Irma May (born June 10, 1899) was a Polish social reformer and humanitarian who sought to publicise within North America the plight of Eastern European

Jews Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""The ...

during the 1920s.

Career

Irma Weitzenkorn, later known as Irma May, was born in the Polish town of

Lemburg Lviv ( uk, Львів) is the largest city in western Ukraine, and the seventh-largest in Ukraine, with a population of . It serves as the administrative centre of Lviv Oblast and Lviv Raion, and is one of the main cultural centres of Ukraine ...

on June 10, 1899. She travelled to the United States in 1920. A short time after she arrived, her fiancé was killed in

Ukraine Ukraine ( uk, Україна, Ukraïna, ) is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the second-largest European country after Russia, which it borders to the east and northeast. Ukraine covers approximately . Prior to the ongoing Russian inv ...

while conducting humanitarian work. May began to work to publicise the issues faced by

Jewish people Jews ( he, יְהוּדִים, , ) or Jewish people are an ethnoreligious group and nation originating from the Israelites Israelite origins and kingdom: "The first act in the long drama of Jewish history is the age of the Israelites""Th ...

in Eastern Europe where they faced increased

antisemitism Antisemitism (also spelled anti-semitism or anti-Semitism) is hostility to, prejudice towards, or discrimination against Jews. A person who holds such positions is called an antisemite. Antisemitism is considered to be a form of racism. Antis ...

following the economic downturn of that period. Her first public appeal was at

Columbia University Columbia University (also known as Columbia, and officially as Columbia University in the City of New York) is a private research university in New York City. Established in 1754 as King's College on the grounds of Trinity Church in Manhatt ...

on December 16, 1920, alongside

Rabbi A rabbi () is a spiritual leader or religious teacher in Judaism. One becomes a rabbi by being ordained by another rabbi – known as ''semikha'' – following a course of study of Jewish history and texts such as the Talmud. The basic form of ...

Stephen Wise. As a result, the Columbia University Relief Committee formed a committee to raise money for the Eastern European Jews who were being denied access to education. May returned to Eastern Europe on several occasions to investigate the impact on the region's Jewish population. Following a visit to

Brest, Belarus Brest ( be, Брэст / Берасьце, Bieraście, ; russian: Брест, ; uk, Берестя, Berestia; lt, Brasta; pl, Brześć; yi, בריסק, Brisk), formerly Brest-Litovsk (russian: Брест-Литовск, lit=Lithuanian Br ...

in 1920, she said that "Hundreds are forced o livein cellars, anti-rooms and alleys of the old synagogues, they huddle together like wild beasts, twenty and thirty in one room", adding that it was akin to "hell on earth". In 1926, she toured the area for three months, reporting back to the United Jewish Campaign in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

. Other talks were held as part of the campaign, including an event that same year in

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

, Canada, on May 5. Her appearances resulted in large sums of money being raised for the cause, with $3.7 million pledged in New York alone.

Notes

References

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:May, Irma 1899 births People from Lviv Polish emigrants to the United States Jewish women activists Jewish human rights activists 20th-century Polish Jews Year of death missing