Jewish Benefactor Women – The Role of Female Members of Jewish Families during World War I

Abstract

World War I was the greatest military conflict in the history of mankind to date. At first, it was conceived as a lightning war, but soon changed into a long war of attrition. Until recently, World War I has been viewed in Croatian historiography through traditional male eyes, but this is changing thanks to the younger generation of historians, who are focusing their research on the role of women during the war. Women offered not only unconditional and silent support to men, but their role also changed during the war since, after the men departed for the front, they were left in charge of estates and enterprises and, due to a lack of qualified manpower, became nurses, caretakers, public servants, or factory workers. In various ways, they were engaged in the collection of contributions and the organisation of various charities for assisting the families of those most adversely affected by the war. Since research on the role of women during World War I is still in its infancy, most of the works published thus far presented the wives of distinguished members of Croatian society (baronesses, countesses). Prompted by the desire to prevent the names of certain other women from being forgotten, this paper puts emphasis on the charity and humanitarian work of women who hailed from distinguished Jewish families in Croatia, and who devoted themselves to working in various confessional and other humanitarian organisations and associations. Women from Jewish families demonstrated solidarity with benefactors of all confessions and regardless of the confession of the persons who required assistance, since war-related suffering affected all the citizens of Austria-Hungary, regardless of sex, confession, or social status.