A Circular Letter Distributed by the Executive Committee of the Zionist Organization – Vienna, 1898

A stenciled circular letter distributed by the Executive Central Committee of the Zionist Organization. Hand-signed by two out of the five members of the first Committee of the Zionist Organization - Dr. Oser Kokesch (the secretary of the committee) and Dr. Moritz (Moshe) Tobias Schnierer. Vienna, 13 May 1898. German.
A call to sign a declaration, in protest of an article by Dr. Aharon (Armand) Kaminka, published in Ha-Magid and The Jewish Chronicle, which criticized Herzl and the Zionist Movement.
"Attached I'm sending you the translation of an article by Dr. Kaminka… Such articles can cause severe harm to the Zionist cause… The Executive Central Committee considers it inadvisable, for obvious reasons, to respond to comments such as these. However, we consider it absolutely necessary that the participants of the pre-conferences in Vienna [in preparation for the Second Zionist Congress] collectively refute the attacks of Dr. Kaminka. We therefore ask you to kindly sign the attached declaration…".
Aharon (Armand) Kaminka (1866-1950) was a rabbi, scholar, and Hebrew poet and translator born in Berdichev. He was a Zionist activist and one of the founders of the Hovevei Zion Berlin chapter. In the article referred to in the letter he expressed harsh criticism of Herzl's conduct, even writing that the Hovevei Zion movement should consider shunning the Second Zionist Congress altogether.
[1] leaf, folded into two and printed on one side, 29 cm. Good condition. Folding marks and creases. Several tears at margins. Some stains.