'This well-researched and innovative volume provides a vivid account of the attempts to revive Jewish life in Poland and Slovakia. It shows clearly that, in spite of the increasingly repressive nature of the communist governments of these countries and the persistence of anti-Jewish violence, these efforts, although ultimately frustrated by the political situation, initially had a significant degree of support. It is essential reading for all those interested in Jewish life in Eastern Europe after the Second World War.' Antony Polonsky, Albert Abramson Professor of Holocaust Studies, Brandeis University, Massachusetts, and United States Holocaust Memorial Museum