ABSTRACT
Extreme poverty ensured that socialism was embraced by many Jews. The promise of improved working conditions and intellectual betterment naturally appealed to them. After a successful strike they set up one of the first trade unions in the Netherlands, the Algemene Nederlandse Diamantbewerkersbond (ANDB, the General Diamond Workers’ Union of the Netherlands). Under the leadership of its socialist ‘rabbi’ Henri Polak (1868–1943), it grew to become a formidable workers’ movement and employers increasingly needed to take account of it. Among its successes was the introduction of an eight-hour working day. Although non-Jews were active in the diamond business, a large majority of diamond cutters and polishers were Jewish. This made the ANDB Jewish in character.
