Mutualité, fraternité et travail social chez les bundistes de France (1944-1947)

Abstract

As soon as the capital was liberated, French bundists began anew their social service activities for the Jewish population close to their movement. The ser-vices of the mutual aid society Arbeter Ring (Workman’s Circle) were thus at the core of the social services that they offered. Helped financially by the Jewish Labor Committee, the Bund and the Arbeter Ring developed a system of aide intended to be mutual and fraternal, as opposed to the philanthropic methods of Jewish professional institutions in the domain of social work. Nonetheless, faced with the neediness of the Jewish population in France, this kind of fraternal aid proved insufficient. This article questions the strength and the importance of this kind of fraternal help in the context of the development of social work in the heart of the Jewish community in the immediate postwar years.