Ber Borochov

“ THIS PURIM will mark ten years of the founding convention of the Poale Zion Party in Russia. Ten years! It is impossible to transcribe the emotions that rise up on the mind of an "old" Party worker like myself when he is reminded of that memorable event. ”

“ A more concrete and modern form of Socialist Zionism was first propounded by our comrade, Nachman Syrkin, who is justly considered in our movement as its spiritual father.
Nachman Syrkin first developed his new and militant concept in his speeches and articles on the Jewish question. His lectures were delivered to Russian Jewish youths studying abroad, and his articles were published in Das Deutsche Wort in Vienna. Syrkin’s propaganda continued from 1898 to 1901. Its first tangible results was the organization of a group of "Socialist Zionists." ”

“ Similarly, in Russia proper, there arose an independent Socialist Zionist movement which had no relationship to Syrkin’s propaganda abroad. The first group of socialist, class-conscious Poale Zionists in Russia was formed in November, 1900, in Yekaterinoslav. Its founders were the writer of these lines and Simon Dobin, who later went over to the Seimists Party [Jewish Socialist Labor Party, non-Marxist, aligned with Socialist Revolutionaries (SRs) ] and there earned a reputation for being a clever and wholesome Jewish writer. ”