“Everyone who believes in the power of revival through Jewish labor on the land—vote for the Zionist slate, No. 6 for the All-Russian Congress. ” Yiddish poster. Artwork and printed by Pivovarski, Petrograd, 1918. (YIVO) (YIVO)
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Sale 2168 Lot 142 DESIGNER UNKNOWN [VOTE FOR ZIONIST LIST NO. 6.] 1917. 23 1/4x18 1/4 inches, 59x46 cm. M. Pivovarsky, Petrograd. Condition A. Japan. 1917-18 was a politically tumultuous time in Russia, but exuberant for the country's large Jewish population. Zionism had been an illegal movement under the tsarist regime, but under the provisional government established after the February Revolution, Jews in Russia experienced a previously unimaginable renaissance of rights and possibilities. With the issuance of the Balfour Declaration in November 1917, the Russian Zionist movement gained even more optimism and hope. Such were the freedoms of the Jewish community, that a conference of Russian Zionists decided to convene an all-Russian Jewish congress. "The purpose of this congress was to establish an autonomous, political-cultural organization and central representation of all the Jews in Russia" (Magnes p. 40). This poster is urging Russian Jews to vote for the Zionist slate 6 in the upcoming elections for this all-Russian Jewish Congress. The text reads, "Jewish workers, storeowners, salesclerks, all who suffer from exile and misery, your friends are the Zionists, who call for a home of their own for the Jewish people. To the All-Russian Jewish Congress!" The poster uses imagery that is evocative of the Old Testament story of Ruth. Although these elections were held, the revival of Jewish rights was short-lived, as the Bolsheviks who came to power in October opposed it, and the congress never met. Magnes 12. Estimate $5,000-7,500
Two posters, the first in Yiddish and Russian, the latter in Russian, asking the Jews to vote for the Zionist Party in "Note 6". The Russian Zionist was divided in three main trends: socialist, moderate labor, and popular democratic. The party's center in Petrograd was transferred to Kharkov after the October Revolution and from there to Kiev, which was not yet under Soviet rule. From then on the movement's activities were mainly concentrated in the Ukraine during a period filled with hope of Jewish national autonomy, but mainly dominated by the threatening storm of pogroms. Ẓe'irei Zion then played an important role as organizer of the Jewish self-defense units and of extensive cooperative enterprises. Its main activities, however, were concentrated on the pioneering aliyah movement, promoted through the He-Ḥalutz conference in Kharkov (1918).
http://www.virtualjudaica.com/Item/20455/Two_rare_Zionist_elections_posters