Performing International Jewish Community in the Interwar Years

In August 1931, about 200 young Jews mainly from Europe and North Africa came together for a scout camp in French Normandy. The Éclaireurs israélites de France (EIF) organized the gathering, which saw the founding of a World Union of Jewish Scouts (Union mondiale des éclaireurs juifs). While previous studies on Jewish youth movements in the interwar years have often focused on the national context, this microhistorical study on the Colleville-sur-Orne camp presents a project that could be called Jewish youth internationalism. Based on newspaper articles, photographs, protocols, and other sources, this paper argues that the symbolism of the camp’s architecture, its media representation and the collective performative activities of its participants created a unique event whose central purpose was to display and stage Jewish international community, simultaneously constructing, enacting, and experiencing it. At the same time, the camp’s participants negotiated the boundaries of this community, with tension emerging especially around the presence and objectives of Zionist groups. By tracing the goals, mechanics and limitations of this project, the aim is to contribute to the understanding of Jewish internationalism, and cultural internationalism generally, in the interwar period.