Research on the ethnography of Ashkenazi Jews and its relevance for historiography

Th e present article undertakes the question of the relationships between the historiography and ethnography in the context of the contemporary Jewish studies. Pointing to the affi nity of both these humanistic domains, it analyses the process of gaining independence by the Jewish ethnography and the consequences of the changes which took place at the turn of the 20th century: the negative ones, i.e. the researchers closing themselves in their own circles, as well as the positive ones, including the development of the new methodologies and the appreciation of the sources not used before. Th e article also notes the changes occurring during the last decades which encourage the historians and ethnographers to adopt the interdisciplinary approach. Further, it addresses the question of the folklore texts rooted in the past. It argues that they can refl ect the history, both in their content and the circumstances of originating, collecting and analysing the ethnographic materials by the successive generations of the ethnicists. Particular emphasis is put on the elements of this kind whose presence in the collections can point to close relationship of the folk culture and the views and theories dominating in Europe several centuries ago (e.g. in medicine or astrology). Th e last part of the article is devoted to the research into the folklore of the Ashkenazi Jews during the Holocaust and immediately aft er the World War 2, pointing to both historical and ethnographic dimensions of these studies.