Gray Dawn: The Jews of Eastern Europe in the Post-Communist Era - Hardcover

Hoffman, Charles

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0060190035 ISBN 13: 9780060190033

Publisher: Harpercollins, 1992

Synopsis

An assessment of the diverse prospects of the Jewish communities in Poland, East Germany, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, Bulgaria, and Rumania identifies general trends and traces the shape they take in each country. 10,000 first printing.

About this title

From Kirkus Reviews:

An astute, challenging assessment of the strengths and weaknesses of Jewish communities formerly behind the Iron Curtain, by Jerusalem journalist/sociologist Hoffman. Traveling extensively through the region in 1989 and 1990, just as the old order was crumbling, Hoffman often was able to observe the situation immediately before and after the upheaval. The treatment accorded the Jewish population varied with each country, and was determined partly by the vitality of the community that survived the Holocaust and partly by national attitudes. The small group of ``caretaker'' Jews in Prague, for example, under the control of a party functionary who could claim a Jewish heritage, had few community activities--but, today, former dissidents provide a new direction. Jews in East Berlin--many of whom, seeking security, remained voluntarily under Communist control after the war--received ``protected species'' status that permitted a sense of collective identity, so their virtual subjugation to West German Jewish organizations after unification now raises doubts that the new leaders are any better. Elsewhere in Eastern Europe, the presence of international Jewish groups has been a mixed blessing, with the agendas of outsiders not always in sync with local objectives; but, even so, hope remains--especially in cities like Budapest, with its substantial Jewish population--that communities will prosper and not be allowed to wither away through a substantial exodus to Israel. Deftly mixing history, countless interviews, and an analysis of recent events country by country, this is a valuable resource for those interested in what the future might hold for Eastern Europe and the Jews who choose to stay there. (Photo insert--not seen.) -- Copyright ©1992, Kirkus Associates, LP. All rights reserved.

From Publishers Weekly:

Following the collapse of the Soviet empire, the Jews of Eastern Europe--nearly obliterated by the Nazis, then persecuted by Communist regimes--are rediscovering their culture and religion. Texas-born Hoffman, a former staff writer for the Jerusalem Post , made 10 trips to Eastern Europe in 1989 and 1990 to produce this searching, alert portrait of a people poised between hope and despair. In Czechoslovakia and Poland, he found, small "caretaker communities" of Jews, non-Jews and part-Jews have united around the mission of preserving their countries' Jewish heritage. In contrast, Romania and Bulgaria have seen their Jewish populations depleted by the younger generation's mass exodus to Israel. In East Berlin, reports Hoffman, the tiny Jewish community has been fragmented by the swift, sudden reunion of East and West Germany. He discerningly looks at Eastern European Jews' responses to resurgent anti-Semitism and at their ambivalence toward the older Jewish leadership that accommodated itself to Communist rulers.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc.

About this edition

• Publisher: Harpercollins
• Publication date: 1992
• ISBN 10: 0060190035
• ISBN 13: 9780060190033
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 349