Herzl Year, the year of the commemoration of the 50th anniversary of the death of Theodor Herzl, founder of modern Zionism, was ushered in here last night at a ceremony in front of the Herzl Tomb.
Present at the ceremony were the President and Premier of Israel, members of the government and Parliament and a host of others including two lone survivors among the band of pioneers who organized the first Zionist Congress with Dr. Herzl in Basle in 1897. The two surviving colleagues of Dr. Herzl are Prof. Joseph Klausner and Meyer Ebner.
The short ceremony featured prayers for the dead, the reading of selected psalms and selections from Dr. Herzl’s diary and representative addresses. Afterwards, the President of Israel, Itzhak Ben Zvi, led a processional past the tomb. He was followed by members of the Cabinet, deputies of Parliament and members of the Jewish Agency and of the Zionist Actions Committee.
Platoons representing various arms of the Israel defense forces presented arms as the national and Zionist flags were hoisted over the tomb. The grave site was covered with a veritable forest of Zionist flags carried by representatives of youth organizations and youth groups played band selections and choirs sang throughout an hour-long musical program.
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