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The Diaries of Bernhard Cahn:
A Man of His Time
by Arline Sachs
From 1817 through 1871,
Bernhard Cahn kept diaries recording daily life and thoughts of a German-Jewish citizen. He was a veteran of the
Napoleonic War, and in his community of Kastel, Hesse, he served as teacher, schochet (ritual slaughterer), and
religious leader for more than fifty years.
In addition to everyday
life, Cahn describes activities such as the arrival of the steam engine and steamboats that would soon ply the
Main River, the visits of dignitaries, traveling to visit family members, and secular and religious festivals.
Cahn described interactions with the mayor and other officials, Christian officials who attended major Jewish community
functions. He wrote much about America and the Civil War, about President Lincoln's assassination, as well as his
views on Presidents Jefferson and Grant. Anti-Semitic events in Europe, the building of the Suez Canal, and migration
of Germans to America are all described.
The diaries were written
in Judeo-German; a form of writing using Hebrew letters to express German words and sounds. His great-great granddaughter,
Arline Sachs, meticulously translated all 4,000 pages and presents excerpts from these diaries to give a picture
of the life of a German-Jewish citizen in the 19th century.
6" x 9" 225pp. hardcover $29.00
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