Jewish Life in Austria and Germany Since 1945: Identity and Communal Reconstruction

by Susanne Cohen-Weisz

Overview

Based on published primary and secondary materials and oral interviews with some eighty communal and organizational leaders, experts and scholars, this book provides a comparative account of the reconstruction of Jewish communal life in both Germany and in Austria (where 98% live in the capital, Vienna) after 1945. The author explains the process of reconstruction over the next six decades, and its results in each country.

The monograph focuses on the variety of prevailing perceptions about topics such as: the state of Israel, one’s relationship to the country of residence, the Jewish religion, the aftermath of the Holocaust, and the influx of post-soviet immigrants. Cohen-Weisz examines the changes in Jewish group identity and its impact on the development of communities. The study analyzes the similarities and differences in regard to the political, social, institutional and identity developments within the two countries, and their changing attitudes and relationships with surrounding societies; it seeks to show the evolution of these two country’s Jewish communities in diverse national political circumstances and varying post-war governmental policies.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789633860793
Publisher:	Central European University Press
Publication date:	10/01/2016
Pages:	424
Product dimensions:	6.26(w) x 9.21(h) x (d)
Age Range:	18 Years

About the Author

Susanne Cohen-Weisz holds a BA from Bar Ilan University, an MA in International Relations and a PhD in Political Science from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she also did post-doctoral research and served as lecturer.

Table of Contents

List of Tables and Figures 11

Preface 13

Glossary 17

Chapter 1 Introduction 23

1.1 Introduction 25

1.2 Identity, Group Identity, and Jewish Group Identity Theory 32

1.3 On Anti-Semitism 38

1.4 Methodology 40

Comparative Analysis 40

Sources 42

Chapter 2 1945-1953 Two Parallel "Communities" and the Short-Lived Revitalization of Jewish Life 45

2.1 Communal organization 50

Organizational framework 50

Communal leadership 54

2.2 Demography 58

2.3 Jewish Group Identity 66

Variations of Jewish group identity 66

The Shoah in Jewish group identity 76

The State of Israel in Jewish group identity 80

Austrian, respectively German, elements in Jewish group identity 85

2.4 Communal Reconstruction 88

Institutional developments 88

Communal unity 92

2.5 External Communal Representation 96

2.6 Austrian and German Politics and Attitudes toward Jewry 100

Chapter 3 1953-1980 "Sitting on Packed Suitcases" 121

3.1 Communal Organization 125

Organizational framework 125

Communal leadership 128

3.2 Demography 129

3.3 Jewish Group Identity 132

Variations in Jewish group identity 132

The Shoah in Jewish group identity 135

The State of Israel in Jewish group identity 137

Austrian, respectively German, elements in Jewish group identity 141

3.4 Communal Reconstruction 147

Institutional developments 147

Communal unity 148

3.5 External Communal Representation 156

3.6 Austrian and German Politics and Attitudes toward Jewry 161

Chapter 4 1980-2015 Settled and Flourishing Jewish Communities 177

4.1 Communal Organization 181

Organizational framework 181

Communal leadership 188

4.2 Demography 194

4.3 Jewish Group Identity 203

Variations in Jewish group identity 203

The Shoah in Jewish group identity 211

The State of Israel in Jewish group identity 216

Austrian, respectively German, elements in Jewish group identity 218

4.4 Communal Reconstruction 233

Institutional developments 233

Communal unity 241

Organizational framework and communal unity 259

4.5 External Communal Representation 263

4.6 Austrian and German Politics and Attitudes toward Jewry 295

4.7 Conclusion 326

Chapter 5 European-Jewish Identity and Cooperation: The Future Direction of Austrian and German Jewries? 335

5.1 European Identity 339

5.2 European-Jewish Identity 343

5.3 European Jewish Cooperation 346

5.4 Conclusion 363

Chapter 6 Conclusion 367

Appendix 383

References 397

Laws, treaties, and rulings 414

Interviews conducted by author 417

Index 421