La Interna Ideo
How well did Lidia Zamenhof know the father who died when she was only 12? How well did she know his ideas and literary works? How much did she absorb at second-hand from her mother, brother and sister after her father's death? What was her own ethical position at the time when she first met Martha Root in 1926?
Although it is impossible to be sure, I think it probable that the decision she made to continue her father's work always meant more to her than merely the promotion of the Esperanto language. For Zamenhof, the Esperanto language was always a means to an end and he spent many hours in the last ten years of his life developing and describing the ethical system which had motivated him to create a new language. The phrase "la interna ideo" - the inner idea - is frequently mentioned in Esperanto circles but what does it really mean?- Different things to different people, probably but to find out what it means to one thoughtful Esperantist, visit:
http://www.webcom.com/~donh/Esperanto/ch...
Here you will find the eleventh chapter of The Esperanto Book by Donald J. Harlow and very interesting it is! In my opinion, though, it tells the reader a lot more about Don Harlow than it does about Dr Zamenhof, and his notion of the inner idea, and about the ethical doctrine called "Homaranismo." So, because I have not found a satisfactory discussion of this concept in the English language materials at my disposal (although there are some recent studies of Esperanto which I haven't yet read), I will deal with it here as well as space limitations permit.
In August 1906, when Lidia was nearly four years old, the euphoria of the first international conference at Boulogne had passed, and the Russian Empire was in turmoil.
http://www.suite101.com/article.cfm/espe...
It was at war with Japan, demonstrating workers were shot down in the streets of St Petersburg, and in the southern provinces Letts, Ukrainians and Caucasians were fighting for national independence. In savage response, the Russian government authorised the "Black Hand" units of the police to take advantage of old racial hatreds and to stir up pogroms in various towns...Russians against Georgians, Tartars and Armenians, and, of course, everyone against the Jews.
At the 2nd International Esperanto Conference in Geneva, Zamenhof, who was very distressed by so much racial conflict, bitterly opposed those leading Esperantists who were insisting that Esperanto was just a language, only to be considered from a utilitarian viewpoint. He spoke with passion about that "idea which has been with Esperanto from the first moment of its birth until now," and he asked:
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