The History of the Jews in the Netherlands (Littman Library of Jewish Civilization)

Description

This history of the Jews of the Netherlands and the role they have played in Dutch society was originally published in Dutch and widely acclaimed for the breadth of its coverage. It examines both the internal evolution of the Jewish community and its social, cultural, and economic interaction with the wider population. From the first Jewish settlements in the medieval duchies of Gelderland, Brabant, and Limburg to the Jewish community of today, the interaction between Dutch Jews and Dutch Christians has mostly been one of fruitful collaboration which only the period of German occupation from 1940 to 1945 was seriously able to disrupt. The contribution that Dutch Jews have made, and continue to make, to cultural life, to the economy, and to science is recognized as being of central importance to the Netherlands as a whole. The ten eminent scholars contributing to this book each describe Jewish life in a particular period, from the Middle Ages to the present. In doing so they consider the strains caused within the Jewish community by the effort to play a full part in Dutch society while maintaining Jewish culture, setting the discussion in the context of trends and tensions within Dutch society in the period in question. The circumstances of the Jews under German occupation and in the immediate postwar period are also discussed. The History of the Jews in the Netherlands is a definitive, indispensable work for the study of both European Jewish and Dutch history.