The Absent Jews

Kurt Forstreuter and the Historiography of Medieval Prussia
1. Auflage 2017
ISBN: 978-1-78533-492-4
Verlag: Berghahn Books

Buch, Englisch, 334 Seiten, Format (B × H): 157 mm x 235 mm, Gewicht: 636 g

For nearly a century, it has been a commonplace of Central European history that there were no Jews in medieval Prussia—the result, supposedly, of the ruling Teutonic Order’s attempts to create a purely Christian crusader’s state. In this groundbreaking historical investigation, however, medievalist Cordelia Hess demonstrates the very weak foundations upon which that assumption rests. In exacting detail, she traces this narrative to the work of a single, minor Nazi-era historian, revealing it to be ideologically compromised work that badly mishandles its evidence. By combining new medieval scholarship with a biographical and historiographical exploration grounded in the 20th century, The Absent Jews spans remote eras while offering a fascinating account of the construction of historical knowledge.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Hess, Cordelia

Heß, Cordelia

Fachgebiete

• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Geschichte des Judentums Geschichte des Judentums außerhalb Israels/Palästinas
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Geschichte des Judentums (Diaspora)
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Weltgeschichte & Geschichte einzelner Länder und Gebietsräume Deutsche Geschichte
• Geisteswissenschaften Geschichtswissenschaft Geschichtliche Themen Antisemitismus
• Geisteswissenschaften Jüdische Studien Geschichte des Judentums Antisemitismus, Pogrome, Shoah

Inhaltsverzeichnis

List of Figures

Acknowledgments

Abbreviations

Introduction

Chapter 1. Absent Jews: The Rise of a Truism and the Loss of Some Forefathers

Chapter 2. On the Frontier

Chapter 3. Archives at War

Chapter 4. A Ban on Jewish Settlement?

Chapter 5. Absent from Akko to the Baltic

Chapter 6. Absent Victims, Absent Violence: Persecutions and Blood Libel

Chapter 7. Beyond the Bulwark: Traces of Jewish Life in Medieval Prussia

Conclusion: The Wreckage of History

Bibliography

Index

Über Autor(innen)

Hess, Cordelia
Cordelia Hess is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Historical Studies at the University of Gothenburg and a Research Fellow at the Royal Academy of Literature, History and Antiquities, Stockholm. Her publications include Social Imagery in Middle Low German: Didactical Literature and Metaphorical Representation (2013) and, as co-editor, Fear and Loathing in the North: Jews and Muslims in Medieval Scandinavia and the Baltic Region (2015, with Jonathan Adams).