Blog Questions for November 8 and 11

Reading for November 8: World War I
JAH 334-338

Questions
1. What were the effects of World War I on Jews in eastern Europe (Pale of Settlement and Galicia)?
2. What were the effects of WWI on Jews in Germany? Why and how did they take part in the fighting? Why did some German Jews oppose the war?
3. What was the "Jew Count" of 1916 in Germany?
4. How did the First World War reveal tensions in Britain between native-born Jews and the new immigrants from eastern Europe?

Reading for November 11: Jews in interwar Europe: Soviet Russia, eastern Europe, Balkans; Jewish cultural life
JAH 338-347

Primary Sources in Mendes-Flohr
1. “Minorities Treaty," pp. 415-417.

2. “Birobidzhan: A Jewish Autonomous Region,” pp. 428-429.

Questions
1. JAH pp. 340-344 describes the changes in the lives of Jews in Russia (now ruled by the Bolsheviks). 

• With the lifting of the restrictions on Jewish residence and livelihood, where did Jews move to in Russia and what new professions did they engage in?
• How did the Soviet regime deal with expressions of Jewish nationalism? 
• What did the Soviet regime do to foster Yiddish culture? What were some of the products of Soviet Yiddish culture?
• Why did the Soviets create a Jewish territory in the far east of Russia?
• Why did Jews come to be prominent in the revolutionary regime?

2.  JAH pp. 338-339 gives an overview of life for Jews in the interwar period in Europe, especially in the states newly created out of the fallen empires (Russian, German, Hapsburg, and Ottoman). What was the Jewish experience in the new states? Were Jews welcomed into these nations?

3. JAH pp. 339-340 surveys Jewish professions and the rising number of Jews in Europe. What professions were particularly favored by Jews? What kinds of trade did Jews concentrate in?

4. JAH pp. 344-348 describes Jews in Poland, Romania, Hungary, and the Balkans between the wars. What were the common experiences of the Jews in these countries? How did they fare economically, and what were government policies towards Jews?