Tobias Grill – författare

For many centuries Jews and Germans were economically and culturally of significant importance in East-Central and Eastern Europe. Since both groups had a very similar background of origin (Central Europe) and spoke languages which are related to each other (German/Yiddish), the question arises to what extent Jews and Germans in Eastern Europe share common historical developments and experiences. This volume aims to explore not only entanglements and interdependences of Jews and Germans in Eastern Europe from the late middle ages to the 20th century, but also comparative aspects of these two communities. Moreover, the perception of Jews as Germans in this region is also discussed in detail.

Tobias Grill focuses on two groups of German Jews who were active in Eastern Europe between ca. 1839 and 1939: German rabbis and German-Jewish pedagogues. The central question is to what extent both these groups acted as cultural agents regarding the reform of traditional Eastern European-Jewish education system – one of the main realms of Jewish Enlightenment (Haskalah). Insofar, Grill studies how German Jews tried to transfer certain characteristics of the modern German-Jewish Bildungssystem to Eastern European Jewry and how reception and adoption of these elements worked.