Jabotinsky's Children: Polish Jews and the Rise of Right-Wing Zionism
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | 4.50 (579 Votes) |
| Asin | : | 069117475X |
| Format Type | : | paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 352 Pages |
| Publish Date | : | 2014-02-04 |
| Language | : | English |
DESCRIPTION:
Poland was not only home to Jabotinsky’s largest following. Rather than define Jabotinsky as a firebrand fascist or steadfast democrat, the book instead reveals how he deliberately delivered multiple and contradictory messages to his young followers, leaving it to them to interpret him as they saw fit. The country also served as an inspiration and incubator for the development of right-wing Zionist ideas. How interwar Poland and its Jewish youth were instrumental in shaping the ideology of right-wing ZionismBy the late 1930s, as many as fifty thousand Polish Jews belonged to Betar, a youth movement known for its support of Vladimir Jabotinsky, the founder of right-wing Zionism. Jabotinsky’s Children draws on a wealth of rare archival material to uncover how the young people in Betar were instrumental in shaping right-wing Zionist attitudes about the roles that authoritarianism and military force could play in the quest to build and maintain a Jewish state.Recovering the voices of ordinary Betar members through their letters, diaries, and autobiographies, Jabotinsky’s Children paints a vivid portrait of young Polish Jews and their turbulent lives on the eve of the Holocaust. Tracing Betar’s surprising relationship with interwar Poland’s authoritarian government, Jabotinsky’s Children
. Daniel Kupfert Heller is assistant professor of Jewish studies at McGill University
"This is a most provocative, solid scholarly work on a heretofore little-explored topic in 20th-century Polish-Jewish and Zionist history."--Publishers Weekly