A memorial plaque commemorating David Wolffsohn, a Zionist activist who created the Israeli flag, has been unveiled in Klaipėda, Lithuania. Earlier a plaque was placed in the same city to honor Wolffsohn’s teacher, Isaac Rülf. The new plaque has been placed next to that one.

“David Wolffsohn was born in Darbėnai. To avoid serving in the Tsar’s army his father sent him to Klaipėda to study. This is where he met Isaac Rülf,” Klaipėda Jewish Community leader Feliksas Puzemskis explained.

Wolffsohn attended the Israelite Religious School then located on Grįžgatvio street. He was born in 1856 and arrived in Klaipėda, then the German city of Memel, just after turning 16. Rabbi Rülf got him involved in Zionist activities. At the First Zionist Congress in Basel, Switzerland, Wolffsohn ordered made a flag to his specifications which was hung at the congress hall. It was accepted as the official Zionist flag at the Second Zionist Congress held in Switzerland in 1898, and the State of Israel later adopted the design as the official flag, upon declaration of Israel as an independent state in 1948.

“When they were thinking about what sort of fees to collect from the Jewish congress, Wolffsohn remembered the name of the shekel. That’s what they called those initial contributions, which became the name of the Israeli currency,” Puzemskis added.

The First Zionist Congress adopted the Basel Declaration which stated “Zionism seeks to establish a home for the Jewish people in Palestine secured under public law” and called for “the promotion of the settlement of Jewish agriculturists, artisans, and tradesmen in Palestine.” Wolffsohn supported the Jews who built Tel Aviv. He contributed funding for the establishment of the National Library and the library of Hebrew University. Wolffsohn was elected as the vice president of the World Zionist Organization in the World Zionist Congress of 1905, and in 1907 became its president.

From the Lithuanian Radio and Television News Service.