The Old World and the World We Have Lost
By the 1950s and 1960s, only a minority of Jews living in America had been born in Eastern Europe. Their distance from the land of their ancestors and the fact that the once vibrant communities there were all but wiped out during the Holocaust created a sentimental view of the Jewish past in the “Old Home”. At the same time, American Jews sought to create a tangible connection to the victims of the Holocaust who were unable to escape their tragic fate. In their remembrances of the Jewish past in general, they tended to contrast their experiences with what they perceived as the suffering and persecution of previous generations.
Pair of Figurines, Elderly Jewish Couple
From the 1940 New York World's Fair, Jewish Palestine Pavilion
The Jewish Heritage Collection, Special Collections Library, University of Michigan
Jews in Eastern Europe
- YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern EuropeIn 1925, the YIVO Institute for Jewish Research was founded in Vilna (Wilno, Poland; now Vilnius, Lithuania), by key European intellectuals, including Albert Einstein and Sigmund Freud, to record the history and pioneer in the critical study of the language, literature and culture of the Jews of Eastern Europe.
Hebrew
- Hebrew AlphabetFrom Judaism 101
- Biblical Hebrew DictionaryFrom the Ancient Hebrew Research Center
Maps of Eastern Europe
Jewish Populations in Europe Before the Holocaust
More maps of Jewish History:
- Maps of Jewish HistoryAn array of maps from the Virtual Jewish Library
- YIVO Encyclopedia of Jews in Eastern EuropeSite includes 60 maps.
Yiddish
- Yiddish Language and CultureFrom Judaism 101
- Yiddish Dictionary OnlineFree online resource.