Germans, Jews, and Antisemites
Trials in Emancipation

This book explains why the ferocity of the Nazi attack upon the Jews took many by surprise.

Shulamit Volkov (Author)

9780521609593, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 24 July 2006

326 pages
22.9 x 15.2 x 1.7 cm, 0.44 kg

'Shulamit Volkov has produced more instructive pieces on the history of the German Jews than virtually any other historian. … her most recent book … deserves particular attention.' German Historical Institute London Bulletin

The ferocity of the Nazi attack upon the Jews took many by surprise. Volkov argues that a new look at both the nature of antisemitism and at the complexity of modern Jewish life in Germany is required in order to provide an explanation. While antisemitism had a number of functions in pre-Nazi German society, it most particularly served as a cultural code, a sign of belonging to a particular political and cultural milieu. Surprisingly, it only had a limited effect on the lives of the Jews themselves. By the end of the nineteenth century, their integration was well advanced. Many of them enjoyed prosperity, prestige, and the pleasures of metropolitan life. This book stresses the dialectical nature of assimilation, the lead of the Jews in the processes of modernization, and, finally, their continuous efforts to 'invent' a modern Judaism that would fit their new social and cultural position.

Part I. Interpreting the Danger-Signs: 1. Views from East and West
2. On self-hatred and self-criticism
3. Past shadows, present needs
Part II. Antisemitism as a Cultural Code: 4. Antisemitism Old and New
5. Functions and meaning
6. Norms and codes: two case studies
7. Comparing Germany with the French Republic
Part III. The Jewish Project of Modernity: 8. On minorities in the nation state
9. Climbing up the social ladder
10. Paradoxes of becoming alike
11. Jewish success in science
12. On the ambivalence of Bildung
13. Forces of dissimilation
14. Inventing tradition.

Subject Areas: Jewish studies [JFSR1], Second World War [HBWQ], The Holocaust [HBTZ1], 20th century history: c 1900 to c 2000 [HBLW], European history [HBJD]