Nearly eight decades after their tragic deaths, two of Theodor Herzl's children were buried [today] in Jerusalem in an official ceremony that fulfilled the founder of modern Zionism's century-old will.The funeral, in the national cemetery that bears Herzl's name, followed years of bureaucratic battles and a religious controversy about whether Herzl's son - who converted to Christianity and who committed suicide - was entitled to a proper Jewish burial.
Pauline and Hans Herzl were buried near their father in a midafternoon Jewish funeral after their remains were brought to Israel from Bordeaux, France, where they were disinterred earlier this week. Hundreds of national dignitaries and very distant Herzl relatives sat under a canopy during the hourlong ceremony.
"Today, by bringing the bones of Pauline and Hans, we are completing the mission and closing a historic circle," Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said at the ceremony. "We owe (Herzl) a humane debt, a debt of honor, and that is the complete fulfillment of his will." ....
Herzl, who died in 1904 at age 44, was buried in Vienna, Austria, but specified in his will that he wanted his body, and those of his close relatives, moved to the Jewish state he hoped would one day be created.
In 1949, a year after Israel's independence, Herzl's body was brought to Jerusalem and buried in the Mount Herzl Cemetery, which later became the final resting place of Israel's leaders and war heroes. The bodies of Herzl's parents and sister were brought later, but not those of his children.
All three died tragically. Pauline suffered from mental illness and died in 1930, at the age of 40, apparently of a morphine overdose. Hans, who converted to Christianity, committed suicide when he learned of her death. He was 39. Herzl's youngest daughter, Trude, died in a Nazi concentration camp during the Holocaust at the age of 50. Her body was never found....
Here's a bittersweet side story about Herzl's family from www.hagshama.org.il
.... During his career as president of the World Zionist Organization, [Herzl] never took a salary and paid for all his expenses out of his own pocket. He died penniless. His wife and four children appealed to the Zionists for money on which to live.It was agreed that Theodor (Benyamin Ze'ev) Herzl's family could not remain destitute and the leaders asked their membership for funds to assist them. In a very short time, three million dollars were raised and the leadership searched for a secure investment that would guarantee an income for Herzl's family.
Many ideas were considered and the Zionist leadership selected the 4 percent 30-year bonds of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. This bond represented the safest and most secure paper in central Europe. Backing the bond was the good faith and will of the strongest, most powerful empire on the continent. In l906, this assured the family members a substantial income for the rest of their lives.
Eight years and one world war later, the Austro-Hungarian Empire had ceased to exist. The bonds which were supposed to support Herzl's children became worthless. The committee is not to be faulted for making what turned out to be a terrible investment; that would be asking them to see into the future.
What is curious, however, is the fact that in the minutes of the Committee which reviewed investments, not one member chose to consider the long-term bonds of the Zionist organization itself, the Keren Hayesod and the Jewish National Fund.
Both of these bonds are still good, and for the 90 years of their existence have not missed a payment.
Lila tov.
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