The vanished worlds of Jewry

"In the early years of the twentieth century, Jewish communities rich in history, tradition and folklore flourished throughout Eastern, Central, and Southern Europe and in the Muslim lands of the Middle East and North Africa. Today, these communities exist only in old photographs, written records, and in the memories of survivors whose numbers diminish day by day. In pictures and words, The Vanished Worlds of Jewry attempts to resurrect those great Jewish quarters and streets which, until a generation or so ago, throbbed with life - before the Nazi holocaust, before the flight from Muslin lands, and before the global distribution of the Jewish people was altered by the "ingathering of the exiles" following the re-establishment of Israel. Jewish life, history, character and culture varied greatly in different places, and these variations are reflected in the diverse treatment given to the communities discussed in this book. For example, in those European countries where the Jews were exterminated under the Nazis, the story ends with World War II. But the material on their communities in Muslim lands leads into the time of Israel's independence, after which the position of Jews in Muslim nations became untenable, prompting their mass emigration to Israel and other countries. It was the vents of these twenty-five years (1940 to 1965) that turned the once vibrantly alive Jewish communities, some with a history of twenty-five centuries, into the vanished worlds of Jewry."--Book jacket