Samuel Hirsch Margulies reports to Theodor Herzl that King Vittorio Emmanuelle III of Italy is open to receiving him whenever he decides to visit Rome. The King’s General Adjutant, Ugo Brusati, recommends January as a suitable time for Herzl’s visit. However, disagreements arise between Leopold Greenberg and Herzl concerning the Uganda scheme and interactions with the British Foreign Office. In a disturbing turn of events, there is an attempt, by Chaim Zelig Louban, on Max Nordau’s life.
Herzl submits his proposal to colonize the Sanjak of Acre to Schükri Pascha, the Ottoman military attaché and son of the Minister of War, and an enclosed letter for his father. Herzl engages in extensive correspondence with various individuals in Russia and Eastern Europe and writes to Joseph Cowen about the opposition he has faced regarding the Uganda Scheme with details of the challenges post the Kharkov conference. Herzl embarks on a journey to Italy, making stopovers in Venice, Ferrara, Florence, and Rome. In Venice, he unexpectedly encounters Conte Berthold Dominik Lippay at the Bauer beerhall, who offers to introduce Herzl to Pope Pius X. During his visit to Ferrara, Herzl is warmly welcomed by Felice Ravenna and the Zionists of Ferrara, including Ravenna’s father from Bologna, and Benvenuto Donati from Modena.
In Rome, Herzl receives a telegram from Lippay confirming an audience with the Pope and Secretary of State Raffaele Merry del Val, who then receives Herzl in the afternoon of the same day. The Italian King expresses serious interest during this meeting but leaves decisions for political support to Foreign Minister Tommaso Tittoni. Pope Pius X. emphasizes his inability to endorse the return of Jews without them embracing Christianity through baptism.
Herzl maintains correspondence with Greenberg, focusing on obtaining a Charter for East Africa. He then authorizes Leopold Kahn to negotiate with the Ottoman Empire the lease of the administrative revenues of the Sanjak of Acre and obtain a loan for the Imperial treasury.
As Herzl prepares to journey to Paris and London to arrange financing for the Uganda expedition, he has an insightful meeting with Agenor Goluchowsky, who advises Herzl to work in England and for a Parliamentary expression of opinion in favor of Palestine. Following this meeting, Herzl’s doctors recommend a curative stay in Franzensbad. Despite health concerns, Herzl continues diplomatic correspondence and terminates his diary notes with a report to Jacob Schiff.
Theodor Herzl passes away from heart disease on July 3rd, 1904, in Edlach.
