Culture & Catastrophe: Jewish Life in Poland during the Transition to Modernity

Catalog description

By the 19th century, the Jews of the former Polish lands formed nearly three-fourths of the world's Jewish population, suggesting a relatively stable and prosperous community. This course takes us through centuries of Polish Jewish life, from the arrival in the Middle Ages, through the golden age of extensive Jewish self-government, down to the crises and catastrophes of the twentieth century. We will explore the rich creations of Polish Jewry that emerged despite of and sometimes because of incidents of anti-Jewish violence, including movements like Hasidism, Haskalah, Modern Jewish literature, and Modern Jewish Political movements like Zionism and Bundism. This course concludes with an in-depth look at the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied Poland and its aftermath.