The Calcutta Jewish Community and the Jewish Diaspora during the Inter-war Years

Introduction

Calcutta, now renamed as Kolkata, is home to a vibrant and dynamic Jewish community from the Middle East colloquially called Baghdadis. They enriched Calcutta socially, culturally, and economically. Although late arrivals compared to the Armenians, the Jews from the Middle East quickly adapted themselves to the host society and established a distinctive social space through various functional linkages such as synagogues, schools, hospitals, welfare and charitable institutions, and sports clubs that contributed to the creation of and reinforcing feelings of a shared life. The Jewish network of medical, educational, and social support services became embedded in the very fabric of Calcutta.

The beginning of the Jewish diaspora following the destruction of the Second Temple during the first century ad which saw many of them dispersed across the world, including India. The existence of the Jews in India under peaceful conditions is one of the paradoxes of Jewish history that is usually characterized by persecution, exile, and the threat of mass elimination. India provides no such instance. In fact, when after Indian independence, Jews sought to leave India for other countries, it was not because of insecurity, but because of the fact that Jews wanted to return to where they belonged in the spiritual sense of the term, because aliyah ¹ to Eretz Israel was considered a miztvah or meritorious deed.

The Indian Jewish community could be broadly categorized into three groups, namely, the Marathi-speaking (with some English speakers) Bene Israel, the Malayalam-speaking Cochin Jews, and the largely Judeo-Arabic English-speaking Baghdadi Jews. This article is concerned with the Baghdadi Jews of Calcutta who arrived in the eighteenth century and left a permanent impression in the city’s social and civic landscape. They were among the least Indianized and most Anglicized of the Indian Jewish communities. However, notwithstanding their British patronage, they refused to assimilate into the Indo-Anglian society or were they influenced them but retained their identity. Though the elites among them took to the “Raj Culture” for economic and social benefits, the bulk of the middle and lower-middle classes among the Baghdadi Jews preferred to remain within the ambits of Judaism. This shows that the Jews of Calcutta were not a monolithic rich community as is generally supposed, but were divided along class lines as well. It was only the elaborate welfare networks that tied the community together and class-based tensions, if any, were sublimated by generous donations meant for poor and under-privileged, for Judaism obligates every member of the Jewish community to care for his/her brethren on the premise that “all Israel is responsible for one another” (Talmud, Shavout 39a).

The Jews of Calcutta, irrespective of their social status, acted likewise. Central to their existence as a community was the zeal to prevent assimilation, not out of any feeling of superiority or racial animosity, but only to remain Jews, as their ancestors had done for centuries. The “Jewishness” of the Calcutta Jewish Community was unlike that of the “Englishness” of India’s British rulers who constituted the dominating race and insisted on racial difference to preserve their status quo. Race did not count for Jewish identity in India.

By looking at and comparing what constitutes Jewishness in India vis-à-vis Judaic identity in Europe or North America enables us to situate Jewish experience(s) in different settings. The various centers of the Jewish Diaspora have enjoyed considerable political experience (Skutsch, 2005, p. 375). The Jewish experience in Europe has been very troubled whereas the Jews in the United States have enjoyed considerable political experience. Jews did not face any discrimination in India and were socially respected. The British favored the Jews, as they did other minorities, who were too small in number to pose any threat to their supremacy (Silliman, 2001, p. 27). The Baghdadi Jews, like the Zoroastrian community, were loyal British subjects and believed in the continuance of British rule and its consequent benefits.

By the twentieth century, the majority of the Baghdadi Jews were born in India or Calcutta for that matter and spoke English as their primary language at school and home. Many listened to Western music, some played the piano, and the younger generation enjoyed contemporary American dancing, which they picked up in the movies. Both men and women were exposed to the West through books and movies. In the twentieth century, wealthy and affluent Jews sent their wards to study in England. The elite could afford to travel to Europe and kept in touch with the latest in European fashion. The British Raj entertained leading Baghdadis on equal terms putting them on the “European” list (Parasuram, 1982, p. 117). The British in their official and private capacities were on friendly terms with the Baghdadis. The governors of Bengal were very popular with the local community. Many presided over functions and ceremonies, as Rivers Thomson did on two occasions before ending his state service in April 1887 (Musleah, 1975, p. 341). The relationship between the Jews and British state officers were so close that on one occasion Robert Turnbull, Secretary of the Legislative Council of Bengal, made a donation of Rs.100.00/- toward the relief of Jerusalem Jews (ibid., p. 342). Thus, the loyalty of the Calcutta was never in doubt, so much so that one particular correspondent in the Arabic-Hebrew journal Paerah equated India with Jerusalem (ibid.).

Multi-locationality was one of the key features of the Baghdadi Jews of Calcutta and it implies the consciousness of being different from surrounding society (Safran, 2005, p. 37). As a widely dispersed community, they had networks from Shanghai in the east to London in the west. This made them valuable as go-betweens in the world wide commercial operations of the East India Company. Members of the community spread across the globe could not only provide up-to-date information regarding commercial transactions to their brethren in Calcutta, but also provided the social wherewithal to sustain a vibrant community life. This is evident in providing grooms for marriageable girls and sending religious artifacts for synagogues that otherwise would have been impossible to procure in Calcutta. This social and commercial networking was to come in very useful when India got independence in 1947 and the well-off among the Baghdadi Jews chose to leave for England, Australia, Canada, the US, and other English-speaking places. This freedom of choice to go wherever they wished is an indicator of the autonomy the Jewish community of Calcutta enjoyed in the conduct of their day-to-day affairs unmolested by either the British or the Indians.

Now the question might arise as to what was the nature of relationship among the Baghdadis, the British and the Indians? Apparently while the Baghdadis might have been a privileged group, they lived in a highly stratified society, where not only caste but racial divisions played a crucial role in identity construction. Under such circumstances, there was no alternative but to fall back on one’s own community that provided a kind of sanctuary against the uncertainties of life. Baghdadi Jewish communities lived as spatially dispersed settlements, yet could identify the familiar in largely unfamiliar surroundings. This familiarity was in terms of “Community, Culture and society” (Shukla, 2005, p. 4). This constituted what Stuart Hall emphasized as “critical points of deep and significant difference that constitute ‘what we are’” (Stuart, 2006, p. 236). The spatially dispersed communities of Baghdadi Jews enabled them to have the familiar surroundings of a “home,” a “place,” amidst the largely unfamiliar surroundings. A place (or home) is capable of creating, instilling, cementing, and reinforcing common feelings of a shared life, leading in turn to “a sense of camaraderie and group solidarity” (Laurence & Cartier, 2003, pp. 10–11).

No matter where the community dwelt, the family was “home,” and transcended political and local boundaries. Friendship and strong community and family bonds made the Baghdadi Jews feel that they were at home despite being in distant places (Silliman, 2001). This is another part of their lived experience “where family and kinship groups may live in different parts of a global diaspora, and yet maintain close contact and sociability” (Brown, 2007, p. 111). The Jews described their locality (that is, Calcutta) as mohalla, an Arabic word meaning locality and popular joke went that anyone visiting the mohalla would have to pay a tax.

Welfare and philanthropy plays an important role in diaspora consciousness thereby giving a sense of identity and fulfillment to the community at large across a broad social spectrum. Seen in this light, the Baghdadi Jews of Calcutta were no exception either. Their elaborate network of charitable institutions catered to the needy, sick, and the aged. The Jewish Women’s League founded in 1913 played a significant role in this regard. Beyond Calcutta, the community extended its munificence to the Holy Places of Jerusalem, Safed, Hebron, and Tiberius, the four cities with religio-historical associations with which the Jews of Calcutta identified themselves emotionally. At the beginning of the twentieth century, the most commonly accepted pattern of apportionment divided funds into 28 portions: Jerusalem (11), Safed (7), Hebron (6), and Tiberius (4). Calcutta adopted a percentage basis of the equivalent of half shekel: Jerusalem 28 percent, Safed 68 percent, Hebron 4 percent and Tiberius nil. ¹ This goes to prove that “while some communities (such as Jews and Armenians) are born in exile, their historic lack of statehood does not necessarily exclude ties with countries of origin” (Merz, Lincoln, & Geithner, 2009, p. 3). Further,

Armenian and Jewish Diasporas predate the independence and founding of their countries as they exist today, yet they often choose to support various causes and institutions that directly benefit these countries. For these Diasporas the home countries are a symbol of national survival and the individual’s identification with them is both historical and political. Their motivation for giving is not the result of family needs, nor is it rooted in the geographic identification with a village or a region but stems from a broad desire to build a collective home and a nation. (ibid.)

The Jewish Diaspora is classic in the sense “it combines such features as ethnicity, religion, minority status, a consciousness of peoplehood, a long history of migration, expulsion, adaptation to a variety of host land (whose welcome was conditional and unreliable), and a continuing orientation to be a homeland and to a narrative and ethno symbols attached to it” (Safran, 2005). This feeling of attachment to the mother country (in the ethno-religious sense) among the older generation, gradually, made itself felt in the second half of the twentieth century when Jews in India came into contact with the Zionist ideology, that envisaged a Jewish national state in Palestine in the wake of the Balfour Declaration of 1917. A Jewish Zionist youth group, the Habonim (literally, builders) came into existence together with its mouthpiece, Kol Shofar, that was eventually banned by the British Indian Government in 1944 under the Paper control Act. The Baghdadi Jews’ relationship with the Diaspora Jewry was further strengthened in the late-1930s and the early 1940s when groups of Jews from Europe and Southeast Asia sought shelter in Calcutta. By 1945, the Community peaked to 5,000 souls and the rise in numbers was demonstrated by the founding of the Jewish Association of Calcutta in 1946 and its monthly organ entitled Shema that was published till 1960.

After Indian independence and the foundation of the State of Israel, the community started to unravel rapidly. Majority of the Baghdadi Jews left India after 1947, yet those who remained discovered that if they wanted to identify themselves as Indians and take part in India’s social and political life, there was no hindrance in doing so, and their participation was welcomed. The Jews in Calcutta did not have to live in hostile surroundings that would imperil their existence as a community. Diaspora processes are usually framed in terms of overwhelming loss, exile, and displacement. Minority status becomes a powerful identifying factor and acts as an incentive for migration and this was facilitated in the Indian context by the rise of Zionism, knowledge about the Holocaust, the Indian independence, and the creation of Israel as the homeland of the Jews. The account of the Baghdadi Jews of Calcutta shows that “Diaspora narratives are very varied and could be as much about mobility and gain” (Silliman, 2001, p. 185).

The Inter-war Period

During the inter-war period (1919–1939), the Jews of Calcutta found themselves in new political circumstances. This was reflected in the rising demand for Indian independence which begun to achieve an international dimension, the Zionist movement in Europe and America which was followed up by aliyah ² and increasing violence against the Jewish communities in Europe following the seizure of power by the Nazis in Germany and the Anschluss in Austria. Many of these hapless victims of Nazism and fascism made their way to distant shores. Between the 1930s and the 1940s, a multitude of European Jewish refugees eager to escape the situation crowded the Indian shores in search of a shelter. Most of these refugees were from Germany and Austria. The emigration of Jews from Germany began in 1933 and became the only effective means available to German Jewry in opposing Nazi persecution (Strauss, 1980, p. 316). For the Jews of Europe, as noted in Chaim Weizmann’s remark, the world was divided into two places: places where they could not leave and places where they could not go.

The restrictive immigration practices of the major countries vis-à-vis Jewish refugees reflected a global climate of economic protectionism tinged with xenophobia and anti-Semitism. An international conference on refugees at Evian (France) in July 1938 ended in fiasco. Except for the Dominican Republic, none of the representatives of 32 countries offered any hope to prospective Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria (Yad Vashem, 2016). In the first year of the Nazi regime, most German Jews who emigrated went to neighboring countries (for example, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxembourg) or to Palestine. However, the picture changed after 1938 following the infamous Kristallnacht, which witnessed the systematic destruction of Jewish lives and property in Germany. During this period, as immigration of refugees in Palestine and to most of the countries in Europe became increasingly difficult, and circumstances of the Jews in Germany steadily deteriorated, they were willing to go to places they considered more remote. In their frantic efforts to break out of the Nazi death trap, the Jewish refugees from Germany and Austria went as far as Shanghai, one of the few places that accepted immigrants freely without racial prejudice, and to India, a place so far neglected in the history of the holocaust.

The arrival of many Jewish refugees confronted the British Indian Government with a new dilemma. On one hand, it was unable to refuse entry to the new comers on humanitarian grounds, as public opinion in Britain and elsewhere in Europe had been sufficiently roused against Hitler’s treatment of the Jews in Germany. On the other hand, the government was equally edgy about the infiltration of “enemy agents” into India in the guise of refugees. A balance therefore needed to be struck between considering the case of genuine refugees and the security concerns of the British Indian Government. With this in view, an effort was made to control the tide of refugees coming to India, as the situation deteriorated in Europe. Visas were restricted and given on a priority basis. The British Government also interned many of these refugees.

Among the incoming refugees to India, many were businessmen, industrialists, technicians, and engineers. As temporary home to refugees from Nazi Germany, India benefited from an influx of physicians who set up practice in India’s major cities. In Calcutta, particularly, a number of Jewish immigrant doctors set up chambers in the southern section of the city. They also offered their services to the Allied war effort. Among them were Dr Ludwig Gerber (25, Stephen Court, Park Street), Dr Friedrich Falkenstein (48 Theatre Road), Dr Ruth Zilz (Humayun Court), Dr Leo Zamek MD (Little Russell Street), and Dr Heinrich Hammer MD (30, Chowringhee Street), who served as a Commissioned Officer in the old Austrian Army prior to the Anschluss (WBSA, 1940).

Dr Hans Hahndel offered his services in the Royal Medical Army Corps as well as in any capacity in the American Foreign Legion (WBSA, 1940). It is worthwhile to mention that Rabindranath Tagore, poet and Nobel Laureate, had his eyes examined and treated by Dr I. Tajkeff, a German-Jewish ophthalmic surgeon who practiced in Calcutta (The Jewish Tribune, 1939, p. 13), and who subsequently became a member of the Jewish Relief Association of Calcutta (AJJDC, 1948-55). Dr Tajkeff also got a letter of thanks from Tagore in which the latter expressed his satisfaction, and invited Dr Tajkeff to Santiniketan (The Jewish Tribune, 1939, p. 13). Besides medical persons, a number of business people and entrepreneurs who came to India as refugees, set up factories and introduced new consumer goods. In this connection, mention may be made of Bolek (Boleslaw) Rembaum, a refugee from German-occupied Poland who set up an international business in Calcutta. He traded in women’s dresses and cosmetics and rose to become a very successful businessman. He married a Baghdadi Jewish woman and stayed on to become a popular member of the community.

Another example would be Max Friedlander. The Home department had this to say about him:

Max Friedlander (5/1, Little Russell Street) is a Hungarian-Jewish subject who was born in 1931 in Berlin. He lived in Germany until 1939 and was employed by Hirsch A.G. Erze and Metalle, a Berlin firm controlled by the Bassett Ore and Co. Ltd, London. He was offered a contract in India by the latter firm and he with Mr. Ernst Margoles, a German Jew arrived in Calcutta on June 20^th 1939 as representatives of this firm on a fixed monthly salary of Rs. 600/- per mensem, a motor car etc. …. As the business in metals became poor through rigid Government control in course of the war, Friedlander left the Company and took an appointment with the supply department. Friedlander’s private business activities resulted in brilliant financial success. With another Hungarian Jew, he started the “Paper Tube Mfg Co” and on his own the “Haasz Trading Co” (Haasz is the maiden name of Mrs. Friedlander). He also invested in the purchase of house property. In short, Friedlander, the most orthodox of Calcutta Jewish refugees, became a most successful businessman. (WBSA, 1944)

The arrival of the European Jewish refugees in India made the Indian Jewish community aware of the plight of their persecuted brethren, and an effort was made to ameliorate the conditions of those who managed to come to India. Relief agencies and aid groups, both indigenous and those in liaison with the international Jewry, were set up to help and rehabilitate the people who had been lucky enough to escape. With this end in view, the Jewish Relief Association (JRA) was organized in Bombay (now Mumbai) in 1934 with sister branches in Calcutta and Madras (now Chennai). At the outbreak of the Second World War, the JRA had helped in securing 1,000 refugees with visas (Weil, 1999).

At individual levels, eminent personalities among the Jewish community came out in moral and material support for the displaced Jews of Europe. Sir Victor Sassoon purchased 10, 000 sq. miles of land in South America to settle expropriated Jews in Germany and Austria (The Jewish Tribune, 1938, p. 7). In Calcutta, the Jewish Refugees’ Relief Association (hereafter JRRA), an affiliate organization of the Bombay-based JRA, was established which was recognized by the Government of India and supported by the council of German Jewry, London. It was based in Norton Buildings, C/o B.N. Elias and Co., Ltd, and was headed by a Baghdadi Jew D.J. Cohen, OBE (WBSA, 1941). The JRRA ran a hostel in which a number of poor refugees had an opportunity of living decently. At the same time, the JRRA tried to secure the release of refugees detained by the British Government and gave guarantees for those released on parole (Appendix I).

The emotional response on the part of the Indian Jewry to the agony of the European Jews was overwhelming. As early as 1933, the Calcutta Jewish community decided to boycott German goods in response to the anti-Jewish legislations in Germany, shortly after Hitler came to power. On Sunday, April 9, the following resolution was passed at an extraordinary general meeting of the Calcutta Hebrew Association under the chairmanship of E.A. Arakie:

That the meeting of the Calcutta Hebrew Association including members of the Jewish community resolve that in view of the relentless policy of oppression and persecution of the German Jews by the Nazi Government, Calcutta Jewry should boycott German goods until the German Jews are granted complete relief and perfect freedom and full internal security. (The Jewish Advocate, 1933, p. 17)

The motion was proposed by A.E. Gubbay and seconded by M. Wecksler. It was also decided to send copies of the resolution to the Jewish communities of Bombay, Poona, Karachi, Bangalore, Cochin, and Burma (now Myanmar) requesting them to cooperate and to the Jewish Press in India and abroad for their information (The Jewish Advocate, 1933). This aspect of the “War on the Jews” greatly disturbed the Calcutta Jewry, many of whom made homes for the refugees. A group of Polish refugees had made their way across Asia and were going to Palestine. They could not proceed further as the oceans were mined and this left them stranded in Calcutta. Amongst the famous arrivals was Max Hodorovsky, the future Speaker of the Israeli Knesset. He and his fellow refugees were guests of Sir David Ezra. Besides providing succor to the refugees who had already arrived, the Calcutta Jews also sent relief to those in Shanghai. For instance, the Calcutta Jews donated a sum of Rs. 1,285 in aid of those refugees who were in Shanghai (The Jewish Tribune, 1939, p. 30). This amount equivalent to 2719.67 dollars (Shanghai currency) was remitted to D.E.J. Abraham for distribution. M.A. Sassoon of Calcutta made a contribution of 100 pounds toward the “Council for German Jewry” Fund, London (ibid.).

The Indian subcontinent had great potential to absorb tens of thousands of immigrants and the country cried out for experts and consultants in all fields. Indeed, a section of the Indian public opinion was interested in bringing over talented Jewish refugees with the expressed aim of the industrialization of India. In an editorial, Indian Market advocated bringing to India of 25,000 Jewish technicians (The Jewish Tribune, 1939, p. 17). In 1940, Messrs Birla Bros Ltd., asked for permission to bring two German-Jewish refugee engineers, Emil Gelles and Fritz Weiss, from their (the Birlas’) Bombay office to their manufacturing plant at 33/1, East Canal Road, Calcutta, for technical advice (WBSA, 1940). The Company of the Birlas also requested the Bengal Government to take up the matter with the Bombay administration for allowing the refugee engineers to proceed to Calcutta (Chakrabarti, 2008; WBSA, 1940). Besides European Jewish refugees, there was also an influx of Jewish refugees from Burma, Singapore, Penang (Malaysia) and other parts of Southeast Asia following the Japanese conquest of those regions. Many of them made their home in Calcutta.

Wartime Contribution

The Jews have always been loyal subjects of their countries of domicile and have thrown in their lot with their fellow countrymen. The Jews of Calcutta were no exception either. Two world wars brought out their innate sense of loyalty and many Jews fell for democracy and justice for which these two wars were fought (YIVO Institute of Jewish Research, 1959, p. 12).

The community contributed its quota toward the First World War. It was modest but significant one. Contributions in cash and kind for the benefit of the armed forces were made from time to time. Ellice Ezra, the son of J.E.D. Ezra, presented a motor dispatch boat for use in Mesopotamia and obtained a military commission. Joseph E.D; Cohen served with the 9th Middlesex in India; Hillel R.E. Cohen joined the 6th city of London Rifles; and Joseph A.J. Tassie and Sassoon I.D. Cohen joined the Anglo-Indian Cavalry and were transferred to the Signal Troop of the 4th Cavalry Brigade (Isaac, 1917). A couple of boys joined the infantry at Peshawar. Captain David Ezra of the Royal Garrison Artillery was killed in action in France in 1918 (Musleah, 1975, p. 344).

During the Second World War, local Jewish youth rallied to the colors in greater number and sustained more casualties than in the First World War. One of them was Flying Officer Sonny Solomon of the Royal Air Force who died in air-operations over France on September 11, 1944, aged 25. Plaques commemorating the loss could be seen at the Maghen David Synagogue, Calcutta. At a special memorial service held in that Synagogue, the plaque for Solomon was unveiled on August 26, 1945 by Squadron Leader (Chaplain) S.C. Bloch of the Royal Air Force stationed in Calcutta (Musleah, 1975).

Lieutenant-General (retd) Jack Frederick Ralph Jacob, or J.F.R. Jacob, was the most distinguished soldier produced by the Jewish community of Calcutta. Born in Calcutta on May 2, 1923 and educated at Victoria School (Kurseong) and St. Xavier’s School (Calcutta) enlisted in the Indian Army at the age of 18. He saw active service with his regiment in Burma, Middle East and Indonesia. He graduated from the gunnery staff course in the UK and later did the Advanced Artillery and Missile Course from FortSill in the USA. During his 37 years in the army, he commanded infantry and artillery brigades, the Artillery School, an infantry division, corps and finally the Eastern Command, Fort William. He played an important role in the years prior to the Indo-Pakistan conflict of 1971 that was instrumental in the creation of Bangladesh. He was later awarded the PVSM (Param Vishist Seva Medal) for his services by the Indian Government. As General-Officer-Commanding-in-Chief (GOC-in-C), Eastern Command, he tried to bring peace to the insurgent affected areas in Northeastern India. He retired from the Army on June 31, 1978 and died in January 2016.

Another distinguished soldier was Frederick Herman Kisch. He was the son of a highly placed Anglo Jewish member of the Indian Civil Service. Kisch was born in Darjeeling in 1888. From 1909 to 1914 he served with the Royal Engineers in India, taking an active part in frontier warfare (Ben Zvi Institute, 1948, p. 23). The First World War saw him fighting on the Western Front, and later in Iraq. He emerged from the war a lieutenant colonel and decorated with the D.S.O. He was then appointed member of the British Peace Delegation, and it was in that capacity that he met Dr Weizmann in Paris. He accepted the latter’s invitation to go to Palestine and direct Zionist political work there (Ben Zvi Institute, 1948). Kisch was elected a member of the Zionist Executive and remained in Jerusalem as head of the Political Department of the Zionist Organization, and then of the Jewish Agency, until 1931. As soon as the Second World War broke out, Kisch offered his services to the Army, and was accepted as a lieutenant colonel. From that rank he rose to that of brigadier, and took part in the British advance across North Africa. He was killed by the explosion while supervising the clearing of a minefield in Tunisia on April 7, 1943.

The Reverend E.M.D. Cohen, Rabbi of the Maghen David Synagogue, Calcutta, rendered important contribution to the war effort. With the advent of the First World War, he turned his attention to the welfare of Jewish troops. His youngest son was serving with the 9th Middlesex. Beginning with 11 soldiers from the 9th Middlesex, E.M.D. Cohen gradually made arrangements for 70 Jewish soldiers, drawn from all over India to observe the High Holy Days in the traditional manner. He exchanged correspondence with military commanders who came to seek his advice on Jewish religious matters pertaining to sick and wounded and to the burial of the dead. His efforts on behalf the Jewish Troops serving with the British Army in India were warmly appreciated by Major Michael Adler, Chief Minister of the Jewish Forces of the British Army. His attempt to persuade the Adjutant General of India to sanction the post of a Jewish Military Chaplain was no successful due to the relatively few Jewish troops in service (Abraham, 1969, p. 23).

Taking cue from the Jewish War Services Committee in London, E.M.D. Cohen set about inaugurating similar committees in Calcutta and other large centers in India (Abraham, 1969, pp. 23–24). In this task, he was assisted by two Jewish soldiers, Gunner Epstein and Private Middlebrook, and one officer, Lieutenant Herbert Loewe of the Army Clothing Factory (ibid., p. 24). Committee centers were set up at Calcutta, Bombay, Bangalore, Rawalpindi, Ambala, and Aranpoora for the benefit of the Jewish troops posted in those areas. Reverend Cohen became the President of the Calcutta committee which looked after the needs of 250 Jewish soldiers and a further 250 Jewish prisoners of war (ibid.).

At home and in the synagogues, Jews displayed their genius for prayer. Maghen David was no exception. An intercession service was held on Saturday, January 2, 1915 (Abraham, 1969). At the beginning of the Second World War in 1939, at the instance of the Chief Rabbinate of London, a prayer of supplication was offered every Sabbath and festival. On Sunday, September 8, 1940, the first anniversary of the outbreak of hostilities, a special service, entitled “The Voice of Weeping,” was organized for the success of the allied arms. The services included supplementary prayers, a memorial for those who fell in battle and reading of Psalm 20. Almost the same service was held on March 23, 1941, with the addition of the recitation of the “Shema” once, “Baruch Shem” thrice, and “The Lord He is God” seven times. The service terminated with the blowing of the Shofar (ibid.). On three successive anniversaries of the outbreak of war and to support Britain’s war efforts for freedom, services were organized on Sunday September 7, 1941 and on Sunday September 6, 1942. On the latter occasion, a New Year Message entitled The Sun of Righteousness was read out. When the war ended in 1945, a service of praise and thanksgiving was conducted by the American and British Jewish chaplains. Noteworthy was a prayer for the victims of mass murders and a kaddish for all victims of war and massacres (ibid.).

Zionist Movement

Though the Zionist movement had predominantly been led by the European Jews, its impact could be felt among Jews in other lands, including India. The Jews of Calcutta initially had little or no interest in Zionism, secured as they were in a friendly and hospitable environment under the benevolent protection of the British Raj and having nothing to fear from the Indians in general. The Jewish community of Calcutta was to a large extent apolitical and had little or no interest in ideological matters, let alone Zionism. The prospect of having to leave behind the comforts of home (i.e., Calcutta) and going to the Holy Land for the redemption of Zion through hard labor had little or no appeal to the majority of Calcutta’s wealthy Jews.

One Mrs Isaac wrote an article in the Jewish Messenger wherein she stated: “It’s a matter of no little surprise (to me) that with a population of about 2,000 Jews in Calcutta professing rabbinical Judaism and love for the Promised Land, the advocates of (political) Zionism in the city are nil” (Jewish Messenger, 1913, p. 92). It was a reality to which most of the Zionist emissaries to India and the Far East could not relate. As late as in 1944, Mechner, an emissary to India, described the Indian Jews as “Orientals, fond of rhetoric, sentimental (and) prone to mystical concepts” (Roland, 1995, p. 6). It is also equally true that the Zionist emissaries did not do much to arouse Zionist sentiments among the Calcutta Jews. They mainly targeted wealthy Jews for funds, which meant that their scope in the (Jewish) community of the Raj was very limited (Hyman, 1995, p. 203). Many of them might have shied away from overt political propaganda in an important area of the British Empire such as India where, unlike other European colonies (for example, French North Africa) Jews did not have to face any kind of discrimination.

The Jews of Calcutta were to a large extent helped by Zionists from overseas, for example, WIZO Women’s Zionist Organisation in Calcutta. The movement comprised mostly young people who studied about and dreamt of going to the Promised Land. Habonim (literally, the builders or those who built the State of Israel) was the only Zionist youth group in Calcutta. Miss Sally Meyer and Miss Sally Gubbay made a big move to start the movement in Calcutta (The Jewish Tribune, 1938, p. 21). Efforts in this direction came from Peter and Tehilla Krieger in the late 1930s. Tehilla Krieger came on a contract to teach Modern Hebrew at the Jewish Girls’ School. Peter got a job in the Elias Meyer Free School and Talmud Torah and at the same time conducting a group of 15 young adults at the Judean Club and imparting them with Zionist knowledge (Hyman, 1995, p. 203). Peter and Tehilla Krieger were active in Habonim during their short stay in Calcutta. Hebrew was promoted as a spoken language and Habonim worked to inculcate dedication to the Zionist cause.

Most of Habonim’s work centered round education, teaching folk songs and dances and way of life in Palestine. The work of Habonim greatly expanded Calcutta Jewish horizons (Silliman, 2001, p. 177). Habonim collected funds for the blue boxes (money to support Israel) from the Jewish community. Habonim awakened in the Jewish boys and girls their Jewish consciousness and made them realize their responsibilities as Jews (Appendix II).

During the late 1930s a number of emissaries from Karen Ha-Yesod or the United Israel Appeal visited India to collect funds from the Jewish communities for refugee relief as well as for the Zionist cause. Notable among the visitors was Dr Immanuel Olsvanger, a scholar of Sanskrit. He visited both Bombay and Calcutta where he conducted successful fund collection drive. He also made speeches—on 24 and 28 September—to a large audience at the Judean Club (The Jewish Tribune, 1936, p. 13). As a result of the speeches of Dr Olsvanger, several organizations and individuals came forward to donate for the Jewish cause. The following list of contributions demonstrates the extent of response (Table 1):

OPEN IN VIEWER

Table 1.

List of Contributors

Name of the Contributor(s)	Contribution
Messrs B.N. Elias & Sons	₹500/-
Mr E.F.E. Moses	₹500/-
Mr E.A. Arakie	₹300/-
Mr and Mrs E. Musleah	₹300/-
Mr D.D. Sassoon	₹120/-
Mr Mordechai	₹180/-
Mr Jacob Solomon	₹180/-
Mr J.E. Jacob	₹108/-
Mr M. Lanyado	₹100/-
Calcutta Hebrew Association	₹100/-
Mr I.S. Elias	₹72/-
Mr Elias Kelly	₹42/-
Mr Halegua	₹36/-

Source : The Jewish Advocate (1936).

Besides contributing generously to the Zionist Fund, the Calcutta Jewish community was also an active participant in the Shekel Campaign. The Shekel, an ancient Israeli coin was chosen as a symbol of Jewish identity as well as a membership card for the first Zionist Congress at Basel in 1897. The Jewish Agency in Jerusalem, which was also the Zionist headquarters, began a worldwide Shekel campaign primarily at the initiative of David Ben-Gurion, the future prime minister of Israel. The Shekel membership in the Calcutta Jewish community continued long after the foundation of the State of Israel.

The following is a letter from the Shekel Commissioner, Calcutta, addressed to the community:

Dear Sir,

Once again I wish to utilize your columns to inform members of the Jewish Community of the Shekel Campaign. The Shekel has always stood as a badge of solidarity and this year, it has taken on an additional significance.

All of us are proud that Israel withstood the terrible ordeal of its first year of existence. Many are watching with deep interest the work of nation building. But this interest should show itself at least in each of us being a shekel holder. I trust that all members of the Jewish community above the age of 18 will come forward and take the shekel and this gives concrete evidence of Calcutta Jewry’s interest and attachment to Israel.

Besides voluntary workers who will approach you, Shekalim (plural of Shekel) can also be had from the undersigned and the following:

Mr D. Elias, Tobacconists, New Market

Nahoum and Sons, New Market

Mr K.J. Cohen, 6, Tottee Lane

Mr M. Samuels, C/o Deluxe Art Studio, 25 B Park Street, Karnani Mansion

Morris’s, 12 Free School Street

6, Refugee Stores, Bowbazar Street

With Zion’s Greetings

Yours Truly

W. Epstein, Shekel Commissioner

9, Ezra Mansions

Source : Shema (1949, p. 3).

Since the Zionist movement laid great emphasis on physical labor, a sound mind in a sound body became the motto of the new generation of the Calcutta Jewish youth imbued with the ideals of Zionism. With this end in view, several He-halutz (pioneer) groups were formed to organize scouting and camping expeditions. On such pioneer group was formed in Calcutta around 1943 comprising a group of seven. This group left for Israel in 1945 (Shema, 1950, p. 5). It may be mentioned in this connection that Mrs Ramah Luddy, Principal of the Jewish Girls’ School and an active Zionist, was an organizer of youth groups. In 1945, she organized the Young Peoples’ Congregation with the help of Rabbi David J. Seligson, a Jewish Chaplain in the American Armed Forces stationed in Calcutta during the Second World War. The Organization aimed to accomplish the following tasks:

A Leadership Training Programme was started under the guidance of Rabbi E.N. Musleah. Meetings were held every Tuesday at the Judean Club. The group was required to study four hours of Judaica per week (Shema, 1952).

Likewise, scouting trips were organized to train Calcutta Jewish youth for pioneering work in Palestine. In this connection, reference to Habonim has already been made. It organized Veida or conference sessions. Out of the deliberations of the Veida, came the decisions of holding weekend camps for leadership training. The purpose of these camps was to intensify comradeship among the youth who affectionately addressed each other as chaver or friend. The first such camp was organized at Hridaipur, a village 14 miles down the Jessore Road (Shema, 1949, pp. 12–14). The meeting of boys and girls was however, not altogether approved by the conservative section of the community and there were occasional murmurs of dissent. The older generation of Baghdadis did not approve of Zionist activities. They considered Calcutta to be their home, though Israel was “home” in the spiritual sense. However, the young generation could not be prevented from expressing their concern and interest about the newly born state in the Middle East, to which they felt attached both politically and spiritually, without however foregoing their Indian nationality. A Habonim veida held on February 1, 1947 presided over by J.R. Jacob supported the Indian struggle for independence and the establishment of the sovereign state of India and also expected support of the Government of India to the rights of Jews in Eretz Israel (land of Israel), so as to sow the seeds of harmony and goodwill with the socialist Jewish state of the future and a socialist India. The Habonim also declared its loyalty to the Indian government (Shema, 1947, p. 9). Calcutta Jewish women too had been active in Zionist work and to this end the Women’s International Zionist Organization (WIZO) opened a branch in Calcutta at 3 Madge Lane. The WIZO had a representative in the person of Dr Olga Feinbergy and the main activity of the WIZO in Calcutta was fund-raising (Shema, 1952, p. 3). It also collected and sent gift parcels of warm and cotton clothing as well as food items. Membership fee was anything from ₹8 onwards.

For the dissemination of Zionist ideology, the Zionist Organization of Calcutta published its monthly official organ, the Kol Shofar, with its editorial office at P23 Prinsep Street. Its primary task was to keep the Calcutta Jewish community informed on India, Israel and international events. The magazine was, however, abruptly closed down by the British government in 1944 under the Paper Control Order (1942) (Kol Shofar, 1944, p. 12). The Jews of Calcutta responded enthusiastically to the foundation of the State of Israel and the idealists among them got ready to set sail and the Jewish Agency assisted in the task of immigration. Benny Port was sent to Calcutta as an instructor of the Jewish Agency in charge of Oriental Affairs. During his stay, he was to train youth in chalutzim (pioneering) work in Israel prior to them leaving India. He delivered his first address to the Calcutta Jews at the Judean Club on October 31 (Shema, 1949, p. 23).

In August 1949, some 500 Jews of Calcutta had been registered to leave (Ezra, 1986, p. 295). The second group of young immigrants from India and the first from Calcutta arrived in Israel on July 25, 1950 (Shema, 1950, p. 10). The group comprising 38 boys and girls were received at the Lydda airport by a representative of the Youth Alia (youth immigration) Organization, the secretary of the Israel Contacts Office of the Habonim movement and Mordecai Moses, the leader of the group who worked with Benny Port in Calcutta. The groups were settled in the kibbutzim (communes) of Kfar Blum and Gal-Ed in the hills of Ephraim and an hour’s distance by road from Haifa (ibid). On March 21, 1951, a Youth alia of seven girls left for Israel. A number of individuals, including Lady Ezra and J.R. Jacob contributed toward the expenses for their departure and work was done on behalf of the girls by Mrs Abraham, Mrs Deefholts and Mrs S. Silas (Shema, 1951, p. 2). The Jews who had stayed back in Calcutta continued to assist and encourage those who wished to leave for Israel and did valuable work in helping maintain ties with the newborn state.

The following editorial appeared in the Shema, the organ of the Jewish Association of Calcutta regarding Israel on the 3rd Anniversary of its independence.

The Jewish people have struggled for their national existence unceasingly for nearly 4,000 years. The bitter and desperate conflict, which fell to the lot of the Jews, both in their homeland and in their dispersion, is without parallel in world history; in its extremes of disaster and annihilation and of uprisings and resistance. Yet, the struggle has not ended with the rise of the State of Israel. Our historic purpose is not yet achieved, nor is the existence of the state assured. We have created the basis of our redemption, which is the State of Israel. This instrument itself will need to be strengthened and guarded.

Let us now reflect and see what Israel has achieved since its inception.

Her population has increased from 650,000 in May 1948 to 14,00,000 in May 1951. Housing for immigrants by 71,000 units in 2 years. For 1951–52, there are plans for a further 75,000 units, 50,000 permanent and 25,000 temporary. In agriculture, her farmlands have risen from 137,000 acres to 570,000 acres and agricultural machinery of all types from 2,042 to 9,150. But Israel’s troubles grow. The Government is faced with a further burden of tens of thousands of destitute Jews from Iraq. Defensive preparations have to be increased rapidly to face the ever-growing menace of further aggression from her neighbours. The economic blockade of the Arab League though it affects them more than Israel is nevertheless a check on Israel’s economic expansion. A cheerful feature is the confidence of the western nations in Israel’s integrity, which is enabling industries to be built up with large credits. Like India, Israel faced with a growing population swelling rapidly with refugees, is trying desperately for self-sufficiency in food. The spirit, which has kept the Jews intact for thousands of years of persecution and wandering, is very much alive. The lurking dangers and difficulties have been a blessing in disguise giving the people a sense of urgency and welding them into one homogeneous brotherhood.

We send our good wishes to Israel with sober contemplation of the sacrifice of thousands of young lives lost in creating the State, with sympathy and understanding of her manifold problems and our deep and sincere conviction that by the help of Almighty she will rise successful above them all. (Shema, 1951)

India’s recognition of Israel also found expression in the Shema editorial, the excerpt of which is given below

The recognition of Israel by India has filled the well wishers of both countries all over the world with deep satisfaction. To us (i.e., Jews) in India who have lived for centuries in freedom and dignity, it gives the greatest pleasure…. Mighty India and tiny Israel have from ancient times given great spiritual messages to mankind of tolerance, peace and brotherly love. Today, they stand pledged to the promises held out by their great prophets and leaders…. Israel has looked to India’s growing leadership in Asian affairs with sympathy and support because she realizes that India’s aims and aspirations are hers also … They have both much to learn and exchange from each other…. We wish both nations all success in their onward progress which will ultimately be of benefit to mankind. (Shema, 1950)

To celebrate the recognition of Israel by India, a function was held in the Judean Club on December 12, 1950 (Shema, 1951, p. 10). The guest of honor that evening was S.N. Chatterjee, Commissioner of Police and among other distinguished guests present on that day was Prof. K. Auddy, Rabbi E.N. Musleah, Prof. M.L. Roy Chowdhury, Solly Kelly, and Lady Ezra. After Lady Ezra gave the closing address, the Indian National Anthem was sung followed by the Israeli anthem Hatikvah.

In spite of heavy rain, a record crowd attended the celebrations of the first anniversary of Israel’s independence held at the Judean Club on May 4, 1949 under the auspices of the Calcutta Zionist Association attended by Lady Ezra, Shaul Moses, Honorary Assistant Secretary, Prof. Brodetsky, President of the Zionist Federation of Great Britain, and Eire, Prof. M.L. Roy Chowdhury and Mordecai Moses on behalf of Habonim and the Calcutta Jewish youth (Shema, 1949, pp. 13–14). Earlier in the day Jewish children from all parts of Calcutta assembled at the Jewish Girls’ School and proudly witnessed the hosting of the Israeli flag (Shema, 1949).

The Calcutta Jewry celebrated the third anniversary of Israel’s independence with great verve in the spacious grounds of Lady Ezra’s residence at No. 3, Kyd Street attended by a large gathering (Shema, 1951, p. 13). The occasion was also the 22nd anniversary of the Judean Club of Calcutta, and the tea party and celebrations were held under the joint auspices of the Jewish Association of Calcutta, Judean Club and the Zionist Association of Calcutta (ibid.). The 46th anniversary of Theodore Herzl, the father of modern Zionism, was commemorated at the Judean Club, Calcutta, on Tuesday, July 24 (Shema, 1951, p. 15). The function was held under the auspices of the Calcutta Zionist Association and chaired by Lady Ezra (ibid.). Prof. M.L. Roy Chowdhury gave a rousing speech on the occasion and described Theodore Herzl as belonging not only to the Jews but to all humanity in his struggle for the emancipation of his people (ibid.). In 1953 Moshe Sharett, Foreign Minister of Israel, on his way to the Asian Socialist Conference at Rangoon stopped briefly in Calcutta at the residence of Dr and Mrs Tauber (Shema, 1951, p. 11). There was a fair attendance and representatives of Calcutta Jewry and a second reception in his honor was held at 2, Albert Road on January 17 when he was en-route to Israel from Rangoon. Members of the Governing Body of the Jewish association of Calcutta were invited.

Calcutta Jewry mourned the death of Israel’s first President Dr Chaim Weizmann that was published in the Shema. India’s President Dr Rajendra Prasad sent the following message of condolence to the people of Israel.

I have been deeply grieved to learn of the sad demise of His Excellency Dr. Chaim Weizmann. In him the world has lost a great and a noble leader and I wish to extend to Your Excellency and through you to the bereaved family and the people of Israel deep condolences and heartfelt sympathies of the people of Israel and my own for this irreparable loss. (Shema, 1951, p. 9)

As a mark of respect, flags on all government buildings in New Delhi flew half-mast on the day of Dr Weizmann’s funeral (ibid.). Messages of condolence from all over India was received by F.W. Pollack, Israel’s representative in India, who had also opened a Book of Condolence at Israel’s Consular Office at Bombay.

A United Israel Appeal of 1955 conducted by Lieutenant Colonel Y. Carmel in Calcutta raised a sum of Rs. 30,506 (Shema, 1955, pp. 14–15). On October 28, 1959, an Air France Plane touched the airport at Palam, New Delhi, bringing with it a most important personage and his wife, the President of Israel, Yitzhak Ben Zvi and his wife, accompanied by several members of his entourage including Col. Carmel, his ADC E.H. Levy, and E. Gubbay received the dignitaries at the airport on behalf of the Jewish Association of Calcutta (Shema, 1955, p. 2). The President delivered a short speech in which he conveyed to the Jews of Calcutta greetings and blessings from Israel.

Notwithstanding the success the Calcutta Jewish community had in cultivating closer ties with Israel, the prolonged absence of any formal diplomatic ties between India and Israel until January 1992 hampered the possibility if a full-fledged dialogue in which the Calcutta Jewish diaspora could have served as a bridge. Though hesitant at the beginning, the Jews of Calcutta finally overcame their colonial hiatus in making the most of their opportunities in cementing their ties with the Israel while maintaining their loyalty to India. The Zionist movement strengthened the sense of patriotism among the Jewish residents of Calcutta. Unlike the Jews of Europe, the Jews of Calcutta did not have to compromise their identity, or forced to merge in the social milieu for fear of majoritarian backlash. Thus during the inter-war period and in the years after the Indian independence, they could safely make the transition from being Raj loyalists to free citizens of India, and at the same time not forgetting either their commitments or concern for the plight of their fellow Jews across the world. Therein lies its significance.