SOMMERSTEIN, EMIL

SOMMERSTEIN, EMIL
SOMMERSTEIN, EMIL (1883–1957), Zionist leader in Galicia and Polish Jewish leader. Born in the village of Hleszczawa in the district of Tarnopol, Galicia, Sommerstein practiced law in Lvov. His Zionist activities began during his student years, when he founded the Zionist Students' League in Galicia (1906). He later played a leading role in the Galician Zionist Federation, of which he became chairman. He was a member of the Polish Sejm from 1922 until 1939 (with a break from 1927–29). He was active in several Jewish institutions and organizations, especially economic ones. Due to him, the Jewish Academic House, the first of its kind in Europe, was established in Lvov in 1910. He specialized in economic and financial law and published several books on these subjects in Polish (1924–28). Sommerstein took part in the establishment of the world jewish congress . At the end of September 1939, with the entry of the Soviet army into Lvov, he was arrested and taken to Kiev. He was transferred from prison to prison until he was liberated at the beginning of 1944 in a general amnesty. In spring 1944 Sommerstein was invited by the Soviet authorities to represent Polish Jewry in Moscow and was even received by Stalin. Together with the Soviet-sponsored Association of Polish Patriots, he followed in the wake of the Soviet army's advance into Polish territory. He was co-opted onto the Polish Committee for National Liberation, which was established in Chelm in July 1944 and became the provisional government of liberated Poland. He moved to Lublin with the government and then to Warsaw (February 1945). Sommerstein was among the founding members of the Central Committee of Polish Jewry and also served as its president. He played an important role in arranging for the repatriation of 140,000 Polish Jewish refugees from the Soviet Union. He was a member of the editorial board of the central Jewish organ, Dos Naye Lebn, which commenced publication in liberated Poland. In April 1946 he headed a delegation of Polish Jews to the U.S., where he suffered from a paralytic disease from which he never recovered. He died in New York and his remains were taken to Israel and buried in Tel Aviv (See also poland , Contemporary).   -BIBLIOGRAPHY: N.M. Gelber, Toledot ha-Tenu'ah ha-Ẓiyyonit be-Galiẓyah, 2 vols. (1958), index; AJYB, 59 (1958), 477. (Nathan Eck)

Encyclopedia Judaica. 1971.

Игры ⚽ Поможем решить контрольную работу

Look at other dictionaries:

  • Sommerstein, Emil — (1883–1957)    Leader of Polish Jewry. Before World War II Sommerstein was a lawyer and Zionist leader in Polish Galicia, and for fifteen years a deputy in the Polish Sejm (parliament). With the German invasion, he fled to Russia, where he was… …   Who’s Who in Jewish History after the period of the Old Testament

  • Sommerstein, Emil — (1868 1946)    Austrian soldier. He was born in Bukovina. He fought in Galicia during World War I, and later commanded the Austrian army that captured Burgenland. He served as head of the Austrian organization for Jewish war veterans. After the… …   Dictionary of Jewish Biography

  • Emil Sommerstein — (born July 6, 1883 in the village of Hleszczawa near Lwow, died 1957 in Middletown, USA) was a Polish Jewish lawyer, philosopher, activist and politician. Sommerstein spent most of his life in Lwow, where in the interbellum period he was director …   Wikipedia

  • Зоммерштейн, Эмиль — Эмиль Зоммерштейн עמיל זאָמערשטײן, Emil Sommerstein Дата рождения: 6 июля 1889(1889 07 06) …   Википедия

  • ZIONISM — This article is arranged according to the following outline: the word and its meaning forerunners ḤIBBAT ZION ROOTS OF ḤIBBAT ZION background to the emergence of the movement the beginnings of the movement PINSKER S AUTOEMANCIPATION settlement… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

  • Political satire — is a significant part of satire that specializes in gaining entertainment from politics; it has also been used with subversive intent where political speech and dissent are forbidden by a regime, as a method of advancing political arguments where …   Wikipedia

  • Lubliner Komitee — In Polen häufig verwendetes Bild vom Aushang des PKWN Manifests Das Lubliner Komitee, eigentlich Polnisches Komitee der Nationalen Befreiung (polnisch: Polski Komitet Wyzwolenia Narodowego, kurz PKWN), war eine gegen Ende des Zweiten Weltkrieges… …   Deutsch Wikipedia

  • POLAND — POLAND, republic in E. Central Europe; the kingdom of Poland and the grand duchy of Lithuania united formally (Poland Lithuania) in 1569. This article is arranged according to the following outline: the early settlements jewish legal status… …   Encyclopedia of Judaism

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”