In June 1935, at the Consulate General of the Republic of Poland in Jerusalem, a certain Stanley Philipson presented a project to establish a new city in Palestine. There would be no sensation in this, if not for the fact that the new housing estate was to be named after ... Marshal Piłsudski, who died a few weeks ago.
New cities, settlements, and kibbutzim sprang up in the Palestinian Mandate throughout the interwar period. Alija and ha'apalah, i.e. Jewish legal and illegal immigration and the colonization process, intensified especially in the second half of the 1930s. Most of the refugees who came to Eretz Israel came from Nazi Germany, but Polish Jews also constituted a significant percentage of the newcomers. This community remembered and respected Józef Piłsudski particularly well.
The project to create the city of Tel-Pilsudski immediately aroused the interest of the Polish diplomatic mission. The photo shows a letter on this matter sent by T. Kobylański.
Tel-Pilsudski, in the justification of Philipson (or actually Szulim Filopzon), was to be a permanent monument and a form of commemorating the late Marshal . Initially, the idea itself was favorably received by the Polish Ministry of Foreign Affairs. However, diplomats' reservations were raised by the person of the applicant, not quite specific project , and the actual motives behind Philipson.
The Consul General of the Republic of Poland in Jerusalem, Dr. Zdzisław Kurnikowski, who was dealing with this matter, had freshly remembered the opinion of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs regarding the originator. The Warsaw headquarters warned its local office that the journalistic activity of Mr. St. Philipson raises serious reservations and should be treated with great reserve . Therefore, the seasoned diplomat did not get the impression that the applicant was sprinkling with well-known names or citing publications from "Gazeta Handlowa", which, incidentally, Philipson represented. However, wishing not to alienate his interlocutor, Kurnikowski suggested:
Due to the seriousness of the Marshal's figure and his historical role, I would be glad if the initiative in this respect came from the world-renowned leading figures of Jewish society, whose names would be not only a guarantee of success, but it would better correspond to the position that the Marshal occupies in the world l.
This is how Tel-Aviv was founded in 1909. Could it be the same with Tel-Pilsudski?
Thus, he pointed to the leading figure of the Jewish community, i.e. Chaim Weizmann himself, a long-standing chairman of the World Zionist Organization, and from 1935 the chairman of the Jewish Agency.
Kurnikowski, explaining his reserve towards Philipson's idea in the report to his superiors, also justified that the land for settlement from the Arab population of Palestine was often bought by the Jewish Agency under economic pressure.
Consul Kurnikowski - after deep reflection - gained considerable doubts about the ideas of Philipson ...
In turn, the intensifying colonization, in the eyes of the Arabs, was against their vital national interests. Each new acquisition and another Jewish settlement aroused extreme emotions among Palestinians. Thus, the use of Piłsudski's name to name one of them could have contributed to a decrease in: respect for the figure of the Marshal in the womb of Arab society, which so far refers to him with genuine reverence and sympathy .
Moreover, Philipson was expected to specify how he intends to obtain land for the construction of the settlement. In this case, Polish diplomacy was concerned not only with the vague project and the lack of specificity regarding its implementation, but also - and perhaps most importantly - the consequences that could accompany it. So Philipson was brought to the attention of the risk of using the name of the late Marshal and the feelings of Jewish society towards him , for land speculation. Józef Piłsudski would endorse " making fortune "Although he was an abnegate himself in material matters.
Eventually, the discouraged originator withdrew from the project himself.
Sources:
Folder:701/1/91 Consulate General in Jerusalem, condolence messages, visit tickets, reports from the celebration of the Marshal's ceremony. The group in the collection of the Józef Piłsudski Archives in America:
- Letter from T. Kobylański on commemorating Marshal Piłsudski in Palestine. Date:June 4, 1935
- Letter from S. Philipson regarding naming the city of "Tel-Piłsudski". Date:October 30, 1935
- A letter from Z. Kurnikowski regarding the founding of a city in Palestine, "Tel-Piłsudski". Date:September 27, 1935
- A letter from Z. Kurnikowski regarding the founding of a city in Palestine, "Tel-Piłsudski". Date:November 23, 1935
The quotes in the text come from the journal of Z. Kurnikowski.