Page - 305 - in Wien und die jüdische Erfahrung 1900-1938 - Akkulturation - Antisemitismus - Zionismus

Gender and Identity 0 Austrian Jewish university women retained a private and personal sense of Jewish identity, but it was largely shaped by negative factors and antisemitism. As long as they did not convert or formally leave the community, they continued to belong to the Gemeinde but were not really a part of it. After a process of post-emancipation acculturation over one or two generations, most were no longer “Jewish Jews”, but “Modern Jews” instead. Although they associated primarily with other Jews, their Jewish knowledge was limited and lagged far behind their general knowledge. Some remained Jews as a matter of self-pride and out of loyalty to their parents or grand- parents ; others remained Jews by default, simply because they could not succeed in becoming anything else. No matter what they thought, said or did, however, they were not really accepted as Austrians, except by citizenship.