East European Origin Research Articles

Autoimmune and Non-Autoimmune Comorbidities in Myasthenic Patients of East-European Descent: A Case-Control Study.

Background: As the life expectancy of patients with myasthenia gravis (MG) is improving, so the number of comorbidities continues to rise, with a potentially significant impact on the overall morbidity and mortality. The main aim of the study was to assess comorbidities of MG in a group of patients of East-European descent. Methods: We retrospectively compared 185 adult myasthenic patients with 895 sex- and age-matched controls, admitted from January 2013 to December 2021. Results: Of these patients, 60% had late-onset MG (LOMG), with a clear predominance of women in both the LOMG and early-onset (EOMG) types; and 23.8% of the patients had a radiological description consistent with thymoma. All myasthenic patients had at least one comorbidity; 20 (10.8%) of the patients associated at least one autoimmune comorbidity. Obesity (p < 0.01), type 2 diabetes (p < 0.0001), cerebrovascular diseases (p < 0.0001), essential hypertension (p < 0.01), and cardiac arrythmias (p < 0.0001) were more frequent in patients than in the control group. The granulocyte-to-lymphocyte ratio was higher in the myasthenic patients compared to the controls (p < 0.01 for LOMG). Discussion: We, thus, suggest a common chronic low-grade inflammatory background as a possible connection between MG subtypes and some of these apparently unconnected comorbidities. Conclusions: The East-European origin of the patients offered a different social and cultural angle of a disease studied mainly on populations of West-European and Asian descent.

Cultivar-dependent and drought-induced modulation of secondary metabolites, adaptative defense in Fagopyrum esculentum L

The present study investigates the biochemical responses of buckwheat to drought stress, particularly focusing on phenolic acids and flavonoids, abundant in this crop. We hypothesize that distinct genotypic responses to drought stress will lead to variations in phenolic acid accumulation. Two common buckwheat cultivars, Panda (East European origin) and PI 482597 (originating from Zimbabwe), were subjected to drought treatment, with biochemical traits, relative water content, and photosynthetic pigments regularly assessed. While chlorophyll content remained unaffected by dehydration, total carotenoid content decreased. The unique increase in the chlorophyll to carotenoid ratio suggests a specific role of carotenoids in buckwheat's metabolic stress response. While most phenolic acids and flavonoids exhibited increasing trends during progressive dehydration, their dynamics differed. Notably, rutin content increased early in drought stress, while chlorogenic acid and kaempferol showed enhanced levels only under severe dehydration. Genotypic differences were observed in chlorogenic acid, neochlorogenic acid, cryptochlorogenic acid, 4-hydroxybenzoic acid, and quercetin. Conversely, trans-p-coumaric acid, trans-ferulic acid, vanillic acid, rutin, and kaempferol showed similar trends in both cultivars. By aligning observed drought-induced changes in phenolic compound contents with biosynthesis pathways, trade-offs between individual compounds were identified, contributing to the mechanistic understanding of varied stress responses.

ФИЗИОЛОГО-БИОХИМИЧЕСКОЕ ИЗУЧЕНИЕ ЗИМОСТОЙКОСТИ ВИНОГРАДА

In the unstable conditions of the Anapo-Taman zone of the Krasnodar Kray, the issues of grape resistance to low tempera-tures in the winter period are of particular relevance. The results of a physiological and biochemical assessment of the winter hardiness of grape varieties (interspecific hybrids) of various ecological and geo-graphical origin are presented: Kristall (control – Euro-Amur-American origin; Dostoyny, Krasnostop AZOS – Euro-American origin; Vostorg – Amur-American origin; Aligote – Western-European origin, Zarif – East European origin. The studies were carried out on the basis of the ampelographic collection of the "North Caucasian Federal Scientific Center for Horticulture, Viticulture, Winemaking" (NCFSCHVW), located in the city of Anapa. Differences in the water content of the buds, the content starch, soluble sugars, proline, associated with the formation of a protective response to the meteorological conditions of the autumn-winter period 2020–2022. According to the degree of decrease in water content of the buds, the degree of starch hydrolysis, the dynamics of the accumulation of water soluble sugars in response to low temperatures in the win-ter period varieties Kristall, Krasnostop AZOS, Vostorg showed the greatest po-tential for resistance to low temperatures in the autumn-winter period of 2020–2022 compared to other varieties studied. Varie-ties Kristall, Krasnostop AZOS, Vostorg are recommended for cultivation in the Anapo-Taman zone of the Krasnodar Kray and for breeding purposes as sources of winter hardiness.

Seasonal variation in Norway spruce response to inoculation with bark beetle-associated bluestain fungi one year after a severe drought

In 2018, up to 4 million m3 Norway spruce was killed by the spruce bark beetle Ips typographus in Sweden. The event was unique for Sweden, in terms of both affected volume and the fact that it was triggered by severe drought stress, not by ample availability of relatively defenseless storm-felled trees. The outbreak continued in 2019 and 2020, each year with twice as many trees killed as in 2018. The aim of this study was to quantify seasonal variation and potential lag-effects in tree defense capacity the year after a severe drought stress. Inoculation with a bark beetle-associated bluestain fungus, repeated four times with one-month-intervals between May and August 2019, were carried out at three field sites with spruce provenances of Swedish and East European origin representing early and late bud burst, respectively.All sites had experienced moderate to severe drought stress in 2018, and site-specific defense capacity correlated positively with the cumulative precipitation two months before inoculation. Sites with two-month precipitation levels <100 mm had larger necrotic lesions in the phloem following inoculation, an indication of lower tree defense capacity. Lesion size did not differ between provenances, and all trees were able to confine fungal infection successfully.There were some seasonal differences in necrotic lesion size, with the sites Skärsnäs and Norberg having significantly larger lesions in June than in May, and site Lugnet having large lesions also in May. Lesions were generally smaller in July and August than in June.The cross-sectional area and number of traumatic resin ducts was measured in sapwood samples from one site, Lugnet, to quantify an additional aspect of tree defenses. The area of resin ducts produced in May and June were larger than that in July and August. This is in line with a positive correlation between lesion area and resin duct area, indicating that a stronger fungal infection following inoculation in spring triggered a stronger induced defense response. The East European provenances had more resin ducts than Swedish provenances, but the area of resin ducts did not differ significantly between provenances.

Strategies for deployment of reproductive material under supply limitations – a case study of Norway spruce seed sources in Sweden

ABSTRACT The aim of this study was to analyze and compare the performance of Norway spruce seed sources from Swedish stands of East European origin (SweEast) with material from Swedish (SweSO) and East European (EastSO) seed orchards, and with material from Swedish (SweS) and East European (EastS) unimproved stands. The seed sources were field tested at six locations in southern Sweden and assessed for growth and phenology. The assessment of growth traits indicated that trees from SweSO and EastSO had 9–15% greater growth with respect to tree height and diameter in comparison to trees from Swedish local unimproved stands (SweS). Trees from SweEast and EastS showed around 5–7% greater growth. With respect to phenological traits, the expected later bud burst for EastS and EastSO in comparison to SweS, SweSO and SweEast was verified. However, SweEast exhibited earlier bud burst compared to EastS than what could be explained by pollination by Swedish pollen. This was explained by early land race formation for that trait. A strong positive correlation was observed between bud burst and frost damage, which indicates that earlier bud burst does indeed increase the risk of damage from late spring frost at frost-prone sites.

Back to the Post-Communist Motherlands

This article presents some of the personal observations of a veteran Israeli scholar whose long-years' encounters with the 'real' as well as the 'imagined' eastern Europe have shaped his historical research. As an Israeli-born historian of Polish-Ukrainian origin, (the so-called 'second generation') he claims to share an ambivalent attitude towards his countries of origin with other fellow- historians. Jewish emigrants from eastern Europe have been until very late in the modern era members of an old ethno-religious group. One ethnos out of many in a diverse multi-ethnic environment, whose demographic core survived and flourished for centuries in the old places. Several decades of social, economic, and political upheavals exposed the Jewish population to drastic changes. These changes lead several intellectuals who left their home countries to look back at what have happened as both involved actors, and distant observers. Israeli historians of east European origin found themselves confronted with a crucial question: in what way the past in the Old Country connected (if at all) to the history of Israel. Following some 40 years of academic career in the field of eastern European Jewish history, it is claimed that until the collapse of the Soviet Union, the image of eastern Europe that runs through the Israeli historical research has been shaped in large part by members of the different generations of emigrants, outside of eastern Europe. The renewed direct contact after 1989 caused a dramatic change: within a few years, Israeli historians were examining archives and libraries throughout eastern Europe. After seven decades of isolation between the Israeli historian and the primary sources necessary to his/her research in the archives, the new wave of documents was celebrated in Israeli Universities. Yet far more influential was the revolution prompted in 1989 on the historical perspective from which Israeli historians could now examine the Jewish past. What happened in 1989 has seemed, to some Israeli historians, a breaking point marking the end of the eastern European period in the course of Jewish history. The article concludes with some thoughts on a new historical (Israeli) perspective. A one that fits a time when hundreds of thousands of immigrants from what was the largest eastern-European Jewish collective in the world inhabit a remote Middle Eastern nation-state.&#x0D;

Transition to company-based vocational training in Germany by young people from a migrant background – the influence of region of origin and generation status

Purpose: For young people with a migrant background in Germany transition from school to company-based vocational training is much more difficult than for non-migrants. This remains true, when data is controlled for the lower performance of young migrants in general education. In this paper we investigate if and how far the chances of transition to company-based vocational training and the acquisition of different school leaving certificates depend from the migration generation and the region of origin of young migrants. The question is, if disadvantages of young migrants diminish with a longer stay of their family in Germany and if this is also the case for the different groups of regions of origin (Southern Europe, East Europe, Turkey, other Middle East and North Africa, Other regions).&#x0D; Methods: We conduct multivariate analyses on the basis of data from the German Educational Panel Study (NEPS). Our analyses relate to young people who left a general education school after Year 9 in the summer of 2011 or Year 10 in the summer of 2012. Our database comprises information provided by a total of 5,952 school leavers.&#x0D; Results: For all four origin groups worse chances in comparison to non-migrants were detected. But there are differences in the disadvantages of opportunity between the various groups. They acquire more often lower school qualifications than their counterparts not from a migrant background and also have worse chances than the latter of successfully progressing to company-based vocational education and training. This applies even if other important influencing factors such as social origin are taken into account. Young people from a Turkish or Arab background have the lowest chances in general education and vocational training. As generation status rises disadvantages diminish for all origin groups, but with different magnitudes. A clear upwards-directed integration can be observed solely for the East European origin group.&#x0D; Conclusion: The results of our analyses signalise a clear need for action on the part of German policy makers and German society to reduce the educational disadvantages suffered by young migrants and to develop an effective support mechanism. Integration is rarely achieved in the short term. It is a long-term task which frequently extends over several generations.

The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure – Revised (MEIM-R): Psychometric evaluation with adolescents from diverse ethnocultural groups in Italy

The Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure – Revised (MEIM-R) is an extensively used questionnaire assessing ethnic identity. However, studies on its measurement characteristics in the European context are lacking. The current study addressed this gap by investigating the MEIM-R psychometric proprieties across multiple ethnocultural groups in Italy. Participants were 1445 adolescents (13–18 years) of Italian, East European, and North African origin. Results showed that the MEIM-R has good internal consistency. Multigroup confirmatory factor analyses revealed configural and metric invariance, i.e., an equal, correlated two-factor structure (ethnic identity exploration and commitment) and equal factor loadings across groups. Scalar invariance, i.e., equal item intercepts, was found only for the commitment scores that showed no group differences in latent factor mean levels. Partial structural invariance was evidenced, with the factor covariances varying across groups. These findings suggest that the MEIM-R is a valuable tool to assess the correlates of ethnic identity, although further research is needed.

Selection in a provenance trial of Norway spruce (Picea abies L. Karst) produced a land race with desirable properties

ABSTRACTSelections were made within East European Norway spruce provenances in a provenance trial in northern Sweden and the selected clones were grafted in a Norwegian seed orchard mixed with plus trees of local origin. Full-sib families were generated by controlled crosses, producing sets of both inter- and intraprovenance families, which were planted in two short-term and in long-term trials. Measurements were made of frost damage, tree height, annual shoot growth rhythm and lammas shoots, and genetic parameters were estimated. The intraprovenance families from selected trees of East European origin showed the least variation in all traits and had the lowest heritability values. The variation among the intraprovenance families of local origin was large and with the highest estimates of heritability. The means of the provenance hybrid families were intermediate between those of the intraprovenance families. Strong genetic correlations were present between the growth rhythm traits measured, and in the family group of local origin also between these traits and frost damage, as well as for lammas shoots and height. The progenies of the selected parents of East European origin seem to be a desirable land race with less damage, lower percentage of lammas shoots and less variability in growth capacity.

Children’s agency and migration: Constructing kinship in Latin American and East European families living in Italy

This study explores the ways immigrant children interpret the migration of their mothers and the reunification in the host society. The research was based on 28 interviews with children of Latin American and East European origin who rejoined their mothers at different ages. The findings highlight that immigrant children are active agents in family reunifications and are able to (re)make and negotiate kin relations with their mothers. Even though the mother–child relationship is usually assumed to be ‘natural’ and biological kinship is considered the essential basis for the relationship, for reunited children social kinship is more important than the biological link. Kin relations with mothers are constructed in everyday life, and the outcomes can be more or less positive. The final aim is to underline how migrant children can influence kin relations within their reunited families and to gain a broader understanding of family reunification patterns.

PM.99 Syphilis Serology in Pregnant Women Over a Period of 7 Years (2005–2011) in a Large Maternity Hospital in Dublin, Ireland

Nearly 1.5 million pregnant women are infected with probable active syphilis each year, and approximately half of infected pregnant women who are untreated, will experience adverse outcomes due to syphilis,...

Sequence Variability, Recombination Analysis, and Specific Detection of the W Strain of Plum pox virus

Plum pox virus (PPV), a member of the genus Potyvirus, is the causal agent of Sharka, the most detrimental disease of stone-fruit trees worldwide. PPV isolates are grouped into seven distinct strains. The minor PPV-W strain was established recently for the divergent W3174 isolate found in Canada. Here, the partial or complete genomic sequences of four PPV-W isolates from Latvia have been determined. The completely sequenced isolates LV-141pl and LV-145bt share 93.1 and 92.1% nucleotide identity, respectively, with isolate W3174, with two regions of higher (>20%) divergence in the P1/HC-Pro and NIa (VPg) regions. Further analyses demonstrated that these two regions correspond to two independent recombination events in the W3174 genome, one involving PPV-M (approximate genome positions 692 to 1424) and the other PPV-D (nucleotides 5672 to 5789). The LV-141pl and LV-145bt isolates appear to be representatives of the "ancestral" PPV-W strain, not affected by recombination. The PPV-W intrastrain variability is substantially higher than that of all other PPV strains, with potential implications for the serological detection of PPV-W isolates. A PPV-W-specific primer pair has been developed, allowing the specific reverse-transcription polymerase chain reaction detection of all five presently available W isolates. The characterization of these new PPV-W isolates sheds light on PPV-W evolutionary history, further supports the hypothesis of its East-European origin, and opens the way for the biological and epidemiological characterization of this poorly known PPV strain.

Molecular detection, quantification and characterization of human polyomavirus JC from waste water in Rio De Janeiro, Brazil

Polyomavirus JC (JCPyV) is largely excreted by the human population through the urinary route and has been recognized as a potential viral marker for human waste contamination. This study aims to investigate the dissemination of JCPyV in waste water from a sewage treatment plant (STP) located in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, and to describe the prevalence of JCPyV subtypes currently present in this population. Raw and treated sewage samples were collected bimonthly during one year, and examined for the presence of JCPyV using nested polymerase chain reaction (nPCR) and quantitative real time PCR (qPCR). JCPyV was detected by nPCR in 96% and 43% of raw and treated sewage samples, respectively. The concentration of JCPyV present in the samples ranged from 1.2x10(3) to 3.2x10(5) and 2.6x10(2) to 6.2x10(3) genome copies per 2 ml of concentrated raw and treated sewage sample, respectively. The strains were characterized and the obtained nucleotide sequences indicated that the detected JCPyV strains clustered with subtypes of East African, West African and European origin. To our knowledge, this is the first study describing the incidence and diversity of JCPyV strains in raw and treated sewage in Brazil.

Detection of the 5382insC mutation in the human BRCA1 gene with fluorescent labeled oligonucleotides

Analysis of genetic predisposition to cancer provides valuable information for early cancer detection or even prevention. The 5382insC insertion in the BRCA1 gene is the most frequent mutation among those associated with high breast cancer risk in women of East European origin. A method for 5382insC detection with fluorescent labeled allele-specific oligonucleotides in the Duplex Scorpion format has been developed. The method can be used under real-time PCR conditions as well as under the conditions of end-point fluorescence measurement following regular PCR. The adequacy of the method was demonstrated in the study of the 5382insC mutation frequency in breast cancer patients. A total of 564 genomic DNA samples from breast cancer patients were screened. Eleven patients (1.95%) were found to carry the mutation under consideration in the heterozygous state. The 5382insC allele frequency in the breast cancer patient group was 0.0098. The method is appropriate in clinical practice to detect individuals at high breast cancer risk, as well as in large-scale population studies.

A tale of trees and crooked timbers: Jacob Talmon and Isaiah Berlin on the question of Jewish Nationalism

This essay seeks to examine the history of the intellectual comradeship between J.L. Talmon and the philosopher, political thinker, and historian of ideas, Isaiah Berlin (1909–1997). The scholarly dialog between the two began in 1947, continued until Talmon's death in 1980, and is well documented in their private correspondence. I argue that there were two levels to this dialog: First, both Berlin and Talmon took part in the Totalitarianism discourse, which was colored by Popperian terminology, and thus I claim that their ideas should be examined as part of the Cold-War political discourse. The second level stemmed from their similar East-European origin, their mutual Jewish identity, and their attitude towards the Zionist movement. At times the two levels of discourse conjoined commensurably, but in other cases the juxtaposition of the two created conceptual tensions. Examining Berlin and Talmon's thought from this dual perspective, I argue, can shed new light on the inner conflicts and conceptual tensions that each of them had to face. In particular, I claim that both thinkers tried to integrate their Anglophile liberal heritage with their support of National movements in general, and the Jewish National movement in particular. Nevertheless, the different approaches of Talmon and Berlin present two concepts of liberal Nationalism: While Talmon assumed that Zionism solved the Jewish individual's dilemmas by making Jews members of a commune attached to soil; Berlin sought to preserve the individual in an inviolable sphere and thus was more ambivalent in his attitude towards the state of Israel. In conclusion, I offer to see Talmon as a classic Zionist liberal and Berlin as a supporter of what I call “Diaspora Zionism”, an approach, which would later provide the grounds for Berlin's celebrated pluralism.

Root and canal morphology of human permanent teeth in a Sri Lankan and Japanese population

The main purpose of this study was to investigate the root and canal morphology of Sri Lankan and Japanese permanent dentition. Two thousand Sri Lankan and 976 Japanese permanent teeth were examined. The number of roots in premolars and molars and the prevalence of C-shaped (gutter shaped) roots in mandibular second molars were recorded. Root canal morphology was studied using a clearing technique. The examination of root canal systems of the teeth was based on Vertucci’s classification. A higher prevalence of two-rooted maxillary first premolars was observed in Sri Lankans than in Japanese. Sri Lankan maxillary first and second premolars displayed a higher incidence of two canal and two apical foramina forms than those of Japanese. Canal morphology of mandibular first premolars showed higher occurrence of two canals with type V (1-2) canal configuration in Sri Lankans than in Japanese. In mandibular molars, Japanese presented with a higher incidence of three-rooted first molars and one-rooted second molars than Sri Lankans. C-shaped root was seen in 5.7% of Sri Lankan and 18.8% of Japanese second molars examined. In the distal root of mandibular first molars, Japanese showed a higher prevalence of two apical foramina with type IV (2) and additional canal forms than that of Sri Lankans. Japanese mandibular second molars exhibited a higher occurrence of one-root canal forms than that of Sri Lankans. In addition, mandibular incisors and canines of Sri Lankans showed a higher prevalence of two canals with type III (1-2-1) canal form than Japanese. Root and canal morphologies of Japanese and Sri Lankan people are consistent with those of people of East Asian and European (western Eurasia) origin, respectively. In human dentition, the differences of the internal canal morphology are more evident and constant than that of external root morphology among different population groups.

Genetic diversity of East European and Asian strains of tick-borne encephalitis virus belonging to Siberian genotype

We have studied 40 strains of tick-borne encephalitis virus attributed to Siberian genotype. The fragment of E gene (211 nt) has been sequenced for all strains. Futher analysis has evidenced the formation of two clusters. One of them includes the strains of East European (EE) origin, the other comprises the strains of Asian origin (A). 17 of 20 East European strains have histidin (H) in amino acid position 234 of gene E, the remaining 3 have either glutamine (Q) or tyrosine (Y). 13 Asian strains have histidine and 7 Asian strains have glutamine in amino acid position 234.

Mitochondrial DNA from Prehistoric Canids Highlights Relationships Between Dogs and South-East European Wolves

The question of the origins of the dog has been much debated. The dog is descended from the wolf that at the end of the last glaciation (the archaeologically hypothesized period of dog domestication) was one of the most widespread among Holarctic mammals. Scenarios provided by genetic studies range from multiple dog-founding events to a single origin in East Asia. The earliest fossil dogs, dated approximately 17-12,000 radiocarbon ((14)C) years ago (YA), were found in Europe and in the Middle East. Ancient DNA (a-DNA) evidence could contribute to the identification of dog-founder wolf populations. To gain insight into the relationships between ancient European wolves and dogs we analyzed a 262-bp mitochondrial DNA control region fragment retrieved from five prehistoric Italian canids ranging in age from approximately 15,000 to approximately 3,000 (14)C YA. These canids were compared to a worldwide sample of 547 purebred dogs and 341 wolves. The ancient sequences were highly diverse and joined the three major clades of extant dog sequences. Phylogenetic investigations highlighted relationships between the ancient sequences and geographically widespread extant dog matrilines and between the ancient sequences and extant wolf matrilines of mainly East European origin. The results provide a-DNA support for the involvement of European wolves in the origins of the three major dog clades. Genetic data also suggest multiple independent domestication events. East European wolves may still reflect the genetic variation of ancient dog-founder populations.

Irving Howe: A Life of Passionate Dissent (review)

T H E JE W I S H Q UA R T E R LY R E V I E W, Vol. 94, No. 4 (Fall 2004) 719–722 GERALD SORIN. Irving Howe: A Life of Passionate Dissent. New York: New York University Press, 2002. Pp. xiv Ⳮ 386. Irving Howe is probably best remembered for having written (with the assistance of Kenneth Libo) World of our Fathers, an eloquent and moving account of Jewish secular life and culture in New York in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, that relatively brief period when Yiddish, the Jewish unions, and Jewish socialism flourished. He was also a prolific literary critic and professor of literature at a number of distinguished institutions of higher learning, a historian of the American left, and a key figure in bringing Yiddish literature to the attention of the English-speaking reader. Moreover, he was a public intellectual (a dying breed these days), a forceful advocate of anti-Stalinist socialism, and one of the major figures in the small but intriguing world of the post–World War II American left. Such a multifaceted and talented man clearly deserves a biography; Gerald Sorin is the second scholar to take up this task, the first having been Edward Alexander.1 Sorin does a solid and convincing job of chronicling Howe’s life and times. He has read just about everything that Howe wrote (quite an achievement), has interviewed many of his friends and adversaries in the rough-and-tumble world of the New York intelligentsia, and has put his correspondence to good use. He does not conceal his admiration for Howe, considering him to have been ‘‘one of the most important public thinkers in America, preeminent in three major fields of general interest: radical politics, literature, and Jewish culture’’ (p. ix). Howe, so we are told, was an ‘‘outstanding writer of literary and social criticism’’ (p. xi) and, although often irascible and unwilling to suffer fools gladly, and not always faithful to his wives, a real mensch (p. xiv). Throughout his career , Sorin believes, Howe (who died in 1993) remained committed to a secular version of the old Jewish ideal of mending the world (tikkun ‘olam). Sorin correctly sees Howe’s life as emblematic of an entire generation of brilliant and ambitious Jews of East European origin, almost all men, whose roots were in the working-class, Yiddish-speaking neighborhoods 1. See Edward Alexander, Irving Howe: Socialist, Critic, Jew (Bloomington, Ind., 1998). Alexander’s work is cited in Sorin’s bibliography, but he does not refer to it in the text. 720 JQR 94:4 (2004) of New York City, and whose talents enabled them to flourish in tolerant America. Much of Sorin’s book is taken up with charting the elaborate minuets danced by these engagé intellectuals as they formed and broke political alliances, defended or rejected Stalinism and Trotskyism, founded and abandoned various journals of left-wing opinion, and jockeyed for positions of influence. Anyone wishing to understand the ideological stances of the various journals Howe wrote for, such as Partisan Review, Dissent, and Commentary, and to follow Howe’s complicated relationships with such luminaries as Daniel Bell, Sidney Hook, Norman Podhoretz, Phillip Rahv, and William Phillips, will profit by reading this book. Sorin is a lucid guide to Howe’s views on the crucial issues of his time, including the nature of the Soviet Communist ‘‘experiment,’’ the civil rights movement , the new left, the Vietnam War, and the status of Israel. Indeed, all those interested in the most recent chapter in the history of the American left will find here much of interest. Sorin is by no means an uncritical admirer of his hero. Thus he tells us that ‘‘Howe was tolerant, perhaps too tolerant, of Norman Mailer,’’ since he did not take seriously enough Mailer’s cult of violence (p. 143). As for the famous quarrel between Howe and the black writer Ralph Ellison, Sorin thinks that Howe’s essay attacking Ellison for distancing himself from his own African American community was ‘‘misbegotten’’ (p. 192). Sorin also believes that Howe was overreacting when, as a member in good standing of the old left, he harshly criticized...

Letter to the Editor

To the Editor: Joseph P. Ansell dramatizes the vital contribution of a unique artist in his "Arthur Szyk's Depictions of the 'New Jew': Art as a Weapon in the Campaign for an American Response tot he Holocaust." He does so in your March 2001 issue (89:1), which also presents other outstanding treatments of American responses to dread events taking place in Europe. I had the privilege of meeting Mr. Szyk in the late 1940s, at his and Mrs. Szyk's home in New Canaan, Connecticut, when I drove my parents there one summer day. Your article also has another personal connection for me because in The Menorah Journal, whose editor was my father Henry Hurwitz (1885-1961) from its first issue till his death, American readers were early made aware of his remarkable technique and vision. That was in the February 1929 issue (16:2), with an insert of his art and an appreciation by Jan-Topass, "Arthur Szyk:" Illuminator." (That writer is identified as "a leading art critic of France. He is of East European origin, but has spent most of his life in Paris.") He starts, "Our age seethes with sensations, ferocities and feverish discordances: Arthur Szyk stands outside, laboring serenely, sedately, painstakingly, faithfully, like a Benedictine monk." Just what "ferocities" lay ahead, and how Szyk certainly did not "stand aside" in the face of them, is made clear by Joseph Ansell. Your author tells of the famous 1936 painting "Tel Hai," the one-armed Joseph Trumpeldor and his fellow chalutzim fighting in defense against Arab attackers in 1920, and writes (126 ff), "The first American publication of this image was on the cover of The American Hebrew in May 1941, only six months after Szyk's arrival in the country"; the title was "May I Perish with the Enemy." (This is Judges 16.30, where the passage reads, in translation, "Let me die with the Philistines.") One year later The Menorah Journal again published his art, now reproducing Tel Hai work on its cover: Summer 1942 (30:2). It is there named "The Modern Maccabees," as Dr. Ansell notes (129). The editor stated (228) that the artist "has just presented his painting ... to the Committee for a Jewish Army of Stateless and Palestinian Jews, in New York." Dr. Ansell now amplifies the story in your pages. Respectfully, David L. Hurwitz