Jews in a Polish Private Town - The Case of Opatow in the Eighteenth Century

In the eighteenth century, more than half of the world's Jewish population lived in Polish private villages and towns owned by magnate-aristocrats. Furthermore, roughly half of Poland's entire urban population was Jewish. Thus, the study of Jews in private Polish towns is central to both Jewish history and to the history of Poland-Lithuania. This study seeks to investigate the social, economic, and political history of Jews in Opatów, a private Polish town, in the context of an increasing power and influence of private towns at the expense of the Polish crown and gentry in the eighteenth century. Hundert recovers an important community from historical obscurity by providing a balanced perspective on the Jewish experience in the Polish Commonwealth and by describing the special dimensions of Jewish life in a private town.

About the author

Gershon D. Hundert is the Leanor Segal Professor of Jewish Studies at McGill University. He specializes in Jewish history and early modern Polish history.

Summary

Hundert recovers an important community from historical obscurity by providing a balanced perspective on the Jewish experience in the Polish Commonwealth and by describing the special dimensions of Jewish life in a private town.

Product details

• Authors: Gershon David Hundert, Gershon David (Professor of History Hundert, Hundert Gershon David
• Publisher: Johns Hopkins University Press
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 30.11.2019
• EAN: 9781421436265
• ISBN: 978-1-4214-3626-5
• No. of pages: 262
• Series: Johns Hopkins Jewish Studies
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > Regional and national histories; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; European History, Social & cultural history, HISTORY / Jewish, HISTORY / Europe / Poland, Jewish Studies