 1939
had severely limited Jewish migration to Palestine, ensuring that only 75,000 Jews were officially granted permission to enter during the years of the War, despite the genocide taking place in Europe. For his attempts to help Jewish refugees subvert the British immigration authorities, Sternberg was jailed for one month at Latrun jail, near Jerusalem.
With the withdrawal of the British Mandate, Sternberg represented the Revisionist movement in the historic Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel on May 14th 1948. Following David Ben-Gurion
's speech to the Vaad Leumi gathered at the then Tel-Aviv Museum of Art, Sternberg was one of the 37 signatories of the Declaration. During Israel’s early years, marked by war and a struggle for survival against the powers of the Arab world, Sternberg continued to serve the Zionist cause as a member of Israel’s Provisional Council of State. Following the birth of the new state, Sternberg continued to serve his country as Director of the Investment Centre at the Ministry of Trade. He remained active in politics and civil service until his death in 1962.
Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel
The Israeli Declaration of Independence , made on 14 May 1948 , the day before the British Mandate was due to expire, was the announcement by David Ben-Gurion, the Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization and chairman of the Jewish Agency for Palestine, that the new Jewish state named the...
, was born in Czernowitz, Bukovina
Bukovina
Bukovina is a historical region on the northern slopes of the northeastern Carpathian Mountains and the adjoining plains.-Name:The name Bukovina came into official use in 1775 with the region's annexation from the Principality of Moldavia to the possessions of the Habsburg Monarchy, which became...
, a region of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was born to a comparatively prosperous local Jewish family. His father Abraham was a landowner in the thriving Jewish community of Bukovina.
Pre WWII
Sternberg was a prominent local Zionist from a young age. In 1914 put his nationalist aspirations on hold to serve as an officer of Austria-Hungary during the First World War. Prior to and following the war, Sternberg was a leading member of the Hebronia movement, a leading local Zionist movement. In 1920 he addressed 600 visiting Romanian dignitaries (Czernowitz became a part of newly born Romania following the Treaty of VersaillesTreaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
) in Hebrew, marking the first significant attempt to bring the rebirth of the language to the attention of a non-Jewish audience.
Following the Treaty of Versailles
Treaty of Versailles
The Treaty of Versailles was one of the peace treaties at the end of World War I. It ended the state of war between Germany and the Allied Powers. It was signed on 28 June 1919, exactly five years after the assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand. The other Central Powers on the German side of...
and Britain’s assuming the mandate for Palestine, Sternberg affiliated himself closely with the Revisionist
Revisionist Zionism
Revisionist Zionism is a nationalist faction within the Zionist movement. It is the founding ideology of the non-religious right in Israel, and was the chief ideological competitor to the dominant socialist Labor Zionism...
movement - an affiliation which he was to retain for the rest of his political life. Sternberg gradually emerged as a leading light of the Revisionist-Zionist movement. He received Dr. Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Weizmann
Chaim Azriel Weizmann, , was a Zionist leader, President of the Zionist Organization, and the first President of the State of Israel. He was elected on 1 February 1949, and served until his death in 1952....
during his visit to Czernowitz, who, in a friendly barb, thanked "his esteemed opposition" for the greeting.
In 1926 Vladimir Jabotinsky visited Czernowitz for the first time. During this visit he and Sternberg began their close political alliance. Sternberg was elected chairman of the All Romanian Revisionist Federal Organisation, following which he became a leading exponent of Revisionism at multiple Zionist Congresses.
WWII and the establishment of the State of Israel
Sternberg continued to fulfill his prominent role in international Zionism from Romania until the Nazi persecutions of the Second World War. Upon the outbreak of war, he fled Europe with his family to Mandate Palestine. Unlike most Jewish refugees who had to be secretly spirited into the territory, Sternberg had the unusual distinction of arriving under diplomatic protection into Mandate Palestine on board a vessel of the British Royal Navy.Sternberg maintained his prominent political role during the War and in the years leading up to the birth of the State of Israel. With Jabotinsky’s death in 1940, Sternberg took on an increasingly visible role in leading the Revisionist movement. During these years he played a central role in coordinating efforts to aid Jewish refugees fleeing the Nazis migrate to Mandate Palestine. The British White Paper of 1939
White Paper of 1939
The White Paper of 1939, also known as the MacDonald White Paper after Malcolm MacDonald, the British Colonial Secretary who presided over it, was a policy paper issued by the British government under Neville Chamberlain in which the idea of partitioning the Mandate for Palestine, as recommended in...
had severely limited Jewish migration to Palestine, ensuring that only 75,000 Jews were officially granted permission to enter during the years of the War, despite the genocide taking place in Europe. For his attempts to help Jewish refugees subvert the British immigration authorities, Sternberg was jailed for one month at Latrun jail, near Jerusalem.
With the withdrawal of the British Mandate, Sternberg represented the Revisionist movement in the historic Declaration of the Establishment of the State of Israel on May 14th 1948. Following David Ben-Gurion
David Ben-Gurion
' was the first Prime Minister of Israel.Ben-Gurion's passion for Zionism, which began early in life, led him to become a major Zionist leader and Executive Head of the World Zionist Organization in 1946...
's speech to the Vaad Leumi gathered at the then Tel-Aviv Museum of Art, Sternberg was one of the 37 signatories of the Declaration. During Israel’s early years, marked by war and a struggle for survival against the powers of the Arab world, Sternberg continued to serve the Zionist cause as a member of Israel’s Provisional Council of State. Following the birth of the new state, Sternberg continued to serve his country as Director of the Investment Centre at the Ministry of Trade. He remained active in politics and civil service until his death in 1962.