Jewish Flashcards
poor housing
Most Jews who arrived after 1880 were very poor and settled on areas like the Gorbals in Glasgow alongside other Jewish families who spoke Yiddish.
As a result, they experienced very poor housing and living conditions in these poorer areas.
discrimination
Jewish immigrants often found it difficult to get a job, with industries such as banking and the civil service openly refusing to employ them. They were often also banned from golf and bowling clubs.
As a result, they experienced discrimination.
retail success
Like the Italians, many Jewish immigrants started businesses first by selling door-to-door and in the streets. By 1920 some of Glasgow’s most famous retail businesses were owned and operated by Jews, such as Goldberg’s department store.
Some therefore experienced business success in the retail industry and the wealth that accompanied that
success.
cigarette industry
Jewish immigrants ran the successful cigarette industry based in Glasgow, owning many of the city’s cigarette warehouses at the docks.
As a result, they experienced dominance in a major industry which allowed their community to prosper.
tailoring efficiency
Many Jewish immigrants opened tailors and dressmakers such as Morrison’s. They used new, more efficient techniques to significantly reduce the cost of production and so sold much less expensive clothes.
As a result, they experienced success in modernising a very traditional industry and become serious competitors in it.
social mobility
Many poorer Jewish parents pushed their children on to higher education, determined to support them in entering a profession like medicine or law.
As a result, many experienced social mobility by becoming middle-class and affluent.
poor relief
Groups of wealthy Jewish families such as the Glasgow Jewish Board of Guardians looked after the poorer Jews as they were worried about negative stereotypes emerging.
Very few Jews received any help from local poor relief, which created a positive reaction from Scots who did not view them as a burden.
trade unions
Jews were heavily involved in the ‘sweated trades’ which were known for very poor pay and incredibly difficult working conditions.
Trade unions heavily opposed these Jewish businesses and resentment of those Jewish business owners grew among the working-class.
bullying
The insular nature of the Jewish community meant that Jewish children were often treated as outsiders in Scottish schools as they did not have social experiences with other children out with.
As a result, many Jewish children experienced bullying and name-calling.
community structures
Jews established synagogues for worship which became a focal point of the local Jewish community, also becoming a place for community gatherings and celebrations. As a result of Scottish discrimination, Jews were also forced to establish their own recreational clubs such as Bonnyton Bowling Club.
This continued to keep Jews and Scots apart, showing a lack of assimilation.
