I 1.

liveluskn confirmed, i yzz i $24

We Hcc ngtiin llnil I lie 1) 1) 1' was adamant in its rejection o f antiNemiliwii More imporlaul hi ill, 1 lie parly never failed to comment on the spin ions ('lainm made by nu iM ls I hat the jew s were foreign bodies in the < icmian polily, who were unable lo assimilate because o f their supposedly iilirn blood Th is was nil the more remarkable, given its poor showing in holli clecltons, In May the 1) 1) 1* received 4.5 per cent, in December 4.1. Iln bomh oih rivals lo the right, by contrast, won 26.8 and 24.9 per cent ri'speclively.1115 Protecting or defending the Jew s was hardly popular in 11)24, bill the I )I )P in Diisseldorf remained convinced that volkisch antiSemitism was an evil that had to be destroyed. Th is was certainly not the case for the German Peoples Party, which continued to espouse conservative i f not reactionary policies, as the following description indicates: It [the D V P] fights under the old colours o f black-white-red. It hopes for the re-emergence o f German power and greatness under a German Volkskaisertum . . . Our battle cry remains the same: First the fatherland, then the party. 106 Because the D V P felt com pelled to support the nationalist cause whenever necessary, it often ex cused right-wing terrorism, like Rathenaus murder, as an understandable outcome o f Germ anys dismal state. T he city council member Kempes, for example, remarked that it was too early to say whether right-wing elements were responsible for Rathenaus murder,107 while the Dusseldorfer Zeitung condemned the wicked act but intimated that others had more to gain from it than the volkische Alordbuben in their youthful immaturity :108 One ought to be doubly careful with suspicions in these excited times so as not to stir up class hatred. After all it is possible that certain foreigners have acted as agitators in order to provoke disorder and confusion in Germany and then to fish in troubled waters. 109 Against this, the Dusseldorfer Nachrichten admitted that anti-Semitism had played at least some part in the assassination o f Rathenau. T he paper,
105 B . Briicher et al., Dokwnenlalion zur Geschichte der Shull Diisseldorf. Diisseldorfwahrend der Weimarer Republik i g i g - i g j j . Qiiellensammlung (D iisseldorf, 1985), 194. T h e D V P gained around 1 1 p er cent in both elections, the D N V P 16 in M ay and 14 per cent in D ecem ber. 106 S t A D X X I 3 1 1 election leaflet M ay 1924. A police report on right-wing groups in Elberfeld included the D V P : H S tA D Reg. D iiss. 16765, p. 446. In Essen form er D V P m embers were behind attempts to form a local N S D A P organization: H S tA D Reg. Diiss. 1 5 7 1 7 Polizeiprasident Essen, 14 .6 .19 22. 107 H S tA D Reg. Diiss. 16894, Diisseldorfcr Zeitung o f 26.6.1922. 108 Z)Z, 2 .7 .19 2 2 editorial. 109 Ibid., 2 5 .6 .19 2 2 . An editorial on the following day put this in similar terms: Both the policy o f fullfilment and dem ocracy will regain the initiative as a result o f this crazy a c t . . . while the right-w ing cause will suffer irreparable damage.

Exclusion confirmed, igzaz..ig 24 which was supportive o f the national Right (D V P, D NVP), mentioned how the foreign ministers selflessness and personal inviolability lind been depreciated by anti-Semitic politicians;110 the paper also argued tlint the main motive for Rathenaus murder was the belief that (lie latter had done too little to reverse the effects o f the Versailles Treaty.111 On the whole, the D V P expressed considerable sympathy (or (lie volkisch movement. As was the case with the Frankischer Kurin in Nuremberg, the press highlighted the patriotism o f the Nn/,is, and ignored other aspects o f National Socialism which were hardly appealing to respectable burghers fearful o f violence and radicalism. 'I his was especially true during the H itler-Ludendorff trial. The Dmeltlor/er Zeitung , for example, judged that only the enemies o f Germany would benefit from such acts o f Selbstzerfleischung: Th e demolition o f a number o f public figures; the destruction o f the valuable fruit s o f national recruit ment; hatred between German people, who belong together for good or ill; smirking Schadenfreude by all our socialist enemies." 2 The Diisseldorfer Nachrichlen , moreover, compared the attempted coup with the revolutionary upheaval o f 19 18 /19 , and conceded that at least Hitler was o f German stock, whereas his critics, those literary figures who emigrated from Austria , 113 were wrong to assume that they had the right to discuss matters dear to most Germans. T h e paper also described the advocates o f a harsh sentence as guardians o f Zion (Zionswachlcr),1'* who lacked empathy for the national and patriotic convictions of the so- called traitors, who have become guilty because they loved their fatherland perhaps too much with their hearts . . . There may be groups who, like Shyloek, prefer to maintain up pearances, but they are advised to be cautious and to quietly respect ( icrman sensibilities [das deutsche GefiihJ] . '1 5 T h is anti-Semitic bias, although veiled and indirect, was repealed in the run-up to the May Reichstag elections. As so often before, the SI'I > was the party of Sklarz und Parvus-Helphand, the partys nouveaux riches, 116 but the D V P also professed to be the truly volkisch party, 11' and concluded that Germany belonged to the Germans: No flooding through
110 D N , 2 5 .6 .19 2 2 . 111 Ibid., 2 7 .6 .19 2 2 editorial. 112 D Z, 6.4 .19 24 D er Prufstein . See also n .4 .19 2 4 D ie Q uittung . Unfbrtunim ly, 1 tic Diisseldorfer Zeitung did not appear during and immediately after the H itler Putsch. 113 D N , 2 .3 .19 2 4 Ein Ruckblick . See also 24.4.19 24 Schuld und Siiline . 114 Ibid., 30 .3.19 2 4 Ein R iickbiick . 115 Ibid., 1.4 .19 2 4 D as U rteil des Volksgerichts . 1,6 D Z , 2 .4 .19 2 4 Z w ei G arnituren. 117 S tA D X X 3 1 1 election leaflet M ay J9 24 W er ist volkisch?

'till III) I I 'i I'l llll ll ll lh t Ill lli h I ' l l Mill I H l l l l l l l h t lllNCll III I' l lMl tl II J p W N ,''1 1 1 III in h 1111 > 1 1 1 i i 1 1 * i ll .1 mi , mi l | I mi wi lh I h i 1 1 ici lillthi p in n e d I v il t r u c e

iiililll Iiiii , Ilii I'i i| ill I*||| I \ lit i|ii il Im ii 11 hilil Inn wllll I hr I >NVP in 1 1 <
I " ............ i l i ' i " i * | ' i i l h . In I )IInni 'I(Iui I

1 ,1 1A lthough

I In I ) V I u s e d mil i

'ii mil ii ini'i|ii i \ Ii in In i|in 1111y in I lii. period I hull in ilic immcdiitle post H 'ii \ i ii > , ii -nil Ii mi in I miii Ii liiii)j;iiii|4<' lielplul, especially belore elections, ii ! I in Hi 11 > 11 Ii itiii I ii t |ml I i o n w I n I i c i I in n c c nil lorccs expelled from the 11mill i y which Iii 1111 Ii 1 1 I lie extent o f Germ an suffering. Although the I >VI* did not hnve to compete wilh the D N V P , therefore, it believed that I he Je w s remained hostile to the spiritual recovery o f the nation .1 2 1

I Jnlbrtunately, little material exists on the Dusseldorf Wirtschaftsbund ( Wirtschujhpartei), which received 8.4 per cent o f the vote in the May 1924 municipal elections.122 Hiittenberger has described the party as a party political lobby o f the Haus- und Grundbesitzervereins as well as o f the hotel and restaurant trade,121 and most evidence in the city archive sug gests that the middle-class interest group was more concerned with schools, streets, and sewers than with the intricacies o f party politics.124 Anti-Semitism, though perhaps not absent,125 was never an important weapon in the arsenal o f the movement.126 Finally, the WB occasionally received favourable coverage from the Lokalzeitung; the Nuremberg Wirtschafispartei, on the other hand, would have neither received nor wanted such coverage from a paper owned by a progressive Je w .127 In short, while hardly any documents survive to elucidate the approach to the Jewish question, we may safely conclude that the issue was o f minor concern to the party in Dusseldorf.
118 S tA D X X 3 1 1 D V P pamphlet attacking the volkisch parties. Another passage read; T h e anti-Sem itic Semiimperator (19 19 ) tried to prove that the Hohenzollern were contami nated with Jew ish blood [verjudet]. T h e Germ an Peoples Party rejects with much indigna tion such a mean disparagement o f the House o f Hohenzollern by the volkisch 1,9 D Z , 2 8 .4.19 24 D er Sinn der Reichstagswahl . 120 Gem ein, D N V P , 37. 121 See D N , 2 3 .1 1 .1 9 2 4 (M orgen) Ein Riickbiick . 122 Briicher, Dokimientation , 194. 123 Hiittenberger, Diisseldorf, 36 2-3. 124 S tA D X X I V 1 1 1 7 . See also Franke, N S D A P , 33. 125 S tA D X X I 2 3 1 election leaflet D ecem ber 1924: D o everything to destroy the D D P , the party o f international capital, and its deadly influence. See also S tA D Plakatsammlung M appe 16 D rei peinliche Fragen , where the W B calls the D D P the party o f international bank capital . Still, these are the only examples among nearly forty leaflets and eight posters. 126 See S tA D Plakatsam m lung 16 M it H itler und M ussolini? : T h e National Socialists continue to fight the departm ent stores, so far as they are in Jew ish hands, while Christian department stores like Peters in Cologne enjoy their sympathy. An economic analysis, however, m ust apply the same standards to all large-scale enterprises o f the retail trade. F or the Wirtschafispartei and anti-Sem itism , see M artin Schumacher, Mitle/standsfronl und Republik. D ie Wirtschafispartei Reichspartei des deutschen Mittelslandes i g i g - i g j j (D usseldorf, 19 72), 2 1 , 4 8 -9 , 55; Pulzer, Slate, 247. 127 Hiittenberger, Diisseldorf, 363.

Exclusion confirmed, 19 2 2 -19 2 4 TIk* i)N V F , o f course, believed the Jewish question to be no small mill lei', bill it central problem to be solved i f Germany was to regain her losl pride. Following the Rathenau murder, for example, the D N VP tried to distance itself from the Mordbuben, but maintained that it was jus! as bad how this crime . . . was exploited by political agitators .'** In the aftermath o f Rathenaus death the party continued to call for the purging o f Jew s from influential positions,129 but following the Ruhr occupation nationalist organizations were severely restricted.130 What is more, the Diisseldorf D N VP seems to have rejected the extremism o f volkisch radi cals like von Graefe and Wulle, as a letter by its leader, D r H. EUenbeck, to Kuno G ra f von Westarp suggests: Th is boastful nationalism is the superficial bawl which has caused our demise . . . We have here in the occupied western border areas [Grenzmark] a strong awareness o f national feeling [Nationalgefiihl\. However, we reject its exaggerated and boorish manifestations, o f which M r Wulle is the prototype. 111 Finally, the D N V P decided to concentrate more on questions o f educa tion in this period, partly because it felt obliged to assist the Protestant Church, and partly because of the danger involved in keeping too high a profile at a time when other volkisch groups were being dissolved. Prior to the M ay 1924 Reichstag elections, however, the party recap tured the initiative, focusing on the Wirtschaftsbund, '32 but also giving prominence to the racist agenda: the struggle for the D N V P was still one against the corrosive spirit o f Jew ry in all areas .133 Moreover, a few' months later the party turned against the S P D , a move intended to unite the middle classes behind it ;134 this was also one reason for reasserting IInpartys volkisch credentials.135 In short, between 1922 and 1924 the right wing nationalists upheld their racist message, although in comparison to earlier periods the D N V P was more interested in combating Jewish influence than creating a purely German society.
128 Niederrheinische Bole, 26.6.11122 W er hat Sch u ld . 129 Ibid., 1 4 . to. 1 922 Deutschnationale W ege . 130 G em cin, D N V P , 30. T h e French disbanded (he Sla h llii'hi, ill'.1 / h "> V OJJiziersbund, and the Reichskticgerbund Kyjjhduser. T h e D N V P had already sulli red in il autumn o f 1922. See the letter by EUenbeck to W estarp in St A D X X I 339; tlim 1 > <i<11111 1 now we Germ an Nationals haven t been allowed to hold a meeting. Our iiem;|iii|>'1 n forbidden, including the Kreuzzeitung.' 131 S tA D X X I 3 3 9 ,1 4 .1 1 . i9 2 2 . Von Westarp became leader o f the D N VI* ill M iu ili "1 " he was generally considered a moderate in his party. 112 Gem ein, D N V P , 35. 133 Niederrheinische Bote, 5 .4 .19 2 4 Advertisem ent D eutsche Manner mid I l'nm iil' Si < also S tA D X X 3 3 1 H andbill M it echtem deutschen Volkstum gegen Judcnuim 11ml jiidischem Parlamentarismus! 134 G em ein, D N V P , 37. 135 Ibid.

liviiiision coii/innt'il, i < )j j /<./

T o end o ur b ricl survey ol ilie I roloNlimt boiii'Kcoisic 1 in Diisseldorf, we need In look nl rlie i cuel ion o f die ( iliurch lo I lie above events in this period.

lnii'it'Nlln(tly enough, llm SoiiHtiitfsblntt was now much more cautious limn alter du win, vvlii'ii m eiM in w iin ii predominant aspect o f ils stance on dir Jew illi i|u e N lio n '. In the years 1922 4, only live articles touched on die issue, inosl ol which revealed a slight shift in perception 011 part o f the Protestant weekly. T he kathcnau murder, for example, was a vile act, since the foreign minister w a s. . . the most a b le member in the current government .1,6 During the trial o f the suspected assassins, the paper commented that it is right o f the supreme court to warn against a certain kind o f anti-Semitism. We can only hope that people will soon differenti ate between German -volkisch and anti-Semitic.137 T o be sure, the paper had nothing against other kinds o f anti-Semitism, as long as they did not threaten the peace o f D iisseldorfs respectable citizens. Thus, in the annual report o f the district synod Jew s were blamed for socialisms hatred o f religion,118 and a few months later Pastor Harney welcomed Gustav von ICahrs expulsion o f Ostjuden from Bavaria, who have implanted themselves to everyones detriment.139 T h is approach was further evident in the main article on the Hitler Putsch. Like the Dusseldorfer Nachrichten, the Sonntagsblatt declared Hit ler and Ludendorff true patriots, who could have performed great deeds, i f they had had patience and had shown discipline. We sincerely regret the loss o f these men .140 What we have, in short, is an acceptance o f volkisch values without its ugly concomitants (i.e. radicalism): by embracing everything volkisch, the Church took Jew-hatred for granted. When the Sonntagsblatt distinguished between anti-Semitism and Germandom, therefore, it implied that Jew s should keep to themselves so that the Nazis would not feel provoked into acts o f violence and bloodshed.

C A T H O L IC IS M

Before 1922 the Centre Party in Diisseldorf complained o f racism within the ranks o f the far Right, but also let it be known that Jew s were involved
136 S.B, 2 .7 .1 9 2 2 Zeitschau . 137 Ibid., 2 2 .10 .19 2 2 Zeitschau . 138 Ibid., 17 .6 .19 2 3 Jahresbericht. I3? Ibid., 1 1 . 1 1 . 1 9 2 3 Zeitschau . T hroughout the early 1920s Bavaria attempted, usually in vain, to expel Eastern Jew s from its territory. See, for example, S. Adler-Rudel, Ostjuden in Deutschland. 18 8 0 -19 4 0 . Zugleich eine Geschichte der Organisational, die sie betreutcn (Tubingen, 1959), 1 1 5 and S . E . Aschheim , Brothers and Strangers. The East European Je w in German and German Jew ish Consciousness, 18 0 0 - 19 2 3 (M adison, W is., 1982), 24 2-3. 140 Ibid., 1 8 .1 1 .1 9 2 3 Zeitschau .

Exclusion confirmed, 1922 - / 92./ in revolutionary activities which harmed the moral fibre of the nation. As early as April 1922, however, a growing number o f D usseldorfs Catholics stood more firmly in the Republican camp, fully supporting the policies of the lieich government under Joseph W irth.141 Rathenaus murder caused anger and outrage among Centre support crs. A protest march attracted many thousands o f demonstrators, and the speakers showed how much the party had learned in the aftermath of Erzbergers violent death.142 At one such event, the secretary o f the workers union, Theodor Drosser, explained that the Jew was more Christian than many a Christian , while the party leader and former member o f the Pan-Gennan League, Clemens Adams, opined: he was a Jew , but we Centre people have never disparaged a noble and able person because he was a Jew . Th is kind o f foolish anti-Semitism we have never supported. 143 Although Adamss words entailed the assumption that Jew s who dis played contemptible behaviour were even more vulnerable because they were Jew s than their equally criminal Gentile neighbours (this, indeed, was the crux o f Centre attacks on the revolutionaries of 19 18 /19 ), his message was quite clear: Catholics condemned recent manifestations o f volkisch hysteria and defended the accomplishments o f the Republic.14'1 In particular, working-class groups within the Centre condemned the anti-Semitism o f those who had had nothing in common with the murderers: Rathenau also died as a Jew, although he was a better German than many a bawlor, although he acted more Christian than many a Christian. Only too many may feel guilty in their hearts for having contributed to the stupid [bidden ] Jew-bniling, without realizing that every mean word intensified the atmosphere of hatred, until it culminated in this terrible murder.14 5 The Hitler Putsch occasioned ridicule and bitterness, but: on the whole the Centre Party was more concerned with the Ruhr crisis than wilh th< events in Munich. T he Tagehlatt, for example, commented that il was
111 S tA D X X I 9 G eneral m eeting o f 22.4 .19 2 2 . Also W . Stum p, Geschichte und (h gu n iu tion der Zentrumspartei in Dusseldorf 1 0 1 7 - 1 9 3 3 (D usseldorf, 19 7 1) , 47: A majority in llx D usseldorf Centre approved o f . . . W irths course. T h e Centre politician Win Ii luul u acted to the Rathenau m urder by proclaiming: T h ere stands the enemy, where Mcphiwo drips his poison into a peoples wounds . . . T h at enemy stands on the R ight. 1 iil/cr, S la h 242. 142 S tA D X X I 9. Erzberger was killed by members o f the Organisation ('.omul in AU(tM 19 2 1. H e had been exposed to virulent attacks by the far R ight for his role in the Reichsl.a|! Peace Resolution o f 19 17 and his later tax reform s as Finance M inister o f an SIM M x n lrr coalition. 1,3 Ibid. m See Stum p, Geschichte, 48 n. 183. 145 Aujivdrts, 30.6.1922.

12 (>

Dormancy and difference, / 925-/929

failure o f both conservative and middle political parties effectively to integrate their supporters (and themselves) into the Weimar system .2 On the other hand, it must be said that many perceived the years 19 2 5 9 to be less divisive than any other period during the brief existence o f the Weimar Republic. Although this undoubtedly raised expectations that could not be met at a later stage and thereby may have contributed to a further crisis o f confidence in the system the so-called Golden Tw en ties was a period o f fewer tensions o f the kind experienced after the Revolution or during the Ruhr occupation. This was reflected in both domestic and foreign affairs: in the former area, housing programmes and unemployment insurance benefited millions o f German workers; in the latter domain Stresemann led the country back into the international community. T he Jew ish question was also not as hotly debated as in previous years. Tw o instances, however, deserve special attention. In 1925 Julius Barmat, a Russian Jew with close connections to Social Democracy, was arrested when it became known that his company had been receiving loans from the Bank o f Prussia and the German Postal System without sufficient information regarding his financial credibility. Despite rumours that high-ranking officials in the S P D had been implicated, including the Jewish leader o f the partys delegation in the Prussian Landtag, Ernst Heilmann, the final verdict o f M arch 1927 dismissed these claims; Barmat was found guilty o f bribery and sentenced to eleven months imprison ment.3 For many onlookers, however, the scandal surrounding Barmat disclosed the moral corruptibility o f the system, and reminded them of the early months after the war, when such shady business deals had been common practice. A potentially more damaging case was one involving the Sklarek broth ers in 1929. T h e owners o f a clothing factory in Berlin, the Sklareks had managed to secure a contract for the various types o f uniforms required by the city. More important, the brothers had also devised a method for receiving payments from the city treasury for deliveries which were never made. Tw o o f the brothers had joined the S P D to further their ends, and it eventually came to light that a number o f city officials had received
2 R . Bessel, W hy did the W eimar R epublic Collapse?, in: I. K ershaw (ed.), Weimar: Why did German Democracy F a il? (London, 1990), 13 3 . On the difficulties o f finding common ground among liberals, who were often dependent on special interest groups, see D . Langewiesche, Liberalismus in Deutschland (Frankfurt, 1988), 249. For a similar argument emphasizing the contradiction between the demands o f democracy and the needs o f capital ism , see D . Abraham , The Collapse ofthe Weimar Republic. Political Economy and Crisis (New York, 1986), X V . F or a more general work, see E . K olb, The Weimar Republic (London, 1988), 6 6 -7 . 3 E . Eyck, A History o f the Weimar Republic. Volum e I. From the Collapse o f the Empire to Hindenburgs Election (Cam bridge, M ass., 1962), 329.

Dormancy and difference, ig2j~~ig2g

127

bribes from them. In particular, the fact that M ayor Boss had bought a coat from one o f the Sklareks for a price which even a rank amateur would have recognized as unrealistically low,4 hurt the reputation o f municipal politics. Again jew s were involved, and although the public was more concerned with the reliability ol'state employees, right-wing parlies used the scandal to highlight Jewish infiltration o f Germanys social and political life. While it seems doubtful that these affairs could have substantially strengthened the prospects o f National Socialism,5 they do allow us lo examine the course o f the Jewish question in these years. What will emerge in this chapter, then, is a rather mixed picture, one which iIins trates both the continuity o f Weimar history and the varieties o f local and regional experience. By and large, anti-Semitic activities were suspended in this period, when the economy showed signs o f recovery and ideology was replaced with pragmatism in local politics. However, there remained, especially in Nuremberg, an undercurrent o f hostility to Jew ry which was the result o f previous efforts to isolate the Jew s and which could erupt at any moment. Hermann Brochs image o f starched shirts, quoted at the beginning o f this chapter, was the sense o f bourgeois tranquillity and repose that came with improvement o f the economy and greater domestic peace. These starched shirts, however, were not enough to hold back the forces that had been unleashed after the war, even where dormancy (;is in Diisseldorf) seemed to be pronounced enough to make a difference What was missing was a democratic consensus independent o f temporary recuperation. What was missing was the equality o f the Jewish citi/.en.

N U REM BERG

The municipal elections o f 7 December 1924 once again revealed the strength o f Nurembergs far Right. Streichcrs list won six seats, die Volksgemeinschaft Schnarz-W eifi-Rot , which consisted o f the Volkisclwr Block , the D N V P , and the National Liberals (D VP), received nine, and the Wirtschaftspartei (Baycrischer Mitlehlamkbuml) four. While (he SPD gained twenty seats, the combined vote for the D D P , Christlichcr Volksdicnst, B V P, and K P D amounted to just eleven.6 At: first it seemed unlikely that Luppe could muster the necessary support for the smooth
' E, Eyclt, A History o f she Weimar Republic. Volume II. From the Locarno Conference to H illers Seizure ( if Power (Cam bridge, M ass., 1963), 2 5 1. 11 , Luppe, M em Lelieil (Nurem berg, 11)77), 180. 11 . I InnscJiel, Qberbiirgermeister Hermann Luppe. Ntirnlrerger Kommunalpolilik in iter Wei water Repu b lit (Nurem berg, 19 77), 2 3 1.

134

Dormancy and difference, / 925-/929

racc . . . They all became fat and round in front with bent horns .. . Kill the blowflies, slaughter the worms, if recovery, if strength, if freedom is to return.4 2 Four years later, the Sklarek scandal once again occasioned bitter attacks,41 hut this time politics itself was blamed for the malaise. Since even D N V P officials were implicated in the affair, the Wirtschafispartei spoke o f an epidemic which was eating away the last remnants o f decency in the country. T h is idea was also put forward in the run-up to the 1928 Reichstag elections. Now the partys diagnosis sounded like pre-war complaints about the dangers o f socialism and democracy: That is the crucial question [Schicksalfrage] o f our day, when socialism and alien [.landfremde] capitalist ideas are gaining ground in order to detroy' the remains o f German Wesen, German Art, and German Sitte .,44 It seems likely, therefore, that anti-Semitism was no longer regarded as a means to attract voters: no one could outperform the Nazis at their own game, and the WP understood quite well that any attempt at doing so was doomed from the start. What is more, after 1925 the Jewish question itself became less o f an issue because it was generally recognized that everyone to the right o f the D D P accepted (or at least pretended to accept) volkisch ideals. From the Frdnkischer Kurier to the Christlich-sozialer Volksdienst, there was no mention o f the fact that the Jew s were being excluded from this consensus, and in the light o f earlier pronouncements, no one ever expected the Wirtschafispartei to turn philo-Semitic in the foreseeable future. T h e Protestant Church in Nuremberg likewise treated the subject with greater circumspection after 1924. This had already been the case earlier, when the clergy relied on the political parties to take up the question, but now it involved deeper problems concerning Christianity and the volkisch cause. What we therefore encounter in the years 19 25-9 is a strange mixture o f racism and Christian ethics, an unsuccessful attempt to combine the two and yet to preserve their distinctness. On the one hand, then, we have articles condemning the influence of Eastern Jew ry and the Jewish press ,45 while on the other we are con fronted with references to Christs Jewish background, the sacredness o f
4* Niirnberger Biirgerzcitung, 13 .2 .19 2 5 SchmeiBfliegen! 41 Sec, for exam ple, the issues o f 2 6 .10 .19 2 9 Wochensehau; 3 0 .10 .19 2 9 W ieder ein ( m li/icr; und 1 .1 1 .1 9 2 9 D er Aufstieg der Sklnreks . 41 Ibid., 2 1.4 .19 2 8 Wl* appeal. See also numerous other articles in the Biirgerzeilimg o f April and M ay 1928, T h e 5 ,5 ,19 2 8 isHtie reminded its renders that Bela Kuhn fji'cJ was originiillv llela K0I111.
" l i v G N , 9.8,19,1$ Ann K in lie un d W e ll'; 4.7 192ft K iiiu Is c Iiih i; 27.3.1 9 2 7 'A u k W rit m ill I .cIm'ii'

Dormancy and difference, 7925-7929 the Old Testament, and G o d s eternal mercy.46 This ambivalence was particularly apparent in a series o f programmatic essays on (he Jewish question . Arguing that the Nuremberg community was especially keen on the matter, the Evangelisch.es Gemeindehlatt offered a comprehensive discussion o f the problem, o f anti-Semitism from an official point of view .47 In all three articles we find numerous accusations against the Jews, most o f which were widely believed at the time. Jew s were alleged to be creative only when it was to their advantage; their influence extended to all areas o f social and political power; and they held Germany hostage to views and ideas which corrupted the moral fabric o f the nation. Jewish ideas con tained something corrosive [Zerfressendes], biting \Aetzendes\, caustic \AuJiosendes]\ but were never contemplative, constructive, productive. It was therefore absolutely essential to bring about the inner immunization o f our people against all corrosive and destructive, un -German and un-Christian influences . T h e articles also dealt with the racial aspect o f the Jewish, question . According to the Protestant weekly, the real problem facing Germany was the racial difference between the Jew s and other peoples, and in spile o f statements to the contrary, nothing could change this fact o f life. Thus mixed marriages were to be avoided, as were attempts at an Eindeutschung des Judentums. But the emphasis on racial differences, the paper con tinued, should not lead to a crude race materialism, for the aim o f all Christians was still the racial improvement o f the Jew s through con version. The fight, in other words, was to be a noble one, free from inflammatory talk, and worthy o f a Christian people: But he [die Wandering jew] should not be able to say, once he reaches his final destination, that he hasnt passed through Christian countries. We shall behave in such a way that, when God lifts the curse from him and he may rest in peace, lie will want to seek his home among those who greeted him with kindness, bore him with self-denial, strengthened him through hopeful patience, gladdened him through true love, and. saved him through constant intercession. T h e Protestant Church in this period displayed bolli a sense of'comci'ii about the implications o f racist thouglil (which in many ways was a
Ibid., 9 .8 .19 2 8 A llcs Tesliinn iil (.iollci W m riT; > 1 8 19 J/ '/u n i ,Ni>nnlil|i Im n K' vvmi prlimirily lliere in redeem I In- Ji'wtnli run '< iml h'vciiIh liiu yliirv hi mi (il)Hlillille people, till' imiNl rtwlnliml n mil el Sliltl I. IIII Invlnli run I In Icnm v 1111111 hit 1 In' eiirllilv 11 inn 1 1 , ilie 1n 1 iin I IoiI' h niii|illl|li m l pmvi l' lf T ill! lirllcli'N w ere p rln lm l III linn 11 in / K |j I h i I l l u 1in ii muni ivi'i My I In tnillim n-iii

Gods mercy

1In d lri i im nl (In Im ill in in lliiii 1

136

Dormancy and difference, 19 25 -19 29

theologically motivated distaste o f right-wing extremism) and a prcdilec tion for volkisch doctrines. T o square the t wo remained an impossible task, and we are left with the awkward impression that the layman had to hate and love the Jew s at the same time. With all the propaganda against: them, however, the latter were well advised not to rely too heavily 011 the benign nat ure o f Christianitys missionary zeal.

CATH O LICISM

Political Catholicism, by contrast, was more cynical in its treatment of the Jewish question*. As in the years 1922-5, the B V P refused to commit itself to a specific line o f argument, so that we come across various responses to the problem o f anti-Semitism. On the whole, however, the Peoples Party showed little in the way o f sympathy for the Jews. T h e Bayerische Volkszeitung, for example, reported very sparingly 011 the Barmat scandal; in those rare instances when it: did, Eastern Jews figured as the main villains.4 8 During the Sklarek scandal, moreover, which again involved Centre politicians, the paper ridiculed Nazi connec tions with the baptized Je w D r Frenzel in order to contrast Streichers accusations o f other parties with his own behaviour.4 9 But the BV P also supported appeals that contained anti-Semitic undertones. Thus a leaflet opposing the expropriation o f the dynasties, which was co-signed by the B V P, included the following statement: T he planned expropriation law is called for by the following un-German persons: Ruczinski, Levi, Landsberger, Nathan, Katzenstein, Rosenfeld.50 In the run-up to elections, the Peoples Party was equally opportunis tic. In M ay 1928 the S P D was castigated for its support o f nonden ominational schools and the N S D A P for its irresponsible tactics, but the party never reproached the latter for its anti-Semitic platform. The Bauernbund, on the other hand, was unelectable because it had cooperated with the Je w Eisner in 19 18 .51 One year later, however, in a session o f the city council, the B V P s Nikolaus Sommer condemned Karl Holz o f the N S D A P for his constant racist remarks, since during the war members
18 B V , 2 2 .1.19 2 5 D er S u m p f speaks o f Eastern Galicians . . . . ( Ostgalizier) and imm igrated Eastern m oney-m akers . 49 Ibid., 10 .10 .19 2 9 Vom H itlerfreunde D r. Frenzel-Frankel. D er ehemals mosaische Parteibeamte der D eutschen Volkspartei befiihrwortete den Erzbergerm ord und verherrlichte den Rathcnaum ord . S l) C V-Zeitung, 2 3.7.19 2 6 , 397 Unlauteres K am pfm ittel . sl See, for, exam ple, B V , 19 .5 .19 2 8 Voi der grolfcn Entscheidung! B H S tA Abt. V F lg S g 58 2 0 .5 .19 2 8 D er Bauernbund als Totcngriibcr eincs freien Bauernstandes!

Dormancy and difference, i <j2$ i \>/n ol all denominations sacrificed their blood and life (or (lie Ciiinmn fatherland .52 Prior to the December 1929 municipal elections, (lie party look yet another approach. T h is lime it rejected all forms ol electoral alliances against Marxism or the Jew s, bul insisted Ihat it could do so only on the grounds lhat it had always fought both groups. The National Socialists, the B V P continued, had achieved nothing with I heir provocations and fanaticism: T h e lord mayor, whom one wanted to eliminate , is more firmly in control than before, the department stores haven t disappeared, and the influence o f Jew ry . . . has surely not diminished.5'1 I f the Peoples Party had little positive to say about the Jews, the Catholic weekly, Smnlags-l'Yiede , was even less forthcoming. In all eight articles touching 011 the problem o f ant i-Semitism, the paper was outspo ken in its opposition lo everything Jew ish , In February 1:925 it compared 1he Spanish Inquisition to the extermination o f workers, peasants, and the bourgeoisie under Sinowjew- Apfclbaum, Radck-Sobclsohn, Litwinoff Karfunkelslcin, Joffe Moses, and the other Jewish Sowjelhaupilingc \ 5 / 1 In October and December o f that year the paper warned all workers that only Jews gained from revolutionary upheaval, while they ended up being the Jew s vassals (Jndciiknec/ile): No, you arent the priests vassals [Pfaffenkneelite\, but . ,M li was the Jew s own fault, moreover, that the Nazis were attacking them during the campaign against the expropriation o f the dynasties, for among 1 lie six signatories o f the proposal. are no fewer than four Jews: Nathan, Levy, Katzenstein und D r Kuc/,insky .5 6 Finally, the Catholic weekly asked its readers to consider the likely out come o f continued squabbles within Christian society: Someone once made a joke about Meyerbeers opera The Huguenots: Catholics and Protestants beat each other while the Jew [derjfud] sets it to music \machl die Musik dam ]. Isn t il sad how Christians are at loggerheads - -to Ilie enjoyment of everyone elsc?:/ Whereas the B V P acted opportunistically, revealing its deep-scaled antipathies towards the Jew s, the Catholic Church in Nuremberg was even more hostile. All Ihis, however, was unrelated to the partys position in Nuremberg politics, where the B V P cooperated with Mayor Luppe
StA N C 7 / I X SRI* 450, 12.6,19 29 . S3 Staatsbibliothek MUnchen ,| 0 Bnvar. 3 1 5 7 v8 Baycrische Volkspartei und Gemeindepolitik. Ein Appcll /.u Urn N iiniberger Shulllatswahleri am 8. D ecem ber 19 29 . 114 S F , 2 2 .2 .19 2 5 Sch lag w oilc . 55 IbiU., 1 1 .10 .19 2 5 In RtilJInnU.; 2 4 .12 .19 2 5 D ie K irch e. 56 IbiU., 2 8 .3.19 2 6 l olitischc W ochenschau . 57 Ibid., 13 .3 .19 2 7 V0111 Kum pffcld tier K irch e . F o r Jew ish-sodalist* school teachers in Vienna, see the 7 .10 .19 2 8 issue under the heading Voni Erntefeld der K irch e .