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This ethnographic study compares and contrasts the changing ethnic identity of those Russian Jews who settled in Hartford, Connecticut between 1881 and 1930 with that of the Soviet Jews who remained in Russia after the Revolution, became Soviet citizens, and emigrated after 1975. Although both groups were labeled "Jews," their internal definitions of what constituted being Jewish and their personal experiences were radically different. Using both archival and contemporary oral histories, Betty N. Hoffman traces the stories of real people whose lives and choices were affected by both their ethnic identity and the larger movements around them as they made new homes in the United States.
In 1935, two Soviet satirists, Ilia Ilf and Evgeny Petrov, undertook a 10,000 mile American road trip from New York to Hollywood and back accompanied only by their guide and chauffeur, a gregarious Russian Jewish immigrant and his American-born, Russian-speaking wife. They immortalized their journey in a popular travelogue that condemned American inequality and racism even as it marvelled at American modernity and efficiency. Lisa Kirschenbaum reconstructs the epic journey of the two Soviet funnymen and their encounters with a vast cast of characters, ranging from famous authors, artists, poets and filmmakers to unemployed hitchhikers and revolutionaries. Using the authors' notes, US and Russian archives, and even FBI files, she reveals the role of ordinary individuals in shaping foreign relations as Ilf, Petrov and the immigrants, communists, and fellow travelers who served as their hosts, guides, and translators became creative actors in cultural exchange between the two countries.
"Discusses the Kindertransport, including the people who organized the operation, how the transports worked, the children's lives who escaped on a transport, and how ten thousand children were saved from the Holocaust"--Provided by publisher.
"Discusses Kristallnacht, a four-day pogrom instigated by the Nazis against Germany's Jews, including stories from the victims, witnesses and perpetrators of the attack, and how it marked the beginning of the Holocaust"--Provided by publisher.
"Examines the rescue of the Danish Jews during World War II, including background on Denmark and the Holocaust, firsthand accounts from the many people involved, and how thousands of Jews were saved from the Nazis"--Provided by publisher.
The Warsaw ghetto uprising was a battle the Jews could not hope to win against the more powerful Nazis, but they decided not to go quietly to certain death. When Germany invaded Poland in 1939, beginning World War II, the Nazis quickly destroyed Jewish life. After stripping Jews of all their rights, the Nazis forced them into a ghetto surrounded by brick walls. After more than three years of starvation, disease, and death, the Jewish people decided to resist. When the Nazis came to annihilate the ghetto, the Jewish fighters were ready to strike back. Author Linda Jacobs Altman chronicles this brave and heroic story from the Holocaust.
During the Revolutionary War, Sephardic Jews fled British-occupied New York to become the first Jewish families in Connecticut. This long Jewish history is explored in a collection of essays by historians and community members across the state, from colonial times and the role Jews played in the Civil War to memories of summer nights at Lebanon's Grand Lake Lodge and Danbury's Lake Waubeeka. Join editor Betty N. Hoffman and company as they recount tales of Kid Kaplan, the "Meriden Buzz Saw," who became boxing's 1925 Featherweight Champion of the World; the Lender family, who "bagelized America"; and the graceful personal service of Marlow's Department Store in Manchester to reveal a fascinating and intimate portrait of Jewish Connecticut.
Millions of Jews were murdered during the Holocaust. Those people fortunate enough to survive had their lives destroyed by the Nazis. Survivors had to rebuild their lives, often from nothing: no homes, no jobs, and no family. Author Betty N. Hoffman details stories of survival from the Holocaust and the liberation of Nazi Europe, from the Displaced Persons camps to the founding of the State of Israel.
An author and subject index to selected and American Anglo-Jewish journals of general and scholarly interests.