ZIONIST BANNER.

Welcome Zionists. Used at the International Biltmore Conference at the Biltmore Hotel. May 6-11th, 1942.

Welcome Zionists. Used at the International Biltmore Conference at the Biltmore Hotel. May 6-11th, 1942. A white cotton banner, with blue silk screened lettering, "Welcome Zionists," and blue star of David. 35.5 x 36 inches (900 x 920 mm). Some light discoloration, and rubbing of a few letters, edges slightly frayed.
Provenance: Acquired by a collector directly from an attendee of the conference, most likely Dr Emanuel Neumann, 1893-1980.

A RARE ZIONIST BANNER, acquired from the Biltmore Conference (Extraordinary Zionist Conference), held at the Biltmore Hotel in New York from may 6th to 8th, 1942. It was a major event in modern Jewish history, because the main World Zionist Congress couldn't be held due to WWII, so the New York meeting became more central to Zionist policy, and drew 586 delegates and Zionist leaders from 18 countries. Its political resolutions differed from earlier Zionist policy in that the conference demanded the creation of a Jewish Commonwealth in Palestine. It also offered "a message of hope and encouragement to their fellow Jews in the Ghettos and concentration camps of Hitler- dominated Europe," and prayers that "their hour of liberation may not be far distant." The conference reaffirmed "the stand previously adopted at Congresses of the World Zionist Organization, expressing the readiness and the desire of the Jewish people for full cooperation with their Arab neighbours."