Cover Osteuropa 8-10/2008

In Osteuropa 8-10/2008
Teil des Lesepaket Geschichtswissenschaft

Fragile Co-existence, Tragic Acceptance
The Politics and History of East European Jews

Antony Polonsky


Deutsche Fassung

Abstract

Eastern Europe’s Jews have their own history. In the 18th and 19th centuries, repression and reform forced the Jews to assimilate to foreign peoples. However, attempts to integrate failed repeatedly and led to ideological divisions. As Zionists, integrationists, and socialists, they pursued different paths to social and legal equality. Most East European Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. After the Second World War, some of the survivors tried to shape Communist societies – unsuccessfully. Antisemitism and pogroms forced them to emigrate.

(Osteuropa 8-10/2008, pp. 9–28)

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Fragile Coexistence, Tragic Acceptance