Paying homage to the many ways in which German Jews were instrumental in the birth of an incomparably rich world of popular culture, this study traces the kaleidoscope of challenges, opportunities and paradoxes Jewish men and women faced in their interactions with predominantly gentile audiences. Modern Germany was a society riddled by conflicts and contradictory impulses, continuously torn between desires to reject, control and celebrate individual and collective difference. The book demonstrates how an analysis of popular entertainment can reaveal much about a period of great social and political turmoil.