A Handwritten and Signed Letter by Ze’ev Jabotinsky Foretelling the Aftermath of the Holocaust – Three Months Before His Death

There are moments when the entirety of history crystallizes into a few sheets of paper. The document before us is an original letter written entirely in the handwriting and bearing the personal signature of the Rosh Betar, Ze’ev Jabotinsky. Sent from New York on May 2, 1940, this artifact represents an extremely rare historical find and a chilling testament to the prophetic vision of the great leader. In the midst of 1940, Jabotinsky foresaw with surgical precision the end of the war, the staggering dimensions of the problem of millions of Jewish refugees, and the only path to its resolution—the establishment of a Jewish state in the Land of Israel—long before the world (and the Jewish community in the US) even grasped the scale of the catastrophe unfolding in Europe.

Historical Background: Ze’ev Jabotinsky – The Leader Ahead of His Time

Ze’ev (Vladimir) Jabotinsky (1880–1940) was one of the most influential, brilliant, and multi-faceted Zionist leaders of the 20th century. He was an author, poet, journalist, translator, and a statesman possessing an extraordinary strategic worldview.

From his youth, Jabotinsky understood that anti-Semitism in Europe was a ticking time bomb. His historical achievements spanned crucial turning points:

• The Jewish Legions: During World War I, it was Jabotinsky (alongside Joseph Trumpeldor) who conceived and established the Jewish Legions within the British Army—the first organized Jewish military force in two millennia.

• Self-Defense: In 1920, he led the self-defense of the Jews of Jerusalem during the Nebi Musa riots, was arrested by the British, and was sentenced to a lengthy imprisonment in Acre (which was later commuted due to public pressure).

• The Revisionist Movement and Betar: Having grown disillusioned with the conciliatory stance of the Zionist Organization leadership toward Britain, he founded Zionist Revisionism (Hazohar) and the Betar youth movement, which educated generations of youth in courage, dignity, military readiness, and Aliyah.

• The Evacuation Plan: In the 1930s, while the leadership in Palestine focused on slow growth, Jabotinsky toured Eastern Europe, pleading with the Jews: “Liquidate the Diaspora before the Diaspora liquidates you.” His call was met with ridicule by his political rivals, but history proved just how right he was.

The Final Mission to the United States (1940)

In 1940, at the height of World War II when European Jewry was already being suffocated under the Nazi boot, Jabotinsky arrived in the United States heading a delegation of the NZO (New Zionist Organization).

His goals in the US were bold and far-reaching:

To rally and awaken an indifferent American Jewry.

To pressure the administration in Washington to establish an official Jewish Army to fight alongside the Allies against Nazi Germany.

To prepare the diplomatic infrastructure for the peace conference that would assemble after the war, ensuring that the solution to the Jewish problem would be the establishment of a sovereign state in Palestine.

Only Jabotinsky himself knew in those days that his health was failing and his heart was betraying him. The letter before us reflects his immense sense of urgency, as he writes openly and prophetically: “This is, of course, the last big work of my life.” Three months later, in August 1940, he suffered a fatal heart attack while visiting a Betar summer camp in New York.

The Recipient: “Between Parisians”

This personal and highly detailed letter, spanning 3.5 pages, is addressed to the philanthropist and Zionist activist Yefim Kirschner (addressed in Russian using his name and patronymic, as custom dictates: “Yefim Markovich”). Kirschner was a friend and supporter of Jabotinsky since their shared days in Paris (before Jabotinsky was expelled from France and Kirschner relocated temporarily to the US).

Jabotinsky reaches out to him discretely “between Parisians,” requesting an urgent, lump-sum financial assistance of $15,000 (half of the total campaign budget of $30,000) so he can launch the political campaign in Washington without having to rely initially on the favors of “petty people.”

The Family Drama: The Arrest of His Son, Eri Jabotinsky

At the end of the letter, Jabotinsky reveals his isolation and personal anguish, sharing a harrowing family drama: his only son, Eri Jabotinsky, had been arrested in Palestine by the British Mandatory authorities.

Eri Jabotinsky was one of the leaders of the unauthorized immigration (“Aliyah Af Al Pi”) organized by the Revisionist Movement. He worked tirelessly across Europe to arrange refugee ships and rescue Jews from their bitter fate. As Jabotinsky the father writes with a mixture of pride and pain in the letter: “Our son is arrested in Palestine for pulling 2,400 people out of the ice”—a direct reference to the heroic rescue operation of the ship Sakaria and other refugee vessels that became trapped in the frozen Danube River during the winter of 1939–1940. Eri successfully rescued the passengers and brought them to the shores of Palestine despite the British White Paper restrictions. The British arrested Eri, threw him into the Acre prison, and even threatened to revoke his naturalization, causing Jabotinsky significant distress during his final days.

Letter Transcription and Full English Translation

Below is the complete text of this fascinating document as originally written (in Russian) alongside an accurate English translation:

Page 1

Russian: Нью-Йорк, 2 мая 1940 Многоуважаемый Ефим Маркович, Получив сегодня Ваш адрес, я бы и раньше мог его получить у Александра Ефимовича, которого видел сейчас по приезде — но у меня пропал его адрес, и никто из знакомых его не знает. Как всегда, хочу просить Вас помочь моему делу. Мне это всегда тяжело — в конце концов, мог бы и я заниматься своей профессией, никого ни о чем не прося. Но так сложилась моя судьба; а Ваша судьба сложилась так, что Вы хороший человек, женатый на хорошей женщине, и потому из Вас обоих протягиваются руки. Ничего не поделаешь. Я приехал в Америку с простой целью: добиться того, чтобы на будущей мирной конференции было только одно объединенное еврейское представительство, и чтобы это представительство предъявило миру требование о немедленном заселении Палестины еврейскими беженцами. Я считаю, что к концу войны будет несколько миллионов бездомных евреев, настолько бездомных, что некуда будет их вернуть или послать, кроме как в “еврейскую страну”; и что ни-

English: New York, May 2, 1940 Dear Yefim Markovich, Having received your address today, I could have gotten it earlier from Aleksandr Efimovich, whom I saw just upon my arrival—but I lost his address, and none of our acquaintances know it. As always, I want to ask you to help my cause. This is always difficult for me—after all, I too could have practiced my own profession without asking anyone for anything. But that is how my fate turned out; and your fate turned out such that you are a good man, married to a good woman, and therefore hands stretch out from both of you. It cannot be helped. I came to America with a simple goal: to ensure that at the future peace conference there will be only one united Jewish representation, and that this representation will present the world with a demand for the immediate settlement of Palestine by Jewish refugees. I believe that by the end of the war there will be several million homeless Jews, so homeless that there will be nowhere to return or send them, except to the “Jewish country”; and that no—

Page 2

Russian: (2) какой другой страны для этого, кроме Палестины, державы не найдут (хотя им теперь кажется, будто вот-вот удастся найти); и что к тому времени всё на свете так сложится, что Англия возражать не будет, а с арабами никто не будет считаться. Это все очень трудно — особенно трудно добиться объединения — но я в это верю. Я уверен, что если только война вдруг не “испарится”, то она разовьется в настоящее мировое землетрясение, и тогда даже евреи опомнятся и проснутся, даже здесь в Америке. Я буду поэтому добиваться большого всеобщего конгресса с такой программой, какую только что изложил; а пока будем обрабатывать важные американские и дипломатические круги в Вашингтоне. Это, конечно, в моей жизни последняя большая работа. Я в нее верю, но знаю ее трудности. Она тем труднее, что здесь все евреи спят, сионисты и ассимиляторы, а ко мне относятся так, как всегда относятся к человеку, который хочет разбудить. Помогите мне. Прошу о щедрости еще большей, чем все, что Вы для нас делали до сих пор.

English: (2) other country for this, except Palestine, will the powers find (although it now seems to them as if they are just about to find one); and that by then everything in the world will turn out such that England will not object, and nobody will reckon with the Arabs. This is all very difficult—especially difficult to achieve unity—but I believe in it. I am sure that unless the war suddenly “evaporates,” it will develop into a real world earthquake, and then even the Jews will come to their senses and wake up, even here in America. I will therefore strive for a large general congress with the program I have just outlined; and meanwhile, we will cultivate important American and diplomatic circles in Washington. This is, of course, the last big work of my life. I believe in it, but I know its difficulties. It is all the more difficult because here all the Jews are asleep, both Zionists and assimilationists, and they treat me the way they always treat a person who wants to wake them up. Help me. I ask for a generosity even greater than all that you have done for us until now.

Page 3

Russian: (3) Я конечно знаю, что теперь времена и для Вас не те, что были в Париже. Но, с другой стороны, теперь наш народ в Восточной Европе погибает; и теперь последний срок для того поколения, к которому мы оба принадлежим, отслужить историческую службу в самую решающую минуту. На кампанию здесь мне нужно 30 тысяч долларов. Я у Вас прошу по крайней мере половину этой суммы; прошу о ней сразу, чтобы дать мне развернуть работу. Мне особенно важно не прибегать теперь, на первых шагах, к помощи мизерных людей. Потом, когда разверну работу, возьму у них. О первых 15-ти тысячах прошу Вас. Не пишу об этой просьбе ни Даниилу, ни Мирельману, не хочу их вмешивать в этот разговор “между парижанами”. Поэтому не откажите ответить мне телеграфно. И спасибо заранее, и дай Бог Вам и Софье Яковлевне и всем Вашим дожить до доброго плода. Анна Марковна в Париже. Сын наш арестован в Палестине за то, что вытащил изо льда 2400 человек, а теперь еще

English: (3) I of course know that times are now not the same for you as they were in Paris. But, on the other hand, now our people in Eastern Europe are perishing; and now is the final term for the generation to which we both belong to render historical service at the most decisive moment. For the campaign here I need 30 thousand dollars. I ask you for at least half of this amount; I ask for it all at once, to allow me to deploy the work. It is especially important for me not to resort now, in the first steps, to the help of petty people. Later, when I deploy the work, I will take from them. For the first 15 thousand, I ask you. I am not writing about this request to Daniil nor to Mirelman, I do not want to involve them in this conversation “between Parisians.” Therefore, please do not refuse to reply to me by telegraph. And thank you in advance, and may God grant you and Sofya Yakovlevna and all of yours to live to see good fruit. Anna Markovna [Jabotinsky’s wife] is in Paris. Our son is arrested in Palestine for pulling 2,400 people out of the ice, and now they also—

Page 4

Russian: (4) хотят у него отнять натурализацию. Мне больно и за него, и за жену, и вообще трудно мне и трудно тащить мою поклажу. Крепко жму руки Вам обоим. Сердечно Ваш, В. Жаботинский

Мой личный адрес: Hotel Kimberly 74-th at Broadway New York

English: (4) want to strip him of his naturalization. It pains me both for him and for my wife, and in general, it is hard for me and hard to carry my burden. I warmly shake hands with you both. Cordially yours, V. Jabotinsky

My personal address: Hotel Kimberly 74th at Broadway New York

Conclusion

This letter is a collector’s item and historical piece of the highest order. It is not merely an archival document, but a handwritten, signed, and living political testament. It stands as definitive evidence of a historical prophecy fulfilled in its entirety, offering a rare, painful, and exposed window into the soul of one of the nation’s greatest leaders during his final and most dramatic moments on the stage of history.