Late Rev. Hechler Was Once Candidate for Position of Bishop in Jerusalem but Was Passed over in Favo

The late Rev. Hechler, owing to the early interest that he took in Palestine, was once a candidate for the position of (Anglican) Bishop in Jerusalem, but was not elected, preference being shown to another English clergyman, who was a baptised Jew (Bishop Alexander, the first Anglican Bishop in Jerusalem) Mr. Nahum Sokolov said at a memorial meeting in honour of the late Rev. W. Hechler, formerly Chaplain to the British Embassy in Vienna, held to-day at the Central Office of the Zionist Organisation, Dr. Weizmann, Mr. L. Barth, Mr. S. Kaplansky, Mr. F, Rosenblueth, Dr. Feiwel, and members of the staffs of the Zionist Organisation, the English Zionist Federation, the Women’s International Zionist Organisation, and the Federation of Women Zionists being present.

Mr. Sekolov stressed the valuable political services that the Rev. Hechler had rendered to Dr. Herzl and the devotion to the Zionist cause that he displayed throughout his life. Mr. Hechler had introduced Herzl to the Grand Duke of Baden, and was thus instrumental in the introduction of the Zionist leader to the Kaiser. He had also been of great service in connection with Herzl’s audiences with the Sultan of Turkey.

Even after Herzl’s death, Mr. Sokolov said, Mr. Hechler remained in very close touch with the Zionist movement, and was present at several Congresses, as well as at many Zionist Conferences and meetings in London.