Metadata: Archive of the Jewish Women's Association Zurich
Collection
- Country:
- Switzerland
- Holding institution:
- Archives of Contemporary History at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Zurich
- Holding institution (official language):
- Archiv für Zeitgeschichte der ETH Zürich
- Postal address:
- Hirschengraben 62, CH-8092 Zurich
- Phone number:
- +41 44 632 40 03
- Web address:
- https://www.afz.ethz.ch/
- Email:
- afz@history.gess.ethz.ch
- Reference number:
- IB IFZ-Archiv
- Title:
- Archive of the Jewish Women's Association Zurich
- Title (official language):
- Archiv des Israelitischen Frauenvereins Zürich
- Creator/accumulator:
- Jewish Women's Association Zurich
- Date(s):
- 1886/2003
- Language:
- German
- French
- English
- Extent:
- 4.3 shelf metres
- Type of material:
- Textual material
- Physical condition:
- good
- Scope and content:
- The collection documents the activities of the IFZ from its foundation in 1878 to 2003 and show a close connection with the Jewish Community Zurich. However, there are also some gaps, for example, some reference files of the presidents are missing. In the minutes of the board of directors the years 1973 to February 1984 and 1992/1993, in the minutes of the general assembly the years 1977/1981, 1983, 1985, 1987 are missing. The correspondence of the board of directors has been preserved only since 1961 and it contains in particular thanks for monetary donations. A main focus of the inventory is the children's home Wartheim, which is also documented in detail and shows the child and youth welfare activities of the IFZ as well as the care for refugee children during the Second World War. The records from the years 1946/1952 and 1973/1983 are missing from this part of the collection as well as documents on cooperation with the Swiss Relief Organisation for Children of Emigrants (Schweizer Hilfswerk für Emigrantenkinder, SHEK) 1944/1945.
- Archival history:
- On the occasion of the conference of the Alliance of Swiss Jewish Women’s Organisations (Bund Schweizerischer Jüdischer Frauenorganisationen, BSJF) at the Archives of Contemporary History (AfZ) in 2008, Liliane Tauss, president of the Jewish Women's Association Zurich, offered the AfZ the association's archive. She handed over the archives to the AfZ in February 2009.
- Administrative/biographical history:
-
The Jewish Women's Association Zurich (IFZ) was founded in 1878. The women's chevra was the original form of the Jewish Women's Association Zurich as an association of Jewish women for helping the poor, and the sick and dying. From 1905 onwards, a member of the board was able to attend the meetings of the care of the poor of the Jewish Community of Zurich (ICZ). Following changes in the statutes in 1931, IFZ members also became eligible for election to the ICZ’s welfare commission. This made it possible better to coordinate the welfare activities of the women's association and the community.
An important task of the IFZ was the management of the Children's Home Wartheim in Heiden (AR). On the initiative of the president Berty Guggenheim, the children's home was opened on 9 February 1927. The Augustin-Keller Lodge (AKL) provided the IFZ with a property in Heiden for the children's home free of charge. In return, the Women's Association undertook to conduct the vacation camps organised by the AKL in the home during the summer. The directors of the home were responsible for the educational management and religious care of the children staying there. They were also obliged to supervise kashrut and the maintenance of Jewish tradition. During the Second World War, the home also served as a refugee home for children. Among other things, forty children from among the 300-children-campaign of the Swiss Relief Organisation for Children of Emigrants (Schweizer Hilfswerk für Emigrantenkinder, SHEK) were admitted. In February 1987, the Wartheim children's home was closed. The reason given for the closure of the home was the declining trend in home admissions. This development was probably due to the fact that new pedagogical models allowing children to grow up in their own families had replaced home care.
In 2011, the Israelite Women's Association of Zurich declared its intention to continue to exist as an independent association and to pursue welfare activities. It pursues the interests of Jewish women through courses and lectures, among other things. Jewish traditions such as Ma‘on Yom and Chevra Kadisha are very much cultivated.
The following individuals were presidents of the IFZ: Simon Pollag (1878-1888), Raphael Lang (1888-1890), Rosa Loeb-Bernheim (1890-1900, 1920-1924), Helene Bloch-Wolfers (1900-1906), Sophie Abraham-Vogel (1906-1913, 1924-1926), Sarah Biedermann-Strauss (1913-1920), Berty Guggenheim-Wyler, Lotte Zucker-Kochmann (1953-1963), Rita Marx-Gut (1963-1972), Sonja Weintraub (1972-1980), Myrthe Dreyfus (1980-1986), Marianne Burstin/Ruth Bloch (1986-1990), Nadine Berg (1990-1992), Emmi Thurnhuber (1992-1994), Esther Rosenblatt/Scheva Mandel (1994-2000), Irene Kalfuss/Liliane Taus (2002-2004), Liliane Taus (2004-).
- Access points: locations:
- Zurich
- Subject terms:
- Aid and relief
- Children
- Jewish community
- Refugees
- Welfare
- Access, restrictions:
- Partially restricted. Subject to application.
- Finding aids:
- An online finding aid is available.
- Links to finding aids:
- http://onlinearchives.ethz.ch/
- Yerusha Network member:
- Jewish Museum Hohenems
- Author of the description:
- Severin Holzknecht; Jewish Museum of Hohenems; 2019