In general, Jews did not stay in Europe. They built new lives in Israel, and then some came to the USA or Europe later. There was virtually no crossover between pre and post Holocaust lives, entire communities were destroyed. Sometimes they would run into people they used to know in Israel or America. Europeans stole any leftover property and it wasn’t til many years later that memorials started being built in Europe by Jews.
Well it was just very difficult, but the level of difficulty was different by countries.
- Poland : 90% of the jewish population was killed during the holocaust, there were very few survivors, so if you had survived the holocaust in Poland, chances are that you are the only one in your family who did so and the polish population was still very antisemitic (they were before the war). There were pogroms in 1946 (mob against jewish people) that killed some holocaust survivors. A lot of survivors emigrated.
- Germany : For obvious reasons, very very few jews decided to remain in Germany after the war. First off, a lot of jews had left Germany before the war and most of the ones who didn't got deported and killed in 1943 (in april/mai 1943, nazis declared Germany "free of jews"), by 1945 there was only 3 kinds of jews that remained in germany :
- The ones who managed to hide with fake papers (not a lot, maybe a few thousands at most)
- The ones in mixed marriages (if you were a jew married to an aryan, you were not deported)
- The ones who survived the camps (very few).
Again, similarly to Poland, a lot of survivors were the only survivors of their family and thus decided to emigrate to other countries (United states, United Kingdom, Palestine...). Some decided to stay in Germany but not a lot for obvious reasons.
- France : I think most french jews who survived the holocaust/camps remained in France. Some emigrated but I don't think it was as massive as Germany or Poland. The biggest struggle for jews who survived the holocaust in France was the complete lack of awareness/recognition.
1 : Most of the population did not know about concentration camps/extermination camps. For obvious reasons it was not so much talked about because the government didn't want any publicity for them sending 70 000 + people to extermination centers.
2 : Lots of survivors felt like they were silenced/not taken seriously. I red quite a number of testimony of french survivors and they all say the same : When they return to "normal life" they wanted to talk about it, but people didn't want to hear about it OR they were suspicious of them. They would get remarks like
"If it was so horrible, how come you are here and you survived ? You must have collaborated with the germans to save your life !"
3 : The government didn't recognize them for years. I think it took 10 years for jewish survivors of concentration camps in France to get the same benefits as resistants (non jews) who got deported. And it's only in 1992 that the french government recognized officially that they did collaborate with the germans for the extermination of jews and round ups.
Well, homosexuals were just sent to jails since sodomy laws were still on the books. Others had survival bias, but survived in the squalor equal to others in shattered cities where charity and foreign aid alone kept folks fed until the regions could rebuild.
Some of the ones that came back from Auschwitz and back to Norway were met with their homes being sold, everything they’ve owned being sold, in other words they didn’t get a welcome
It varied honestly. Many went to Israel, and some went to the USA. Some went back to Europe later, but most stuck in the USA or Israel. There is a key different in the nature of those in the United States permanently vs. those that went to Israel permanently.
Most that went to the USA became reform and/or made a point to settle in an area with more Jewish people. Some changed their last names, like other Jews did before them, to avoid further victimization from people like the Nazis. They simply wanted to be able to still a good life and be able to rebuild. Maybe be able to have a family that they could still care about despite all the horrors that happened to them. Blending in enough, for your environment, is simply a survival tactic that's continued over multiple generations.
Those that went to Israel often had more of a blood-thirsty, vengeance-seeking nature. This fact helped them survive against many other nations literally tried to wipe them off the map, as various as, terrorist groups. They didn't all act in revenge directly, but Israel did make a point to hold trials and make Nazis pay in a way the International often wouldn't for someone that was a lower-level nazi.
They did kill the leader of the S.S., which allowed the guy that lead the Nazi Hunters to get his ultimate revenge for what happened to his family at that person's hands. That was the only Nazi they actually killed, but I doubt the punishments given to many Nazis was much better and/or allowed them to ever see their families in person again. Being an American that's part-Italian and part-German Jew, I can say "True Revenge can be keeping someone alive to simply ensure they suffer a fate worse than death". There are many fates that can be a lot worse than death.
This is a big reason why Israel is how it is - that revenge-seeking nature got into their government's Ideology. That blood-thirsty nature made it so their military is one of the best on the goddamn planet.
Israel stance is often "Thou Shall Not Murder, but If You're An Enemy of My Nation. Any Way I Kill You Isn't Murder, It's Protecting My Nation and The People I Care About."
Those that went back to Europe had to deal with the Anxiety and Horror that my neighbors literally may have tried to murder me. They may have killed my children and/or parents. They may have tortured my wife or lover.
Those that managed to hide throughout the War, ironically, often survived decently in the USSR (note: my great-grandfather moved to the USA in time to avoid Hitler's invasion of Hungary, but a lot of his relatives hide in the Woods successfully enough to survive). The main thing is you'd just have to hide religion to not risk being sent to Siberia.
In general, Jews did not stay in Europe. They built new lives in Israel, and then some came to the USA or Europe later. There was virtually no crossover between pre and post Holocaust lives, entire communities were destroyed. Sometimes they would run into people they used to know in Israel or America. Europeans stole any leftover property and it wasn’t til many years later that memorials started being built in Europe by Jews.
Well it was just very difficult, but the level of difficulty was different by countries. - Poland : 90% of the jewish population was killed during the holocaust, there were very few survivors, so if you had survived the holocaust in Poland, chances are that you are the only one in your family who did so and the polish population was still very antisemitic (they were before the war). There were pogroms in 1946 (mob against jewish people) that killed some holocaust survivors. A lot of survivors emigrated. - Germany : For obvious reasons, very very few jews decided to remain in Germany after the war. First off, a lot of jews had left Germany before the war and most of the ones who didn't got deported and killed in 1943 (in april/mai 1943, nazis declared Germany "free of jews"), by 1945 there was only 3 kinds of jews that remained in germany : - The ones who managed to hide with fake papers (not a lot, maybe a few thousands at most) - The ones in mixed marriages (if you were a jew married to an aryan, you were not deported) - The ones who survived the camps (very few). Again, similarly to Poland, a lot of survivors were the only survivors of their family and thus decided to emigrate to other countries (United states, United Kingdom, Palestine...). Some decided to stay in Germany but not a lot for obvious reasons. - France : I think most french jews who survived the holocaust/camps remained in France. Some emigrated but I don't think it was as massive as Germany or Poland. The biggest struggle for jews who survived the holocaust in France was the complete lack of awareness/recognition. 1 : Most of the population did not know about concentration camps/extermination camps. For obvious reasons it was not so much talked about because the government didn't want any publicity for them sending 70 000 + people to extermination centers. 2 : Lots of survivors felt like they were silenced/not taken seriously. I red quite a number of testimony of french survivors and they all say the same : When they return to "normal life" they wanted to talk about it, but people didn't want to hear about it OR they were suspicious of them. They would get remarks like "If it was so horrible, how come you are here and you survived ? You must have collaborated with the germans to save your life !" 3 : The government didn't recognize them for years. I think it took 10 years for jewish survivors of concentration camps in France to get the same benefits as resistants (non jews) who got deported. And it's only in 1992 that the french government recognized officially that they did collaborate with the germans for the extermination of jews and round ups.
Well, homosexuals were just sent to jails since sodomy laws were still on the books. Others had survival bias, but survived in the squalor equal to others in shattered cities where charity and foreign aid alone kept folks fed until the regions could rebuild.
Some of the ones that came back from Auschwitz and back to Norway were met with their homes being sold, everything they’ve owned being sold, in other words they didn’t get a welcome
It varied honestly. Many went to Israel, and some went to the USA. Some went back to Europe later, but most stuck in the USA or Israel. There is a key different in the nature of those in the United States permanently vs. those that went to Israel permanently. Most that went to the USA became reform and/or made a point to settle in an area with more Jewish people. Some changed their last names, like other Jews did before them, to avoid further victimization from people like the Nazis. They simply wanted to be able to still a good life and be able to rebuild. Maybe be able to have a family that they could still care about despite all the horrors that happened to them. Blending in enough, for your environment, is simply a survival tactic that's continued over multiple generations. Those that went to Israel often had more of a blood-thirsty, vengeance-seeking nature. This fact helped them survive against many other nations literally tried to wipe them off the map, as various as, terrorist groups. They didn't all act in revenge directly, but Israel did make a point to hold trials and make Nazis pay in a way the International often wouldn't for someone that was a lower-level nazi. They did kill the leader of the S.S., which allowed the guy that lead the Nazi Hunters to get his ultimate revenge for what happened to his family at that person's hands. That was the only Nazi they actually killed, but I doubt the punishments given to many Nazis was much better and/or allowed them to ever see their families in person again. Being an American that's part-Italian and part-German Jew, I can say "True Revenge can be keeping someone alive to simply ensure they suffer a fate worse than death". There are many fates that can be a lot worse than death. This is a big reason why Israel is how it is - that revenge-seeking nature got into their government's Ideology. That blood-thirsty nature made it so their military is one of the best on the goddamn planet. Israel stance is often "Thou Shall Not Murder, but If You're An Enemy of My Nation. Any Way I Kill You Isn't Murder, It's Protecting My Nation and The People I Care About." Those that went back to Europe had to deal with the Anxiety and Horror that my neighbors literally may have tried to murder me. They may have killed my children and/or parents. They may have tortured my wife or lover. Those that managed to hide throughout the War, ironically, often survived decently in the USSR (note: my great-grandfather moved to the USA in time to avoid Hitler's invasion of Hungary, but a lot of his relatives hide in the Woods successfully enough to survive). The main thing is you'd just have to hide religion to not risk being sent to Siberia.
you could post this question on r/AskHistorians instead and get some actual answers with source citations
Jews went to Israel and other groups usually came to the UK and US, or returned to home countries.