For centuries, the Polish lands were one of the main centers of Jewish life and culture. Though in the last century, the region lost most of its Jewish population to emigration and the Shoah, the Jewish civilization that formed in the region could not be completely destroyed, but rather was transferred along with migrants to various diaspora spread throughout the world in such far-flung locations as the United States, Argentina, South Africa, Australia and Palestine. Identities formed in East Central Europe continued to reflect the lifestyles, opinions and worldviews of Jewish emigrants and their communities.
Recent scholarship has challenged the lachrymose interpretation of Jewish migrations and the myth of no-return, by highlighting how Jews mostly emigrated for economic reasons, just like their non-Jewish counterparts from the region. The transnational nature of Polish-Jewish society meant more than simply maintaining ties between Polish Jews in various locations. It left an imprint on the imagination of the Jewish world, and on the modern socio-political consciousness of those who emigrated and stayed in Poland.
Bringing together some of the newest scholarship in Jewish history, this volume represents a shift toward the transnational lens.
