Class, Networks, and Identity Replanting Jewish Lives from Nazi Germany to Rural New York

by Levine, Rhonda F.

• ISBN13: 9780742509924
• ISBN10: 0742509923
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2001-06-13
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

This book documents a little-known aspect of the Jewish experience in America. It is a fascinating account of how a group of Jewish refugees from Nazi Germany came to dominate cattle dealing in south central New York and maintain a Jewish identity even while residing in small towns and villages that are overwhelmingly Christian. The book pays particular attention to the unique role played by women in managing the transition to the United States, in helping their husbands accumulate capital, and in recreating a German Jewish community.

Author Biography

Rhonda F. Levine is associate professor of sociology at Colgate University

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	ix
Introduction Structural Adaptation, Social Networks, and Ethnic Identity: The Untold Story of Rural German Jewish Immigrants	1	(14)
Old World Patterns: Cattle Dealing and Jewish Life in Rural Germany	15	(22)
Disrupted Lives: From Nazi Germany to Washington Heights	37	(20)
The Story of Milk	57	(14)
Plowing New Fields: Resettling in Rural New York	71	(24)
Old Patterns in a New Setting: Cattle Dealing and German Jews	95	(18)
Getting Together: Creating Community and Maintaining Ethnic Identity	113	(20)
Continuities and Discontinuities	133	(22)
Finding Sociology in Unlikely Places	155	(18)
References	173	(14)
Index	187	(8)
About the Author	195