28 August 1898
Second Zionist Congress Opens
Historical context
The Second Zionist Congress opened in Basel on August 28, 1898, and sat through August 31. About 400 delegates attended. The Jewish Colonial Trust was founded.
Archive record
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- Date
- 28 August 1898
- Verified sources
- 1
- Archive threads
- 1
On this day, Theodor Herzl opened the Second Zionist Congress in Basel. It sat through 31 August 1898. About 400 delegates attended, nearly twice the number at the First Congress the year before. Chaim Weizmann was present for the first time.
Herzl called on Zionists to “conquer the communities.” The Congress laid the foundations of the Jewish Colonial Trust, a bank for settlement work. Women delegates received full voting rights. A committee for culture was charged with supporting Hebrew as a spoken language.
Research trail
Sources and further reading
- The Second Zionist Congress, Basel, Aug. 28-31, 1898 · Center for Online Judaic Studies / Herzl Museum · COJS View source
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