Herzl´s Daugthers – 100 years WIZO. Viennese Women for Israel

WIZO, the Women’s International Zionist Organization, was established in London in 1920 as a nonpartisan umbrella organization for Zionist women’s groups. In Vienna, the first Zionist women’s association was founded in 1898 and incorporated into WIZO in 1921.

Following the “Anschluss” in 1938, WIZO organized exit certificates for girls and young women to enable them to emigrate to Palestine. WIZO not only served as a point of contact for many desperate women, but also looked after older family members of WIZO women who had already fled from Vienna. During the Shoah, the girls’ schools set up by WIZO in Palestine became part of extensive relief efforts.

After 1945, WIZO Austria was able to be re- established. Today, WIZO is one of the largest international Zionist women’s organizations, with 250,000 members in more than 50 countries. It operates 800 facilities that help people in need, regardless of their denomination or origin.

“Herzl’s Daughters” tells the one-hundred-year history and work of WIZO Austria. It also portrays the networking of Jewish women on a national and international level.

Curator: Julia Windegger
Exhibition design: Itai Margula

© Jüdisches Museum Wien / Sammlung Dobronyi