Questions for Nov 11th

2.Jewish lives were not easy in the new states. Jews were excluded from new economies and societies, as right-winged nationalists voiced their belief on nationalism, which favored the prevailing ethnic, religious, and language groups of the country. In Russia, Jews were given a chance to be assimilated socially and culturally. However, there tended not to be as many opportunities in Jewish culture and politics. Additionally, the lives of Jews living in Poland, Hungry, Lithuania, and the Ukraine were not great.  They suffered from several programs, with Ukraine suffering from the greatest. Ukraine Jews were represented in the central government and Yiddish was printed on the Ukraine currency. However, Jews were blamed for spying on the Bolsheviks, as wells as more than 60,000 Jews were killed and hurt. Rape, looting, and murder also occurred. The Ukrainian minister of defense never acted in order to stop them. Furthermore, once Germany became a liberal democracy, Jews were allowed to take positions in the state and society. A few years later Walter Rathenau, a Jew, became the prime minister, but he was assassinated shortly after. This shows that Jews were not completely accepted, especially by the right wing. Anti-Semitism was still present in the new states.

2.Jews played a vital role in society and the economy. Many of the doctors and lawyers tended to be Jewish. Specifically, fifty one percent of lawyers in Odessa and forty percent of lawyers in Odessa were Jewish, as well as sixty percent of doctors in Vienna and Budapest were Jewish.   In 1931, many of the doctors in Poland were Jewish. They also were teachers (forty three percent), lawyers (thirty three percent) and journalists (twenty two percent). Jews also were largely a part of the business sector. Sixty percent of German Jews were involved in commerce. Other places Jews were a huge part of commerce include the Hungarian capital, Czechoslovakia, Romania, Italy and Greece. Although Jews held these jobs, most of the Jews were not wealthy. Jews tended to trade leather goods, textiles, clothing, and were part of shoe manufacturing. Cosmetic trade and department stores were popular businesses among the Jews.