Siddy Wronsky

Siddy Wronsky (née Sidonie Neufeld) was born in Berlin on July 20, 1883. Wronsky's father was of German origin, her mother came from Eastern Europe. She began her career as a teacher and later studied special education. From 1908, Wronksy headed the Archive for Welfare Care in Berlin, at that time still a department of the Central Office for Private Welfare, and was a member of the German Association for Public and Private Welfare Care (DV) and the Central Welfare Office of Jews in Germany (ZWST). She was editor of the leading "Deutsche Zeitschrift für Wohlfahrtspflege". Wronsky also taught at Alice Salomon's Social Women's School in Berlin-Schöneberg, at the German Academy for Social and Educational Women's Work, was chairwoman of the German national association of the International Zionist Women's Organization and was committed to helping Eastern European Jewish refugees. When the Nazis took power in 1933, she was dismissed from the archives and emigrated to Palestine a year later. There, at the invitation of Henrietta Szold, she became involved in setting up social work in the Yishuv (the Jewish community in Palestine before the state of Israel was founded).

In Jerusalem, Vronsky founded the first school for social work, headed the Center for Out-of-Home Care and the social education department of the Jewish National Council and founded the social workers' union. Wronsky worked intensively to promote social legislation and to raise the status of the profession, because "the public entrusts social services and social workers with their most valuable asset, people". Vronsky was convinced that social work was essential for the creation of a national home for the Jews in Palestine, as can be seen from her numerous publications.

On December 8, 1947, Siddy Wronsky died in Jerusalem.

Authors: Ayana Halpern, Dayana Lau