Abstract
The emancipation in the mid-19th century gave Jews previously unknown rights to migrate as well as new options to erarn a living and develop their own culture, but it also forced them to face new challenges. As they were trying to identify themselves within the new civic society, the Jews could not avoid the question of how their previous identity should be modified within the integration process, and what forms of integration were acceptable.
The author explores the answers that the Jews from the region around Frýdek and Místek arrived at, what steps were common as part of their integration in the non-Jewish society, and to what extent it was uncommon to adopt a Christian identity or marry a Gentile. The ultimate conclusion the author arrives at is that in spite of facilitated conversions, the introduction of secular weddings, the approval of mixed Jewish-Christian marriages, and even the secularization and adoption of Christian practices, nothing brought about full assimilation and wiped out the sense of belonging across the Jewish community.