> That “baal teshuva” movement you mentioned was only needed because the Zionists shmaded almost all the Jews there to begin with!
I think this explains some of your deep feelings about this topic – and it is based on a false premise. Most European Jews who arrived to EY in 1920-50s were not religious and and many were anti-religious to begin with. They were not made anti-religious by Zionists, but rather by attractive theories of communism/bundism/cultural movements in Eastern Europe before that – and thanks to inability of rabbis to stop that movement. As frustrated R Salanter said at some point – I can have a discussion with a French professor who is already totally non-religious, but not with Lithuanian Jews who are going downhill. There are occasional episodes – like Tehran orphans who were saved from Russia in 1940s by Polish government in exile, or Teimanim, but this was not the case for majority. All these people were saved physically by choosing Zionism instead of Bundism and leaving Europe; and from gehinom by choosing to organize harmless kibutzim instead of soviet labor camps.