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Who was Sara Szenirer ?

On July 3, 1883, Sara Szenirer was born to a daughter of Becallel and Rose, née Lach: educational and social activist, creator of the Bajs Jakow school system.
She grew up – as Sean Martin writes – in a deep attachment to religion, although she also dreamed of secular education – but unavailable at that time for a Jewish woman. Since she did not have the opportunity to deepen knowledge of secular subjects, she became a listener of lectures conducted in Polish, organized by Polish educational activists. Under the influence of Rabbi Flesch, whom she met in Vienna, in 1917 she founded a school for girls at ul. St. Catherine 1, which has grown rapidly over the years. Despite the fact that the school’s activity was contrary to the role of women in traditional Jewish families, it received great support in the community. One of the most eminent is Senator Mojżesz Deutschera. A few years later, seeing that there were not enough Jewish women to teach girls, she founded at ul. Stanisława 10, a teacher’s seminar that educated 120 students in 1937!
Her activity has gained many followers, because in 1937 about 250 Bajs Jakow schools were established, which educated girls all over the world. Because of her pioneering role in teaching, she was called the Mother of Israel.
Sara Szenirer died on March 1, 1935 in Vienna. She was buried in the new Jewish cemetery in Podgórze. In 2004, a symbolic matzeva was placed in the cemetery.

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