N. Y. Zionists Regret Death of Jacobson

Zionists in New York were shocked to hear yesterday that Victor Jacobson, one of the most indefatigable fighters in the Zionist ranks, had died. Among the expressions on his life are the following:

Morris Rothenberg, president, the Zionist Organization of America—The death of Victor Jacobson removes from the Zionist movement one of its most prominent and respected figures. Victor Jacobson was active in the Zionist movement since its very inception. In recent years he occupied posts of great importance. He was the political representative of the World Zionist Organization at Geneva where he came in contact with representatives of the League of Nations, and he did much to win many of the leading figures of the League of Nations, especially the members of the Mandates Commission, to a better appreciation of Zionist ideals and Zionist rights under the mandate.

Jacob Dehaas—The death of Victor Jacobson comes as a sad realization to old Zionists like myself. His service to the cause goes back many years and from about 1910 he played the role of diplomatic agent. During the World War he conducted the Zionist Bureau in Copenhagen, and thousands of families owe to his effort, as intermediary, the succor they received in the East European war zone. It is interesting to recall at this time that he was about the first to talk of raising millions of dollars for Jewish effort in Palestine. Even before the Armistice was officially declared in 1918, Jacobson was circulating his original draft, calling for the expenditure of £25,000,000. In recent years, he represented the movement in Geneva. He was not a speaker, and his public presentation of his ideas rarely won close attention, but for the individual student of Jewish affairs, Jacobson was a mine of information and always exhibited a fertile imagination. I did not agree, for instance, with his plan for the cantonal division of Palestine, but it was characteristic of a man who in every difficulty thought of some practical way out.

Robert Szold, vice-president of the Zionist Organization of America—I am shocked to learn of Jacobson’s death. I knew him as one of the old veterans who for many years served the Zionist Organization at Geneva.