Gender and the German-Jewish Immigration to Mandate Palestine
In the 1930s, the Jewish community of Mandate Palestine absorbed 60,000 immigrants from Germany. This monograph explores how gender, the social construction of the sexes, came into play in this process on both the micro- and macro-level. The book intervenes in three current scholarly discussions—migration history, gender studies, and exile studies. Concentrating on the first decade after immigration, the study sheds light on the struggles of early absorption and the conflictual encounter with the absorbing society, both often omitted in the research literature. Through close examination of archival material in German, English, and Hebrew, the book reveals how gender shaped the levels of discourse, policies, and experiences of this migration process. The manuscript will be submitted to a scholarly press in the US this summer.
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