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Randomim Dror

Where we bring you stories of Habonim Dror in random countries!

This issue, we publish excerpts of the diary of Flora James (Born 1922), who describes
her time in Habonim Romania:

By 1936, the Jews in Rumania were increasingly aware of anti-Semitism in public life. Economic crisis and
political unrest, in Germany and elsewhere, provided fertile political soil for anti-Semitism to flourish. On
30th of January, 1933, Hitler assumed full power as Chancellor of the German Reich. In Rumania, the liberal
premier Ion Duca was murdered by Rumanian fascists. In 1934, the Uj Kelet, our Hungarian Jewish daily,
cited the demand of the English politician, Oswald Mosley, to establish a 'modern dictatorship' in England,
similar to the new regime Mussolini, his idol, had established in Italy. Though we staunchly refused to believe
that England could succumb to fascism, this item of news only increased our foreboding about the future.
Headlines, in Hungarian and Rumanian papers, carried daily news of mounting anti-Jewish legislation in
Germany. At the same time, murmurs of approval of these measures could be heard in other countries in
Europe. Though I grew up to regard anti-Semitism as a historical 'given', I seethed with anger that we Jews
were nothing more than helpless playthings in the grip of some brutish capricious force. The stoical attitude
of my larger family exasperated me. At the next Pesach meal, with all the family present, I confronted them:
'We can't just sit here like frightened sheep, doing nothing.' My grandparents, parents, aunts and uncles,
around our festive table, showed remarkable forbearance. 'You are right, the situation is not good for us, but
there is nothing we can do just now.' Desperate to convince them that the time for
action was right then and there, I persisted: 'Why can't we sell the mills and go to
Palestine — now?' 'No one is interested in buying them, ' my grandfather explained,
'because the Government is going to nationalise Jewish property.' Soon after this
conversation, 'The Government' did indeed appear, in the shape of two shady-looking
officials, who installed themselves in the best office. However, as they had no idea how
to run the mill they were obliged to leave the family to run it. During our talk, my
grandfather also reminded me that the year before, in 1934, both he and my uncle Gyula
(Julius) took a trip to Palestine, in order to see if it was possible to start a flour mill
there. But what they learnt about the situation in the Yishuv convinced them that the
economic conditions were not favourable for starting such a business. Their arguments
silenced me. The truth was that even I, who had recently become a member of the labour
Zionist youth organisation Habonim, could not imagine my family turning to chalutziut at
their time of life. I, at the age of fourteen, was completely set on doing just that, but
for the time being I thought it wiser, not to talk about it.

The subject of my connection with Habonim was a bone of contention between us. Not
long before, my parents had found out that I had enrolled in Habonim. The fact that I
did so without getting their permission first, or even telling them, sparked a terrible row.
The circumstances in which my transgression was discovered, somehow, made the whole
matter worse. One afternoon, while working in his office, my father's attention was
drawn to the sound of persistent whistling coming from the street. Looking out of the
Flora James window, he saw some boys, whom he described as 'louts'. When he asked what they were
doing, they said they were members of Habonim, and that the whistle was our signal for
calling each other. My father was generally sweet tempered man, though he did have the occasional fit of
temper. This was one of those occasions. The chaverim left without speaking to me. For the rest of that
afternoon, I was subjected to a prolonged questioning concerning the nature, political leanings and ethics of
the movement. The news that I wanted to belong to a Zionist youth movement with socialist ideals, did not
please him. In principle, he explained, he had no objection to my joining such a movement — he was a Zionist
himself. But he refused to contemplate the idea of my joining a group of 'anti-religious
revolutionaries, who plan to live in a commune'. 'What's wrong with joining the Misrahi?' he argued.