"Doubtful Cases": Intermarried Families in the Post-Holocaust Jewish World. Issue 1 (3rd May 2020)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Yehudai, Ori
• Is Part Of: Immigrants & minorities. Volume 38:Issue 1/2(2020)
• Page Start: 27
• Page End: 53
• Publication Date: 2020-05-03
• Subjects: Holocaust survivors -- Jews -- intermarriage -- Germany -- United States -- Australia -- Jewish/non-Jewish relations; Emigration and immigration -- Periodicals; Minorities -- Periodicals; 325.05
• DOI: 10.1080/02619288.2020.1794839
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0261-9288

Abstract

ABSTRACT: After World War II, thousands of non-Jews – most of them married to Jewish Holocaust survivors – sought relief and emigration assistance from Jewish aid organisations working in Europe. Yet Jewish organisations and Jewish communities in potential countries of resettlement were often reluctant to assist non-Jews or accept intermarried families into their midst. This article explores these tensions. It argues that appeals from non-Jews compelled Jewish institutions to consider broader questions about the boundaries of the Jewish collective and the tension between the 'Jewish' and 'humanitarian' aspects of Jewish relief work. Ironically, non-Jews played an important role in processes shaping the post-war Jewish world.