Sunday, January 15, 2017

Miss Judea at Janusz Korczaks orphanage "Dom Sierot".

Miss Judea with the "characteristic features of the Polish Jewish female type".

Miss Judea with the "characteristic features of the Polish Jewish female type" came to the Korczak's Dom Sierot in Warszawa. She and several Polish ministers were visiting Dom Sierot in 1932, on the 20th anniversary of Dom Sierot.


Polish minister Mr. Pastor visits Dom Sierot in May 1930

Polish ministers were often visiting Dom Sierot (see the photo above). In 1932, on the 20th anniversary of Dom Sierot, there was again such a visit. Among others, there was a very good-looking 21 y old woman. The children gave her flowers. Who was she? She was Poland's "Miss Judea" - Zofja Ołdak (Zofja Ołdakówna).

Szlomo Nadel, one of the children at the orphanage remembers this occasion*: 
I remember the 50th-anniversary celebration of the orphanage in 1932. The Polish Minister of Education and Culture was among the many guests. Each child received a box of candies and we sat in the gallery and watched the ceremony. One of my friends, Karolek, handed flowers to Miss Judea, the Jewish beauty queen, who was also among the guests. She kissed his cheeks and sat him on her lap. We made fun of him for a long time after that, telling him that he still had lipstick marks on his cheeks.

Zofja Ołdak as Miss Judea was visiting institutions, shops, etc, and also the Jewish Council in Warsaw. Her appearance at 26 Grzybowska was used in the political fights between two Jewish parties, Mizrachi and Aguda.

Zofja Ołdak - Miss Judea was probably murdered during the Holocaust.

"Judyta" - Zofia Ołdak
Miss Judea with the "characteristic features of the Polish Jewish female type" (Jewish Tradition and Modernity) came to the Korczaks Dom Sierot in Warszawa on the 20th anniversary of Dom Sierot (1932).

The winner of the pageant Miss Judea was 19-year-old Miss Zofja Ołdakówna, who applied to the contest under the pseudonym Judyta. The contest was organized by the newspaper Nasz Przeglad. Here is the first page of Nasz Przeglad Ilustrowany, March 31, 1929.

The winner of the pageant Miss Judea was 19-year-old Miss Zofja Ołdakówna, who applied to the contest under the pseudonym Judyta. The contest was organized by the newspaper Nasz Przeglad. Here is the first page of Film Welt.


A satirical drawing from the magazine "Humor" about the Miss Judea pageant. The caption above the drawing: "Miss Judea matzo balls". The figure in the photo exclaims, "Aj ja ja... Just look at those matzo balls." You know what balls you're talking about. At least not with matzo...


"...Noteworthy was the coronation of Poland's "Miss Judea", which caused a bit of controversy within and without the Jewish community. On February 3rd the editors of Warsaw's Jewish daily newspaper Nasz Przeglad announced the upcoming beauty pageant to find Poland's most beautiful Jewess. The ideal candidate would embody, so the newspaper declared, the "characteristic features of the Polish Jewish female type"*.

Over the course of six weeks, 131 women entered the competition, of whom eleven made it into the finals. Only one blonde bright-eyed contestant was found among the finalists - Miss Roma Gliksman. In an interview before the final judging at Hotel Polonia started, miss Gliksman expressed her feeling of disadvantage on account of her apparent physical shortcomings. The winner of the pageant was 19-year-old Miss Zofja Ołdakówna, who applied under the pseudonym Judyta. She was described by the jury as bearing the perfect physical hallmarks of the "Jewish race" and noted for her "Sephardi looks." However, in a poll, the newspaper ran among its readers Oldakówna was only ranked in the sixth place, with only 10,205 votes in her favor. The readers, who were instructed to choose the candidate best delineating ethnic Jewish beauty, favored Miss Marja Łobzowska.

* For More info see: https://jimbaotoday.blogspot.com/2019/02/90-years-ago-first-and-last-miss-judea.html
** The biography of Shlomo Nadel by Lea Lipner