The Katowice Conference, 6-11 th of June, 1884, and the decision regarding settlement in Palestine – Katowice
Fact of the Polish figure „The birth of Zionism – Chibbat Syjon”
Part of the „The emancipation of minorities” topic
On November 11, 1884, the Katowice Conference was held, which was attended by delegates of the Movement of Zion Lovers. The city then located in Germany near the border with the Russian Empire allowed to gather many members from Russia (22 delegates). Most of the participants came from Warsaw and Bialystok, but also from Romania, England, Germany, and France. During this meeting, a place was chosen to resettle the Jewish community from the territories of Tsarist Russia, who were persecuted there in the 1980s of the XIX century. Palestine was designated as the destination and a considerable amount of financial resources were allocated to help in this task. Some say that this conference is one of the first reasons why the state of Israel was created in the territories of the Middle East after World War II.
