# Berl Locker

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**Berl Locker** (Hebrew: ברל לוקר; 27 April 1887 – 1 February 1972) was a Zionist activist and Israeli politician.

## Biography

Born in [Kriwiec](/source/Kryvets,_Ivano-Frankivsk) in [Austria-Hungary](/source/Austria-Hungary) (now [Ukraine](/source/Ukraine)), Locker was educated at a Jewish school. In 1902 he began contributing to the *Der Yidisher Arbeiter* newspaper, which he later became editor of.[1] In 1904 he signed up to study law at [Chernivtsi University](/source/Chernivtsi_University), and in the same year established the Flowers of Zion student union.

The following year he joined [Poale Zion](/source/Poale_Zion), and became a member of its central committee in Austria-Hungary. In 1916 he became secretary of the movement's [The Hague](/source/The_Hague) office, and later served the same role in [Stockholm](/source/Stockholm). He represented Poale Zion at conferences for socialist parties, and between 1918 and 1928 served as secretary of the Poale Zion World Union. From 1928 until 1931 he served as Poale Zion's secretary in the [United States](/source/United_States).

In 1931 he moved to [London](/source/London) and became a member of the [Jewish Agency](/source/Jewish_Agency_for_Israel) board, on which he served until 1935. He also worked as a political advisor to the organisation. Between 1948 and 1956 he was chairman of the Agency's board of directors.

In [1955](/source/1955_Israeli_legislative_election) he was elected to the [Knesset](/source/Knesset) on the [Mapai](/source/Mapai) list, but served only a single term.[2]

Locker was married to the [Yiddish](/source/Yiddish) poet [Malka Locker](/source/Malka_Locker).[3] He died in 1972 at the age of 84.

## Awards

- In 1968, Locker received the [Yakir Yerushalayim](/source/Yakir_Yerushalayim) (Worthy Citizen of Jerusalem) award from the city of [Jerusalem](/source/Jerusalem).[4]

## References

1. [Berl Locker](https://archive.today/20121218175545/http://www.jafi.org.il/education/jajz/jafi75/history/locker.html) Jewish Agency for Israel

1. ["Berl Locker"](https://main.knesset.gov.il/mk/Pages/MKPub.aspx?MKID=480). *Knesset*. Retrieved 2020-08-06.

1. Landman, Isaac & Cohen, Simon (1942). [*The Universal Jewish Encyclopedia ...: An Authoritative and Popular Presentation of Jews and Judaism Since the Earliest Times*](https://books.google.com/books?id=9pwYAAAAIAAJ). Universal Jewish Encyclopedia, Incorporated.

1. ["Recipients of Yakir Yerushalayim award (in Hebrew)"](https://web.archive.org/web/20110617061055/http://www.jerusalem.muni.il/jer_main/TopSiteJeru.asp?newstr=3&src=%2Fjer_sys%2Fpublish%2FHtmlFiles%2F1030%2Fresults_pub_id%3D12594.html&cont=895). Archived from [the original](http://www.jerusalem.muni.il/jer_main/TopSiteJeru.asp?newstr=3&src=/jer_sys/publish/HtmlFiles/1030/results_pub_id=12594.html&cont=895) on 2011-06-17. City of Jerusalem official website

## External links

- The personal papers of Berl Locker are kept at the [Central Zionist Archives](http://www.zionistarchives.org.il/en/Pages/Default.aspx) in Jerusalem. The notation of the record group is A263.

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Adapted from the Wikipedia article [Berl Locker](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berl_Locker) by Wikipedia contributors ([contributor history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Berl_Locker?action=history)). Available under [Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International](https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/). Changes may have been made.