The Road to September 1939: Polish Jews, Zionists, and the Yishuv on the Eve of World War II

by Jehuda Reinharz, Yaacov Shavit

Overview

In European and Holocaust historiography, it is generally believed that neither the Zionist movement nor the Yishuv were mindful of the plight of European Jews in the face of the Nazi threat during the 1930s. Drawing on a wide variety of memoirs, letters, and institutional reports by people from all walks of life, this volume sheds new light on a troubled period in Jewish history. Jehuda Reinharz and Yaacov Shavit trace Jewish responses to developments in Eastern and Central Europe, as well as reactions to British policy on the question of a Jewish homeland, to show that Zionists in the Yishuv worked tirelessly on the international stage on behalf of their coreligionists in Europe. Nevertheless, their efforts were all too often shattered by the realities of their powerlessness and lack of resources. Piercing to the heart of conversations about how or whether to save Jews in an increasingly hostile Europe, this volume provides a nuanced assessment of what could and could not be achieved in the years just prior to World War II and Holocaust.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781512601541
Publisher:	Brandeis University Press
Publication date:	01/02/2018
Series:	The Tauber Institute Series for the Study of European Jewry
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	408
File size:	992 KB

About the Author

Jehuda Reinharz is the Richard Koret Professor of Modern Jewish History at Brandeis University. He is the president of the Jack, Joseph and Morton Mandel Foundation. Yaacov Shavit is professor emeritus at Tel Aviv University. They are the coauthors of Darwin and His Circle and Glorious Accursed Europe: An Essay on Jewish Ambivalence.

Table of Contents

Preface: “The Birds Left Early” • “A Million Superfluous Jews”—and More • “The Dream of a Jewish State” • “The Wailing Wall in Évian” and Kristallnacht • Funeral March at St. James’s Palace: “They Betrayed Czechoslovakia, Why Should They Not Betray Us as Well?” • A Bridge Over the White Paper? • The Forgotten Congress (Geneva, August 16–25, 1939) • Will War Break Out? • “So early, no one has seen death yet” • Epilogue • Acknowledgments • Notes • Bibliography • Index

What People are Saying About This

Shlomo Avineri

“An incredibly important book documenting how helpless European Jews and the Jewish community in Palestine were on the eve of September 1939. The reader may be tempted to speculate how differently history might have turned out had a Jewish state existed in the 1930s that could have offered a safe haven to those intent on fleeing the gathering storm in Europe. The phrase ‘never again’ assumes a deeper meaning: the difference Jewish sovereignty could have made.”

Antony Polonsky

“This well-researched and pathbreaking book challenges the widely held view that the Zionist movement effectively failed to respond to the worsening situation of European Jewry in the years between 1933 and 1939. Based on a detailed analysis of the situation of the Jews of Poland, it provides a clear account of what the different Zionist leaders attempted to do and why their efforts were doomed to failure. It is essential reading for all interested in the Jewish response to the rise of Nazism and the tragic fate of European Jewry.”

Editorial Reviews

This book offers an opportunity for critical reflection on what was, and was not, possible before the storm clouds of war fell on Europe.

Gazeta

Wide-ranging, multilayered, and riveting.

Jewish Review of Books

"Jehuda Reinharz and Yaacov Shavit have provided us with a window into these last years before the catastrophe with a narrative that is historically sophisticated, well written, and full of insights and juxtapositions that will enhance every reader’s comprehension of interwar Poland and prewar Zionism. Anyone interested in this turbulent period of European history or in Polish-Jewish relations will find much of interest here."

The Polish Review

Contains a treasure trove of information about this critical period in terms of the contemporaneous understandings and interpretations of some of the most important figures in modern Jewish history.

Israel Journal of Foreign Affairs

Meticulously researched . . . This valuable book is a corrective to simplistic views of strategies of the Zionist leaders of European Jewry in general just before the Holocaust.

Choice

This valuable book is a corrective to simplistic views of strategies of the Zionist leaders of European Jewry in general just before the Holocaust. . . . Highly recommended.”


—Choice


“Of great interest.”
—Eunomia

From the Publisher