Wandering Jews: camping culture and Jewish socialist youth in interwar Poland

Abstract

Zionist summer camps and their tourist activities in interwar Poland have been widely studied providing a broad analysis in a range of contexts. However, there has been limited exploration of Jewish summer camps organized by non-Zionist youth movements. This article addresses this omission answering questions about the ideals that motivated the founders of summer camps for Jewish socialist youth in interwar Poland. It also reveals the attitudes of the period toward tourism, nature, hygiene, play, relationships between the genders, and youth in general. The context for the investigation were camps organized by the Tsukunft (Bundist youth movement). The article contributes to the understanding of Jewish social life in interwar Poland.