Language:
English
Year of publication:
1997
Titel der Quelle:
East European Jewish Affairs
Angaben zur Quelle:
27,2 (1997) 77-92
Keywords:
Jews
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
;
Jews Education
;
Jewish ghettos
;
Holocaust, Jewish (1939-1945)
Abstract:
An expanded version of a paper delivered at the conference "The Holocaust and the Book: Destruction and Preservation, " held at Drew University, Madison, NJ, November 1996. The cultural and educational activities in the Warsaw ghetto, in the period between its establishment in 1940 and the beginning of the mass deportations in July 1942, aimed to preserve Jewish collective identity under conditions when Jewry was on the verge of extinction. The network of schools, clandestine libraries, theatrical performances, and other cultural events not only diverted ghetto Jews from the horrific reality or buoyed their morale and self-esteem - they preserved the Jewish people and its culture. Ghetto intellectuals were also concerned with a moral and spiritual regeneration of the Jews. Much work was done on the preservation of Jewish languages - Yiddish and Hebrew. Special programs were directed toward children. The cultural and educational activities in the Warsaw ghetto in 1940-42 can be viewed as a struggle for survival and a form of spiritual resistance.
DOI:
10.1080/13501679708577860
URL:
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