Juden & Judischen Gemeinden Preussens 4 vols

While preparing a unified system of laws which would establish Prussia's legal unity, the Prussian Ministries for Internal Affairs and Education commissioned two large surveys between 1842 and 1845. These were intended to provide a complete picture of the social conditions of Jews in the various regions of Prussia. The present edition of documents contains the full text of these unique surveys.Survey of the Ministry for Internal Affairs and the Police on the legal circumstances of Jews in the Prussian provinces (1842-1843)Survey of the Ministry for Religious, Educational and Medical Affairs on the educational and legal circumstances of Jewish Communities in the Prussian provinces (1843-1845) This collection of material lists almost 4,000 Prussian places with their Jewish populations. The number of synagogues, schools and other possessions of the Jewish Communities is also given, and the legal conditions in each region meticulously described. In addition, the survey reports give a detailed outline of the relationship between the Jewish and Christian population and the motives governing the approach taken by Prussian civil servants to Jewish questions. Indexes of names and places make it easy to access the wealth of information contained.The present edition only became possible when files belonging to the Central State Archive of the GDR were made available to the public at the end of 1989. This and other works dealing with the history of the Jews in Germany not only document a significant aspect of German cultural, economic and social history; they also represent an important contribution to preserving the memory of a lost Jewish culture and of the people who belonged to it.