Tsum gezunṭ, tsu lange yorn iz der mames milkh

Salomon Nichamkin 

Tsum gezunṭ, tsu lange yorn iz der mames milkh (To Health and Long Years Is the Mother’s Milk)

Poster

Berlin: Farband "Oze" gezelshafṭ far yidishn gezunṭshṭits, 1926

Activities of Berlin’s office of OZE (Obschestvo zdravookhraneniia evreev, Russian for Society for the Protection of the Health of Jews) continued well into the 1920s. Along with addressing the health consequences of famine, diseases, and the pogroms of 1918–20, OZE directed its efforts toward improving children’s health. The organization established sanatoriums and summer camps, encouraging sports and outdoor activities. OZE also prioritized the care of very young children by funding milk kitchens for thousands of infants, setting up kindergartens, providing classes and consultations for young mothers, implementing mandatory vaccination, and encouraging regular visits to doctors and nurses. 

To support these initiatives financially, OZE formed partnerships with leading philanthropic organizations that were involved in a similar range of activities, including the American Jewish Joint Distribution Committee. Established in 1914, the AJDC was responsible for funding 25 percent of OZE projects during this time.

This poster, which OZE in Berlin published in 1926 with funds from the AJDC, advocated for breastfeeding with a simple yet bold message: “Tsum gezunt, tsum lange yorn iz der mames milkh” (“To health and long years is the mother’s milk”). It featured a loving mother holding her baby with one arm while rejecting a bottle of cow’s milk with the other. S.(Salomon) Nichamkin, an artist living in Berlin in the mid-1920s, created the poster. It captures the sophisticated aesthetics of Art Nouveau style, where women were often portrayed as symbols of beauty and grace.