A Question that Demands an Answer (August 11, 1933)
A Question that Demands an Answer (August 11, 1933)
Source : Juedische Rundschau , 11 August 1933, cited in a sourcebook edited by Avraham Margaliot, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, 1972.
…Destruction of the form of Jewish life that had existed in Germany until now, without anything to replace it thus far, obviously prompts much contemplation about how the future may look. The new German State is still in its formative stages. After the leaders of the revolution declared that the revolution had ended, and after organisations and groups that had sprouted during the revolution were gradually liquidated, a new normality was attained, allowing a reshaping of the institutions of state and society. We are at the beginning of a new phase in German life, and everyone is united in the wish that the external conditions will be created which will allow for the rebuilding of the country. German Jewry will also have to find its place in this new unity. The novelty of this situation obviously leads to all kinds of speculation about the future status of German Jewry. A part of National Socialist public opinion declares unequivocally that there is no room for Jews in Germany! However, there is no doubt that after the problem is studied calmly, this point of view cannot possibly win out. After all, even if we disregard the harsh fate of the individuals affected, it is self-evident to everyone that a population of half a million cannot be obliterated in one stroke without plunging the entire social body into chaos. One thing is definitely clear to everyone: the number of German Jews will decline in the very near future. Irrespective of the fact that statistics show a numerical decline in the German population because of a deficit in natural increase, a large proportion of Jews will undoubtedly be forced to emigrate. This is true especially with respect to the youth. If people who count in Germany opine that such an emigration is desirable, it should be hoped that the government of Germany would lend this matter its support; this will make it much easier. However, despite the decrease of its population, Jews will still have to remain in Germany, and the state must certainly not be interested in depriving these people of the possibility of supporting themselves honestly, or in prodding them toward nihilism in any other way. The status of this Jewish society will of necessity be different from that of Jews in liberal or democratic countries, because the status of Jews always depends on the form of government and the conceptual world that underlies the form of governance of every country in which they live. The National Socialist state is built on the principle of race, and we have already discovered from reliable sources that the Citizenship Law ( Reichsbuergergesetz ), soon to be issued, will create a distinction between State citizens ( Reichsbuerger ) and State subjects ( Reichsangehoeigen ) - a distinction already proposed by Adolf Hitler in his book Mein Kampf . The national character ( der voelkische Charakter ) of the state requires the banishment of Jews from white-collar echelons ( Beamtentum ) and high-ranking positions in culture. We Jews are saddened by this, since we believe that there are Jews who have much to offer the Fatherland in these functions. However, we would be divorced from reality and practicality if we failed to understand that this is a decisive, basic principle of the new State. For the sake of this principle, the State will even forfeit the knowledge and talent of its citizens, insofar as they are of different nationality, by removing them from their civil-service positions. Therefore, if we examine the question of the Jews' cultural activity in Germany from this point of view, we consider it self-evident that even the state must have an interest in sanctioning this activity within a framework of Jewish life, so that the potential cultural energy of the Jewish population will be expressed along the appropriate channels. If the State does not recognise the Jews as legitimate bearers of German culture, it is certainly not interested in seeing the Jewish population become cultureless, unaware untermenschen . Since the racial doctrine is being applied very stringently, we should take into account the banishment of Jews from the civil service and German cultural life, along with a perceptible diminution of their presence in high-ranking intellectual vocations. The situation with regard to economics is totally different. Even those who do not deny the significance of the racial factor or the connection between national-racial…life and cultural complexion - not to mention the biological aspect, in which the significance is blatantly evident - must admit that application of the racial doctrine in economic life is dubious in very many ways. The rather sensitive mechanism of the economy has rules of its own, which, until now, have always been stipulated on the basis of quality and output. Furthermore, Aryans and non-Aryans co-operate so extensively, especially in large enterprises, that the introduction of the same distinction in this field may create the very embodiment of chaos. The introduction of racial considerations in competitive economic life always leads to the boycott weapon. A boycott is above all a two-edged sword, and fair-minded economists always reject it without considering against whom it may be aimed... ... We therefore believe that the integration of the Jews of Germany, under the principles of the National Socialist State must be effected in such a fashion that in return for banishment of the Jews from the fields of life shaped by the national-racial doctrine, they be given an autonomous field of their own. Even Jews should be given appropriate latitude in economic life. Not only are the Jews of Germany preoccupied by the question of how the Jewish Question in Germany will eventually be solved. The attention of all of world Jewry is focused on Germany. One should not infer from this that Jews in other countries intend to protest Germany's Jewish policies simplistically, by staging hollow protests. In fact, they are looking forward anxiously to the formulation of a new historical model. German Jewry is currently a test case, so to speak, for the Jewish question in general. It is here that the problem of the Jews has been revealed in its full fury. People are asking: What will be done to answer this question? . . . The Jewish question has been elevated to a prominent place on the agenda. To confront it, there is need for a new initiative, a bit of generosity, courage, and unsullied desire. The Jews cannot cope with this task alone, but by demonstrating their very willingness to marshal all of their strength to arrive at a constructive solution, a great deal is accomplished.
