Unfinished People: Eastern European Jews Encounter America - Tapa dura

This is an account of the emigration of three million Jews from Eastern Europe to America between 1880 and the outbreak of World War II. They were mostly young, single and uneducated, but filled with hope of a new life in a new land. The newcomers maintained a sense of community longer than most immigrant groups, although culturally they were uncertain, clinging to fading memories of home, and not yet able to enter American life. For many, New York provided a refuge, for in its densely-populated, Yiddish-speaking enclaves, it was possible to keep in touch with customs from the old country. Through hard work, humour and storytelling, Eastern European Jews maintained a sense of community longer than most immigrant groups, but as a new generation born in America grew up, married and moved out of the neighbourhood, customs gave way to change.