Jews in Czech Lands in Year One. On the Limits of Jewish Worlds Immediately after the Shoah (from Liberation till the February Coup /1948/). The Minority Perspective Cover Image

Židé v českých zemích v roce Jedna. K limitům židovských světů bezprostředně po šoa (od osvobození do únorového převratu /1948/). Menšinové pohledy
Jews in Czech Lands in Year One. On the Limits of Jewish Worlds Immediately after the Shoah (from Liberation till the February Coup /1948/). The Minority Perspective

Author(s): Blanka Soukupová
Subject(s): History, Anthropology, Jewish studies
Published by: Ústav etnológie a sociálnej antropológie Slovenskej akadémie vied
Keywords: Jews; Czech lands; Shoah; post-war Jewish worlds

Summary/Abstract: The study deals with the issue of inconsistence between the expectations of Jews from the Czech lands who survived the Shoah and the post-war reality of society exposed to systematic anti-Semitism for over six years. After World War II, the Czech society faced not only material shortage, but above all a shift to a new political system (after a short period of limited democracy) and the impacts of demoralisation of the second republic and protectorate periods. The study analyses the individual, collective, legislative and political limits of the post-war worlds of Czech Jews from liberation (May 1945) till the February coup (1948). It is based on so-far unknown archival material, as well as other sources (press, memories, diaries, fiction, etc.). The combination of sources of official, media and personal nature allows for a better understanding of the structured minority mentality, i.e. the ways of thinking and behaviour that could have led to a radical re-assessment of the minority strategies for the future.

  • Issue Year: 65/2017
  • Issue No: 3
  • Page Range: 245-260
  • Page Count: 16
  • Language: Czech