Joseph Schechtman
Encyclopedia
Joseph Boris Schechtman was a writer and Revisionist
political activist. He was the author of several books of history, including The Arab Refugee Problem (1952), and a two-volume biography of Vladimir Jabotinsky, The Life and Times of Vladimar Jabotinsky. Rebel and Statesman: The Early Years (1956) and Fighter and Prophet. The Vladimir Jabotinsky Story: the Last Years (1961).
in the Russian Empire
(today in Ukraine
). While participating in the Zionist youth movement
, he met Jabotinsky.
Schechtman studied in Novorossiysk
University. There he established contacts with members of the Ukrainian national movement. In 1910 he published an article in the journal "Еврейский мир" (Jewish World) in St. Petersburg, calling for Ukrainian-Jewish dialogue. In 1917, back in Odessa, he published pamphlets «Евреи и украинцы» (Jews and Ukrainians) and «Национальные движения в свободной России» (National Movements in the Free Russia).
In 1920 Schechtman emigrated from Bolshevik Russia. He entered Berlin University, and actively participated in the Federation of Russian-Ukrainian Zionists (in emigration). From September 1922 he co-edited weekly Russian-language "Рассвет" (The Dawn) with Jabotinsky.
Schechtman was one of the founders of the World Union of Zionists-revisionists
(Paris, 1925). In 1929-1931 he was the editor of Yiddish weekly "Der Noyer Veg" (The New Way) in Paris. From 1931 to 1935 Schechtman was a member of the executive committee of the Zionist Organization(WZO), when both he and Jabotinsky left the ZO to co-found the New Zionist Organization.
in the summer of 1941, and soon became part of the 'inner circle' of the New Zionist Organization of America (NZOA). In 1941-1943 he worked at YIVO
. In 1943-1944 he was the director of Bureau for Study of Population Migration which he co-founded earlier. In 1944-1945 he worked as a consultant on questions of the migration of the Office of Strategic Services
(OSS). Schechtman was the chairman of the Association of American Zionists-Revisionists. In 1946, New Zionist Organization self-liquidated to rejoin the WZO. Schechtman served as a member of the executive committee of the WZO until 1970. In 1963-1965 and 1966-1968 he was a member of the executive committee of the Jewish Agency for Israel
.
and Steven Glazer for misquoting, carefully selecting words, and taking statements out of context to fit his narrative.
Walid Khalidi
attributes to Schechtman the position, which Khalidi regards as groundless, that the Palestinian people fled their towns and villages in 1948 in response to Arab broadcasts advising them to do so. Schechtman was the anonymous author of two pamphlets published in 1949 under the name of the Israel Information Center in New York, in which reference to the evacuation order first appeared.
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...
political activist. He was the author of several books of history, including The Arab Refugee Problem (1952), and a two-volume biography of Vladimir Jabotinsky, The Life and Times of Vladimar Jabotinsky. Rebel and Statesman: The Early Years (1956) and Fighter and Prophet. The Vladimir Jabotinsky Story: the Last Years (1961).
Early life and education
Schechtman was born in OdessaOdessa
Odessa or Odesa is the administrative center of the Odessa Oblast located in southern Ukraine. The city is a major seaport located on the northwest shore of the Black Sea and the fourth largest city in Ukraine with a population of 1,029,000 .The predecessor of Odessa, a small Tatar settlement,...
in the Russian Empire
Russian Empire
The Russian Empire was a state that existed from 1721 until the Russian Revolution of 1917. It was the successor to the Tsardom of Russia and the predecessor of the Soviet Union...
(today in Ukraine
Ukraine
Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It has an area of 603,628 km², making it the second largest contiguous country on the European continent, after Russia...
). While participating in the Zionist youth movement
Zionist youth movement
A Zionist youth movement is an organization formed for Jewish children and adolescents for educational, social, and ideological development, including a belief in Jewish nationalism as represented in the State of Israel...
, he met Jabotinsky.
Schechtman studied in Novorossiysk
Novorossiysk
Novorossiysk is a city in Krasnodar Krai, Russia. It is the country's main port on the Black Sea and the leading Russian port for importing grain. It is one of the few cities honored with the title of the Hero City. Population: -History:...
University. There he established contacts with members of the Ukrainian national movement. In 1910 he published an article in the journal "Еврейский мир" (Jewish World) in St. Petersburg, calling for Ukrainian-Jewish dialogue. In 1917, back in Odessa, he published pamphlets «Евреи и украинцы» (Jews and Ukrainians) and «Национальные движения в свободной России» (National Movements in the Free Russia).
Political activism
In May 1917, Schechtman was elected a delegate to the Seventh All-Russian Conference of Zionists that took place in Petrograd and to the All-Russian Jewish Congress that took place in Moscow during June–July 1918. In 1918 he was elected a member of the Jewish National Council of Ukraine. In 1918-1919 he worked in its executive agency, Jewish National Secretariat.In 1920 Schechtman emigrated from Bolshevik Russia. He entered Berlin University, and actively participated in the Federation of Russian-Ukrainian Zionists (in emigration). From September 1922 he co-edited weekly Russian-language "Рассвет" (The Dawn) with Jabotinsky.
Schechtman was one of the founders of the World Union of Zionists-revisionists
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...
(Paris, 1925). In 1929-1931 he was the editor of Yiddish weekly "Der Noyer Veg" (The New Way) in Paris. From 1931 to 1935 Schechtman was a member of the executive committee of the Zionist Organization(WZO), when both he and Jabotinsky left the ZO to co-found the New Zionist Organization.
Emigration to the U.S.
Schechtman emigrated to the United StatesUnited States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
in the summer of 1941, and soon became part of the 'inner circle' of the New Zionist Organization of America (NZOA). In 1941-1943 he worked at YIVO
YIVO
YIVO, , established in 1925 in Wilno, Poland as the Yidisher Visnshaftlekher Institut , or Yiddish Scientific Institute, is a source for orthography, lexicography, and other studies related to the Yiddish language...
. In 1943-1944 he was the director of Bureau for Study of Population Migration which he co-founded earlier. In 1944-1945 he worked as a consultant on questions of the migration of the Office of Strategic Services
Office of Strategic Services
The Office of Strategic Services was a United States intelligence agency formed during World War II. It was the wartime intelligence agency, and it was a predecessor of the Central Intelligence Agency...
(OSS). Schechtman was the chairman of the Association of American Zionists-Revisionists. In 1946, New Zionist Organization self-liquidated to rejoin the WZO. Schechtman served as a member of the executive committee of the WZO until 1970. In 1963-1965 and 1966-1968 he was a member of the executive committee of the Jewish Agency for Israel
Jewish Agency for Israel
The Jewish Agency for Israel , also known as the Sochnut or JAFI, served as the organization in charge of immigration and absorption of Jews from the Diaspora into the state of Israel.-History:...
.
Writing
He wrote a number of books dedicated to Jewish and world history, migrations, refugee issues, and was a biographer of Jabotinsky.Palestinian "evacuation order"
His work on the Palestinian refugee problem was heavily criticised by Erskine ChildersErskine Childers (UN)
Erskine Barton Childers was a writer, BBC correspondent and United Nations senior civil servant. He was the eldest son of Erskine Hamilton Childers and Ruth Ellen Dow Childers...
and Steven Glazer for misquoting, carefully selecting words, and taking statements out of context to fit his narrative.
Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi
Walid Khalidi is an Oxford University-educated Palestinian historian who has written extensively on the Palestinian exodus. He is General Secretary and co-founder of the Institute for Palestine Studies, established in Beirut in December 1963 as an independent research and publishing center...
attributes to Schechtman the position, which Khalidi regards as groundless, that the Palestinian people fled their towns and villages in 1948 in response to Arab broadcasts advising them to do so. Schechtman was the anonymous author of two pamphlets published in 1949 under the name of the Israel Information Center in New York, in which reference to the evacuation order first appeared.
Publications
- Jews in German-Occupied Soviet Territory, 1944
- The Elimination of German Minorities in Southeastern Europe, 1946
- Population transfers in Asia, 1949
- Like a Tree Which Bears No Fruit: A Report on Oriental Jewry, 1951
- The Arab Refugee Problem, 1952
- Minorities in the Arab world, 1953
- The Life and Times of Vladimar Jabotinsky: Rebel and Statesman: The Early Years, 1956
- On Wings of Eagles: the Plight, Exodus, and Homecoming of Oriental Jewry, 1961
- Fighter and Prophet: the Vladimir Jabotinsky Story: the Last Years, 1961
- Star in Eclipse: Russian Jewry Revisited, 1961
- Postwar population transfers in Europe 1945-1955, 1963
- Fact Sheet on Arab Refugees, 1964
- The Refugee in the World: Displacement and Integration, 1964
- The Mufti and the Fuehrer; the Rise and Fall of Haj Amin el-Husseini, 1965
- The United States and the Jewish State Movement; the Crucial Decade, 1939-1949, 1966
- Zionism and Zionists in Soviet Russia: Greatness and Drama , 1966
- Jordan: A State that Never Was, 1968
- Arab Terror: Blueprint for Political Murder, 1969
- Israel Explores Deir Yassin Blood Libel, 1969
- History of the Revisionist Movement, 1970
- European Population Transfers, 1939-1945, 1971