Recovering a Voice

Abstract

This book focuses on the largely ignored efforts by the Jews of France, Belgium, and the Netherlands to reconstruct their lives after the Second World War. The book presents the challenges that were faced both in the national context and in the world Jewish arena and examines how they were dealt with. The book reviews the action taken to revive Jewish communities in the three countries, remodelling them as efficient, self-sustaining, and assertive bodies that could meet new challenges. With the creation of the State of Israel, Jews who stayed in western Europe had to defend their decision to do so while nevertheless showing public support for the new nation. There was also a felt need to respond quickly and effectively to any sign of antisemitism. In addition, tensions arose between Jews and non-Jews concerning wartime collaboration in deportations, and the need to memorialize Jewish victims of Nazism. The Cold War offered challenges of its own: the perceived need to exclude communist elements from communal affairs was countered by a resistance to pressures from American Jewish leaders to sever links with Jews in eastern Europe. Yet beneath the show of assertiveness, Jewish life was fragile, not only because of the physical depletion of the population and of its leadership but because the Holocaust had shaken religious beliefs and affiliations and had raised questions about the value of preserving ethnic and religious identity. At the same time, new forms of Jewish consciousness had evolved, meaning that Jewish leaders had to provide for diverse educational, religious, and cultural needs. This book demonstrates how, with the aid of international Jewish organizations, Jewish survivors used unprecedented means to meet unprecedented challenges.