Changing political, social, and cultural circumstances have led German Jews in America to take on many different identities. These essays examine such topics as the relationship between German and Eastern-European Jews in America; the development of the B'nai Brith: and language loss.

Changing political, social, and cultural circumstances have led German Jews in America to take on many different identities. These essays examine such varied topics as the relationship between German and Eastern European Jews in America, the development of the B'nai Brith, nineteenth-century Jewish community-building in Chicago, the role of German Jews in the building of modern American show business, and the correlation between date of emigration and language loss among Jews fleeing to America from Nazi Germany. Contributors include historians, theater and literature professors, a linguist, and an award-winning documentary filmmaker.