| The Jewish Dark Continent: life and death in the Russian pale of settlement Subjects: An-Ski S. 1863–1920 -- Criticism and interpretation; Jews -- Russia (Federation) -- Folklore; Jews -- Ukraine -- Folklore; Russia -- Social life and customs; Russia -- Ethnic relations; Ukraine -- Social life and customs; Ukraine -- Ethnic relations; At the turn of the twentieth century, over forty percent of the world's Jews lived within the Russian Empire, almost all in the Pale of Settlement. From the Baltic to the Black Sea, the Jews of the Pale created a distinctive way of life little known beyond its borders. This led the historian Simon Dubnow to label the territory a Jewish "Dark Continent." Deutsch Nathaniel : Nathaniel Deutsch is Professor of Literature and History at University of California, Santa Cruz. |