The evocative and riveting stories of four brothers-Gershom the Zionist, Werner the Communist, Reinhold the nationalist, and Erich the liberal-weave together in The Scholems, a biography of an eminent middle-class Jewish Berlin family and a social history of the Jews in Germany in the decades leading up to World War II.

Across four generations, Jay Howard Geller illuminates the transformation of traditional Jews into modern German citizens, the challenges they faced, and the ways that they shaped the German-Jewish century, beginning with Prussia's emancipation of the Jews in 1812 and ending with exclusion and disenfranchisement under the Nazis. Focusing on the renowned philosopher and Kabbalah scholar Gershom Scholem and his family, their story beautifully draws out the rise and fall of bourgeois life in the unique subculture that was Jewish Berlin. Geller portrays the family within a much larger context of economic advancement, the adoption of German culture and debates on Jewish identity, struggles for integration into society, and varying political choices during the German Empire, World War I, the Weimar Republic, and the Nazi era. What Geller discovers, and unveils for the reader, is a fascinating portal through which to view the experience of the Jewish middle class in Germany.

About the Author

Jay Howard Geller is the Samuel Rosenthal Professor of Judaic Studies and Professor of History at Case Western Reserve University. He is the author of Jews in Post-Holocaust Germany, 1945-1953 and co-editor of Three-Way Street.

Reviews

Excellent.... Well-researched and engagingly written, this is a fine contribution to German-Jewish biography and history.

* Publishers Weekly *

Geller sets out a compelling tale of a diverse group of German Jews in the early 20th century who were broadly representative of the culture and class of a long-lost era.

* Kirkus Reviews *

Compelling.... In writing the biography of the Scholem family, Geller has consulted a breathtaking array of sources on several continents and in several languages.

* Times Higher Education *

One of the most compelling aspects of Geller's fascinating book is the ease and competence with which he summons historical information

* EuropeNow *

Jay Howard Geller's book is superb...Geller's narrative comprises the heart and soul of The Scholems.

-- Sheldon Kirshner * Sheldonkirshner.com *

By relating the history of the Scholems in all its complex dimensions-its drama, achievements, and tragedies-Jay Howard Geller has provided us with a nuanced account of a nevertheless very special, albeit typical, German Jewish family as it faced and responded to the tempestuous challenges of its times.

* American Historical Review *

Through studying the biographies of the entire [Scholem] family, Geller has presented us with a fascinating, personalized image of the German-Jewish bourgeoisie before and after World War I, both among those who were totally committed to its values and among those, fewer in number, who in revolutionary fashion abandoned their peers either for a hopeful but problematic Jewish nationalism or for a dubious communist future.

* Journal of Modern History *


Awards
Long-listed for The Cundill History Prize 2019 (United States).



Book Information
ISBN 9781501731563
Author Jay Howard Geller
Format Hardback
Page Count 348
Imprint Cornell University Press
Publisher Cornell University Press
Weight(grams) 907g
Dimensions(mm) 229mm * 152mm * 32mm