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The Scholems: A Story of the German-Jewish Bourgeoisie from Emancipation to Destruction Hardcover – Illustrated, March 15, 2019

by Jay Howard Geller (Author)
4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 13 ratings
See all formats and editions
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The evocative and riveting stories of four brothers―Gershom the Zionist, Werner the Communist, Reinhold the nationalist, and Erich the liberal―weave together in The Scholems, a biography of an eminent middle-class Jewish Berlin family and a social history of the Jews in Germany in the decades leading up to World War II.


Across four generations, Jay Howard Geller illuminates the transformation of traditional Jews into modern German citizens, the challenges they faced, and the ways that they shaped the German-Jewish century, beginning with Prussia's emancipation of the Jews in 1812 and ending with exclusion and disenfranchisement under the Nazis. Focusing on the renowned philosopher and Kabbalah scholar Gershom Scholem and his family, their story beautifully draws out the rise and fall of bourgeois life in the unique subculture that was Jewish Berlin. Geller portrays the family within a much larger context of economic advancement, the adoption of German culture and debates on Jewish identity, struggles for integration into society, and varying political choices during the German Empire, World War I, the Weimar Republic, and the Nazi era. What Geller discovers, and unveils for the reader, is a fascinating portal through which to view the experience of the Jewish middle class in Germany.

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Previous page
  1. Print length
    348 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Cornell University Press
  4. Publication date
    March 15, 2019
  5. Reading age
    18 years and up
  6. Dimensions
    6 x 1.25 x 9 inches
  7. ISBN-10
    1501731564
  8. ISBN-13
    978-1501731563
  9. See all details
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The Amazon Book Review
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Excellent.... Well-researched and engagingly written, this is a fine contribution to German-Jewish biography and history.

― Publishers Weekly

Geller sets out a compelling tale of a diverse group of German Jews in the early 20th century who were broadly representative of the culture and class of a long-lost era.

― Kirkus Reviews

Compelling.... In writing the biography of the Scholem family, Geller has consulted a breathtaking array of sources on several continents and in several languages.

― Times Higher Education

One of the most compelling aspects of Geller's fascinating book is the ease and competence with which he summons historical information

― EuropeNow

Jay Howard Geller's book is superb...Geller's narrative comprises the heart and soul of The Scholems.

-- Sheldon Kirshner ― Sheldonkirshner.com

By relating the history of the Scholems in all its complex dimensions―its drama, achievements, and tragedies―Jay Howard Geller has provided us with a nuanced account of a nevertheless very special, albeit typical, German Jewish family as it faced and responded to the tempestuous challenges of its times.

― American Historical Review

Through studying the biographies of the entire [Scholem] family, Geller has presented us with a fascinating, personalized image of the German-Jewish bourgeoisie before and after World War I, both among those who were totally committed to its values and among those, fewer in number, who in revolutionary fashion abandoned their peers either for a hopeful but problematic Jewish nationalism or for a dubious communist future.

― Journal of Modern History

Review

Based on a remarkable excavation of archives from around the world, The Scholems illuminates the lives of the family's famous brothers, as well as their virtually unknown brethren, to provide a social history of the German Jews during a period of earth-shaking change.

-- David Biale, author of Gershom Scholem

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Cornell University Press; Illustrated edition (March 15, 2019)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 348 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1501731564
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1501731563
  • Reading age ‏ : ‎ 18 years and up
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 2 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6 x 1.25 x 9 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.6 4.6 out of 5 stars 13 ratings

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Jay Howard Geller

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Customer reviews

4.6 out of 5 stars
4.6 out of 5
13 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

shahar cohen
5.0 out of 5 stars Family research
Reviewed in the United States on April 11, 2021
Verified Purchase
Really helped me in knowing my family better.
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J.K
5.0 out of 5 stars Remarkable
Reviewed in the United States on March 15, 2019
The Scholems is a remarkable story of one German Jewish family's history within the context of German political and social history. Geller provides context as he weaves the family's story within what was occurring every decade in Germany. Readers get a rendition of mostly twentieth century German history and how this impacted the Scholems. It helps readers put the events in perspective and also allows the history to come alive. Thanks to NetGalley for the early read.
2 people found this helpful
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gammyjill
4.0 out of 5 stars Interesting look at a German-Jewish family...
Reviewed in the United States on June 9, 2019
Verified Purchase
Gershom Scholem was a German-born philosopher and historian. He'd been born in Berlin in 1897 to middle-class Jewish parents and was the youngest of four brothers. He went on to gain fame as the founder of the study of Kaballah after he emigrated to Palestine in the early 1920's. But what prompted him to leave Germany and what happened to the family he left behind? Those questions are answered by Jay Howard Geller in his new book, "The Scholems: A Story of the German-Jewish Bourgeoisie from Emancipation to Destruction". Geller has taken a family and followed it from the early 19th century to the present.

The Scholem family were printers in Berlin. They were members of the bourgeoisie. Gershom - born as Gerhard - Scholem was the most famous member of his family, but his three brothers had varying places in history. His older brother, Werner, was murdered in a concentration camp before the beginning of the war for his past Communist sympathies. The other brothers and their mother made it out - two brothers to Australia and one to Palestine - and were emblematic of the thousands of other German-Jews whose ancestors lived through the liberation of Jews in the early 1800's under Napoleon, and ending as their own lives were constricted under Hitler.

I'm not sure of what readership Jay Geller has aimed for in his book. I don't know if the average history buff will find the book interesting, though the specialist probably will. I enjoyed Geller's book, but would advise anyone thinking about reading it to look through all the reviews on Amazon and Goodreads.

Also, the Kindle version does have photos of the family members in the very book. I don't think they're listed in the front index, so just page back to the end. Geller does include a listing in the front of the book with short blurbs on the various members of the Scholem family he refers to.
2 people found this helpful
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booknuts
4.0 out of 5 stars famly values
Reviewed in the United States on March 18, 2019
l found this book to be interesting, as it profiled 4 brothers in a family who went in different directions in the years before WWII. They, as Jews, suffered as did all Jews in Germany, and indeed, in Europe, throughout the 30's and 40's. One brother in particular, Gershon, was not only a noted Jewish scholar, but a Zionist, and emigrated to Palestine in the 20's, while another was a Communist politician in Berlin; he was the only brother killed in a concentration camp, though many other members of the extended family perished as well. Many German Jews in the time between the world wars weren't fully practicing Jews, having assimilated many German customs and ways, including celebrating Christmas, but They were still seem as alien enough to be blamed for the poor economy after WWI, which eventually led to Hitler and the Nazis coming to power, where they wasted little time hounding Jews and other minorities, eventually trying to totally exterminate them.

This wasn't a typically dry-as-dust history book, but rather, brought to light the differences that occur even in a close-knit family.
2 people found this helpful
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Michael Lewyn
4.0 out of 5 stars Mildly interesting
Reviewed in the United States on October 12, 2020
By and large, a mildly interesting book about mildly interesting people. As I expected, the chapters on Gershom Scholem (a somewhat obnoxious man but a brilliant scholar) were more interesting than the chapters about his less-well-known relatives.
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