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Memoirs of Jewish life in the east European shtetl often recall the
hekdesh (town poorhouse) and its residents: beggars, madmen and
madwomen, disabled people, and poor orphans. Stepchildren of the
Shtetl tells the story of these marginalized figures from the dawn
of modernity to the eve of the Holocaust. Combining archival
research with analysis of literary, cultural, and religious texts,
Natan M. Meir recovers the lived experience of Jewish society's
outcasts and reveals the central role that they came to play in the
drama of modernization. Those on the margins were often made to
bear the burden of the nation as a whole, whether as scapegoats in
moments of crisis or as symbols of degeneration, ripe for
transformation by reformers, philanthropists, and nationalists.
Shining a light into the darkest corners of Jewish society in
eastern Europe-from the often squalid poorhouse of the shtetl to
the slums and insane asylums of Warsaw and Odessa, from the
conscription of poor orphans during the reign of Nicholas I to the
cholera wedding, a magical ritual in which an epidemic was halted
by marrying outcasts to each other in the town
cemetery-Stepchildren of the Shtetl reconsiders the place of the
lowliest members of an already stigmatized minority.
Memoirs of Jewish life in the east European shtetl often recall the
hekdesh (town poorhouse) and its residents: beggars, madmen and
madwomen, disabled people, and poor orphans. Stepchildren of the
Shtetl tells the story of these marginalized figures from the dawn
of modernity to the eve of the Holocaust. Combining archival
research with analysis of literary, cultural, and religious texts,
Natan M. Meir recovers the lived experience of Jewish society's
outcasts and reveals the central role that they came to play in the
drama of modernization. Those on the margins were often made to
bear the burden of the nation as a whole, whether as scapegoats in
moments of crisis or as symbols of degeneration, ripe for
transformation by reformers, philanthropists, and nationalists.
Shining a light into the darkest corners of Jewish society in
eastern Europe-from the often squalid poorhouse of the shtetl to
the slums and insane asylums of Warsaw and Odessa, from the
conscription of poor orphans during the reign of Nicholas I to the
cholera wedding, a magical ritual in which an epidemic was halted
by marrying outcasts to each other in the town
cemetery-Stepchildren of the Shtetl reconsiders the place of the
lowliest members of an already stigmatized minority.
Populated by urbane Jewish merchants and professionals as well
as new arrivals from the shtetl, imperial Kiev was acclaimed for
its opportunities for education, culture, employment, and
entrepreneurship but cursed for the often pitiless persecution of
its Jews. Kiev, Jewish Metropolis limns the history of Kiev Jewry
from the official readmission of Jews to the city in 1859 to the
outbreak of World War I. It explores the Jewish community s
politics, its leadership struggles, socioeconomic and demographic
shifts, religious and cultural sensibilities, and relations with
the city's Christian population. Drawing on archival documents, the
local press, memoirs, and belles lettres, Natan M. Meir shows
Kiev's Jews at work, at leisure, in the synagogue, and engaged in
the activities of myriad Jewish organizations and
philanthropies."
Although overshadowed in historical memory by the Holocaust, the
anti-Jewish pogroms of the late 19th and early 20th centuries were
at the time unrivaled episodes of ethnic violence. Incorporating
newly available primary sources, this collection of groundbreaking
essays by researchers from Europe, the United States, and Israel
investigates the phenomenon of anti-Jewish violence, the local and
transnational responses to pogroms, and instances where violence
was averted. Focusing on the period from World War I through Russia
s early revolutionary years, the studies include Poland, Ukraine,
Belorussia, Lithuania, Crimea, and Siberia."
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