New
New
Year 9

Jewish life in Europe before WW2

I can explain the diversity of Europe's Jewish population by the 1930s.

New
New
Year 9

Jewish life in Europe before WW2

I can explain the diversity of Europe's Jewish population by the 1930s.

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Lesson details

Key learning points

  1. Jewish communities had existed in Europe since the Classical age.
  2. Most European Jews lived in Central and Eastern Europe.
  3. Levels of assimilation differed across Jewish communities.
  4. Factors other than religion, including family, age and wealth, also had a significant influence on Jewish lives.

Keywords

  • Persecution - to treat someone unfairly or cruelly because of their race, religion or beliefs

  • Pogrom - an act of organized cruel behaviour or killing that is done to a large group because of their race or religion

  • Emancipation - to give people more freedom or rights by removing social, legal or political controls that limit them

  • Assimilate - to become part of a group, country or society

  • Mosaic faith - an alternative way of referring to Judaism

Common misconception

Shared Jewish heritage meant that all European Jews lived similar lives.

Jews made individuals choices and were affected by factors such as wealth which led to the Jewish population living many different types of lives.

Task C can be enhanced with other sources to explore individual case studies of Jewish life. One interesting example is Rudi Bamberg's oral account of his childhood in Germany in the 1920s and 30s, available through the website of a popular museum which focuses on war.
Teacher tip

Content guidance

  • Depiction or discussion of discriminatory behaviour
  • Depiction or discussion of violence or suffering
  • Depiction or discussion of serious crime

Supervision

Adult supervision required

Licence

This content is © Oak National Academy Limited (2024), licensed on Open Government Licence version 3.0 except where otherwise stated. See Oak's terms & conditions (Collection 2).

Lesson video

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6 Questions

Q1.
Write the missing word. A is a person or group who works together with others for a particular purpose.
Correct Answer: collaborator
Q2.
What name is more commonly used for the genocide which some groups call the Shoah?
Correct Answer: the Holocaust, Holocaust
Q3.
How many Jews were murdered during the Holocaust?
600 000
3 million
Correct answer: 6 milion
30 million
Q4.
Where did the Holocaust occur?
Only in Germany
Only in Eastern Europe
Correct answer: Across Europe
Q5.
What is someone who has committed a crime or a violent or harmful act known as?
Correct Answer: perpetrator, a perpatrator, perpetrators
Q6.
Which of the following groups did the Nazis regard as their mortal enemies?
Soviets
Poles
Correct answer: Jews
The disabled

6 Questions

Q1.
Write the missing word. To is to become part of a group, country or society.
Correct Answer: assimilate
Q2.
During which period did Jewish communities begin living in Europe?
Classical period
Medieval period
Early modern period
Q3.
Which country had not emancipated its Jewish population by 1900?
Britain
France
Germany
Correct answer: Russia
Q4.
Where did most European Jews live?
Central Europe
Correct answer: Eastern Europe
Southern Europe
Western Europe
Q5.
Which statement is most accurate?
All European Jews spoke either Yiddish or Hebrew.
Correct answer: Some European Jews spoke multiple languages.
Most European Jews only spoke national languages.
Q6.
Starting with the earliest, sort the following events into chronological order.
1 - Jews were expelled from England.
2 - Baruch Spinoza became a leading philosopher.
3 - Jews were emancipated in France.
4 - Assassination of Alexander II triggered pogroms in Russia.
5 - 100 000 Jews fight for Germany in WW1

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