While not all 110,000 Jews who immigrated to Eastern Europe hold progressive views, many of them—both men and women—are driven by a universalist and secular revolutionary ideal.
Often politically active in their countries of origin, they choose to settle in France out of admiration for the France of the Enlightenment, the French Revolution, and the emancipation of the Jews. This attachment they share with French Jews. All celebrate the homeland of human rights and the exoneration of Dreyfus.
Jews who immigrated made a name for themselves within the “School of Paris,” while manual laborers worked from home or in workshops. For the most part, they were garment and textile workers or small-scale artisans. They lived mainly in working-class neighborhoods in Paris—in the east, north, and center. Driven by a strong political consciousness, they quickly became involved in social conflicts. As a result, young Jews made up a significant portion of the Communist Youth.
