Conclusion
This concluding chapter describes the history of the Jews since the beginning of the diaspora as that of a succession of autonomous centres. The centre that developed in Poland–Lithuania from the middle of the thirteenth century was one of the most remarkable and creative. However, the history of the Jews of this area in the short twentieth century, between the outbreak of the First World War and the collapse of communism in Europe, has been tragic. The decline of Jewish communities was the result of local integral nationalism, the devastating impact of the genocidal policies of Nazi Germany, and the longer-term destructive effects of communist rule, particularly in its Stalinist incarnation. Ultimately, the complex story of the Jews of Poland, Lithuania, Ukraine, Belarus, and Russia, and of their contribution to Jewish life and to the culture of the larger world around them, needs to be better known and better understood in the diaspora, in Israel, and in the countries of eastern Europe. The Nazi attempt to annihilate the Jews and Stalin's efforts to eradicate their culture ultimately failed. There are still Jews in eastern Europe, and the rich culture the Jews created there remains a source of admiration and inspiration to both Jews and non-Jews.