This course focuses on the history of Eastern European Jewry from the late eighteenth to the late twentieth century - from the first Partition of Poland to the collapse of the Soviet Union.
In this course, I propose to study the history of the Jews of the region using key concepts that will help us better understand Jewish life in Eastern Europe, its particularities, and the relationships between different ethnic groups. We will study Yiddish, Haskalah, Zionism, pogrom, Aliyah, and other concepts.
Each concept is a key to understanding the period and the region, an "invitation" to a more detailed and in-depth study. By studying these concepts chronologically, we will learn about the peculiarities of Jewish communities in the various states of the region, pay attention to everyday life, and involvement in political parties and movements. We will be interested in religion and language, anti-Semitism, family relations, assimilation and emigration processes. And, of course, we will pay special attention to the Holocaust and its remembrance.