Salomon Reinach (1858–1932) and the “Jewish Question” in Russia

Abstract

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, Jews in France sought to assimilate into French society. It is generally accepted that this desire to assimilate explains their wariness towards Russian Jews, whose nationalist aspirations found concrete expression in the Zionist and territorial projects. The correspondence of Salomon Reinach, who was one of the most important figures in French Judaism during the Belle Epoque, shows that the “Jewish question” and the situation of the Jews in Russia was central to his attention both as a historian and as the head of the Alliance Israélite Universelle. An analysis of this correspondence allows us to understand the emergence of cultural and scientific transfer processes between France and Russia, French Jews and Russian Jews.