Ezra Mendelsohn

The Jews of East Central Europe adroitly compares and contrasts political realities, factions, nationalistic bents, economic downturns, as well as numerous other characteristics that both created a picture of diversity and unity intra- and inter-country. However, Mendelsohn said community size was a determinant in the selection of countries for this study but the statistics do not seem to back that up (Estonia included w/ small community while Yugoslavia and Bulgaria were excluded). The addition of these two excluded countries, whose Jews fared somewhat better than most of the Jews in the studied countries, could have provided additional insight into pre-war anti-Semitism, nationalism, and Jewish-Gentile relations.… (mer)