Jewish Women’s Experiences on the Eastern Home Front During World War I

Abstract: This article explores the situation of Jewish women on the eastern home front (the Kingdom of Poland and the Pale of Settlement, which were part of the Russian Empire, and Habsuburg Galicia) during World War I. Drawing on welfare organizations’ reports and press, it argues that the character of the Jewish economic, marital, and migratory patterns challenged the survival of Jewish women during the war. Moreover, because of Jewish concentration in the areas mostly devastated by war and occupation—trade and artisanry—Jewish women could not take advantage of the absence of men, replacing them in the labor market, potentially strengthening their social position and claim for emancipation, as happened in western Europe.