Destruction, Endurance, and Renewal: European Political Developments 1648-1992 through the History of the Jewish People

By T_Clvrc

  • Yeven Metsulah

    Yeven Metsulah
    Yeven Metsulah, written by Nathan Hanover, 1653.
    It is a contemporary account of the Khmelnytsky Uprising and the massacre of Jews it entailed.
    It is valuable to us because it is very detailed and is given by an individual who was a victim of the uprising. It also gives the historical context of the situation, detailing the lives of Jews in Poland at the time.
    The text helps us understand the dimensions of the uprising and the devastation it brought, again proving the necessity of absolutism.

  • Napoleon le Grand Rétablit le Culte des Israélites, le 30 Mai 1806

    Napoleon le Grand Rétablit le Culte des Israélites, le 30 Mai 1806
    Napoleon le Grand Rétablit le Culte des Israélites, drawn by Louis François, May 30th, 1806.
    This print shows Napoleon Bonaparte holding a tablet of "Laws given to Moses", reaching out to a Jewish woman kneeling at his feet.
    While this print is a propaganda piece, it illustrates the improvement of the Jews' situation under the Revolution and the Empire. Napoleon is presented as the saviour of the Jews, having confirmed the freedom of religion, equality, and citizenship granted by the Revolution.

  • Der Judenstaat

    Der Judenstaat
    Der Judenstaat, written by Theodor Herzl, 1896.
    This text advocates for creating an independent Jewish state somewhere in the world since, despite all the integration efforts of the Jewish people, they will always be discriminated against.
    This text is significant since it is considered foundational to Zionist theory and to a large segment of Jewish politics, both left and right wing.
    It fits into a larger frame of radical, transnational political change in late 19th Century Europe.

  • Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz

    Soviet troops liberate Auschwitz
    A photograph of Jewish detainees walking out of the Auschwitz extermination camp while a soldier of the Red Army looks upon them in the background. The photograph was taken on January 27th 1945, during the camp's liberation by the Soviet army.
    This photo is significant because it shows the beleaguered prisoners leaving the camp, having survived the horrors within. It shows that despite all they endured, the Jewish people kept on surviving.