Artur Dinter, “The Sin Against the Blood”, title page, Leipzig 1917
The völkisch writer Artur Dinter popularised racial antisemitism with this trivial novel. By 1922 the book had sold 200,000 copies.
Permanent exhibit - Room 3
Integration and anti-Semitism in the Weimar Republic
Antisemitism
At the start of the First World War in August 1914 a general wave of enthusiasm swept over the German public. Many German Jews also signed up voluntarily for military service. The war developed into trench warfare and was fought on an industrial scale. It resulted in the huge loss of human life. A discriminatory “Jew count” was ordered for the German army in October 1916.
During the early years of the Weimar Republic, antisemitism became a key political theme. Völkisch nationalist propaganda blamed “Jewish-Bolshevist revolutionaries” and alleged profiteers from the war for the breakdown of the Kaiserreich. Jewish politicians were regarded as personification of the hated “Jewish Republic”.
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Artur Dinter, “The Sin Against the Blood”, title page, Leipzig 1917
The völkisch writer Artur Dinter popularised racial antisemitism with this trivial novel. By 1922 the book had sold 200,000 copies. |
Adolf Hitler’s National Socialist
German Workers’ Party (NSDAP) called for Jews to be excluded from the
Volksgemeinschaft. In the wake of the world economic crisis the NSDAP
achieved its best result in the Reichstag elections of July 1932.
Scheming within conservative circles led to the formation of a new government in
January 1933, headed by Reich Chancellor Adolf Hitler.
3.1.
The First World War
The majority of German Jews viewed military service as a patriotic duty. When the quick victory hoped for failed to emerge, rumours were deliberately spread implying that the Jews were “shirking” their duties. Subsequently, in October 1916 the Prussian Ministry of War ordered a statistical registration of all servicemen according to their faith and where they were deployed. This “Jew count” led to public defamation and exclusion. Jewish hopes of continued integration into German society were thereby shattered.
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“The more
Jews fall in this war, the more vehemently will their opponents prove
that they all sat behind the frontlines, profiteering from the war. The
hatred will double and treble.”
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Decree from the Prussian War Ministry on the statistical registration of Jewish soldiers, 11 October 1916 |
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Form to confirm the number of Jews liable for military service present in the army, October 1916
The way that the registration process was carried out revealed antisemitic motives. In order to achieve the desired result, Jews were transferred from the front to behind the lines. Nonetheless, the process did not go as expected. The result of the “Jew count” was not published. |
3.2
The Early Years of the Weimar Republic
Although traditional anti-Jewish stereotypes remained virulent in the Weimar
Republic, racial antisemitism became increasingly prominent following the war
and revolution. Numerous völkisch and nationalist parties and
associations added antisemitic elements to their manifestos. Antisemitic
propaganda reached broad sections of the population through more than 700
newspapers and countless publications.
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“Germans, think about it!”, Postcard, around 1923
With the “stab in the back legend”, the myth that the German army were unconquered in the field, antisemitic propaganda blamed the breakdown of the Kaiserreich on “Jewish revolutionary forces”. This caricature shows the Social Democrat Philipp Scheidemann raising a dagger behind the backs of the soldiers. He is receiving the approval of Matthias Erzberger from the Centre Party. Wealthy Jews are pictured in the background as the alleged perpetrators of the deed. |
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“Don’t vote for a Jew!” Flyer for the elections to the National Assembly, 1919
“Motto for the National Assembly: Don’t vote for a Jew! Don’t let a Christian country be ruled and ruined by Jews! Let the Jews form their own party. Judea for the Jews, but Germany for the Germans!” |
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“Because the Jews are also claiming German nationhood [Volkstum] for themselves – despite their foreign national character, which they can never deny – and thereby diluting the concept and sullying its purity, völkisch circles must repudiate Jews with particular vehemence.” (Walther Schulz, Der Deutsche Hochschulring, Halle 1921)
The Deutsche Hochschulring was founded in 1920 as
an umbrella organisation of völkisch student associations.
By 1921 it had become a dominant
student organisation within German universities. |
3.3
The Early Stages of the NSDAP
The NSDAP was initially a völkisch, antisemitic splinter party mainly restricted to the Bavaria region. November 1923 saw Adolf Hitler’s unsuccessful Munich putsch. Hitler was sentenced to five years in prison and the party was banned. After just half a year Hitler was granted an early release. The NSDAP was re-established in 1925. As its leader, Hitler than secured himself absolute power over the party.
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“Antisemitism based purely on emotion will find its ultimate expression
in progroms (sic!). However, antisemitism based on reason must lead to
the organised, legal campaign against and removal of Jewish privileges,
privileges which are not enjoyed by other foreigners living among us
(alien legislation). Its ultimate, unshakeable goal must, however, be
the elimination of the Jews.” |
Whilst confined in the prison fortress at Landsberg, Adolf Hitler set out his aims in the book “Mein Kampf”, which appeared in two volumes in 1925 and 1926. In the book he called for a “national community of pure race” and the “elimination” of Jews from society. Moreover, Hitler propagated the view of the dominance of the “Aryan race” over the “Slav subhumans” of Eastern Europe. 250,000 copies had been sold by 1933.
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Hitler-Putsch, 9. November 1923
A group of the Reichskriegsflagge free corps in front of the Bavarian Ministry of War. Heinrich Himmler can be seen with a flag in the centre of the photo
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