A brochure dedicated to Róża Melcer, who died in 1934, was published in 1936. Texts commemorating her were written by the wife of Majer Balaban, Moses Schorr and Emil Sommerstein. After her death, many women paid tribute to her because Róża constantly raised their issues during her lifetime. Today, she is recognised as one of the most prominent representatives of the Zionist women’s movement in Galicia and later in the Second Polish Republic.
Róża, called Rózia at home, was born in 1880 in Ternopil to a wealthy Jewish Pomeranz family who supported the Zionist movement. This led her and her brother to set up Zionist clubs in their hometown during her early youth. Her political activities were interrupted by studies. According to various sources, she studied in Dresden, Vienna, Berlin and Paris. Unfortunately, this period in her life is not well known.
After returning to Poland at the end of the 19th century, she became very active in social and political affairs. She was already raising issues in the press about the importance and role of women in the Zionist movement. At the time, she advocated that Zionist women should combine family life with the development of their interests in the field of national ideals.
Her political and social career took a turn for the better when she married the lawyer Isaac Melcer (Melzer) and moved to Lwów (today’s Lviv), where she lived until her death. There she became involved in the Jewish Women’s Circle, whose president she was for many years. At the time she was focused on social welfare. The outbreak of the First World War intensified her efforts to help the poorest. In Lwów, she organised a people’s kitchen with a laundry and a disinfection centre, as well as a clinic for children.
When Poland regained its independence, Melcer continued to devote herself to social activities. The Circle’s premises included a day care centre for children, then a boarding school for girls and a publishing house for children.
She began her political career in 1922, when she received a mandate to the Sejm on behalf of the Committee of United National-Jewish Parties. She was among the first nine women members of the Polish parliament and was the first Jewish woman in this group. Her greatest achievements certainly included the establishment of an institution for blind and deaf Jewish children in Bojanowo. Unfortunately, it ceased to operate a year after her death. In parallel, Melcer was involved in the work of WIZO, the International Zionist Women’s Organisation, which was founded in 1920.