Summary

Jewish Immigrants opens with a discussion of Jewish immigrants as a group, their place in American society, and highlights of their history. The book then goes on to explore the conditions under which they lived in central and western Europe and their reasons for emigration, and traces their history. A closing chapter features recent census figures, the contributions of Jewish Americans in a variety of fields, the effect of Jewish organizations with divergent ideologies, current attempts to hold onto Jewish identity and cultural traditions despite the pull toward assimilation, and ties among Jewish Americans worldwide.

History covered includes:

• Jews in the American colonies
• The hardships of life in the “shtel”
• The economic rise of Jews in America following the Civil War, including anti-Semitism due in part to the belief that Jews "controlled" the stock market
• The admittance of refugees from Nazi Germany
• Jewish-American attitudes during World War II
• New challenges presented to a second generation of immigrants in the 1940s and 1950s
• How greater economic security for Jewish Americans in the late 1900s brought further changes
• Jewish Americans in the present day.

Specifications

eBook