Women’s rights activism and the reformation of the legal thought in early twentieth-century Poland were deeply intertwined—sometimes contradictory, yet mutually dependent—shaping debates around the 1932 abortion law and challenging traditional views on female sexuality and motherhood. Set against political transformation, economic hardship, and societal pressure, this book explores the clash between liberal “moral reform” ideas and the ideal of the “traditional” Polish family. Through individual stories from rural Suwalki county, it reveals how precarity, gender roles, and state expectations influenced women’s choices, with abortion often emerging as a necessity for healthcare and survival. Rich in unpublished legal case studies, the book offers scholars and readers a comprehensive overview of interwar sexuality debates and timely reflections on how these issues resonate today. This interdisciplinary work highlights the enduring impact of the male gaze in decisions affecting women’s lives by bringing expert discourses into dialogue with personal narratives.
Women’s rights activism and the reformation of the legal thought in early twentieth-century Poland were deeply intertwined—sometimes contradictory, yet mutually dependent—shaping debates around the 1932 abortion law and challenging traditional views on female sexuality and motherhood
List of Tables
List of Figures
Preface and Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Interwar Poland: Navigating Crises While Taking Action
3. Crisis of The Family? Milosc, Malzenstwo, Macierzynstwo
4. The Suwalki Court Trials on Abortion and Neonaticide
5. Conclusion
Epilogue. Fast Forward One Century
Bibliography
Index
Elisa-Maria Hiemer is a research associate at Freie Universität Berlin, working on a global family history project. Besides questions of gender, her research includes Polish-German relations, urban narratives, and memory studies at the intersection of culture, literature, and history in Central Europe.
