“Herzl cared deeply about the plight of Jews especially after he watched brutal pogroms decimate Jewish communities.”
No one denied that part, the point is, he had NO feelings toward anything of Judaism or anything linked to the Torah. Many Zionists (though secular) were inspired by the return to Israel, as our long awaited Home Land. Theodor Herzl NOT.
Do not make him into any hero, other than he was inspired as an Austrian journalist by the J’accuse of the Dreyfus Affair looking to end the antisemitism problem. His idea until then was to assimilate/integrate with the Europeans, nor did he raise any of his children with any feelings toward Jewishness (do your own research, regarding his offspring’s).
Regarding Auschwitz, the Mapai Zionists are either not innocent…