Author: Christof Mauch

Publisher: Max Kade Institute

Published: 2003

Total Pages: 206

ISBN-13:

Changing political, social, and cultural contexts have led German Jews in America to take on many different identities. On some occasions most of them have associated with German-speaking immigrants to the United States, while at others they have identified themselves more closely with the general American population. Some German Jews have chosen to identify with both American institutions and ideals, and with the landscapes, culture, and religious institutions of their home country or the country of their ancestors, Israel. This book explores these varied German-Jewish identities in America from a wide range of perspectives and disciplines. Essays examine such varied topics as the relationship between German and Eastern European Jews in America, the development of the B'nai B'rith, nineteenth-century Jewish community-building in Chicago, German Jews' role in the building of modern American show business, and the correlation between date of emigration and language loss among Jewish emigrants fleeing to America from Nazi Germany. Although most of the contributors are historians, there are also chapters from a linguist, theater and literature professors, and even an award-winning documentary filmmaker. Book jacket.