Dlaczego Żydzi się nie zasymilowali?
Why Didn’t the Jews Assimilate?

Summary/Abstract: In this treatise, Ringelblum looks at the factors that determine the preservation by the Jews of cultural distinctness from the Christian societies. In his opinion, the thesis about the religious sources of such distinctness only answers a part of the question. Referring to Marxist ideals and the latest works from the field of economic history, he observes that it is the specific nature of economic functions performed by the Jews that is the most important factor. Where this specific nature is weakened and the occupational pattern of the Jews become similar to the general occupational pattern, the tendency among Jews to accept assimilation becomes quite pronounced. This factor explains the fundamental differences between the development of Jewish culture and nationalist tendencies in eastern and western Europe. Ringelblum also suggests that Jewish historians should become interested in problems of economic history, an area that has until them been neglected despite being central to the understanding of the history and the current situation of European Jews

• Details
• Contents