Mayer Ebner

Ebner was born in Czernowitz in the Duchy of Bukovina, then part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. He was the son of Jacob and Malka Ebner (née Frankel). He received a traditional Jewish education and later attended a general gymnasium in Czernowitz.

He studied law at Czernowitz University and practiced as a lawyer alongside his political activity.

In 1891 Ebner helped establish the Zionist student association Hasmonea in Czernowitz together with Isaac Shmirer, Joseph Birer, Shlomo Kassner and Philipp Menczel.

At the First Zionist Congress in Basel in 1897, Bukovina was represented by Mayer Ebner, Isaac Shmirer and Leon Picker. Ebner delivered a speech concerning the situation of the Jews of Bukovina.^[4]

He later developed what he described as a "realistic national policy", which he also termed Jüdische Realpolitik ("Jewish Realpolitik")^[5], advocating Jewish political representation and the defense of Jewish minority rights in European states, alongside support for the establishment of a Jewish national home in Palestine. He subsequently elaborated this dual approach in terms of Landespolitik, emphasizing that organized Jewish political activity in the Diaspora and the defense of Jewish minority rights within European states were likewise an indispensable part of Zionism.^[6][7]

After World War I, Bukovina was incorporated into Romania. Ebner continued his Zionist and political activity and became chairman of the Zionist Organization in Bukovina.^[8]

He founded and edited the German-language Zionist newspaper Ostjüdische Zeitung, which appeared from 1919 until it was closed by the antisemitic Goga–Cuza government in 1937.^[9] The newspaper served as one of the main Zionist political platforms in Bukovina during the interwar period. On 12 December 1927, Ebner took part in a meeting with Dr. Chaim Weizmann in Chernivtsi, during Weizmann’s visit to Bukovina and his meeting with the leadership of the local Zionist movement.^[10] Ebner later published his impressions of the visit in a comprehensive portrait article on Weizmann titled “Chaim Weizmann. Ein Porträt”.^[11]

In 1926, Ebner was elected to the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of Romania, and in 1928 he was elected to the Romanian Senate. He was a member of the Jewish Party (Romanian: Partidul Evreiesc din România, PER), a Jewish political party active in Romania during the interwar period. He served as leader of the Jewish parliamentary group in the Romanian parliament, representing Jewish political interests.

In 1933 he was elected vice president of the Congress of European Nationalities in Geneva following the death of Leo Motzkin.

In 1940 Ebner immigrated to Mandatory Palestine and settled in Tel Aviv. He continued to participate in Zionist public life and remained a member of the Zionist Executive.^[12]

He attended the ceremony of the Israeli Declaration of Independence in 1948 and continued writing for newspapers such as Haaretz.

Ebner died on 12 December 1955 and was buried in Nahalat Yitzhak Cemetery in Tel Aviv.^[13]

• "Jüdische Realpolitik". Die Welt (Vienna), 22 February 1901, no. 8, pp. 6–7. PDF
• "Zionismus und Landespolitik", Ostjüdische Zeitung (Chernivtsi), 9 December 1921.
• "Chaim Weizmann. Ein Porträt", Ostjüdische Zeitung (Chernivtsi), 18 December 1927.
• "After the Meeting of the Zionist Executive (Impressions)", Davar, 29 April 1948. (Hebrew)

• Reifer, Manfred. Doktor Mayer Ebner: Ein jüdisches Leben. Tel Aviv, 1947. (in German).
• Schaary, David. "The Realpolitik of the Jewish National Leadership of Bukovina." In: Rotman, I.; Vago, R. (eds.). The History of the Jews in Romania, vol. 3. Tel Aviv: The Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center, Tel Aviv University, 2005.
• Schaary, David. Yahadut Bukovina bein shtei milhamot ha-olam [Bukovina Jewry Between the Two World Wars]. Tel Aviv: The Goldstein-Goren Diaspora Research Center, Tel Aviv University, 2004. (in Hebrew).
• Yavetz, Zvi. Chernivtsi Sheli [My Czernowitz]. Tel Aviv: Kinneret Zmora-Bitan Dvir, 2007. (in Hebrew).
• Schaary, David. "Ha-Mo‘etza Ha-Leumit Ha-Yehudit" [The Jewish National Council]. In: Yahadut Bukovina bein shtei milhamot ha-olam. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 2004. (in Hebrew).
• Schaary, David. "Ha-Reka le-Tzmihat ‘Ha-Medinuyut Ha-Re’aliyit’ shel Mayer Ebner" [The Background to the Emergence of Mayer Ebner’s ‘Realpolitik’]. In: Yahadut Bukovina bein shtei milhamot ha-olam. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 2004. (in Hebrew).
• Schaary, David. "Yiḥuda shel ha-Tenu‘a ha-Tzionit be-Bukovina" [The Distinctive Character of the Zionist Movement in Bukovina]. In: Yahadut Bukovina bein shtei milhamot ha-olam. Tel Aviv: Tel Aviv University, 2004. (in Hebrew).
• Gold, Hugo (ed.), Geschichte der Juden in der Bukovina, Tel Aviv: Olamenu, 1958–1962, 2 vols in German. (English translation).
• Glass, Hildrun. Zerbrochene Nachbarschaft: Deutsch-jüdische Beziehungen in Rumänien 1918–1938. Munich: Oldenbourg, 1996. (in German).
• Hausleitner, Mariana. Die Rumänisierung der Bukowina 1918–1944. Munich: Oldenbourg, 2001. (in German).