CEU Electronic Theses and Dissertations, 2010
| Author | Thurston-Milgrom, Elana Suzanne |
|---|---|
| Title | Verny and Wahr from A[ssimilationists] to Z[ionists]: An Exploration of Bohemia's Divided Interwar Jewish Population in Relation to Masaryk and the Czech Lands |
| Summary | This thesis explores the relationship between assimilationists and Zionists in interwar Czechoslovakia. However, I complicate this binary division of the Jewish population into four groups: the ‘Czech-Jewish synthesis,’ ‘radical assimilationist,’ ‘Jewish-national’ and ‘political Zionist.’ Additionally, I narrow my focus to Bohemia in order to be able to provide a more in depth and concise picture. In order to do so, I focus on three particular figures: Jindřich Kohn, Alfred Fuchs, and Otokar Fischer. Through a close reading of a selection of texts by these writers, I situate them firmly in the ‘Czech-Jewish synthesis,’ ‘radical assimilationist,’ and ‘Jewish-national’ camps. Through interaction with the selected texts in addition to periodical and secondary sources, I come to the conclusion that the competing programs of the two larger camps were largely ideological rather than practical. The fundamental disagreement about whether or not the Jews constitute a ‘nation’ aside, the ‘Czech-Jewish synthesis’ and ‘Jewish-national’ groups had almost precisely the same end, namely, living side by side with the Czechs in a mutually beneficial state; all four groups were fiercely loyal to Masaryk and the new Czechoslovak State. |
| Supervisor | Miller, Michael |
| Department | History MA |
| Full text | https://www.etd.ceu.edu/2010/thurston-milgrom_elana-suzanne.pdf |
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