Jews Confront Jewish Prostitution Conference

Official Report of the Jewish International Conference on the Suppression of Traffic in Girls and Women, by Jewish Association for the Protection of Girls and Women. 1910

Jews as Victimizers and Victims of Prostitution: A 1927 International Conference

My review is based on the 1927 edition. In a 1936 statement, Polish Cardinal August Hlond associated Jews and white slavery. While this conference does not mention Hlond (it took place years before Hlond’s much-criticized statement), it does enable the reader to see how Hlond got the idea.

JEWS AND WHITE SLAVERY

This conference does not attempt to gauge the scale of the problem. Mr. Montefiore said that, (quote) We are unable from the nature of the case to provide exact statistics, but those who have been working in this unclean and unholy field, whether Jews or Gentiles, know well that many of the victims and traffickers are Jews. That is also known by the police authorities of the various countries of the world. (unquote)(p. 40). He added, (quote) We know that many of the vile and wicked men who conduct, or, in one way or another, are connected with, the Traffic, are Jews, and that many of its victims are Jewesses. (unquote)(p. 3).

THE PROBLEM IS UNDERSTATED

In some cities, Jews appeared to be under-represented as prostitutes while in others, such as Kowno (Lithuania), Jewish prostitutes clearly predominated. (Lubinsky, p. 30). Official figures understated the problem because, as pointed out by Pappenheim (of Frankfort), traffickers were clever in their methods of hiding their activities, and the extent of clandestine prostitution is unknown. (p. 50). Blankstein (of Wilno) pointed out that, in Poland, there were no licensed houses, and that prostitution there was chiefly clandestine. (p. 75).

Prostitution involving Jews was organized on an international scale. The largest volume of traffic was between Eastern Europe, and Latin America and Egypt. This was especially true of Poland and Argentina. (p. 86).

JEWS CONFRONT JEWISH PROSTITUTION IN ORDER TO AVERT ANTI-SEMITISM

Some of the Jewish speakers at this conference feared that frank discussion of Jewish prostitution, by Jews themselves, would give ammunition to anti-Semites. In contrast, Pappenheim (p. 51) suggested that anti-Semitism would be worse if non-Jews brought this overall problem to light. She added, “After all, we are proud of good or distinguished Jews, so it is only right that we should be ashamed of bad Jews.” (p. 97).

THE ROOTS OF PROSTITUTION

One factor behind prostitution was the lack of effective laws preventing it in certain locations. (p. 50). Pimps could not be reached
by religious or moral influences: They could only be stopped by decisive police action. (Chief Rabbi Dr. J. H. Hertz, p. 41).

Another factor in Jewish prostitution was poverty and rootlessness. An example of the latter was the LUFTMENSCHEN (“men living on air”—that is, Jews without a definite occupation). This was not solely the outcome of WWI-related dislocations, and of anti-Semitic policies: It also owed to structural changes in societies, such as those that eliminated the need for the Jewish middleman. (Blankstein (of Wilno), p. 34).

RELIGION AND MORALITY ARE RELEVANT AND IMPORTANT

Still another factor was a breakdown in morality. Cardinal Hlond believed that Jews were a bad moral influence on Polish youth. Interestingly, parallel attitudes existed in the Jewish community. Various Jewish participants in this conference stressed the need for religious teaching among Jews in order to combat amorality, including prostitution. (p. 2, 47, 53, 62-63, 104, 118, 121).

In particular, Meltzer (from Lwow) said that Jewish youth are untaught about religion, and so follow their “Oriental instincts” of caring mostly about finery. (p. 118). In addition, Meyer (from Riga) contended that various Jewish parties are responsible for the neglect of religion in schools. (p. 53). Another speaker spoke of fundamental causes, (quote) One is religious lawlessness. It has been pointed out that a hundred years ago we knew of little Jewish prostitution because the Jewish laws were observed in the home. Now if you tell the boys and girls that the Fourth Commandment can be neglected, others will be neglected too. Boys and girls have to be brought up to the idea that the Law has to be observed IN ITS TOTALITY, and then a daughter will not regard her mother as an old-fashioned woman whose morality cannot be a standard for her. To strengthen religious observance in the home is essential. (emphasis his)(unquote)(pp. 104-105.)