The Herzl family returns to Jerusalem: the remains of his grandmother and grandfather were transported from Belgrade

The remains of Shimon-Leib and Rivka Herzl — the grandparents of Theodor Herzl on his father’s side — were transported from Serbia to Israel for reburial on Mount Herzl in Jerusalem. The official ceremony is scheduled for Wednesday, August 5, 2026.

This is not just about relocating two old graves. Israeli and Zionist organizations call this the completion of a historical and family circle: the relatives of the man who formulated the political program for the creation of a Jewish state, after almost a century and a half, are to find their final resting place next to him in Jerusalem.

NANews — News of Israel compiled a detailed chronology of the operation, information about the Herzl family, and an explanation of the connection his grandfather had to early ideas of the Jewish people’s return to the Land of Israel.

The remains were exhumed on July 29, 2026.

Shimon-Leib and Rivka Herzl were buried in the Jewish cemetery in Zemun — a historic town that is now a district of Belgrade.

July 29, 2026 their remains were exhumed for subsequent transportation to Israel. The work was carried out in accordance with local legal requirements and Jewish religious tradition.

Representatives of the World Zionist Organization, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, and the Israeli volunteer organization ZAKA, whose specialists are engaged in the search, identification, and dignified burial of remains, participated in the procedure. After the exhumation was completed, the remains were placed in specially prepared coffins.

According to the World Zionist Organization, the preparation of the operation took about four years. During this time, it was necessary to obtain permits from Serbian state and municipal authorities, coordinate religious procedures, and ensure the legally correct transportation of the remains from one country to another.

From Zemun to Pest: the family in which Theodor Herzl was born.

Shimon-Leib and Rivka Herzl were the grandparents of Theodor Herzl on his father’s side. They lived in Zemun, which today is a district of Belgrade, and belonged to the local Jewish community. Shimon-Leib was a religious Jew, a merchant, and a respected member of the community. He blew the shofar during services and was close to Rabbi Yehuda Shlomo Alkalai — one of the forerunners of political Zionism, who called on Jews to organize a return to the Land of Israel.

It is believed that through Shimon-Leib, Alkalai’s ideas could have entered the Herzl family environment and later influenced the worldview of his grandson Theodor. However, there is no direct documentary evidence that Herzl personally studied with Alkalai. Shimon-Leib died in 1879, Rivka in 1888. They were buried next to each other in the Jewish cemetery in Zemun.

Their son Jakob Herzl, the future father of Theodor, was born and raised in Zemun. Around the mid-19th century, as a young man, he left his parental home and engaged in trade. For some time, Jakob may have lived and worked in Debrecen, and around 1856 he settled in Pest — a city that later became part of the united Budapest.

In 1857 Jakob married a native of Pest, Jeanette, or Johanna Nanette, Diamant, who came from a wealthy Jewish merchant family. Details of their acquaintance and wedding have hardly been preserved. After marriage, the couple settled in Pest, where Jakob was engaged in trade and financial affairs.

First, they had a daughter Paulina, and on May 2, 1860 — a son, Theodor Herzl. He was born in a house near the Great Synagogue on Dohany Street, in the Jewish quarter of Pest. At that time, the unified city of Budapest did not yet exist: Buda, Pest, and Obuda united only in 1873.

Thus, the Herzl family history began in the Jewish community of Zemun: Shimon-Leib and Rivka raised their son Jakob, Jakob moved to Pest and married Jeanette Diamant, and in their family, Theodor Herzl was born — the future founder of modern political Zionism.

Farewell ceremony at Belgrade airport.

July 30, 2026 an official farewell ceremony took place at Nikola Tesla Airport in Belgrade.

It was attended by Serbian Foreign Minister Marko Djuric, Israeli Ambassador to Serbia Avivit Bar-Ilan, Chairman of the World Zionist Organization Yaakov Hagoel, and Chief Rabbi of the Jewish community of Serbia Isaac Asiel.

The ceremony was accompanied by prayers and the participation of an honor guard. The Serbian Foreign Minister stated that the transfer of the remains should become another chapter in the history of relations between Serbia and Israel.

Ambassador Avivit Bar-Ilan called the event both a personal and historical event. She reminded that for over a hundred years, the Jewish community of Zemun preserved the graves of the Herzl family, and now Shimon and Rivka are embarking on their final journey to Jerusalem.

Yaakov Hagoel thanked the Serbian authorities for their help in implementing the project and linked the transfer of the remains to Theodor Herzl’s last will — after the creation of the Jewish state, his family was to be buried in the Land of Israel.

Key dates

Why the ceremony will take place on August 5

The official reburial is scheduled for August 5, 2026, at 5:00 PM at the site of the leaders of the World Zionist Organization on Mount Herzl.

The ceremony is expected to be attended by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Yaakov Hagoel, and other state and public figures. Access is provided by prior registration.

The organizers’ messages state that the ceremony will take place exactly 77 years after the transfer of Theodor Herzl’s remains to Jerusalem. However, according to the regular civil calendar, Herzl was reburied on August 17, 1949, not August 5.

The explanation is related to the Jewish calendar. Herzl’s reburial took place on 22 Av 5709, and August 5, 2026, corresponds to 22 Av 5786. Thus, it is the 77th anniversary according to the Jewish date. The Israeli law of 1949 explicitly established the day of Herzl’s will execution as 22 Av 5709 — August 17, 1949.

How Herzl’s grandfather was connected to early Zionism

Shimon-Leib Herzl was a prominent member of the Jewish community of Zemun. He performed the duties of baal-tokea — the person who blows the shofar during religious services.

His connection with Rabbi Yehuda Alkalai, one of the most famous forerunners of political Zionism, is particularly important. Alkalai, long before the First Zionist Congress, spoke about the need for an organized return of Jews to the Land of Israel, the acquisition of land, and the formation of national institutions.

Shimon-Leib blew the shofar in Rabbi Alkalai’s synagogue and is believed to have introduced his grandson to his ideas. Representatives of the World Zionist Organization claim that the grandparents played a significant role in Theodor Herzl’s childhood and the formation of his future worldview.

At the same time, this connection should be formulated cautiously. The historical closeness of Shimon-Leib to Alkalai is confirmed, but there is insufficient direct evidence that the young Herzl personally studied with the rabbi or adopted a ready political program from him.

Rather, it is about a family intellectual environment in which the ideas of returning to Zion were present even before Herzl turned them into an international political project.

Theodor Herzl

Theodor, or Binyamin Ze’ev, Herzl was born on May 2, 1860 in Budapest. He received a legal education but professionally engaged in journalism, literature, and playwriting.

February 14, 1896 Herzl published the book “The Jewish State,” in which he proposed considering the Jewish question not only as a religious or social problem but as a political task requiring the creation of an independent state.

In August 1897 he convened the First Zionist Congress in Basel. At it, the Zionist Organization was founded, later becoming the World Zionist Organization, and Herzl was elected its president.

Herzl died on July 3, 1904, 44 years before the proclamation of the State of Israel. Therefore, the common definition “founder of Israel” is a journalistic simplification. It is more accurate to call him the founder of modern political Zionism and the herald of the Jewish state.

Herzl’s will and the path of his family to Jerusalem

In his will, Herzl asked to be buried next to his father in Vienna first. There he was to remain until the Jewish people could transport his remains to the Land of Israel.

After the creation of the State of Israel, the first Knesset passed a special law to fulfill Herzl’s will. In August 1949 his remains were brought from Vienna to Jerusalem and buried on the hill, which later became the country’s main national memorial complex.

The remains of Herzl’s parents and sister were also transferred to Jerusalem. However, the family’s reunification stretched over decades.

In September 2006 his children Paulina and Hans were reburied on Mount Herzl. In December 2007 the remains of Herzl’s only grandson, Stephen Theodor Norman, previously buried in Washington, were brought there.

After the burial of Shimon-Leib and Rivka next to Theodor Herzl, the graves of almost all the closest family members, whose remains were found and transferred, will be located.

Why this event is important for Israel

The history of the Herzl family symbolically connects several eras: the traditional Jewish community of Central Europe, early religious ideas of returning to Zion, the birth of political Zionism, and the modern State of Israel.

Shimon-Leib and Rivka died long before the First Zionist Congress, the Balfour Declaration, the Holocaust of European Jewry, and the proclamation of Israel. However, it was in the family they were part of that a man grew up who managed to turn a centuries-old dream into a political program.

Therefore, the reburial on August 5, 2026, is presented by the organizers not only as a family ceremony. It is a state and national act of remembrance, in which Herzl’s ancestors will be buried in the country, the creation of which during their lifetime could only be dreamed of.

For NANews — News of Israel, this story is also important as a reminder: the creation of the state was the result of not one decision or one generation. Behind it stood a long chain of religious ideas, family memory, political work, and responsibility to those who did not live to see the realization of the Zionist project.