Esperanto's Schism
To avoid financial catastrophe resulting from the high cost of maintaining a Geneva office, in the spring of 1936 the UEA Central Office announced plans to move its headquarters to London.
Leaders of the Swiss Esperanto Society challenged the decision in Geneva district court (Genfer Amtsgericht ) on the grounds that by the terms of the UEA constitution its headquarters was to be in Switzerland, and delayed the move for a year. By March 1937 most national federations (except for Spain, still in the throes of the civil war, and Switzerland) had left the UEA and affiliated with the newly established International Esperanto League (IEL). The remaining Geneva UEA, with the support of Lidia Zamenhof, the daughter of L.L. Zamenhof, taking a courageous stand against Nazi Germany and their co-opting of the German Esperanto movement, spoke out against the regime and made efforts to help Jews desperate to flee persecution in Germany.
Read more about this topic: Internacia Esperanto-Ligo
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