Mojżesz współczesny (1930) Leo Belmonta. Zapomniana powieść o Theodorze Herzlu

Abstract

The paper presents a unique, first ever biographical novel about the figure and work of Theodor Herzl (1860–1904), the founder of Zionism. Contemporary Moses (1930) by Leo Belmont (actual name: Leopold Blumental, 1865–1941) is a comprehensive psychological study of the protagonist’s internal transformations (in May and June 1895) based on various sources. The first volume (Rozdroże Teodora Herzla (The Crossroads of Theodor Herzl)) depicts the process of abandoning Herzl’s previous identity as an assimilated Jew, analysing the essence of anti-Semitism and the birth of a new national consciousness. The second volume (Fatamorgana państwa żydowskiego (Mirage of the Jewish State)) shows the crystallisation of the idea of the state as a means of resolving the Jewish question in Europe and the rebirth of the nation as a modern political entity. Belmont’s novel is an unfinished work. The author was planning its continuation in subsequent volumes, as he laid out at the end of the second volume.