The Tauber Institute for the Study of European Jewry

Sites of European Antisemitism in the Age of Mass Politics, 1880–1918

Robert Nemes and Daniel Unowsky, editors;  afterword by Hillel J. Kieval

A Sarnat Library Book

Cover of "Sites of European Antisemitism in the Age of Mass Politics, 1880–1918"Explores local incidents of antisemitism and antisemitic violence across Europe in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries

This innovative collection of essays on the upsurge of antisemitism across Europe in the decades around 1900 shifts the focus away from intellectuals and well-known incidents to less-familiar events, actors and locations, including smaller towns and villages. This “from below” perspective offers a new look at a much-studied phenomenon: essays link provincial violence and antisemitic politics with regional, state and even transnational trends. Featuring a diverse array of geographies that include Great Britain, France, Austria-Hungary, Romania, Italy, Greece and the Russian Empire, the book demonstrates the complex interplay of many factors—economic, religious, political and personal—that led people to attack their Jewish neighbors.

“[These essays] open up manifestations of hostility, conflict and violence that are both numerous and varied… [The] field of vision is wide. It encompasses speech, the dissemination of the written word, criminal litigation, economic boycott, political protest and finally, acts of physical violence.” —from the afterward by Hillel J. Kieval

About the Authors

  • Robert Nemes is associate professor of history, Colgate University.

  • Daniel Unowsky is professor of history, University of Memphis.