An all-too-brief but informative introduction to German Jewry since
1945, consisting of two essays by Brenner and 15 short
autobiographical statements by Jewish communal, religious, and
cultural leaders. Brenner (Jewish History and Culture/Univ. of
Munich), himself a child of Holocaust survivors, notes that the
Jewish community in Germany, which today numbers close to 50,000,
has consisted of three streams: Holocaust survivors, overwhelmingly
from Eastern Europe, who decided to settle in Germany for a wide
variety of personal reasons; German Jews who had fled Nazi Germany
and returned following the liberation; and immigrants from Israel
and, starting in the mid-1980s, from the USSR. In the immediate
post-Holocaust period, the community was so traumatized that a US
chaplain described the survivors as "demoralized beyond the hope of
rehabilitation." The community also suffered both external neglect
- help from American Jewish and other Diaspora organizations was
late in coming - and internal divisions. While the returnees tended
to be less religiously observant and more assimilated, the Eastern
European survivors were largely Orthodox Jews and Yiddish speakers.
In time, the two communities learned to work together and
reconstituted old or established new Jewish structures in Germany.
Brenner's thematic approach to this reconstruction leaves some
important areas undercovered, but he does deal succinctly with a
great deal of interesting material, including the recurrence of
German anti-Semitism and neo-Nazism, the tensions between Yekkes
(German Jews) and Ostjuden (Eastern European Jews), and two major
intracommunal financial scandals. Brenner reveals a community that
demographically has grown surprisingly strong and durable, but that
religiously and culturally remains weak, with communal leaders who
have only a "cursory awareness" of their heritage. A very readable
and useful study, written with the engaged sympathy of an insider
and the balanced judgments of a fine historian. (Kirkus Reviews)
This landmark book is the first comprehensive account of the
lives of the Jews who remained in Germany immediately following the
war. Gathering never-before-published eyewitness accounts from
Holocaust survivors, Michael Brenner presents a remarkable history
of this period. While much has been written on the Holocaust
itself, until now little has been known about the fate of those
survivors who remained in Germany. Jews emerging from concentration
camps would learn that most of their families had been murdered and
their communities destroyed. Furthermore, all Jews in the country
would face the stigma of living, as a 1948 resolution of the World
Jewish Congress termed it, on "bloodsoaked German soil." Brenner
brings to life the psychological, spiritual, and material obstacles
they surmounted as they rebuilt their lives in Germany. At the
heart of his narrative is a series of fifteen interviews Brenner
conducted with some of the most important witnesses who played an
active role in the reconstruction--including presidents of Jewish
communities, rabbis, and journalists.
Based on the Yiddish and German press and unpublished archival
material, the first part of this book provides a historical
introduction to this fascinating topic. Here the author analyzes
such diverse aspects as liberation from concentration camps,
cultural and religious life among the Jewish Displaced Persons,
antisemitism and philosemitism in post-war Germany, and the complex
relationship between East European and German Jews. A second part
consists of the fifteen interviews, conducted by Brenner, with
witnesses representing the diverse background of the postwar Jewish
community. While most of them were camp survivors, others returned
from exile or came to Germany as soldiers of the Jewish Brigade or
with international Jewish aid organizations. A third part, which
covers the development of the Jewish community in Germany from the
1950s until today, concludes the book.
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!
Welcome to Loot.co.za!
Sign in / Register |Wishlists & Gift Vouchers |Help | Advanced search
(2)
(3)
