BARON _DE_ HIRSCH
His philanthropic activity――The Oriental Jews and the
“Alliance”――Emanuel Felix Veneziani――Lord Swaythling――Dr. A.
Asher――Laurence Oliphant.
BARON MAURICE (Moritz) _de_ HIRSCH (_Freiherr auf Gereuth_) was born
on December 9th, 1831, at Munich. His father, Baron Joseph _de_ Hirsch
(1805‒1895), was a native of that city, and son of Baron Jacob _de_
Hirsch (1764‒1841), the founder of the family fortune. His mother
(_née_ Caroline Wertheimer of Frankfort) belonged to an old Jewish
family which was universally known for its charitable work and sincere
piety. Hirsch cherished very affectionate recollections of his parents,
and particularly of his mother, who is said to have seen to it that he
received good instruction in the Jewish religion.
The scope of his studies was somewhat narrow. He received his
education in Munich and Brussels. Being of a practical turn of
mind, he engaged early in life in several business ventures. In 1855
he married Clara (1833‒1899), eldest daughter of Senator Raphael
Jonathan Bischoffsheim (1808‒1883), of the firm of Bischoffsheim and
Goldschmidt, Brussels, which had branches in Paris and London. He
did not, however, join this firm, as its business methods appeared
to him too conservative to suit his enterprising temperament. Having
inherited a considerable fortune from his parents, and received a
handsome dowry with his wife, he embarked on railway enterprises
in Austria, in Russia, and――with most success――in the Balkans.
These enterprises, which consisted mainly in the construction of
light railways, were only the beginning of his activities. A huge
undertaking came in his way. A Brussels banking firm, which had
received from the Ottoman Government a concession for building
a railway through the Balkans to Constantinople, was unable to
carry the project through. Hirsch acquired the concession, went
to Constantinople, and succeeded in getting some of the conditions
altered for the better. He then formed a company, and made all the
necessary arrangements for the building of this great railway, which
was, for the first time in history, to connect Europe with the Near
East. In certain financial circles his optimism was ridiculed. But
those who laugh last laugh loudest. It soon became apparent that
he knew what he was about when he secured the concession. By a bold
practical stroke he obtained the necessary funds, and his success
was as immediate as it was complete. This was really the making of
his career. The success of this transaction gained him recognition
as one of the greatest financiers of Europe. He became not only a
multi-millionaire, but also a recognized authority on large industrial
undertakings.
His philanthropic activity, which began early in the seventies, was on
a scale hitherto unequalled, and showed great originality of method.
This activity may be divided into five branches:――
1. The East, in connection with the “Alliance Israélite
Universelle” of Paris.
2. Relief for the Russian Jews.
3. Emigration from Russia.
4. Foundation of the Jewish Colonization Association, and
5. Various other philanthropic institutions.
While engaged in working out his plans for the construction of his
railway in Turkey, Hirsch had become acquainted with the deplorable
condition of the Jews in the Orient, and had come to the conclusion
that their sufferings were mainly due to the lack of modern education
and of opportunities to earn a livelihood. He considered European
education a great necessity in the East, and therefore admired the
educational work of the “Alliance Israélite.” It struck him that
too little was done in this direction. He consequently placed large
sums at the disposal of the “Alliance,” of which he became a powerful
supporter. In 1873 he gave the “Alliance” 1,000,000 francs to form
new schools, and from 1880 till his death he undertook to make good
the deficit of the organisation, which amounted annually to several
hundred thousand francs. Finding that the ordinary schools were not
sufficient for the purpose in view, he encouraged the “Alliance” to
establish trade schools, the entire expense of which he bore from 1878
until his death. In 1899, in place of his annual grant, he gave the
“Alliance” a capital sum, which yielded a yearly income of 400,000
francs; but, none the less, he continued to meet the deficit year by
year.
All this time, as indeed throughout his life, he was keenly interested
in the Jews of the Orient. He procured in the seventies the services
of an excellent Jew, _M._ Emanuel Felix Veneziani (1825‒1889), who
made investigations for him, and became his almoner in the East, and
afterwards also in other parts of the world.
The year 1882, with its pogroms and the atrocious Jewish
disabilities which it introduced, was a turning-point in Hirsch’s
philanthropic activities as much as in the activities of all the
Jewish organizations and of individual philanthropists. When 40‒50,000
pogrom refugees in a starving condition crowded into the already
crowded Galician Ghettoes, adding their starvation and agonies to
the misery already there, and the great Jewish organizations and
communities sent their representatives to afford protection to the
suffering (Mr. Samuel Montagu――afterwards Lord Swaythling――and Dr.
Asher Asher (1837‒1889) came from London, also Mr. Laurence Oliphant),
_M._ Veneziani appeared as representative of Baron _de_ Hirsch, and
offered enormous sums――by which, however, only a small part of the
appalling distress was met. Baron _de_ Hirsch also sent money to
Russia for years.
At that period Baron _de_ Hirsch, like most other emancipated Jews in
Western Europe, believed that a solution of the Jewish problem could
be achieved by steps taken in Russia itself. Like the others, he knew
very little of the great complexity and peculiar conditions of the
problem. So with the assistance of a Commission he devoted much of his
time to drawing up a scheme for the improvement of the condition of
the Jews in Russia. Bearing in mind the activity of the “Alliance” in
the East, he paid due regard to the need for providing Russian Jews
with modern education, and his scheme contemplated a fund of 50,000,
000 francs to be used for educational purposes――under his own control.
But this was a Utopian idea. Anyone acquainted with the conditions
could easily have shown him that this offer would be declined.
He was finally and unalterably convinced that the only hope lay in
emigration. With the adoption of this view began the third period of
his activity, in which he supported emigration in every shape and form.
It is difficult to estimate how much he spent for this purpose; but
by far the greatest part of the support given by the “Alliance” and
other organizations to emigration came from him. Later, however, he
realized that this support, useful as it was to individuals, was of no
permanent value, and then, entering upon the fourth and most important
period of his activity, he became the Baron _de_ Hirsch who will for
ever be remembered in Jewish history――the man who endeavoured to solve
the Jewish problem not by charities, schools, contributions to the
“Alliance” or schemes for the benefit of Russia, but by a single great
effort for Jewish Emancipation.