Anti-Semitism, Hitler and the German People,
1919-45
The roots of anti-Semitism
Adolf Hitler,
Leader of the German National Socialist party which regime murdered 6 million
Jews in WW2, did not create anti-Semitism. He was the product of rather than
the creator of a very anti-semitic society.
Anti-Semitism not created by Germans.
Can be traced
back in many different Euro countries at many different times.
Can be traced in Euro to 5th century based on religious hostility.
Jews were blamed for: The death of Christ, not accepting Christianity. Christian
and anti-Semitism went hand-in-hand.
Medieval
anti-Semitism
Other reasons to
hate Jews – Unpopular as money-lenders
Treatment of
Jews
-
Segregation into ghettos
-
Forcible expulsion from countries
-
Violent assault
-
Destruction of property
Jews remained a strong cultural identity – ensured
they remained outsiders.
1515
– Jews being burned at the stake in Lucerne, Switzerland identified by yellow badges.
18th
– 19th Centuries
Most western
Euro states not dominated by religion,
some acceptance of Jews into
society.
1871
– new German Empire offered full civil rights to Jews
In east,
especially Russia, anti-Semitism continued.
Ger
and Austria-Hungary by 1900
19C
– Jews moved westwards
Through industrialisation and urbanisation many jews increased their wealthy + position in society.
1870s – 2/3rds of Ger Jews in upper
taxation levels with most being Doctors, Lawyers and Academics.
1900
– Jews play active part in Ger society,
consider themselves loyal Gers.
Why
did anti-Semitism become increasingly racial in the late nineteenth century?
Seemed
as if Jews were being assimilated
into Euro society but anti-Sem tendencies were developing.
A switch from a more religious link to a racial
aspect.
Academics attempting to define race and categorise
racial characteristics.
Mid-1850’s
– Frenchman Count Joseph Arthur de Gobineau’s Essay on the Inequality of Human
Races.
-
History
= a race struggle
-
All
high cultures were the work of Aryan’s.
-
Declining cultures when Aryans interbred with “racially
less valued” lower orders.
1859
– Charles Darwin’s “On the Origin of Species”
= further ammunition
-
Originally
had no racial theories, concerned with plants and animals
-
Adapted
by scholars, “Social Darwinists” claiming races/nations needed to be fit to
survive and rule
-
Some
went further, argued most important political task = eliminate all racially
weak/harmful and cultivate the racially strong
Many late 19C
writers were anti-semitic discussing Aryan and Germanic races finding fault with
Jews religious beleifs and their biology too.
Anti-Sem in Ger in second
half of 19th century became
associated with the rise of
militant nationalism.
-
Large
number of Ger Nationalists accepted ger was the master race
-
Mystical
faith in the Volk. (German people)
-
Rose
from a sense of community based on ancestral blood ties.
-
Many
thought the blood ties preserved the warrior virtues of honour, duty, courage
and loyalty. (blood community)
-
Ger
Nationalists hostile to other races, especially Jews.
-
Jews
were liberal, socialist, pacifist and modernist – All things nationalists
loathed
A host of late 19C Ger scholars helped anti-Sem be
fashionable and respectable.
1881- Economist Eugen Durhing
-
Argued
that feelings, thinking and behaviour of humans were racially determined
-
Claimed
“scarcely human” Jews were enemies of all nations, especially
Germany.
1887
– Philosopher Paul de Lagarde
-
Described
Jews as “vermin” with need for a “surgical incision” to remove the
infection.
Pamphleteers, newspapers and politicans
presented anti-Sem views to the Ger Public as well as artists and musicans,
like Richard Wagner.
Among prominent
anti-Sem writers was Wagner’s
son-in-law Houston Stewart Chamberlain
and his work “Foundations of the
Nineteenth Century” in 1899.
-
Argued
that Jews were a degenerate, evil race,
conspiring to attain world
domination and threatening German
greatness.
-
Saw
the struggle of Ger and Jew as the
central theme of world history
-
Immediate
best seller. Drew praise from Kiaser
Wilhelm II
Anti-Semitism in Germany 1900-1914
Late 19C – many Gers (including the Kaiser ) regarded Jews, who made
up less than 1% of the pop, as a problem.
Racist anti-Semites growing in strength, still existed Gers who held
traditional Christian anti-Sem views
and hated Jews for being “Christ-killers”,
Religious anti-Semites.
Anti-sem
encouraged by economic factors.
-
Peasant farmers, shopkeepers and
skilled workers persuaded that
Jewish financers, with powerful positions in Ger and Austria-Hungary, were to
blame.
-
Jews
became conventional scapegoat for
everything wrong in “modern” Germany.
The
Jewish “problem”
No consensus or
single idea on the solution.
-
Some
though Jews should be assimilated
-
Others
favoured reintroducing discrimination and
forcing Jews to leave Ger
-
Some
talked of racial annihilation
Political
impact
1870’s – anti-Sem parties formed who contested Ger and and Austrian elections.
1893 - Gernan
right-wing nationalist parties (holding anti-Jew views) gained a majority vote
in the Reichstag,
But was the
before point due to anti-semitism? Very little.
-
Before 1914 no major Ger political party was dominated by
anti-Semites and after 1900 they
were in steep decline running out of
voters and money.
-
By 1912 the largest Reichstag
party was the SDP, Social Democrat Party,
which opposed anti-Semitism.
By 1914
- anti-Jewish feelings were in broad sections of German society
-
Semi-political bodies and pressure groups, like the Pan-German
League, supported militant
nationalism, imperial expansion and were anti-Semitic
-
Jews
excluded from highest ranks of government
and the military.
The situation in 1914
Pre-WW1
anti-Sem in Ger was no stronger than in most other countries.
German Jews
seemed less in danger than France’s or Russia’s from anti-Semitism.
Jews did not
suffer extreme poverty, pogroms or legal discrimination.
Why? German power before 1918 was not
invested in the people or the political parties but rested with the Kaiser and
his appointed government.
Kaiser and his
officials hated Jews but felt a duty to protect them as they were more useful
than dangerous.
This meant underlying racist tendencies in German
society, yet no blatant open racism
and discrimination towards Jews
before 1914 and 1918.
From anti-Semitism to the Weimar Republic
An overview to begin with
Germany 1871-1918
Originally
Germany was a Kaiserreich, Second Reich
A strong authoritarian rule of the Kaiser – Wilhelm II was the last
Very militaristic society
Imperial and expansionist ambitions caused WW1
End of WW1
German defeat
looked likely early 1918 - Kaiser was pushed to abdicate as part
of armistice conditions
A new democratic regime took the place of the old
dictatorial regime known was the “Weimar Republic” as it resided in the
town of Weimar
Stage One – Chaos – 1919-23
Weimar Repub
born out of defeat + revolution. Nov
1918 – Sudden collapse of Germany’s war effort leading to home front
breakdown and Kaiser Wilhelm II
abdicating and the birth of the
republic proclaimed by Socialist
politicians.
Power handed to
a provisional (temporary) government led by moderate socialist Friedrich Ebert with the gov moving to Weimar
from Berlin for safety (hence the name).
1919 – Threats
from the Left and the Right political wings against the
survival of the Republic
Left
– Red Bavaria
-
Led
by commie and Jew Kurt Eisner
-
Declared
the state of Bavaria a socialist republic
Communist Spartacists, led by Karl
Liebknecht + Rosa Luxemburg.
-
Jan 1919 launched attempted rising
-
Ebert had to rely on regular army + Friekorps (unofficial armies of ex-soldiers) to restore order and
remove the threat.
-
Saved
the Rep from Communism
Right – 1920 - Friekorps tried to seize power in Berlin (a Putsch, or push)
-
Eberts
Gov blamed for unpopular Versailles peace treaty
-
Led
to 2,000 political murders by Right-wing
extremists
-
Matthias
Erzberger 1921 and Walther Rathenau in 1922 among the assassinated
1919-1923 - Weimar had to deal with the sustained eco crisis.
-
1923 hyper-inflation and collapse of the currency causing
hardship to middle classes.
-
Led
to political instability with
fluctuating coalition governments.
Stage Two – The “Golden Years” – 1924-29
From 1924 – Ger entered new period of eco prosperity and political
stability.
-
Inflated
tamed by financial reforms of Dr Hjalmar Schacht.
-
Business and Industry
recovered – By 1928 industrial
production and living standards back to pre-war levels.
-
Foreign Minister Gustav Stresemann
1923-29 rebuilt Ger’s
relations with foreign powers and secured foreign loans
-
Coalition Gov’s became more stable
-
Cultural Life flourished
Some historians
argue that Weimar democracy was fragile and dependant on temporary prosperity
but at the time Weimar supporters believed it was there to stay. Then the Wall
Street Crash and the Great Depression hit.
Stage Three – The collapse of democracy – 1929-33
Wall Street Crash - In America October
1929 which stopped the Roaring
Twenties of America.
Worst slump was
in 1932 as the effects in Germany
were not immediate.
The crash
undermined support for moderate democractic parties in 1930 and led to a political
polarity shift to more extremist parties.
Support for
communism grew.
By 1932 – Nazi Party was the biggest single party in
Reichstag.
Jan 1933- President Hindenburg appointed Hitler as German Chancellor.
March 1933 – Reichstag passed an Enabling
Law giving Hitler temp dictorial powers and dissolved The Weimar Rep.
Jews in Weimar Germany
Jewish Population in Germany 1933
Hamburg – 17,000
Hanover – 13,000 Berlin – 160,000
Danzig – 10,000 Breslau – 20,000 Leipzig – 12,000 Frankfurt – 26,000 Cologne –
15,000 Vienna – 178,000 Prague – 35,000
Jewish Achievements in Weimar Germany
Represented 1% of population, yet held prominent positions in
society;
-
Walther Rathenau – Foreign Minister from
1919
-
Book publishers and newspapers
-
Business and banking
-
Cultural life : music and film
Led to Jews
believing Germany was the best homeland and made them feel safe in Germany.
Only ½ a million
Jews in Weimar Germany with 400,000 in urban areas
They felt fully
“German” and were intensely patriotic
Believed in assimilation; integrating into German
society but maintaining their ethnic and cultural identity
Some section of
the Jewish community, like Zionists, were opposed to assimilation
Jews and politics
Jews could be
found in all political parties
-
Communists,
conservatives and the Catholic Centre Party
Most Jews identified with moderate democratic parties like
-
SPD – German Socialist Party
-
DDP – German Democratic Party
Jews and religion
Many jews were
also liberl in the practising of their religion
Orthodox Jews – Observed strict
jewish traditions, but were a
minority.
Neo-Orthodox – Liberal
jews who believed in assimilation-
the vast majority.
Jewish Social Heirachy
1.
Jews
who had reached great wealthy and influence i.e. Industrialists, publishers,
celebrities in culture + mass entertainment
2.
Successful
Jewish middle classes i.e. businessmen, educated professions, universities,
medicine, law
3.
Small
businessmen and craftsmen – less prosperous
4.
Lower
levels of society, 75,000 poorer
“eastern” jews – less assimilated, struggled to find work
The birth of the Weimar Republic
Strengthened Jew-German Bond
Jews were predominantly LIBERAL in political outlook, so was the new Weimar regime.
The Weimar constitution was written by a Jew- Hugo Preuss
Members of the Weimar were Jewish
Jewish Contribution to the Weimar
Republic
Jewish
involvement in politics and the press
Jews already well-established in the
world of politice pre-1914
Jewish publishing houses = powerful
influence in media
Two Jewish
run newspapers – Berliner Tageblatt
and the Frankfurter Zeitung promoting
Liberal views.
Theodor
Wolff 1868-1943
-
Editor of the Berliner Tageblatt
-
Liberal Journalist from
a wealthy Jewish family
-
From
1887 he worked for the Mosse publishing house who in
1906 appointed him editor of the Tageblatt – a Liberal newspaper.
-
In
1918 – Founder of the DDP (German Liberal
Party)
-
Remained active and
influential until 1933, going into
exile after his books were burned by the Nazis
-
Died in a concentration
camp (Sachsenhausen) after being
arrested in Italy in 1943
Walther
Rathenau 1867-1922
-
Most
important figure in the DDP and most important Jew
in early Weimar politics.
-
Inherited the huge
electrical-engineering company AEG in 1899
– became a leading Industrialist
-
Beleiver
in Jewish assimilation
-
Convinced anti-Sem
would wither away if Jews integrated more into Ger society
-
WW1
– He ran much of the war economy,
responsible for the Raw Material department.
-
Post
WW1 – Joined the moderate DDP. Became mini for reconstruction then foreign minister.
-
Assassinated
in June 1922
The
Ullstein Publishing Empire
Produced numerous political newspapers
and journals
The
Berliner Illustrierte Zeitung (BIZ) – circulation of 1.8 million by 1930
Similair illustrated paper came out in Munich, in 1923, followed by one in Cologne in 1926.
Reached a wide audience, not directly
political
“Monopoly of the Jewish Press” was
strongly attacked by anti-Sems
Typical to exaggerate the extent of
wealth and influence of Jews and blame it on the result of conspiracy rather
than a reward for hard work and a drive to succeed.
Jewish
involvement in industry, finance and banking
The Rathenau family controlled
the huge electrical engineering firm AEG
-
Firm was taken over by
non-Jews in 1927
Jewish firms
dominated coalmining, steelworks and
the chemical industry in Silesia
-
This had little importance in the western
industrial areas, the Rhineland
or the Ruhr
Jews were predominantly middle-class businessmen
and professionals, NOT owners of large scale enterprises.
In banking
Jewish banking families – Rothschilds,
mendelssihns, bleichroeders
-
Owned 50% of private banks
Jewish directors
– managed several major public banks
-
Eugen
Gutmann – Director
of Dresdner Bank
-
Dresdner
Bank owned by Arthur Salomonsohn helped to rebuild German industry after WW1
In 1920’s – Jewish
banking role was declining
-
Banks owned by Jews =
18% of German banking sector, considerably smaller than in 1914
The Rothschilds
Rich Jewish banking
family
Branches in
Brit, France, Italy, Austria.
Nathan was the
founder, born in the poor Jew quarter of Frankfurt
Fam rose to
prominence in 1820s / 1830s
End of 19C fam
was as rich as any Euro aristocratic elite
Supported many
charities
Strong supporters
of Zionism
1940 – Rise of
the Rothschilds became target for anti-Sem propaganda film by Nazis
In Retail
Jews were active
and successful
Owned almost
half of firms involved in cloth trade
Controlled large
numbers of shoe shops
80% of dept.
stores owned by jews
-
Inc stores in berlin
like Wertheim and the giant Kaufhaus des Westens store (KdW)
Jewish Schocken
family – owned a chain of more than 30 dept. stores
More than 60% of
all employed Jews worked in trade or commerce
Role of Jews in
business and retail much more visible in larger cities, especially Berlin.
Jews active in
selling agricultural equipment to farmers
Many unemployed
eastern Jews even in Golden Years after 1924
Average income
of employed Jews more than 3X the average income of the population as a whole
Success in banking/commerce led to
resentment
Also
led to high-profile scandals concerning Jewish firms.
1925 – three
brothers, Julius, Saloman + Henry Barmat found guilty of bribing public
officials to obtain state loans.
Kutisker Case
1927
Sklarek brothers
1929
Ger Jews mostly
law-abiding but scandals provoked anti-Semitic outbursts.
Jewish involvement in the professions
and universities
Jews immensely
successful in the professions, esp Law and Medicine
Made up 16% of
layers and 11% of doctors
High numbers in
Berlin, half of doctors in 1930 were jewish, more than half lawyers were jews.
In medicine
Surge in doctors
in early days of Weimar Republic because of social reforms (intro of public
health insurance)
By late 1920’s
medical professions were crowded/competitive
-
Jewish doctors
struggled financially (10% earned so little = no prospect of marrying)
In Law
Many Jews
reached positions of wealth and influence in the field of Law, some becoming
national figures known to politicians and journalists.
Julius Magnus –
editor of the prestigious journal German Bar Association.
Erich Frey
– “Celebrity” defence lawyer”. Baptised as a Christian (of jewish descent)
Ernst Frankel
– Well known for his trade union law work, links with the SPD. Served in WW1
Rudolf Olden –
Lawyer and journalist specialising in human rights law, colleague of Theodore
Wolff at Berliner Tageblatt. Also served in WW1
Max Alsberg, 1877 – 1933
-
Est. a successful legal
practice in Berlin from 1906.
-
In 1920’s - Gained a
rep as a criminal lawyer and worker with Erich Frey in the notorious Immertrau
trial of 1928
-
1931 – Alsberg defended
socialist publisher Carl von Ossietsky, who insulted the German army.
-
Escaped in 1933 after
Hitler came to power, later committed suicide
Jews in these
professions saw their future continuing assimilation.
Most lawyers
regarded their position in middle-class Weimar society to be much more
fortunate than jews in other countries
Many successful
professional Jews reluctant to find a different job.
Significant
Academic impact
-
24% of Nobel Prizes
were Jewish
-
Albert Einstein
-
Max Palnck Institute
had several German Jews
-
Gaining promotion for
Jews was slower/more difficult process than non-Jews, few full professors of
Jewish descent.
Jewish involvement in Weimar culture
Weimar culture
could not have developed as it did without Jews.
In architecture
Bahaus School –
Founded by Walter Gropius in 1919
-
Not jewish, still
received anti-Semitic / right wing attacks
-
2 jews, Bruno Taut and
Erich Mendelsohn were important figures
Erich Mendelsohn
-
Created the Einstein
Tower
-
Responsible for the 77
metre-high tower for the Ullstein press in Berlin
-
His modernism/jewish
origins made him a target for the Nazis
-
Moved to Brit in 1933
In Art
German artists
associated with modernism – Max Ernst and Max Beckmann denounced as “Cultural
Bolsheviks”
Best known
Jewish artist – Max Liebermann, head of the Prussian Academy of Art, resigned
in 1933 “it would be impossible to eat the amount of food he would like to
vomit back out again”
In Music
Hanns Eisler and
Arnold Schoenberg, German-Jewish internationally famous composers.
Friedrich
Hollander, Mischa Spoliansky – Jazz music / nightclub life.
In Theatre
Max Reinhardt –
Dominant influence over Berlin theatre from 1905 to 1930
Bertolt Brecht -emerged
from Reinhardt’s theatre, might as well of declared himself an “honorary jew” –
a modernist/committed Marxist, his collaborator Kurt Weill was Jewish. Labeled
a “cultural Bolshevik”
In Cinema
Jewish
actors/directors at forefront of dev in cinema, silent and from 1928 talking
pictures.
Berlin became
important centre for world cinema, dev modern techniques that would be later
used by Nazi’s for propaganda
Fritz Lang,
Billy Wilder, Josef von Sternverg (director)– Notable Jews.
Marlene Dietrich
(Anti-Nazi), Emil Jannings (Later starred in Nazi propaganda films)
Everything
“decadent and immoral” did not come just from Jews, as Nazi propaganda stated.
However there would have been a thriving culture with or without Jewish artists,
though they did lose out culturally by driving out “Jewish Bolsheviks”, Britain
and US benefitted at Germany’s expense.
Extent
of Anti-Semitism in the Weimar Republic.
Anti-Semitism in
Chaos – High, because of aftermath of WW1, Hyper Inflation and attempts to
overthrow the regime
Anti-Semitism in
Golden Years – Low
ß An Overview
Anti-Semitism in
the Great Depression – Growing
Extent of anti-Semitism in Weimar
Germany 1919-30
Between
1916-1923 – Crisis conditions of WW1 and Ger Rev surged anti-Semitism in Ger.
More serious
anti-Sem than the past two waves of 1873 and 1890’s
WW1
– The catalyst for anti-Sem in 1916
-
Because the war
minister Wild von Hohenborn wanted to respond
to accusations of Jews of hindering the war effort
-
Led to protests
pointing out 3K jewish soldiers had been killed with 7k wounded
-
Went ahead with a
census, found 80% of Jewish soldiers were fighting on the front lines, didn’t
publish to “Spare Jewish feelings”
-
Was a betrayal of the
patriotism displayed by Jewish front-soldiers.
Anti-Sem
journalists quick to produce misleading 1916 census reports, many Gers believed
them, while Jew leaders rushed to proclaim Jewish soldier patriotism, other
Jews were alienated by the aims of the war. 12k Jews died in the war.
Other anti-Sems
claimed Jew businessmen were profiting from the war. Walther Rathenau and
Albert Ballin were Jews managing the war effort
Jews accused of
defeatism
Hostility grew
in 1918 when 140 politicians and businessmen drew up a negotiated peace
memorandum, most signatures were non-Jews but still led to anti-Sem attacks on
“Jew peace” <- November Criminals
Nov 1918 German
Revolution / revolt first with the mutiny at naval base in Kiel
Blamed the
November Criminals for the loss of the war, believed they’d been “stabbed in
the back”, Adolf Hitler also felt like this. (Targeted Jews, Pacifists and
socialists)
Jews used as a
scapegoat again for the defeat by Right wingers and anti-Sems.
Jews and Communism
Notable Jewish
and communist figures
Kurt Eisner –
Red Bavaria, Germany (A mini communist rev in Ger state of Bavaria where it was
declared a “socialist republic” separate from Ger, eventually Kurt was
assassinated by r-wingers and a period of intense fighting broke out, 1k
communists killed and a further 800 executed)
Rosa Luxemburg –
Spartacist, Germany
Karl Marx –
“Founding father of Communism”, Germany
Leon Trotsky –
Key leader within Bolsheviks, Russia
Zinoviev and Kamenev
– Key leaders within Bolsheviks, RussiaSpartacus Rising – a Communist revo
group, linked to Jews because of Rosa Luxemburg, a Jew.
The war between
Poland and Soviet Russia 1919-1920 raised the prospect of “Red Terror”
advancing west and into Ger.
Violent clashes
in Upper Silesia – Dispute over the area following the ToV
Several
left-wing revolts by industrial workers in the Ruhr.
Not true that
all Communists were Jews, Right-wingers just made it seem so. “Jewish
Bolshevism” was a mythical threat as Karl Marx was of Jewish origin, but the
co-author of the communist manifesto, Friedrich Engels, was not Jewish aswell
as several of the Bolshevik leaders. Karl Liebknecht was not Jewish (Spartacus
rising)
Right-wingers
feared “Slavic hordes” to the east of Germany, hated Jews, feared Communism,
linked all three to make their lives easier.
Right-wing political
movements in the Weimar Republic
The chaotic
economic and political situation in Ger at the end of WW1 was a breeding ground
for bitterness and resentment
Many right-wing
political movements emerged demanding that the November Criminals should be
punished (Jews, democrats, socialists, pacifists)
Anti-Sem : Jews
the cause of communist threat, jewish financiers the cause of economic
disasters and Jewish politicians the cause of everything hated about Weimar
Republic.
The Friekorps
Largest + most
powerful force 1918 – 1920
Free corps
Unofficial
armies of ex-soldiers
Used by gov to
put down left-wing revolts in early 1920s (Spartacist rising etc)
Most right-wing
movements in 1920s were small and ineffective, with many of the groups post-war
disbanding and disappearing
Several joined
Hitler’s NSDAP as it grew in strength in late 1920’s
Right Wing movements
Parties with Key
detail
Staglhelm (Steel
Helmet) – Also known as League of Frontline Soldiers
-
Founded end of 1918
-
Led by Franz Seldte
-
Hostile to Weimar Rep,
followers were monarchists
-
Anti-Sem, hated
Socialism + democracy
-
Allied with NSDAP from
1929 till its annexed by the Nazis in 1934
Bayrische Einwohnerwehr –
Bavarian Citizens Guard
-
Volunteer army formed
in Bavaria 1919
-
To fight against
Communism + Left wing regime in Munich led by Kurt Eisner
-
Aims and right wing
attitudes similar to Freikorps
Thule Gesellschaft – The
Thule Society
-
Volkisch nationalist
and anti-semiticc group in Munich
-
Closely linked to the
German Order of Holy Grail
-
Alfred Rosenberg was a
key member
-
Sponsored the Nazi
Party in its early months
-
Brought about the
Volkischer Boebachter (Peoples Observer), the official Nazi newspaper
Deutsch-Volkische Freiheitsbewegung – The
German People’s Freedom Movement
-
Appealed to traditional
right-wing Conservative values
-
Strong element of
anti-Semitism
-
Got financial support
from the Wulle brewery in Stuttgart and from Schutz-und Trutzbund
-
General Ludendorff was
its most famous personality
Schutz-und-Trutzbund – (German
People’s Protection and Trust League)
-
Largest / most virulent
anti-Sem organisation in post-war Ger
-
Founded 1919, quickly
gained several hundred thousand members
-
Konstantin von Gebsattel
was its chairman, a notorious anti-Semitic army general who promoted the idea
of an “ethnic german empire”
-
Many later became
Nazis, including Dietrich Eckart, Gottfried Feder, Julius Streicher and
Reinhard Heydrich
National Socialist German Workers’ Party – NSDAP,
Originally German Workers’ Party
-
Founded in 1919 by
Anton Drexler, before Hitler took over as leader
-
Produced its 25 point
programme in 1920
-
Left wing socialist
ideas and right wing nationalist and anti-semitic ideology
Hawks and Eagles
-
Youth group founded by
nationalist poet Wilhelm Kotzde-Kottenrodt.
-
“Blood and Soil”
ideology encouraging close ties to the land through volunteer work on farms and
rejecting urban values (Jewish)
-
Movement later
swallowed up by League of Artam
Artamane – The
League of Artam
-
Back-to-the-land
nationalist youth movement (Blood and Soil ideology)
-
Strong in East Prussia
– 2k members by 1929
-
Included Heinrich
Himmler, Rudolf Hoess and R.W. Darre (Agricultural policy expert)
-
From 1933 Hitler Youth
was modelled on the Artamane
Violent anti-Semitism in Weimar Germany
Red Bavaria and
Kurt Eisner, a commie-jew
Political
assassinations
-
Up to 1923 over 2k
political murders carried out by r-wing groups
-
1921 – Catholic politician
Matthias Erzberger “November Criminal”
-
1922 – Jew foreign mini
Walther Rathenau
-
Assassins rarely
prosecuted / received light sentences
In the Golden Years 1924-1929 there was a
decline in political extremism
-
Anti-Sem reduced but
never disappeared
-
A focus on supposed
corruption/exploitation of Jewish bankers/businessmen
-
Three scandals in late
1920’s provided anti-Sem with evidence
-
The Barmat Scandal
1925, sentenced to 11 months in jail, assimilated Jews called them “eastern
Jews”
-
Alexander Kutisker,
1925, Polish-Jew businessman guilty of receiving corrupt loans worth 14mil RM
from Prussian State Bank
-
Sklarek Brothers 1929,
used gifts of fur coats to bribe officials, two of the brothers part of the
SPD, used in anti-Sem propaganda
Jewish Fears in 1930
Not all jews
were keen to assimilate, was a terrifying prospect where they feared separate
Jewish identity may disappear altogether. Orthodox / Zionist communites who
were hostile to assimilation as it could not or they did not want it to happen.
Even the most
successful assimilated Jews could not escape from the anxieties underneath the
surface. Undercurrent of pessimism. Rates of suicide + divorce were twice as
high for Jewish Germans than the pop as a whole aswell as clinical depression.
Many jews struggled to remain optimistic. Fear of living in a kind of “limbo”,
not fully Jewish but not allowed to be fully Ger.
Fear of
uncertainty on how to respond to anti-Semitism. Still attacks on Jews, insults
/ synagogue vandalising or Jewish cemeteries. Response was to keep low and
avoid provocation.
Zionists tried
to fight back by emphasising Jew cultural traditions, encouraging Hebrew
language study. They didn’t see assimilation as a goal to strive for. Had less
fath in Weimar Rep than assimilated Jews did.
RjF (National League of Jewish Frontline
Veterans) which represented Jewish ex-soldiers who sometimes cooperated with
the SPD militia, promoting Jewish “self-discipline” – avoiding behaviour by
Jews that might provoke hostility.
Centralverein –
largest organisation to defend Jews founded in 1893 – newspaper had a
circulation of 80k. Gave money to help legal prosecutions of anti-Sems. Leaders
even revealed their anxiety about the dangers facing Jews in Ger. Membership
peaked at 72k in 1924, declined steadily after – Golden Years = safer?
By 1930 – Jews
made enormous prog towards assimilation. Most regarded themselves as utterly
German. Relied on Weimar democracy which was fragile.
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