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The second World Kinus was help in Cracow in 1935. Never
before had the old Polish city witnessed such scenes. The townsmen gaped in
bewilderment at the thousands upon thousands of excited young Jews who thronged
the streets leading to the conference hall. They came from every corner of
Europe. It was four years since the first Kinus in Danzig. There had been fewer
of them then.
In danzig, they were a self conscious, ill-sorted crowd,
making conversation awkwardly in all the languages and jargons of the Galut. No
two countries uniforms were the same. But in Cracow it was possible to see how
those four years had welded Jabotinsky's disciples into one movement that
extended across Europe.
The B'rith Trumpeldor had been tested in an ordeal greater
than any ordeal of hate, slander, starvation, ostracism, physical violence, and
blood libel combined. It had survived the ordeal, and from the shadow of
strength had emerged with an intensity of purpose and inner strength never
equaled in Jewish history since the times of Bar Kochba's legions.
The Betarim marched through the resounding streets of
Cracow. Thousands of them dressed in the same uniform, wearing the same
insignia to determine their ranks, Walking tall, looking proud, and this time
speaking one language - Hebrew.
No longer was there any outward differences between them, no
longer could one tell which country a Betari came from by the uniform he wore
or the language he spoke. They were now an army of brothers united in suffering
and martyrdom, facing a hostile world with a defiant "Tel Hai" on their lips.
On their shoulders they carried in Abraham Stavsky, now a free man, who had
come to Cracow to gather with Rosenblatt as a delegate of the Palestine
Betar.
Jabotinsky spoke to them in a packed hall. Thousands
clamored for entrance at the door, unable to find as much as a foothold within.
The Rosh Betar wore the uniform of Betar, just like the one they are were
wearing. But when they saw him in it for the first time, his young disciples
burst into a storm of delirious enthusiasm. Jabotinsky had aged somewhat since
those days at Danzig. He had suffered with his Betarim, and now he looked down
at them with a stern tenderness in which there was more than a hint of awe.
What makes them stay with me? He wondered. L-rd, haven't I
given them enough pain, heartbreak, and suffering for them never to want to see
me again and to take another road that offers more peace, more prosperity, more
security? But here they still are - more than ever before... He put his
thoughts into words. "Who can understand this phenomenon called Betar? There
you are stronger, more resolute, even more happy after going through
immeasurable suffering. They promise you everything - certificates for
Palestine, money for your settlements, praise without limit. We promise you
only pain and hardship.
"The road that leads into Betar is very small and narrow,
but the door for those who want to leave Betar is big and always wide open. Yet
thousands and still more pour in through the small door, while only a few slink
rather shamefully out the big one."
He turned his head and looked straight at Stavsky and
Rosenblatt: "You will have to suffer far more than you have, The bodies of men
like you will have to pave the way by which our people will cross into their
liberated homeland."
The delegates were more excited now than ever. Here,
standing before them, and just for them, the Rosh Betar spoke. Now their
mission was clearer than ever.
Two hundred and sixteen official delegates were present at
the second World Kinus, representing more than 60,000 organized members. The
number of Maozim by this time numbered 689.
A burning necessity demonstrated by the second Kinus was a
greater Aliyah Bet - Aliyah in the face of British opposition and in spite of
Jewish Agency interference.
In 1935, Rosh Betar and the Revisionist movement came to the
conclusion that there was no hope of changing the policy of the Jewish Agency.
They were convinced that Jewish patriots should themselves take the offensive
without waiting for the meek and the timid. About three-quarters of a million
Jewish votes gave Rosh Betar the mandate. He travelled to Vienna, where, On
September 8, 1935, he proclaimed the fundamental principals of the New Zionist
Organization. |