Questions from 11/11 for Wednesdays Class Discussion

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?

The Jewish experience in these new states was no different than usual. They were not welcomed by the rulers of the states and were still discriminated against. Many Jews were subjected to exclusion, economic boycott, discrimination, and physical violence. Theses new states were supposed to be based on democratic principles, yet many of them didn’t live up to those expectations. Most of the new states shut out Jews from new economies and societies. Violence against the Jews was also very common during the Interwar period. In Poland,100 pogroms were held in 1919 where, the biggest in which 70 Jews were murdered. Additionally, executions occurred in Hungary and Lithuania. The worst treatment by far was in the Ukraine. The Jews in the Ukraine were accused of spying for the Bolsheviks. The peasants ended up raping and murdering the Jews. While many new Jews rose to power in these new nations for the first time, they were still discriminated against and looked down upon by right wing parties.

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?

The professions that were particularly favored by Jews were jobs in law and medicine, along with commerce, finances, and trade. Jews dominated the secular world and established themselves as strong business activists. The proportion of Jews compared to Gentiles involved in medicine and law were particularly high. Some eye opening numbers are that fifty one percent of the lawyers in Budapest were Jewish and in Vienna and Budapest, sixty three percent of all doctors were Jewish. The poorer Jews worked in commercial factories. Jews involved in trade focused on leather goods, textiles, clothing, and shoe manufacture. Many Jews also held jobs pertaining to cosmetics. Believe it or not Jewish scientists invented Nivea Skin cream in Germany in 1911.