Portraits of Our Past : Jews of the German Countryside

An absorbing look at the daily lives of rural Jews in eighteenth and nineteenth century Germany. Includes over 75 black and white illustrations, a guide for researchers, maps, and a bibliography. "Author Emily Rose grew up looking at two large oil portraits hanging above the fireplace mantel in her grandfather's home in New York City. Her Jewish ancestors had immigrated to America from Germany in 1857, and no one in the immediate family had any knowledge about the portraits that previously had hung for over a century in the home of distant relatives in a small south German village.". "The paintings led Rose on a five-year journey to discover her heritage and the lost world of rural Germany. In the course of her research she uncovered a rich trove of documents, images, facts, and stories that paint a vivid picture of daily life in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries.". "Although recent books describe life in the shtetls in eastern Europe as well as in major cities of central Europe, never before has a book chronicled the experience of Jews living in the German countryside during this period. In addition to the text there are over seventy-five black and white illustrations, a guide for researchers, maps, and bibliography."--BOOK JACKET. Half-title 2 Title 4 Copyright 5 Epigraph 6 Table of Contents 8 Illustrations 10 The Discovery: Two Portraits 13 The Story Begins: Setting Down Roots 25 New Times 57 Hep! Hep! Riots 79 Transitions 91 Moving Backward 111 Changes in the Families 125 The New Jewish Community 149 Leaving the Schacher Jew Behind 163 Even Keel 175 Fighting for Civil Rights 183 Years of Turmoil 203 Shifting Winds 215 A German Village in Chicago 239 German Jews 277 And the Story Continues: Portraits of My Past 303 Traditional Jewish Life in the Villages and Small Towns 309 A Blueprint for Researchers 343 Notes 351 Selected Bibliography 359 Acknowledgments 365 Index 369

An absorbing look at the daily lives of rural Jews in eighteenth and nineteenth century Germany.

Includes over 75 black and white illustrations, a guide for researchers, maps, and a bibliography.