The Making of the Jewish Middle Class Women, Family, and Identity in Imperial Germany

A social history of Jewish women in Imperial Germany, this study synthesizes German, women's, and Jewish history. The book explores the private--familial and religious--lives of the German-Jewish bourgeoisie and the public roles of Jewish women in the university, paid employment and socialservice. It analyzes the changing roles of Jewish women as members of an economically mobile, but socially spurned minority. The author emphasizes the crucial role women played in creating the Jewish middle class, as well as their dual role within the Jewish family and community as powerful agentsof class formation and acculturation and determined upholders of tradition.

Marion Kaplan is the author of several books on German and women's history and is currently Professor of History at Queens College and The Graduate Center, City University of New York