Jewish communities before and after the Holocaust
For more than one thousand years, Jews lived in Europe, organizing communities to preserve their distinct identity. In periods of relative tranquility, Jewish culture flourished, but in periods of unrest, Jews were forced to flee. Wherever they settled, they endowed the people amongst whom they lived with their talents. Some of the communities included hundreds of thousands of Jews; others only a few dozen. Some had been founded less than a century before, while others were ancient communities whose reputation was firmly anchored in Jewish tradition. By organizing themselves in communities, the Jews were able to maintain their uniqueness as a nation. The Jewish community enabled the Jews to safeguard their physical and cultural existence. By the end of the Holocaust, over a thousand years of Jewish communal life had come to an end. Continue reading
Podcasts
Historical Videos
Educational Materials
The Shtetl - A Learning Environment
Lesson Plan: Yizkor (Memorial) Books and the Shtetl
"We are the Polish Jews"
Prewar Jewish Life in Zagreb
The Jewish Community in Salonika - A Learning Environment
Buczacz: One of the Untold Stories… - A Learning Environment
Berdichev: One of the Untold Stories… - A Learning Environment
Articles
The Holocaust of the French Jews – A Historical Review
Prewar Jewish Life in Munkács: A Brief History
Prewar Jewish Life in Budapest
The Jews of North Africa
The Jews of Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia
The Jews of Libya
Jews in Albania
