Western Europe
Jewry at the Turn of the Centuries

The dominant powers of Western Europe at the end of the 19th century, England, France, Germany, and the Austro-Hungarian empire, each had its own distinct culture, but the Jews in each country all shared one common goal: to become accepted citizens of the places they lived. From the birth of the Reform movement to the Dreyfus trial and its impact on Jewish history, Rabbi Wein reviews how the Jewish community of each country fared against the sweeping tide of assimilation.