Germans, Jews, and Antisemites: Trials in Emancipation

ISBN-13: 9780521846882 / Angielski / Twarda / 2006 / 311 str.

Shulamit Volkov

Opis

The ferocity of the anti-semitic Nazi attack upon the Jews took many by surprise. This book tries to explain why. The history of the Jews in modern Germany is usually told as the tale of outstanding individuals, completely immersed in German society and disproportionately contributing to its culture. This book focuses, however, on the story of "ordinary" German Jews, concerned not merely with being like other Germans, i.e. "assimilated," but with upward social climbing and achievements as well. Although they did not seek to abandon Judaism, they tried to reformulate and reinvent it to fit their newly upgraded status. Thus, despite continuous antisemitism, Germany "seemed" to accept the Jews on these terms until World War II.

Recenzje

'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

Spis treści

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.