SHORES OF REFUGE

Sanders, Ronald, Shores Of Refuge: A Hundred Years Of Jewish Emigration

In 1880, the Jews of Central and Eastern Europe made up four-fifths of the world's Jewish population. But Russian pogroms and Nazi persecution triggered a mass exodus, largely to the U.S., Israel and Western Europe. Tracing this enormous shift is the goal of Sanders's massive, harrowing saga. He unearths a worldwide system of care and placement for Jewish refugees but notes that escapees from Hitler had most often to fend for themselves in a largely unreceptive world. Chapters illuminate dark episodes such as the Ukrainian massacre of Jews and, later, the effects of the 1968 Eastern European campaign against "Zionists." Digging deep into the archives, Sanders (The Downtown Jews) recreates Jewish emigration as a personal drama that took freedom-seekers to places ranging from the Argentine wilderness to Colorado.
Copyright 1988 Reed Business Information, Inc.

This work is virtually divided into two parts: that dealing with mass emigration, 1881-1923, and that from 1924 to the present. Ironically though, the story ends where it begins, with the plight of Jews in Russia and the Ukraine. The story is primarily of little-known, courageous Jews. Relying throughout on extensive quotes of first-hand accounts, the book reminds us of the poverty among Jews in Europe, the barbarities of the pogroms, etc. There is poignancy, humor, and adventure here, but the dominant theme is the Jewish experience of anti-Semitism, efforts to escape from it, and, especially in the case of the Holocaust, appeals to non-Jews for help. Roger W. Fromm, Bloomsburg Univ. of Pennsylvania Lib.
Copyright 1987 Reed Business Information, Inc.