The assimilated Jewish community in Germany, prior to World War II, has been described as "more German than the Germans".
Originally, the comment was a "common sneer aimed at people" who had "thrown off the faith of their forefathers and adopted the garb of their Fatherland".[1] The German assimilation, following The Enlightenment, was "unprecedented"[2]
The quote is sometimes ascribed to Chaim Weizmann.[3]
Following The Enlightenment, many European Jews regarded Germany as a particularly desirable place to live, "a place of refuge, in comparison to Russia and Romania" where antisemitism was extremely virulent and violent, and even France, where the Enlightenment had begun.[3] German Jews began to immerse themselves in German culture and the arts, playing a full and even leading role in society. By the twentieth century, the German Jews had reached a state of "Bildung & Besitz", ie cultivation and wealth.[3]
A notable example of this was Kurt Singer (born 1885, died in Terezin concentration camp, 1944), "a conductor, musician, musicologist, and neurologist".[4] Singer was described by his daughter as "More German than the Germans" - he earned an Iron Cross for his gallantry in World War I, was music editor for a Berlin newspaper and published research on music.[4]
Another cited example is Nikolaus Pevsner, who was "more German than the Germans" to the extent that he supported "Goebbels in his drive for “pure” non-decadent German art".[5] and was reported as saying of the Nazis (in 1933) "I want this movement to succeed. There is no alternative but chaos... There are things worse than Hitlerism".[5]