Jewish immigrant men abandoned their wives in droves a century ago. Their stories are getting a new look
By Luke Tress June 14, 2024
"...The issue of abandonment was widespread in the immigrant world of early 1900s New York, common enough that well-known psychics...specialized in divining the whereabouts of missing men. Reasons for leaving families varied, but the most common appeared to be other women. Other reasons recorded by the bureau include criminality, “influence of bad friends,” “Broadway high life,” “to evade military service” and “did not like Baltimore.” Sometimes women left their husbands due to “cruelty” or “barbarity,” a euphemism for domestic violence...
A common denominator among all the cases: the hardship of arriving in a new country. Many immigrants lived in cramped tenement apartments with their families, working long hours, six days a week, and divorce was expensive..."
https://www.jta.org/2024/06/14/ny/jewish-immigrant-men-abandoned-their-wives-in-droves-a-century-ago-their-stories-are-getting-a-new-look
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