From the Shtetl to the Lecture Hall

Jewish Women and Cultural Exchange

By (author) Luise Hirsch

Not available to order

Publication date:

11 February 2013

Length of book:

308 pages

Publisher

UPA

ISBN-13: 9780761859932

Until the 19th century, women were regularly excluded from graduate education. When this convention changed, it was largely thanks to Jewish women from Russia. Raised to be strong and independent, the daughters of Jewish businesswomen were able to utilize this cultural capital to fight their way into the universities of Switzerland and Germany. They became trailblazers, ensuring regular admission for women who followed their example. This book tells the story of Russian and German Jews who became the first female professionals in modern history. It describes their childhoods—whether in Berlin or in a Russian shtetl—their schooling, and their experiences at German universities. A final chapter traces their careers as the first female professionals and details how they were tragically destroyed by the Nazis.

List of Illustrations
Acknowledgements
Introduction
Chapter 1. “To Quench Their Thirst for Knowledge Abroad”: Jewish Women from the Russian Empire at German Universities
Chapter 2. “She Was Like the Merchant’s Ships”: The Triple Benefit of Marginality
Chapter 3. “We Lived and Felt for Germany”: The German-Jewish Woman Students
Chapter 4. Bread Students, Bluestockings, Bomb Throwers: The Growing Inclusivity of Universities in Imperial Germany
Chapter 5. “Citizens of Academia”: Jewish Women at the University
Chapter 6. “Forced Right Out Of Creative, Fruitful Work”: Jewish Professional Women in Weimar Germany and the Third Reich
Biographical Notes on Selected Women
Bibliography
Index
About the Author

This is a major contribution to an ongoing investigation of social institutions and their permeability in the post- Enlightenment world.