Religious Practice during the Holocaust

doi:10.1017/9781108900447.012

9 - Religious Practice during the Holocaust

Published online by Cambridge University Press: 16 May 2025

Havi Dreifuss and

Yehoshua Ecker

Edited by

Marion Kaplan and

Natalia Aleksiun

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Marion Kaplan: Affiliation:
New York University
Natalia Aleksiun: Affiliation:
University of Florida

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Summary

Nazi Germany’s policies profoundly altered both private and public lives of religious Jews in Germany and then across Europe. Despite targeting Jews as a “race,” anti-Jewish measures forced the Jewish religious leadership to seek new ways to assist their communities. Maintaining Jewish religious practices during the Holocaust became increasingly challenging and eventually impossible for most Jews.

Keywords

religious practices eastern Europe western Europe rabbis communities synagogues kosher food Hasidic Jews yeshivas ghettos camps daily life sermons gender Jewish law religious institutions

Type: Chapter
Information: The Cambridge History of the Holocaust , pp. 147 - 162

DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108900447.012 [Opens in a new window]

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Print publication year: 2025

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