German Jewry. Among other things-or rather, above all-the term evokes creativity and destruction. This book is about both sides of that dichotomy, and also the links between them. It is about the German Jews-e.g., Heine, Freud, and Kafka-whose accomplishments have played such a significant role in shaping our modern sensibilities. And it is about the figures and forces-e.g., Hitler, Jew hatred, and racism-that effectively wiped out the Jewish presence in Germany. The book is, as well, about how the pressures generated by anti-Semitism and the experience of exile helped at a terrible price to drive German Jewry to its intellectual successes. Finally, Reitter reflects on attempts to tell the stories of these makers and destroyers, and the cultural dynamics in which they were enmeshed. Indeed, in large part that, too, is the subject of this study-the act of writing about the life and the demise of German Jewry.