Abstract
There is a general assumption that Weizmann's attitude toward German Jewry was negative, full of reservations toward the culture and values of that community. Weizmann, it is generally declared, was an authentic Eastern European Jew who was contemptuous toward Western European Jews, i.e. German Jews, who tended to assimilate and were fierce opponents of Zionism and the national ideals of Judaism. This evaluation is based to some extent on letters and articles written by Weizmann himself, but mostly on his autobiography, which is replete with negative comments concerning German Jewry. The purpose of this article is to show that this negative evaluation by Weizmann in his memoirs is not supported by the actual events in the pre-World War I period and the interwar period. In fact, throughout the 1920's and most of the 1930's there were strong intellectual, personal and political bonds between Weizmann and the German Zionist leadership, if not with the non-Zionist Jewish community.