The Impact of the Diamond Industry and the Diamond Workers' Union on Jewish Life in Amsterdam, 1894–1920

Abstract

By the late nineteenth century, Amsterdam had the largest diamond industry in the world, employing some 29 percent of all Jewish working men and 10 percent of all Jewish working women. Their economic activities in this field were closely connected to the social, cultural, familial, and political sphere. In many ways the Algemene Nederlandse Diamantbewerkersbond (the General Dutch Diamond Workers' Union, or ANDB) formed the direct link between these different spheres. The union brought together men and women (including married women), Jews and non-Jews, working in various professions, under different payment systems and working conditions, developing standard wages equal for all. While the primary goal was economic, the outcome had at least as many social and cultural consequences, including a change in social relationships between Jewish and non-Jewish workers as well as a growing number of women, who continued working after marriage. The case study of the ANDB in Amsterdam allows for a broad interpretation of 'economy' in Jewish history.