Description

Jews from the former Soviet Union embody one of the best qualified migration groups worldwide. Regardless of their settling in North America, Israel or Europe they are marked by many graduates, professionals, and intellectuals. Dynamic social mobility, cultural assertiveness and a huge degree of politicization are hallmarks of those scientists, doctors, engineers and artists turning away from the country of Tolstoi, Sacharow and Putin. This book provides sociological insights on how immigrated Russian Jewish elites manage their new life in both countries, how they aim for achievements and key positions, and how they light the discussion on collective identity. For years, the author did research among Russian Jewish immigrants in Israeli and German towns who try the balancing act between integration and self assertion, who intervene in politics, search for their Jewish roots and challenge the religious establishments. Olaf Glöckner also poses the question of the immigrants' long-term impacts on Israeli society and on German-Jewish community life. Finally he shows that the contemporary Russian-Jewish Diaspora is an astonishing multifaceted world.