The Shekel. Single printed page.

(ZIONISM - ITALY).

Italy

1945

Text in English, Hebrew and Italian.

The Shekel, a “tax” on all who wished to participate in the election of delegates to the World Zionist Congress, was instituted by the representatives of the First Congress and was an immediate and popular success. Those who contributed their Shekel felt as though they were genuinely participating in a Diaspora democratic government. This broadside, printed for members of the Jewish community in Italy, restates the importance of contributing the Shekel and participating in the revival of Jewish sovereignty in the wake of the Holocaust. Italian Jewry indeed saw a surge in interest in Zionism and Aliyah following the end of the War; during the years of 1946-1948, nearly half of vessels carrying Jewish vessels to Palestine left from Italy (most of the ships were turned back to Cyprus).