Language:
German
Year of publication:
2019
Titel der Quelle:
Aschkenas; Zeitschrift für Geschichte und Kultur der Juden
Angaben zur Quelle:
29,1 (2019) 211-234
Keywords:
Müller-Cohen, Anitta,
;
Gotsfeld, Bessie,
;
Bar-Ilan, Meir
;
Mizrachi Women's Organization of America
;
Mizrachi-Hapoel Hamizrachi
;
Wizo
;
Zionism History
;
Jewish women History
;
Jewish organizations History 20th century
Abstract:
When Bessie Gotsfeld (1888-1962) founded the "Mizrachi Women's Organization of America" (aka AMIT) in 1925, religious Zionist women in Europe also started to organize their work in several European countries. In 1928, Meir Berlin (later Meir Bar-Ilan), one of the leading rabbis of the Mizrachi movement, met in Vienna with Anitta Müller-Cohen (1890-1962), a prominent Zionist woman activist. After that meeting, Müller-Cohen joined the ranks of the Mizrachi movement and started to build up a "European League of Mizrachi Women". Besides Germany, there were important local associations in Belgium, Great Britain and the Netherlands. The ambitious project of the European Mizrachi women caused a conflict with the WIZO, the biggest and most important organization of Jewish women, that escalated at the VIth World Congress of Zionist Women in Basel in 1931. The rise to power of National Socialism in Germany in 1933, challenged the developing Mizrachi Women's League beyond their means and finally led to their destruction during the Shoah. In this paper, I trace the network of Jewish women who engaged with the Mizrachi Women's League, and analyse their personal commitment. Additionally, the paper focuses on the different ideological backgrounds of Mizrachi women at a local and international level. Hence, the conflict between different Zionist women's organisations, i. e. Mizrachi versus WIZO, gains center stage.
DOI:
10.1515/asch-2019-0014
URL:
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