UC Berkeley History-Social Science Project
2013 Modern Israel Summer Institute
Age of Empire
Jenna Rentz
Unit Topic: Modern Israel
Unit Focus Question: How has the creation of the state of Israel impacted the politics, geography, and
people of the region?
Unit Teaching Thesis: The establishment of an Israeli state has impacted the political, social, and
economic landscape of the region beginning with the Age of Empire, the rise of nationalism in the region
and Europe, continuing through the creation and modern condition of the state of Israel, and Israel’s
influence on US foreign policy in the middle east.
History-Social Science Content Standard:
10.4 Students analyze patterns of global change in the era of New Imperialism.
Describe the rise of industrial economies and their link to imperialism and colonial-ism (e.g., the role
played by national security and strategic advantage; moral issues raised by the search for national
hegemony, Social Darwinism, and the missionary impulse).
9-12 Historical and Social Sciences Analysis Skills:
Chronological and Spatial Thinking
1. Students compare the present with the past, evaluating the consequences of past events
and decisions and determining the lessons that were learned.
2. Students analyze how change happens at different rates at different times; understand
that some aspects can change while others remain the same; and understand that change
is complicated and affects not only technology and politics but also values and beliefs.
Historical Interpretation
1. Students show the connections, causal and otherwise, between particular historical
events and larger social, economic, and political trends and developments.
3. Students interpret past events and issues within the context in which an event unfolded
rather than solely in terms of present-day norms and values.
Common Core Standards: Reading Standards for Literacy in History / Social Studies 6-12: Grade
9-12 Students:
Reading: Informational Text
RI.10.1 Cite specific textual evidence to support analysis of primary and secondary sources,
attending to such features as the date and origin of the information.
RI.10. 2 Determine the central ideas or information of a primary or secondary source; provide an
accurate summary of how key events or ideas develop over the course of the text.
Common Core Standards: Writing Standards for Literacy in History / Social Studies 6-12: Grade 912 Students:
WL. 10. 2. Write informative/explanatory texts, including the narration of historical events,
scientic procedures/experiments, or technical processes.
b. Develop the topic with well-chosen, relevant, and sufficient facts, extended definitions,
concrete details, quotations, or other information and examples appropriate to the audience’s
knowledge of the topic.
c. Use varied transitions and sentence structures to link the major sections of the text, create
cohesion, and clarify the relationships among ideas and concepts.
Lesson Plan
Lesson Topic: Age of Empire
Lesson Focus Question:
What led European Jews to seek a potential homeland outside of Europe in the 19th century?
Lesson Teaching Thesis:
Growing anti-Semitism across Europe caused mass Jewish emigration during the late 19th century
to the United States, Western Europe and the Ottoman Empire. Cultural, religious, economic and political
Zionism led Jewish immigrants to seek Palestine as a potential homeland.
Text:
"Alfred Dreyfus and The Affair." Alfred Dreyfus and The Affair. Jewish Virtual Library, n.d.
June 2013. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/Dreyfus.html
Web. 30
Gelvin, James. The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 205: 49-50.)
Zollman, Joelynn. "The Dreyfus Affair." My Jewish Learning. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 July 2013.
Primary Sources:
“Leur Patrie, (Their Homeland) ,” Duke Library Exhibits, accessed July 8, 2013,
http://exhibits.library.duke.edu/items/show/20981.
“A propos de Judas Dreyfus, (Concerning Judas Dreyfus) ,” Duke Library Exhibits, accessed July 8, 2013,
http://exhibits.library.duke.edu/items/show/20955.
“La France aux Français,(France for the French),” Duke Library Exhibits, accessed July 8, 2013,
http://exhibits.library.duke.edu/items/show/20979.
"The Pogroms. 1881." A Header. N.p., n.d. Web. 29 July 2013.
http://kehilalinks.jewishgen.org/colonies_of_ukraine/pogroms/pogroms1881.html
Writing Question: Choose two different Zionist perspectives, and explain how their goals for Zionism
were similar or different.
2
UCBHSSP Strategies
Primary Source Analysis Strategy:
 Analyzing a political cartoon
 Analyzing primary source text accounts
 Student Worksheet- Primary source graphic organizer
 Teacher Key
Reading Strategy:
 Reading and in-text questions
 Student Worksheet
 Teacher Key
Writing Strategy:
 Writing using primary sources: focus question- How did the Dreyfus Affair and Russian
pogroms reflect broader anti-Semitism across France and Europe?
 Summative lesson writing: focus question - Choose two different Zionist perspectives, and
explain how their goals for Zionism were similar or different. Discuss in your answer the
various factors that led to Zionism.
 Teacher Key
3
Alfred Dreyfus and “The Affair”
Alfred Dreyfus, an obscure captain in the French army, came from a Jewish family that had left its native
Alsace for Paris. In 1894 papers discovered in a wastebasket in the office of a German military attaché
made it appear that a French military officer was providing secret information to the German government.
Dreyfus came under suspicion, probably because he was a Jew and also because he had access to the type
of information that had been supplied to the German agent. The army authorities declared that Dreyfus’
handwriting was similar to that on the papers. Despite his protestations of innocence he was found guilty
of treason in a secret military court-martial, during which he was denied the right to examine the evidence
against him. The army stripped him of his rank in a humiliating ceremony and shipped him off to [life
imprisonment on] Devil’s Island, a penal colony located off the coast of South America. The political
right, whose strength was steadily increasing, cited Dreyfus’ alleged espionage as further evidence of the
failures of the Republic. Édouard Drumont’s right-wing newspaper La Libre Parole intensified its attacks
on the Jews, portraying this incident as evidence of Jewish treachery.
1. What were the accusations against Alfred Dreyfus? Why was Dreyfus accused of these crimes?
2. What rights were denied Dreyfus after he was accused?
3. How was the Dreyfus affair portrayed by the media?
Dreyfus seemed destined to die in disgrace. He had few defenders, and anti-Semitism was rampant in the
French army.
4. What is anti-Semitism? How did anti-Semitism contribute to the Dreyfus affair?
The Dreyfus affair was a watershed event in the history of European anti-Semitism. World Jewry was
stunned that such an affair could occur in France, the cradle of liberty, equality, and fraternity. The fact
that the public, including nobles and members of the clergy, saw Dreyfus--an assimilated Jew--as an
outsider seemed to suggest that assimilation was no longer a defense against anti-Semitism.
The Dreyfus affair also personally impacted a significant figure in Jewish history. Theodor Herzl, the
father of modern Zionism, reported on the Dreyfus scandal as a young correspondent for a Viennese
4
newspaper. For many, it was clear that Dreyfus had been guilty of little more than being a successful Jew
in Catholic France. The Dreyfus Affair demonstrated to Herzl that if France could play host to virulent
anti-Semitism, Jews could not be secure anywhere. What the Jews needed was a land of their own in
which they would form a majority of citizens.
5. Why was the Dreyfus affair a “watershed event” in the history of European antiSemitism?
6. What did the Dreyfus affair demonstrate to Herzl?
Sources:
"Alfred Dreyfus and The Affair." Alfred Dreyfus and The Affair. Jewish Virtual Library, n.d.
June 2013. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/Dreyfus.html
Web. 30
Gelvin, James. The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 205: 49-50.)
Zollman, Joelynn. "The Dreyfus Affair." My Jewish Learning. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 July 2013.
5
TEACHER KEY
Alfred Dreyfus and “The Affair”
Alfred Dreyfus, an obscure captain in the French army, came from a Jewish family that had left its native
Alsace for Paris. In 1894 papers discovered in a wastebasket in the office of a German military attaché
made it appear that a French military officer was providing secret information to the German government.
Dreyfus came under suspicion, probably because he was a Jew and also because he had access to the type
of information that had been supplied to the German agent. The army authorities declared that Dreyfus’
handwriting was similar to that on the papers. Despite his protestations of innocence he was found guilty
of treason in a secret military court-martial, during which he was denied the right to examine the evidence
against him. The army stripped him of his rank in a humiliating ceremony and shipped him off to [life
imprisonment on] Devil’s Island, a penal colony located off the coast of South America. The political
right, whose strength was steadily increasing, cited Dreyfus’ alleged espionage as further evidence of the
failures of the Republic. Édouard Drumont’s right-wing newspaper La Libre Parole intensified its attacks
on the Jews, portraying this incident as evidence of Jewish treachery.
1. What were the accusations against Alfred Dreyfus? Why was Dreyfus accused of these crimes?
Alfred Dreyfus was accused of leaking information to the German government. He was accused of these
crimes mostly because he was Jewish.
2. What rights were denied Dreyfus after he was accused?
Dreyfus was not given a fair trial. He could not examine any evidence against him, and he was exiled
after a secret court-martial.
3. How was the Dreyfus affair portrayed by the media?
La Libre Parole, a French newspaper, portrayed the affair as a symbol of how Jewish people are
“treacherous,” or untrustworthy.
Dreyfus seemed destined to die in disgrace. He had few defenders, and anti-Semitism was rampant in the
French army.
4. What is anti-Semitism? How did anti-Semitism contribute to the Dreyfus affair?
(This question cannot be answered using the text alone – teacher will need to support students to
complete.) Anti-Semitism means to be racist against Jewish people. Anti-Semitism contributed to the
Dreyfus affair because French people accused Dreyfus simply because he was Jewish.
The Dreyfus affair was a watershed event in the history of European anti-Semitism. World Jewry was
stunned that such an affair could occur in France, the cradle of liberty, equality, and fraternity. The fact
that the public, including nobles and members of the clergy, saw Dreyfus--an assimilated Jew--as an
outsider seemed to suggest that assimilation was no longer a defense against anti-Semitism.
The Dreyfus affair also personally impacted a significant figure in Jewish history. Theodor Herzl, the
father of modern Zionism, reported on the Dreyfus scandal as a young correspondent for a Viennese
6
newspaper. For many, it was clear that Dreyfus had been guilty of little more than being a successful Jew
in Catholic France. The Dreyfus Affair demonstrated to Herzl that if France could play host to virulent
anti-Semitism, Jews could not be secure anywhere. What the Jews needed was a land of their own in
which they would form a majority of citizens.
5. Why was the Dreyfus affair a “watershed event” in the history of European antiSemitism?
The Dreyfus affair was a “watershed event” because it was shocking that France, which was
supposed to be an enlightened country, displayed so much prejudice. It was a sign to Jewish
people in Europe that they were perhaps not safe in their communities.
6. What did the Dreyfus affair demonstrate to Herzl?
The Dreyfus affair demonstrated to Herzl that Jewish people needed a safe place to land where
they would be secure against such anti-Semitic attacks.
Sources:
"Alfred Dreyfus and The Affair." Alfred Dreyfus and The Affair. Jewish Virtual Library, n.d.
June 2013. http://www.jewishvirtuallibrary.org/jsource/anti-semitism/Dreyfus.html
Web. 30
Gelvin, James. The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War. Cambridge: Cambridge
University Press, 205: 49-50.)
Zollman, Joelynn. "The Dreyfus Affair." My Jewish Learning. N.p., n.d. Web. 01 July 2013.
7
Doc #1- Teacher Background Info
“Leur Patrie” (“Their Homeland”)
La Libre Parole- October 28, 1893
Books like Eduard Drumont’s La France Juive and, of course, his weekly illustrated magazine updated the medieval
trope of the “wandering Jew” to reference 19th century concerns about loyalty to one’s racial and cultural “patrie,”
over abstract concepts of European and international identity. Reflecting the anti-Semite’s belief that the Jew’s
national loyalty extends only so far as his personal finances, in this image the pan-national “embrace” of this
caricatured rag-picker is a stifling one. Here the Jew with no country makes his mark world-wide, digging in his
“claws” everywhere and anywhere money is to be had.
It is no small irony that at the time Esnault conjured this fiction, such a figure’s real-life analogue would have been
the French Republic, which had at that point claimed a stake in almost every continent, draining the resources of
over forty protectorates and colonies in Western and Equatorial Africa, Oceania, and South East Asia.
Source: ““Leur Patrie,” (Their Homeland) ,” Duke Library Exhibits, accessed July 8, 2013,
http://exhibits.library.duke.edu/items/show/20981.
8
Doc #1
“Leur Patrie” (“Their Homeland”)
La Libre Parole- October 28, 1893
Doc #2- Teacher Background Info
“A propos de Judas Dreyfus” (Concerning Judas Dreyfus)
La Libre Parole, November 10, 1894
Chanteclair’s caricature, the original of which appeared in Edmond Drumot’s virulently anti-Dreyfusard weekly La
Libre Parole illustrée, was published shortly after Dreyfus’s original arrest for treason in October 1894. Since the
publication of La France Juive in 1886, Drumont had kept up a barrage of anti-Semitic polemic, as the stack of
volumes at his side here suggests. In 1889, Drumont founded the Ligue Nationale antisémitique de France and
promoted caricaturist Adolphe Willette as a candidate for Montmartre in that year’s elections.
Chanteclair’s illustration represents Drumont as a colossus whose intellectual and physical prowess dwarfs the
powerless Dreyfus. Rather than touch the Captain and so contaminate himself, Drumont uses pinchers to push
Dreyfus, here a guttersnipe or piece of refuse wearing a German pickelhaube helmet, into the drain. Behind them
stands a proud soldier bathed in sunlight: a symbol for the nation’s new dawn.
Source: ““A propos de Judas Dreyfus,” (Concerning Judas Dreyfus) ,” Duke Library Exhibits, accessed July 8,
2013, http://exhibits.library.duke.edu/items/show/20955.
Doc #2
“A propos de Judas Dreyfus” (Concerning Judas Dreyfus)
La Libre Parole, November 10, 1894
11
Doc #3- Teacher Background Info
“La France Aux Français” (France for the French)
La Libre Parole, December 28, 1895
Though in April 1895 Dreyfus had been sentenced to solitary confinement on Devil’s Island (where he remained
until his September 1899 retrial), the Affair continued to incense La Libre Parole’s anti-Semitic staff. This cover
represents Drumont’s daily paper, La Libre Parole, and its weekly supplement, La Libre Parole Illustré, as two
strapping Gallic farmhands laboring to uproot Jewish evil from French lands.
On the left, the anthropomorphized La Libre Parole digs up scandals, depicted as deep-seeded weeds that threaten
to taint the nation’s soil (Jean-Jacques Souligoux was implicated in the Panama scandal; Barney Barnato was
involved in a diamond mine collapse). Meanwhile, the figure on the right renders this “valiant” work in his sketchbook. Working en plein-air, this anti-Semitic artist quickly sketches the “Dreyfus image” for which Drumont’s
publications were best known. His bespectacled leafy vegetable undoubtedly represents Dreyfus.
Source: “La France aux Français,” (France for the French),” Duke Library Exhibits, accessed July 8, 2013,
http://exhibits.library.duke.edu/items/show/20979.
Doc #3
“La France Aux Français” (France for the French)
La Libre Parole, December 28, 1895
13
Anti-Semitism in Europe: Primary Sources
Following the Dreyfus Affair, anti-Semitism across Europe grew worse. Jewish people were accused of
participating in an international conspiracy to gain power, and many Jews were forced out of their jobs
and homes. Some of the worst attacks against Jewish people occurred in Russia, in the form of pogroms.
Pogrom is a Russian word that means, “to wreak havoc.” Russians would rise up against their Jewish
neighbors, and loot and burn their homes, businesses and synagogues. The riots led to mass
imprisonment, injury and sometimes death to the Jewish inhabitants of the town.
Doc #4
Hamelitz 1881; May 26 (June 7))
From the Jewish Colonies in the Government of Yekaterinoslav May 13:
With weeping tears I write these columns, to announce to our brethren of the Children of Israel that also
our brethren the workers of the land drank of the poisoned cup. On the 5, 6, 7, 8th of May the Russians
fell upon the colonies Trudoluibovka, Nechaevka, Grafskoy, and Mezeretch. With fury they denigrated
like an empty vessel those unfortunates who live by the labor of their hands and have no hand in
commerce with the peasants their neighbors, nor serve them wine or spirits.
Their houses they destroyed and whatever they found therein they smashed to pieces, The Torah scrolls
and all the printed books they tore and defiled them with refuse. The fear of the Almighty fell up on all the
colonies of the Hebrews because the Russian peasants boasted that after they had filled their packs with
booty they would put an end to their lives. Men, women and children escaped with their lives by the skin
of their flesh in the dark of night and hid in holes and cracks in the open field, far from where human foot
trod. And from much confusion mothers lost their children and men their wives.
-Yaakov Bruk, my address is care of Mariupol, Yekaterinoslav Government in the Jewish Colony
Grafskoy, Officail Rabbin Bruk
Doc #5
Colony Nechaevka, 1881
On Wednesday the 6th of May in the morning our neighbors the peasants rose up against us like hungry
wolves. At first, the inhabitants of Colony Trudoliobovka succeeded to drive off the robbers with the
assistance of the inhabitants of Nechaebka and Grafskoy and also some Germans who hurried to their
help. But when we saw that we could not stand up against them, we fled for our lives. Then they broke
into our houses and broke the windows and doors, and smashed the ovens and took all our property, also
our horses and cattle, all the ploughing and harvesting implements, everything they took with them, and
what was left they smashed to pieces. They destroyed the shops to the foundation and ten Torah scrolls
and many books they tore to shreds and cast them to the earth and trod them with their feet. The Holy Ark
and the pulpit they took with them…They returned and plundered on Thursday and we were narrowly
saved from death, if we had not hurried to escape for our lives, and we were forced to flee at night, men
women and children and the elderly… A number of children were lost at night in the open field because
their parents forgot them and they were left to the winds of chance from great fear….
… And when we asked out neighbors who have dwelt securely with us always": "Why have you acted so
to your neighbors? Like brothers we have dwelt with you, workers of the soil are we like you, we have
done no evil to you, we have not encroached on your boundaries, or harmed you or done anything bad.
What spirit came upon you to turn from friends to enemies?" And they replied simply that so were they
commanded by a certain ruler who passed through all the villages, to do so to the Jews…
-Yonah the son of rev SH. ZZ. Klaf
14
Focus Question: How did the Dreyfus Affair and Russian pogroms reflect broader antiSemitism across France and Europe?
Directions:
1) Use the three political cartoons about the Dreyfus Affair and the two primary source readings about the
pogroms to fill out the following graphic organizer. The first is partially completed for you as an example.
Doc #
1
What type of document (text, photo, map)? Who created it?
When and where is the document from?
Political Cartoon
La Libre Parole (French magazine) on
October 28, 1893
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
What is the document about? (Use a bullet-pointed list.)

MEANING
How does this point explain/support the main idea of the document?
Anti-Semitic caricature


MAIN IDEA/THESIS: What is the main idea or thesis of this document?
EVIDENCE FROM THE DOCUMENT TO SUPPORT THIS POINT (MEANING)
Doc #
What type of document (text, photo, map)? Who created it?
When and where is the document from?
2
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
What is the document about? (Use a bullet-pointed list.)
MEANING
How does this point explain/support the main idea of the document?
MAIN IDEA/THESIS: What is the main idea or thesis of this document?
EVIDENCE FROM THE DOCUMENT TO SUPPORT THIS POINT (MEANING)
Doc #
What type of document (text, photo, map)? Who created it?
When and where is the document from?
3
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
What is the document about? (Use a bullet-pointed list.)
MEANING
How does this point explain/support the main idea of the
document?
MAIN IDEA/THESIS: What is the main idea or thesis of this document?
EVIDENCE FROM THE DOCUMENT TO SUPPORT THIS POINT (MEANING)
Doc #
What type of document (text, photo, map)? Who created it?
When and where is the document from?
4
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
What is the document about? (Use a bullet-pointed list.)
MEANING
How does this point explain/support the main idea of the document?
MAIN IDEA/THESIS: What is the main idea or thesis of this document?
EVIDENCE FROM THE DOCUMENT TO SUPPORT THIS POINT (MEANING)
16
Doc #
What type of document (text, photo, map)? Who created it?
When and where is the document from?
5
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
What is the document about? (Use a bullet-pointed list.)
MEANING
How does this point explain/support the main idea of the document?
MAIN IDEA/THESIS: What is the main idea or thesis of this document?
EVIDENCE FROM THE DOCUMENT TO SUPPORT THIS POINT (MEANING)
17
TEACHER KEY
Focus Question: How did the Dreyfus Affair and Russian pogroms reflect broader antiSemitism across France and Europe?
Directions:
2) Use the three political cartoons about the Dreyfus Affair and the two primary source readings about the
pogroms to fill out the following graphic organizer. The first is partially completed for you as an example.
Doc #
1
What type of document (text, photo, map)? Who created it?
When and where is the document from?
Political Cartoon by Edouard Drumont
La Libre Parole (French magazine) on
October 28, 1893
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
What is the document about? (Use a bullet-pointed list.)

Anti-Semitic caricature

The Jewish person is clinging onto the world, and has his
hands and feet in multiple continents

The Jewish person is dressed as a ragpicker, and there is
money coming out of his feet
MEANING
How does this point explain/support the main idea of the document?
This political cartoon makes the argument that the “characteristic”
Jewish person is obsessed with money and world power. It also
alludes to the idea of a “wandering Jew,” roaming various countries
and not technically having a homeland, since “the world” is their
homeland. Since this political cartoon was published before the
Dreyfus affair, the editor is establishing his anti-Semitic point of
view.
MAIN IDEA/THESIS: What is the main idea or thesis of this document?
The main idea of this political cartoon is that the artist believes Jewish people are trying to take over the world.
EVIDENCE FROM THE DOCUMENT TO SUPPORT THIS POINT (MEANING)
The caricature of a Jewish person and the fact that he is dressed as a “wandering Jew” shows that the artist believes that there is a
worldwide Jewish conspiracy to squeeze as much money as possible from various countries in the world.
Doc #
2
What type of document (text, photo, map)? Who created it?
Political cartoon by Edouard Drumont
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
What is the document about? (Use a bullet-pointed list.)
When and where is the document from?
La Libre Parole (French magazine) on November 10, 1894
MEANING
How does this point explain/support the main idea of the document?

Drumont, the editor of the paper, is pictured as larger than Drumont is larger than life because he is seen as “better” than
Dreyfus, and Dreyfus is pictured almost like garbage. Dreyfus
life
seems to be a symbol of Jewish people in general, due to his
 Drumont is using tongs to touch Dreyfus, who is
caricatured features. Dreyfus is also named “Judas,” referring to
portrayed as a vermin, and is wearing a German helmet
the betrayer of Jesus.
 In the background, an “ideal” French soldier is seen
standing bravely as the sun rises behind him
 Dreyfus is named “Judas”
MAIN IDEA/THESIS: What is the main idea or thesis of this document?
Drumont (the magazine’s editor) should make Dreyfus, and most likely other Jewish people in France, disappear while “real” Frenchmen
create a new dawn in the country.
18
EVIDENCE FROM THE DOCUMENT TO SUPPORT THIS POINT (MEANING)
Drumont and the French soldier in the distance are pictured as French heroes, while Dreyfus is pictured as scum. Therefore, this shows
that the artist believes that Dreyfus and other Jewish people should leave France.
TEACHER KEY
Doc #
3
What type of document (text, photo, map)? Who created it?
Political cartoon by Edouard Drumont
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
What is the document about? (Use a bullet-pointed list.)



A sun that is rising that says “France for the French”
One strong Frenchman is holding onto a head of
Souligoux, who was involved in a Panama canal scandal
in France
The other strong Frenchman is drawing Richard Dreyfus
in caricature, whose head is also on the ground
When and where is the document from?
La Libre Parole (French magazine) on December 28, 1895
MEANING
How does this point explain/support the main idea of the
document?
The “France for the French” title clearly shows that the artist
believes “traitors” such as Dreyfus and other people should be
weeded out of France.
MAIN IDEA/THESIS: What is the main idea or thesis of this document?
The main idea of this cartoon is that France should be for the French, and not for “traitors.” This particular artist seems to think that the
Jewish people are traitors, as symbolized by Richard Dreyfus and others.
EVIDENCE FROM THE DOCUMENT TO SUPPORT THIS POINT (MEANING)
The pictured “strong” Frenchmen weeding out Dreyfus and other traitors shows that the author believes France belongs to the French
people that they feel are truly French, who do not include Jewish people.
Doc #
4
What type of document (text, photo, map)? Who created it?
Primary source text by Yaakov Bruk
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
What is the document about? (Use a bullet-pointed list.)




The author is writing with tears
Russians destroyed Jewish homes and everything in them
Russians also took religious texts and destroyed them
Many Jewish people had to flee and hide, and many lost
their family members
When and where is the document from?
May or June 1881, Hamelitz (Russia)
MEANING
How does this point explain/support the main idea of the document?
The description by the author shows that the Jewish people went
through a terrible ordeal. The Russians seem to try to be pushing
the Jewish people out of their land.
MAIN IDEA/THESIS: What is the main idea or thesis of this document?
Russians destroyed Jewish property and homes and threatened their lives.
EVIDENCE FROM THE DOCUMENT TO SUPPORT THIS POINT (MEANING)
From the description of Russians destroying Jewish homes and places of worship, it seems that the author believes that the Russians
wanted to kill them, and would do so if given the chance.
19
TEACHER KEY
Doc #
5
What type of document (text, photo, map)? Who created it?
Primary source text by Yonah, the son of rev. SH.ZZ.Klaf
DESCRIPTION OF SOURCE
What is the document about? (Use a bullet-pointed list.)




Jewish people ran for their lives while Russians broke
into homes and stole property
Russians took horses and cattle as well
Russians destroyed religious texts and the Holy Ark
When the people asked why their neighbors were doing
this to them, they replied that a ruler had told them to do
so to the Jews
When and where is the document from?
May 6 (assuming late 1800s)
MEANING
How does this point explain/support the main idea of the document?
The Russians who were looting and destroying Jewish property did
so at the behest of a local ruler. The Russians were neighbors and
perhaps friends to the Jewish people, and yet they turned on them
and destroyed their property and livelihoods.
MAIN IDEA/THESIS: What is the main idea or thesis of this document?
Russians destroyed Jewish property and threatened their lives.
EVIDENCE FROM THE DOCUMENT TO SUPPORT THIS POINT (MEANING)
This shows that the Russians were willing to steal, destroy and perhaps even kill their Jewish neighbors due to local government orders.
This also shows that many Jewish people probably did not feel safe in their hometowns.
20
WRITING USING THE PRIMARY SOURCES
Answer the following focus question in an analytical paragraph using two of the primary sources.
You must choose at least one political cartoon and one first-hand account of the pogroms.
Focus Question: How did the Dreyfus Affair and Russian pogroms reflect broader antiSemitism across France and Europe?
Topic
Sentence
During the ______________________________, the Dreyfus Affair and Russian
Address
question,
provide topic,
make a claim.
pogroms reflected ______________________________________________________
(argument)
______________________________________________________________________.
For example ____________________________________________________________
Evidence 1
What document
matches this
category?
(evidence – context)
______________________________________________________________________.
_______________________________________________________________________
(specific evidence – use quote/ describe image)
______________________________________________________________________.
Additionally, ____________________________________________________________
(evidence – context)
Evidence 2 _______________________________________________________________________.
What document
matches this
category?
______________________________________________________________________.
(specific evidence – use quote/ describe image)
_______________________________________________________________________
______________________________________________________________________.
Primary source evidence from this time shows ________________________________
(argument)
because _______________________________________________________________
Analysis
What does this
evidence
show? How
does this
support the
argument?
(evaluation)
_______________________________________________________________________.
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TEACHER KEY
WRITING USING THE PRIMARY SOURCES
Answer the following focus question in an analytical paragraph using two of the primary sources.
You must choose at least one political cartoon and one first-hand account of the pogroms.
Focus Question: How did the Dreyfus Affair and Russian pogroms reflect broader antiSemitism across France and Europe?
Topic
Sentence
During the late 1800s, the Dreyfus Affair and Russian
Address
question,
provide topic,
make a claim.
pogroms reflected
growing anti-Semitism across Europe.
(argument)
For example,
Evidence 1
What document
matches this
category?
in a political cartoon entitled “A propos de Judas Dreyfus,” Jewish people are seen as
trash to be thrown out of France.
(evidence – context)
In the cartoon, Drumont, the editor of the magazine, is shown picking up Dreyfus with
tongs and throwing him into a hole, while a proud Frenchman stands in the background
watching.
(specific evidence – use quote/ describe image)
Evidence 2
What document
matches this
category?
Additionally, a primary source from this same time period depicts the horrible treatment
Jewish people were subjected to in Russia.
(evidence – context)
Russian neighbors turned on Jewish communities, breaking into their homes, smashing
and destroying their property, and even threatening their lives. These were called the
pogroms, and they happened across Europe in the late 1800s and beyond.
(specific evidence – use quote/ describe image)
Analysis
What does this
evidence
show? How
does this
support the
argument?
Primary source evidence from this time shows anti-Semitism was growing across Europe
(argument)
because Europeans saw Jewish people as the enemy and did not allow them to live in
peace.
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Categorizing Evidence: Zionism
Focus Question: What were Zionist motivations that led to the immigration of European Jews to Palestine in the 19 th century?
Following pogroms and anti-Semitism in Europe, Jewish people sought to settle the land in Palestine. This movement, known as Zionism, meant
different things to different people.
For each of the quotes on the following page:
1. Find the appropriate “gist statement” that corresponds to each quote and write the letter of the gist statement in the second box.
2. Decide under which category the quote belongs: Political Zionism (P), Economic Zionism (E), Religious Zionism (R), or Cultural Zionism (C).
Quotes can also be in more than one category.
3. Answer the question in the final box: Why does the author believe in Zionism?
Gist Statements
A) Jews can find peace and self-sufficiency and a solution to oppression through their own labor, which will provide freedom.
B) Every Jewish person feels a spiritual connection to the physical land of Israel.
C) Jewish people are in a dangerous situation in Europe, and have no political or economic power in the countries in which they currently
reside.
D) Jewish people need to resettle their own native land in order to develop culturally. The cultural development of the land will
eventually become the heart of the country.
E) Because Jews are excluded from full participation in the countries they reside, they need to find a solution to this problem. The best
solution is for Jews to leave Europe and thereby resolve the problem.
Quotes
“No one can deny the gravity of the
situation of the Jews. Wherever they live
in perceptible numbers, they are more or
less persecuted. Their equality before the
law, granted by statute, has become
practically a dead letter. They are debarred
from filling even moderately high
positions, either in the army, or in any
public or private capacity. And attempts
are made to thrust them out of business
also: "Don't buy from Jews!" (Herzl, The
Jewish State, 1896).
"The Jews are not a living nation; they
are everywhere aliens; therefore they are
despised…The proper, the only solution,
is in the creation of a Jewish nationality,
of a people living upon its own soil, the
auto- emancipation of the Jews; their
return to the ranks of the nations by the
acquisition of a Jewish homeland” (Leon
Pinsker “Auto-emancipation,” 1882).
“We believe that salvation is to be found
in wholesome work in a beloved land.
Work will provide our people with the
bread of tomorrow, and moreover, with the
honor of the tomorrow, the freedom of the
tomorrow” (Theodor Herzl)
Gist Statement
Category
(P, E, R, or C)
Author’s Goals
Why does the author believe in
Zionism?
“[Judaism] needs not an independent State,
but only the creation in its native land of
conditions favourable to its development: a
good-sized settlement of Jews
working without hindrance1 in every
branch of culture, from agriculture and
handicrafts to science and literature. This
Jewish settlement, which will be a gradual
growth, will become in course of time the
centre of the nation, wherein its spirit will
find pure expression and develop in all its
aspects up to the highest degree of
perfection of which it is capable” (Ahad
Ha’am, “The Jewish State and Jewish
Problem, 1897)
A Jew cannot be as devoted and true to his
own ideas, sentiments, and imagination in
the Diaspora as he can in Eretz Yisrael.
Revelations of the Holy, of whatever
degree, are relatively pure in Eretz Yisrael;
outside it, they are mixed with dross and
much impurity….Deep in the heart of
every Jew, in its purest and holiest
recesses, there blazes the fire of Israel”
(Rav A.Y. Kook, “The Land of Israel”)
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TEACHER KEY
Categorizing Evidence: Zionism
Focus Question: What were Zionist motivations that led to the immigration of European Jews to Palestine in the 19th century?
Following pogroms and anti-Semitism in Europe, Jewish people sought to settle the land in Palestine. This movement, known as Zionism,
meant different things to different people.
For each of the quotes on the following page:
4. Find the appropriate “gist statement” that corresponds to each quote and write the letter of the gist statement in the second box.
5. Decide under which category the quote belongs: Political Zionism (P), Economic Zionism (E), Religious Zionism (R), or Cultural
Zionism (C). Quotes can also be in more than one category.
6. Answer the question in the final box: Why does the author believe in Zionism?
Gist Statements
A) Jews can find peace and self-sufficiency and a solution to oppression through their own labor, which will provide freedom.
B) Every Jewish person feels a spiritual connection to the physical land of Israel.
C) Jewish people are in a dangerous situation in Europe, and have no political or economic power in the countries in which they currently
reside.
D) Jewish people need to resettle their own native land in order to develop culturally. The cultural development of the land will
eventually become the heart of the country.
E) Because Jews are excluded from full participation in the countries they reside, they need to find a solution to this problem. The best
solution is for Jews to leave Europe and thereby resolve the problem.
*Teachers- you can also cut up the gist statements and quotes and have students match them in small groups, or on the
whiteboard.
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Quotes
Gist Statement
Category
(P, E, R, or C)
Author’s Goals
Why does the author believe in
Zionism?
“No one can deny the gravity of the
situation of the Jews. Wherever they live
in perceptible numbers, they are more or
less persecuted. Their equality before the
law, granted by statute, has become
practically a dead letter. They are debarred
from filling even moderately high
positions, either in the army, or in any
public or private capacity. And attempts
are made to thrust them out of business
also: "Don't buy from Jews!" (Herzl, The
Jewish State, 1896).
C. Jewish people are in a
dangerous situation in Europe,
and have no political or
economic power in the countries
in which they currently reside.
Political and
economic
The author believes that Jewish
people cannot continue to live
where they are currently living.
"The Jews are not a living nation; they
are everywhere aliens; therefore they are
despised…The proper, the only solution,
is in the creation of a Jewish nationality,
of a people living upon its own soil, the
auto- emancipation of the Jews; their
return to the ranks of the nations by the
acquisition of a Jewish homeland” (Leon
Pinsker “Auto-emancipation,” 1882).
“We believe that salvation is to be found
in wholesome work in a beloved land.
Work will provide our people with the
bread of tomorrow, and moreover, with the
honor of the tomorrow, the freedom of the
tomorrow” (Theodor Herzl)
E. Because Jews are excluded
from full participation in the
countries they reside, they
need to find a solution to this
problem. The best solution is
for Jews to leave Europe and
thereby resolve the problem.
Political and
cultural
Jewish people need to have their
own land so that they are no
longer hated by the rest of the
world.
Economic and
political
Jewish people need to work in
their own land in order to find
freedom.
A. Jews can find peace and selfsufficiency and a solution to
oppression through their own
labor, which will provide
freedom.
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“[Judaism] needs not an independent State,
but only the creation in its native land of
conditions favourable to its development: a
good-sized settlement of Jews
working without hindrance1 in every
branch of culture, from agriculture and
handicrafts to science and literature. This
Jewish settlement, which will be a gradual
growth, will become in course of time the
centre of the nation, wherein its spirit will
find pure expression and develop in all its
aspects up to the highest degree of
perfection of which it is capable” (Ahad
Ha’am, “The Jewish State and Jewish
Problem, 1897)
D. Jewish people need to resettle
their own native land in order to
develop culturally. The cultural
development of the land will
eventually become the heart of
the country.
A Jew cannot be as devoted and true to his B. Every Jewish person feels a
own ideas, sentiments, and imagination in spiritual connection to the
the Diaspora as he can in Eretz Yisrael.
physical land of Israel.
Revelations of the Holy, of whatever
degree, are relatively pure in Eretz Yisrael;
outside it, they are mixed with dross and
much impurity….Deep in the heart of
every Jew, in its purest and holiest
recesses, there blazes the fire of Israel”
(Rav A.Y. Kook, “The Land of Israel”)
Cultural and
political
Jewish people need their own
land in order to develop a cultural
State.
Religious
A connection to the land of Israel
is part of being Jewish, and
Jewish people are most alive
when in the land.
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Writing Assessment: Writing Frame
Choose two different Zionist perspectives, and explain how their goals for Zionism were similar or
different. Discuss in your answer the various factors that led to Zionism.
Background/Context: __________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.
Main idea: ___________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.
Evidence 1 (first Zionist perspective)_______________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.
Analysis_____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.
Evidence 2 (second Zionist perspective)_____________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.
Analysis_____________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.
Conclusion___________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.
Writing Assessment: Detailed Writing Frame
Choose two different Zionist perspectives, and explain how their goals for Zionism were similar or
different. Discuss in your answer the various factors that led to Zionism.
During the late 19th century, Jews in Europe experienced __________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________.
This led some Jewish thinkers to embrace Zionism. Zionism is ____________________________
________________________________________________________________________________.
____________________________ and __________________________ were two such Zionist thinkers.
Their goals for Zionism were _______________________ (similar/different) because ______________
___________________________________________________________________________________.
_____________________ (first Zionist thinker) believed ______________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.
For instance, he remarked, _______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________(quote).
This shows that _______________________________________________________________________.
On the other hand, _________________________ (second Zionist thinker) thought __________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.
For example, he stated, _______________________________________________________________
_______________________________________________________________________________(quote).
This means that _______________________________________________________________________.
In conclusion, ________________________________________________________________________
____________________________________________________________________________________.
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TEACHER KEY
Writing Assessment: Detailed Writing Frame
Choose two different Zionist perspectives, and explain how their goals for Zionism were similar or
different. Discuss in your answer the various factors that led to Zionism.
**Student answers may vary according to sources selected.**
During the late 19th century, Jews in Europe experienced anti-Semitism. The Dreyfus Affair caricatured
Jewish people as traitors in France, while in Russia, Jewish people were terrorized by their Russian
neighbors during the pogroms.
This led some Jewish thinkers to embrace Zionism. Zionism is the idea that the Jews needed a separate
state of their own.
Theodor Herzl and Rav A.Y. Kook were two such Zionist thinkers.
Their goals for Zionism were different because Herzl’s Zionism was mostly political, while Kook
believed in a religious Zionism.
Herzl believed that the Jewish people would never be accepted by their neighbors, and therefore needed to
settle a land of their own.
For instance, he remarked, “No one can deny the gravity of the situation of the Jews. Wherever they live
in perceptible numbers, they are more or less persecuted.”
This shows that Herzl sought a new land for the Jews to escape persecution of the other nations.
On the other hand, Kook thought Jewish people specifically needed to settle in the historic land of Israel
for religious reasons.
For example, he stated, “Deep in the heart of every Jew, in its purest and holiest recesses, there blazes the
fire of Israel.”
This means that Kook believed the physical land of Israel is an essential part of every single Jew, and
therefore should be the land that Jewish people settle.
In conclusion, various Zionist thinkers began looking for a new home for the Jewish people at the end of
the 19th century, which set the stage for a 20th century conflict in the modern land of Israel/Palestine.
31