Jewish Soldiers in the Collective Memory of Central Europe

World War I marks a huge break in Central European Jewish history. Not only had the violent wartime events destroyed Jewish life and especially the living space of Eastern European Jews, but the impacts of war, the geopolitical change and a radicalization of anti-Semitism also led to a crisis of Jewish identity. Furthermore, during the process of national self-discovery and the establishing of new states the societal position of the Jews and their relationship to the state had to be redefined. These partially violent processes, which were always accompanied by anti-Semitism, evoked Jewish and Gentile debates, in which questions about Jewish loyalty to the old and/or new states as well as concepts of Jewish identity under the new political circumstances were negotiated. This volume collects articles dealing with these Jewish and gentile debates about military service and war memory in Central Europe.

Univ.-Prof. Dr. Gerald Lamprecht leitet das Centrum für Jüdische Studien der Universität Graz. Seine Forschungsschwerpunkte liegen auf der jüdischen Regionalgeschichte, der Geschichte des Antisemitismus und der Verfolgung der jüdischen Bevölkerung der Steiermark während der Zeit des Nationalsozialismus

World War I marks a break in Central European Jewish history. The violent impacts of war, the geopolitical change and a radicalization of anti-Semitism led to a crisis of Jewish identity. Furthermore, the relationship between Jews and Gentiles as well as the state had to be redefined due to the new political circumstances after the end of the war. This volume collects chapters dealing with Jewish and gentile debates about military service and war memory in Central Europe.