Jewish women were examined at the police stations to find out whether they still wore their own hair beneath their kerchiefs or wigs.

Frequently the struggle manifested itself in tragic-comic and even repulsive forms.

In some places the police adopted the practice of cutting the _peies_ or shortening the long coats of the Jews by force.
[Footnote 1: In accordance with orthodox Jewish practice, married women are not allowed to expose their own hair.

Apart from the wearing of a wig, or _Sheitel_, it was also customary for women to cut or shave their hair before their wedding and cover their heads with a kerchief.] The opposition to the authorities was particularly vigorous in the Kingdom of Poland where the rank and file of Hasidim were ready to suffer martyrdom for any Jewish custom, however obsolete.

The fight was drawn out for a long time and even reached into the following reign, but the victory remained with the obstreperous masses.