Jewish Life in Austria and Germany Since 1945 : : Identity and Communal Reconstruction / / Susanne Cohen-Weisz.

• Superior document: Title is part of eBook package: De Gruyter Central European University Press eBook-Package 2016
• VerfasserIn: Cohen-Weisz, Susanne,
• Place / Publishing House: Budapest ;, New York : : Central European University Press, , [2016]; ©2016
• Year of Publication: 2016
• Language: English
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (424 p.)

Based on published primary and secondary materials and oral interviews with some eighty communal and organizational leaders, experts and scholars, this book provides a comparative account of the reconstruction of Jewish communal life in both Germany and in Austria (where 98% live in the capital, Vienna) after 1945. The author explains the process of reconstruction over the next six decades, and its results in each country. The monograph focuses on the variety of prevailing perceptions about topics such as: the state of Israel, one’s relationship to the country of residence, the Jewish religion, the aftermath of the Holocaust, and the influx of post-soviet immigrants. Cohen-Weisz examines the changes in Jewish group identity and its impact on the development of communities. The study analyzes the similarities and differences in regard to the political, social, institutional and identity developments within the two countries, and their changing attitudes and relationships with surrounding societies; it seeks to show the evolution of these two country’s Jewish communities in diverse national political circumstances and varying post-war governmental policies.

Table of Contents

Frontmatter -- Contents -- List of Tables and Figures -- Preface -- Glossary -- Chapter 1 Introduction -- Chapter 2 1945–1953 Two Parallel “Communities” and the Short-Lived Revitalization of Jewish Life -- Chapter 3 1953–1980 “Sitting on Packed Suitcases” -- Chapter 4 1980–2015 Settled and Flourishing Jewish Communities -- Chapter 5 European-Jewish Identity and Cooperation: The Future Direction of Austrian and German Jewries? -- Chapter 6 Conclusion -- Appendix -- References -- Laws, treaties, and rulings -- Interviews conducted by author -- Index