by Ernst Oppenheim
This history of European Jews from the First Crusade through the 20th century chronicles a family in its historic and geographic context.
An account of the First Crusade is followed by a discussion of the oppressive constraints on European Jews through the Dark and Middle Ages. Two sections describe Bohemia from its first Jewish settlement through World War II, and the harsh milieu for Jews in Hamburg from the 16th century onwards.
As the focus on the family sharpens, the reader meets illustrious rabbis, the Golem, the Shabbatean movement, a scribe at the Spanish Court, travels to West Africa, and much more. The book culminates with the inexorable process of the Final Solution: Kristallnacht in Innsbruck, Austria; interviews with ten family members who escaped; the fates of some of the many who did not.
Drawing on meticulous research and on eyewitness accounts through the centuries, this highly illustrated text offers a wealth of new translations, a full bibliography, and an extensive name index. An ingenious ‘who is who’ presents key biographical data from 15 generations.
This moving book portrays a rich tapestry of ordinary and extreme human experience. It will be of value to the historian, to the genealogist, or to anyone wishing to develop a deeper understanding of that vital crucible: the family itself.