Czechoslovak myth

Tatjana Lichtenstein notes that these politicians were "often depicted as tolerant, progressive, and politically sophisticated strategists bestowing rights on 'their' Jews".

[2] However, Masaryk endorsed antisemitic theories about Jewish control of the press, writing to Beneš in October 1918: "Hilsner helped us a lot now: Zionists and other Jews have publicly accepted our programme.

"[3] Beneš refused to sign a treaty guaranteeing minority rights to Czechoslovak Jews because he declared it to be a form of defamation against Czechoslovakia.

When Jewish activists pressed the issue, Beneš referred to increasing antisemitism in Czechoslovakia and warned that further demands could "provoke renewed recriminations from one side or the other".

[5] Jan Láníček emphasizes the importance of a 1930 issue of the Jewish Daily Bulletin, dedicated to Masaryk and featuring praise from American Jewish leaders Stephen Samuel Wise and Felix Frankfurter, as well as the Zionist Vladimir Jabotinsky and American vice president Charles Curtis, especially for Masaryk's support for Zionism.