Asser Kleerekoper

Born in Tiel, the Netherlands, Asser Kleerekoper studied law at Utrecht University. Initially drawn to Zionism, he contributed to De Joodsche Wachter, a Dutch Zionist journal, and gave the opening address at the Eighth Zionist World Congress in 1907. By 1909, his convictions shifted to socialism, and he became a prominent socialist politician, first in the Amsterdam municipal council and from 1914 to 1931 in the Second Chamber of the Dutch Parliament. Though Kleerekoper clashed with Zionist leaders in the later part of his career, he remained an advocate of Jewish settlement in Palestine, particularly among the East European working class. During World War II, Kleerekoper was spared deportation from Amsterdam, where he died after prolonged illness.