SELBSTWEHR

SELBSTWEHR ("Self-Defense"), Jewish weekly founded in Prague. It was first published in 1907 and appeared regularly until the fall of 1938. After amalgamation with the Juedisches Volksblatt, a weekly published in ostrava , it was the most widely read Jewish newspaper in Czechoslovakia. Editors of the paper included Siegfried Katznelson, later manager of the publishing house Juedischer Verlag, Berlin; Leo Herrman, later general secretary of the Keren Hayesod, Jerusalem; felix weltsch ; and Hans Lichtwitz (Uri Naor; d. 1988), later of the Israel Foreign Ministry, Jerusalem. Among regular contributors were max brod and martin buber . Selbstwehr was the official organ of the Czechoslovakian Zionist Movement and the German-language organ of the Juedische Partei, which represented the interests of the Jewish minority in Czechoslovak internal politics. After World War I Selbstwehr also published the annual "Jewish Almanac", edited by Felix Weltsch and friedrich thieberger , which dealt mainly with cultural activities in Palestine. The regular monthly supplement, Die Juedische Frau ("The Jewish Woman"), edited by hannah steiner , was the official organ of Czechoslovak WIZO. Selbstwehr had to cease publication after the Munich agreement. (Uri Naor)