The prevailing image of European Jews during the Holocaust is one of helpless victims, but in fact many Jews struggled against the terrors of the Third Reich. In Defiance, Nechama Tec offers a riveting history of one such group, a forest community in western Belorussia that would number more than 1,200 Jews by 1944-the largest armed rescue operation of Jews by Jews in World War II. Tec reveals that this extraordinary community included both men and women, some with weapons, but mostly unarmed, ranging from infants to the elderly. She reconstructs for the first time the amazing details of how these partisans and their families-hungry, exposed to the harsh winter weather-managed not only to survive, but to offer protection to all Jewish fugitives who could find their way to them. Arguing that this success would have been unthinkable without the vision of one man,Tec offers penetrating insight into the group's commander, Tuvia Bielski. Tec brings to light the untold story of Bielski's struggle as a partisan who lost his parents, wife, and two brothers to the Nazis, yet never wavered in his conviction that it was more important to save one Jew than to killtwenty Germans. She shows how, under Bielski's guidance, the partisans smuggled Jews out of heavily guarded ghettos, scouted the roads for fugitives, and led retaliatory raids against Belorussian peasants who collaborated with the Nazis. Herself a Holocaust survivor, Nechama Tec here draws on wide-ranging research and never before published interviews with surviving partisans-including Tuvia Bielski himself-to reconstruct here the poignant and unforgettable story of those who chose to fight. "The saga of the Bielski partisans is one of the most elevating and inspiring stories in the chronicle of death and despair that is the Holocaust.... Defiance is an accomplished and startling work of Holocaust documentation." --Los Angeles Times "Powerful and meticulous. This story is like almost no other." --Leon Wieseltier, The New Republic

Traces the history of antisemitism in the USA from the colonial period to the present, emphasizing the role of the conception that "America is a Christian nation." Discusses the Jewish stereotypes embedded in the American public consciousness, social discrimination in the late 19th-early 20th centuries, the advent of racial antisemitism in the early 20th century, and the scapegoating of Jews in the interwar period. Shows that antisemitism in the USA reached its climax in 1933-45, and that while it declined drastically after the war, it did not disappear. Special attention is devoted to the American South and to Black antisemitism.

One summer day in 1941, half of the Polish town of Jedwabne murdered the other half, 1,600 men, women, and children, all but seven of the town's Jews. Neighbors tells their story. Jan Gross pieces together eyewitness accounts and other evidence into a reconstruction of the horrific July day remembered well by locals but forgotten by history. His investigation reads like a detective story, and its unfolding yields wider truths about Jewish-Polish relations, the Holocaust, and human responses to occupation and totalitarianism. It is a story of surprises: The newly occupying German army did not compel the massacre, and Jedwabne's Jews and Christians had previously enjoyed cordial relations. After the war, the nearby family who saved Jedwabne's surviving Jews was derided and driven from the area. The single Jew offered mercy by the town declined it. Most arresting is the sinking realization that Jedwabne's Jews were clubbed, drowned, gutted, and burned not by faceless Nazis, but by people whose features and names they knew well: their former schoolmates and those who sold them food, bought their milk, and chatted with them in the street. As much as such a question can ever be answered, Neighbors tells us why.

Covered here are the events involved in the preparation and implementation of the planned annihilation of Europe's Jews by the Nazis. Part I is a compact history of preparatory steps leading to the decision to destroy the Jews physically, including Western anti-Semitic practices and doctrines, the collapse of the Weimar Republic leading to the rise of Nazism and Hitler's rise to power, the early anti-Jewish laws and the crucial events of 1938, including Kristallnacht. The text also deals with the German invasion of Russia and the mass executions of Jews by mobile killing units that accompanied the army, forced ghettoization of Jews in German-occupied Europe, Jewish resistance efforts, deportations from western, central, and southeastern Europe, and rescue efforts and failures. Part II includes 100 readings that document and elucidate these events and include first-hand testimony, official Nazi and Allied documents, eyewitness accounts, and diary and memoir excerpts.

Spanning 350 years of Jewish experience in this country, A History of the Jews in America is an essential chronicle by the author of The Course of Modern Jewish History.With impressive scholarship and a riveting sense of detail, Howard M. Sachar tells the stories of Spanish marranos and Russian refugees, of aristocrats and threadbare social revolutionaries, of philanthropists and Hollywood moguls. At the same time, he elucidates the grand themes of the Jewish encounter with America, from the bigotry of a Christian majority to the tensions among Jews of different origins and beliefs, and from the struggle for acceptance to the ambivalence of assimilation.

Offers a multigenerational series of portraits that follows individuals in their struggle to salvage a heritage devastated by Communism

The complete text of the film which aroused much comment and controversy regarding accusations that Polish antisemitism had contributed to the Holocaust.

These 213 documents on the theory, planning, and execution of, and reaction and resistance to, the Nazi plan to exterminate European Jews date from the 1920s through the closing days of World War II and focus on the experience of eastern Europe. The crystallization of the principles of Nazi anti-Semitism, the policies of the Third Reich toward the Jews, the period of segregation and enclosed ghettos, and the stages through which the 'final solution' were implemented are some of the topics covered. Other documents shed light on Jewish public activities and the organization of the Underground and Jewish self-defense. Many of the documents of Jewish origin were not published previously. This comprehensive collection is essential for understanding the history of the Holocaust.

One of the most damaging and lasting anti-Semitic myths involves the relationship between Jews and money. In the advent of Wall Street's economic downturn and Bernie Madoff's ruinous schemes, these ideas have come back to rear their ugly heads. Stereotypes about Jews hoarding money, rich media moguls exerting undue influence, and a disproportionate amount of wealth and control in the hands of the Jewish community are not only false, but are also dangerous." "In his latest book, Jews and Money, Abraham Foxman, Director of the Anti-Defamation League, examines the origins, history, and politics of these ideas and how they contaminate dialogue and societies. With thorough research and powerful arguments, he shows the origins of the tendency to blame the Jews, the roots of misunderstanding "the chosen people," and the truth of Jewish philanthropy. Foxman shows how generalizations become part of common beliefs, and he lights the way to promoting fair treatment for people of all ethnic and religious backgrounds.

"Squirrel Hill, Pittsburgh is one of the oldest Jewish neighborhoods in the country, known for its tight-knit community and the profusion of multi-generational families. On October 27, 2018, a gunman killed eleven Jews who were worshipping at the Tree of Life synagogue in Squirrel Hill--the most deadly anti-Semitic attack in American history. Many neighborhoods would be understandably subsumed by despair and recrimination after such an event, but not this one. Mark Oppenheimer poignantly shifts the focus away from the criminal and his crime, and instead presents the historic, spirited community at the center of this heartbreak. He speaks with residents and nonresidents, Jews and gentiles, survivors and witnesses, teenagers and seniors, activists and historians. Together, these stories provide a kaleidoscopic and nuanced account of collective grief, love, support, and revival. But Oppenheimer also details the difficult dialogue and messy confrontations that Squirrel Hill had to face in the process of healing, and that are a necessary part of true growth and understanding in any community. He has reverently captured the vibrancy and caring that still characterize Squirrel Hill, and it is this phenomenal resilience that can provide inspiration to any place burdened with discrimination and hate"--

A History of the Holocaust is a detailed, factual account of what happened across Europe during the Holocaust, with balanced coverage of each country. The Holocaust was unique within the context of the Second World War because Jews were disproportionately represented among the civilian casualties in that conflict. Over fifty million people died as a result of the application of total war. Twelve per cent of these were Jews. At the time, Jews constituted less than one-quarter of one per cent of the world's population. This book is intended as a textbook, not a philosophical interpretation of the Holocaust. Written in a highly accessible style, it is addressed to students and will inspire them to read more about the subject and to question the problems of the world.

Presents a cultural history of German Jewry from Moses Mendelssohn's arrival in Berlin until the end of the Weimar Republic. Refers to antisemitism in a number of contexts: Mendelssohn is hailed by German intellectuals as an exception among the Jews; acceptance of the Jew was sometimes soon followed by rejection; despite or because of disproportionate Jewish contributions to culture and society, Jews are viewed as foreigners; rights are granted only to rich and useful Jews; despite Jewish patriotism, Jews are often portrayed as traitors and subversives. Among the prominent Jews discussed are Heinrich Heine, whose ambivalence toward Germans reflected their ambivalence toward him, and Walther Rathenau who was assassinated by radical nationalists whose activities the Weimar Republic was unable to curb. The section devoted to the latter reveals how Weimar's weaknesses opened the door of power to the Nazis.

A POWERFUL, DEEPLY MOVING NARRATIVE OF HOPE REBORN IN THE SHADOW OF DESPAIR Fifty years after it was bombed to rubble, Berlin is once again a city in which Jews gather for the Passover seder. Paris and Antwerp have recently emerged as important new centers of Jewish culture. Small but proud Jewish communities are revitalizing the ancient centers of Budapest, Prague, and Amsterdam. These brave, determined Jewish men and women have chosen to settle–or remain–in Europe after the devastation of the Holocaust, but they have paid a price. Among the unexpected dangers, they have had to cope with an alarming resurgence of Nazism in Europe, the spread of Arab terrorism, and the impact of the Jewish state on European life. Delving into the intimate stories of European Jews from all walks of life, Kurlansky weaves together a vivid tapestry of individuals sustaining their traditions, and flourishing, in the shadow of history. An inspiring story of a tenacious people who have rebuilt their lives in the face of incomprehensible horror, A Chosen Few is a testament to cultural survival and a celebration of the deep bonds that endure between Jews and European civilization. “Consistently absorbing . . . A Chosen Few investigates the relatively uncharted territory of an encouraging phenomenon.” –Los Angeles Times “I can think of no book that portrays with such intelligence, historical understanding, and journalistic flair what life has been like for Jews determined to build lives in Europe.” –SUSAN MIRON Forward

The starting point of Jan Tomasz and Irena Grudzinska Gross's Golden Harvest, this haunting photograph in fact depicts a group of peasants--"diggers"--atop a mountain of ashes at Treblinka, where some 800,000 Jews were gassed and cremated. The diggers are searching for gold and precious stones that Nazi executioners may have overlooked. The story captured in this grainy black-and-white photograph symbolizes the vast, continent-wide plunder of Jewish wealth that went hand-in-hand with the Holocaust. The seizure of Jewish assets during World War II occasionally generates widespread attention when Swiss banks are challenged to produce lists of dormant accounts, or national museums are forced to return stolen paintings. But the theft of Europe's Jewish population was not limited to conquering armies, leading banks, or museums. It was perpetrated also by local people, such as those pictured in the photograph.

The specific course of the Reformation in England in the 16th-17th centuries brought about interest in the Jewish Bible, i.e. the Old Testament, and the emergence of a self-image held by the British that they constitute a people of the Book, beside the Jews. This, in turn, gave rise to philosemitism, which marked British culture from the days of Cromwell to those of Churchill, being tinged in various tones, from millenarianism to philo-Zionism. However, the tradition of philosemitism in England was accompanied by manifestations of antisemitism; the same people who extolled the Jews opposed their admission to Parliament; people who defended Jewish rights in the 18th-19th centuries often shared anti-Jewish stereotypes of their time; and leaders who sympathized with Zionism could believe in a Jewish conspiracy against Christian civilization. Ch. 4 (pp. 83-117), "Fictional Heroes and Heroines", deals with 19th-century literature and shows how some writers (e.g. Walter Scott, Dickens, Trollope) could combine philosemitic and antisemitic motifs in their literary works.

Unusual book

This survey history offers the first examination of Jewish life and culture to focus on the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries as a radically new phase in Jewish history.

Chaim Aron Kaplan, born in 1880 in Belarus, wrote his "Megillat yissurin" ("Scroll of Suffering") in the Warsaw ghetto. A Zionist who emphasized the role of history in Jewish culture, he wrote his diary in Hebrew for future historians, but lost his belief in God and feared that his diary may serve no purpose if the entire Jewish nation is annihilated. He was killed in Treblinka in 1942.

A comprehensive historical survey of the Jewish presence in Central Europe from the seventeenth century to the Holocaust, German-Jewish History in Modern Times is a four-volume collective project by a team of leading scholars, offering a vivid portrait of Jewish History. The series is sponsored by the Leo Baeck Institute, established in 1955 in Jerusalem, London, and New York for the purpose of advancing scholarship on the Jews in German-speaking lands. Integration in Dispute 1871-1918 comprises the third volume and focuses on a period of political, economic, and social change that fundamentally transformed German Jewry. Eminent scholars consider a broad range of topics: religious and cultural life, demographics, political, legal, and socioeconomic status, relations between Jews and non-Jews, and Jewish participation in the larger context of European history. Volume 3 begins with the establishment of civil equality for Jews in Germany and Austria-Hungary and describes the complexities of their economic and social integration. The contributors explore the challenges that confronted Jews as they encountered both unprecedented opportunities and continued resistance to their full emancipation and participation in public life. The book discusses their standing as a minority group within German political and professional life and as a differentiated portion of the German middle class; how they coped with successive waves of political antisemitism; how they continued to adapt traditional religious practices to modernity; and how urban middle-class life transformed Jewish families as well as the role of Jewish women in the domestic and public spheres. The forces of social change, coupled with the persistence of antisemitism formed the context for the emergence of Zionism, which posed a powerful challenge to the dominant principle of integration. This volume also seeks to understand the nature and timing of the exceptional contributions of German Jews to the thriving modern culture of such cities as late imperial Vienna and Berlin as well as to the specific religious culture of Judaism. Each volume includes a bibliographical essay referring readers to the most important secondary literature, a chronology covering the major events discussed, and a series of maps and illustrations. Encompassing the most up-to-date research on the topic, German Jewish History in Modern Times is an achievement to be valued by historians, educators, and any reader seeking to understand the singular heritage of the Jewish people in Central Europe.

In February 1840 an Italian monk and his servant disappeared in Damascus. Many Jews in that city were charged with ritual murder and tortured until they "confessed." The case turned into a cause celebre across much of the Western world, even becoming a factor in the major diplomatic conflicts of the period. Jews in many countries groped for ways to save the surviving prisoners in Syria and their own good name. A Jewish delegation led by Sir Moses Montefiore and Adolphe Cremieux was sent to the Middle East in the hope of discovering the real murderers. Jonathan Frankel assesses the affair as a factor in European and Jewish politics, as a chapter in Jewish history and historiography, and as the stuff of radically conflicting myths - myths that eventually fed into the extraordinary events of the mid-twentieth century: the Holocaust and the establishment of the state of Israel. This is the first book since the 1840s to analyze the Damascus affair.