The Essay

Emancipation was an important part of Jewish history. Segregated for hundreds of years, Jews were integrated and assimilated into European society. But, because of the Holocaust, most of these ghosts have been forgotten, because the community that might have remembered them no longer exists. Michael Goldfarb travels through Europe in search of these ghosts. In this first programme, he's in Amsterdam hunting for philosopher, Benedict de Spinoza whose views on tolerance and democracy made him an important part of Jewish history. (Rpt) Producer: Julia Hayball.