Association of German National Jews

The Association of German National Jews was a Jewish organisation during the Weimar Republic and the early years of Nazi Germany that eventually came out in support Hitler.

It was founded in 1921 by Max Naumann who was chairman until 1926 and again from 1933 to 1935 when the association was dissolved.^[1] Politically, the association was close to the national conservative and monarchist German National People's Party which, however, refused affiliation with the association.^[2]

The goal of the Association was the total assimilation of Jews into the German Volksgemenschaft, self eradication of Jewish identity, and the expulsion from Germany of the Jewish immigrants from Eastern Europe.^[3] Max Nauman was especially opposed to Zionists and Eastern European Jews, the former he considered a threat to Jewish integration and to be carriers of a "racist" ideology serving British imperial purposes, while he saw the later as racially and spiritually inferior.^[4]

The association's official organ was the monthly Der nationaldeutsche Jude edited by Max Neumann. The magazine had a circulation of 6000 in 1927.^[5]

Among the activities of this group was the fight against the Jewish boycott of German goods.^[6] They also issued a manifesto that stated that the Jews were being fairly treated.

In 1934 the group made the following statement. "we have always held the well-being of the German people and the fatherland, to which we feel inextricably linked, above our own well-being. Thus we greeted the results of January, 1933, even though it has brought hardship for us personally".^[7]

A possible reason why some German Jews supported Hitler may have been that they thought that his antisemitism only was for the purpose of "stirring up the masses".^[8]

A similar contemporary Jewish group in Germany included the German Vanguard, the German-Jewish followers of Hitler led by Hans Joachim Schoeps,^[9] also referred to as "Nazi Jews", who advocated loyalty to the Nazi programme, and allegedly ended their meetings by giving the Nazi salute and shouting, "Down With Us!".^[10]

Despite their extreme patriotism, the German government did not accept their goal of assimilation, the Association of German National Jews was declared illegal and dissolved on 18 November 1935. Its chairman Max Naumann was arrested by the Gestapo the same day and imprisoned at Columbia concentration camp. He was released after a few weeks, and died of cancer in May 1939.^[11]

The policy of the German government was to promote Jewish emigration from Germany, and as a consequence it promoted and encouraged the activities of Zionist organisations while at the same time repressing anti-Zionist organisations such as the German National Jews, especially as they were among those who advocated Jewish assimilation in Germany.^[12] The Zionists were commended in the SS newspaper by Heydrich by for their strict racial position, and the assimilationists were chastised for denying their race.^[13]

References

1. ^ Sarah Ann Gordon, Hitler, Germans, and the "Jewish question", p.47
2. ^ M. Hambrock, Die Etablierung der Aussenseiter. Der Verband nationaldeutscher Juden 1921-1935, p. 367
3. ^ Robert S. Wistrich, Who's who in Nazi Germany, p. 177
4. ^ Robert S. Wistrich, Who's who in Nazi Germany, p. 177
5. ^ M. Zimmermann, Die deutschen Juden 1914-1945, p. 32
6. ^ M. Hambrock, Die Etablierung der Aussenseiter. Der Verband nationaldeutscher Juden 1921-1935, p. 590ff.
7. ^ N. Stoltzfus, Resistance of the heart. Intermarriage and the Rosenstrasse protest in Nazi Germany, p. 315
8. ^ Sarah Ann Gordon, Hitler, Germans, and the "Jewish question", p.47
9. ^ Sarah Ann Gordon, Hitler, Germans, and the "Jewish question", p.47
10. ^ Books: Vicious Circle Time Magazine Monday, Dec. 21, 1936
11. ^ Robert S. Wistrich, Who's who in Nazi Germany, p. 177
12. ^ F. R. Nicosia, Zionism and anti-semitism in Nazi Germany, p. 118ff
13. ^ F. R. Nicosia, Zionism and anti-semitism in Nazi Germany, p. 118ff

Further reading

• Gordon, Sarah Ann (1984). Hitler, Germans, and the "Jewish question". Princeton: Princeton University Press. ISBN 0-6911-0162-0. 
• Hambrock, Matthias (2003). Die Etablierung der Aussenseiter. Der Verband nationaldeutscher Juden 1921-1935. Köln: Böhlau. ISBN 3-4121-8902-2. (German)
• Nicosia, Francis R. (1996). Zionism and anti-semitism in Nazi Germany. New York: W. W. Norton. ISBN 0-3930-3904-8. 
• Stoltzfus, Nathan (1982). Resistance of the heart. Intermarriage and the Rosenstrasse protest in Nazi Germany. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-2977-8109-X. 
• Wistrich, Robert S. (1982). Who’s who in Nazi Germany. London: Weidenfeld and Nicolson. ISBN 0-2977-8109-X. 
• Zimmermann, Mosche (1997). Die deutschen Juden 1914-1945. München: Oldenbourg. ISBN 3-4865-5080-2. (German)