The Germans: "An Anti-Semitic People.ΓÇ¥ - The Press Campaign After 9 November 1938
Source: Herbert Obenhaus , International conference: German Society's Responses to Nazi Anti-Jewish Policy 1933-1941, Yad Vashem, 10-13 February 1995.
The Ministry of Propaganda's argument to placate the German population had a realistic core: the suppression Jews in Germany did in fact trigger off anti-Semitic attitudes in the governments of other countries. In January 1939, the Foreign Office informed all diplomatic representatives of the Reich that in the Scandinavian countries, Holland and France, to where many German Jews had immigrated, "a significant increase of anti-Semitism could be noted." The Foreign Office was confident it could develop a political concept out of this situation. It generated the idea that in the future, an "international solution to the Jewish question" would be possible, which could begin from the mutual understanding among all peoples that the Jews pose a threat 29 . Anti-Semitism became an exportable item; the domestic anti-Semitic policy of the National Socialists expanded into a concept of world policy. In this regard, the work of the Ministry of Propaganda appears to have been meshed with foreign policy; in other words, domestic anti-Semitic activism would give German diplomacy a leading role in world policy.
However, the press conference of 17 November was dominated by ambivalence. A deliberate concession to the German population's hierarchy of values was made, thus recognising that anti-Semitism might have to assume a subordinate position in situations where values associated with property and order had been deviated from 30 . In the anti-Semitic perspectives of politics, however, no concessions were made. The National Socialists did not waiver from the basic idea that liberation from "Jewish rule" represented one of the central tasks of German politics, which was to be pursued on an equal level with the other main objectives of Germany's struggle for a hegemonic position within Europe. However, since this also required that the population's hierarchy of values be acknowledged, the use of violence - as in the pogrom of 9 November - was expressly ruled out. In future, the solution to the ΓÇ£Jewish questionΓÇ¥ would be sought by means of laws and ordinances. It was believed that by making this concession, the status of anti-Semitism could be secured against the possible reordering of the hierarchy of values.
III
Aside from the swaying of the press by the Ministry of Propaganda, a close look at the press activity of the NSDAP, which was conducted by the Reich news office of the NSDAP and its press service NSK , reveals some co-ordination between the two institutions, at least regarding the dates of publication of certain news items. For example, the day after the Ministry of Propaganda's press conference, the NSK published a special issue on the subject of "Judah's Debt of Guilt in Germany." It comprised thirty-nine pages and contained a plethora of suggestions for anti-Semitic accusations and attacks, which were in part identical with the press directives but contained independent elements as well 31 .
In an introductory article in its special issue, the NSK attempted to portray contemporary history as an uninterrupted series of attacks on the German people by Jews, which had caused embitterment to spread to such an extent, that a logical reduction of the tension can only be achieved by means of the total elimination of the Jews not only from politics, but also from the German economy and cultural life.' 32 Reminiscent of the Ministry of Propaganda's press conference, an array of stereotypes was used. Everywhere the Jews were presented as enemies of the Reich and of humanity. They were typical assassins, criminals and murderers; the henchmen of foreign powers who "stab in the back" ( Dolchstoss ); the covert rulers of the economy, culture and science; "separatists"; the architects of economic boycotts, the malicious agitators in German emigrant circles; black marketers, controllers of the press, destroyers of the German soul through modern literature. On the stage and on the screen, speculation over the lower instincts' 33 - Jews everywhere were described as undermining culture and morals. Individual social groups, for instance farmers, were portrayed as being suppressed by Jewish financial backers 34 .
The press service of the NSDAP was better at managing the routine and detailed press coverage of anti-Semitic topics. An example is their review of the book Bagatelles pour un massacre , written by the French anti-Semite Louis Ferdinand Céline, upon the publication of its German translation 35 . On the day before the ministry's press conference, the NSK had already raised a topic that was to gain significance for the foreign policy strategy of the National Socialists – namely the reserve with which many Jews who were driven out of Germany were admitted into foreign countries 36 . Other articles dealt with the financial circumstances of those Jews still living in Germany, circumstances, which were depicted as splendid 37 .
In comparison with the press conference of the Ministry of Propaganda, the articles of the party's press service reflect a somewhat different character, as seen in the openness with which they pronounced a more intense persecution of Jews for the future. True, Berndt had requested representatives of the press to always emphasise that for us, the problem of the Jews is naturally now going to be finally solved once and for all;' at the same time however, he declared that violent action had ended. In this regard, the special issue published by the NSK adopted an opposite standpoint, one that was knowingly meant to deviate from the Ministry of Propaganda's placating gesture. Under the headline "What did not work with kindness must work with harshness: The clear separation," the party's press service claimed that up until that point, the separation of the racially different Jews from the German people, also with the aim of spatial separation by means of migration,' had been conducted "in a strictly legal way.ΓÇ¥ The measures had been carried out in "as tolerable a way as possible.ΓÇ¥ However "this German position was not understood" and the German Jews had begun "to forget the seriousness of the situation." After the murders of Wilhelm Gustloff and Ernst vom Rath, "patience had come to an end," and "what remained unreachable in kindness" would now be regulated "with harshness and inconsiderateness." The policies regarding the Jews would be "mercilessly carried through.ΓÇ¥ 38 In fact, legal action was claimed to have guided the politics of the past; in contrast, a future policy of severe and merciless harshness was proclaimed. The NSK spoke openly about what had been avoided at the press conference. At the end of December, looking back at the "politics of justice," it was said that the year 1938 had brought forth the legal foundation for the complete elimination of the Jews from all areas of life of the German people.' 39
To assess how the anti-Semitic campaign was conducted in the provinces and states after 9November, one would have to analyse an extensive collection of material, including film and radio, and not least, the speeches at political assemblies 40 . For example, the series of lectures on "Judaism and the Jewish Question," presented in January 1939 in the main lecture hall of the University of Berlin by the Reich Institute for the History of a New Germany, are of central importance 41 . An exhibition called "The Wandering Jew," presented in Berlin and other towns, was also presumably related to the campaign 42 .
A complete investigation of the reactions to the press directives of 17 November would require extensive analytical work, which cannot be accomplished within the framework of this article. However, several important tendencies are discernible. The ministry soon realised that some regional and local newspapers were not able to carry out an information campaign in the form of a series of articles 43 . Indeed, many provincial newspapers did nto the directive "within the next ten daysΓÇ¥ as promptly as the ministry had desired. All the same, samples taken from local newspapers in north-western Germany show that they did comply with the ministry's directive, for instance the Stader Tageblatt 44 and the Helmstedter Kreisblatt 45 . In contrast, other newspapers - like the Achimer Kreisblatt - were unable to produce anything beyond short anti-Semitic news items 46 or aphorisms, like one of Martin Luther's comments on the Jews 47 . Instead of a series of articles, sometimes individual articles on topics suggested by the ministry were published 48 . Incidentally, many newspapers published articles on the stereotypical Jewish criminal, on the great number of Jewish millionaires, or on the "anti-Semitism of the others," 49 - topics that were meant to be discussed on a secondary level.
By making reference to local society and history, the anti-Jewish campaign in the regional organs of the press took on a special character. When the Stader Tageblatt published a report in a farming region on the underhanded and vulgar methods with which the Jew gets his hands on the farmer,' this of course carried a lot of weight. The article spoke of Jewish land speculation and Jewish food profiteers, affirming that in the World War, the Jews shattered the German nutritional economy in order to break Germany's power of resistance.' Thus it was not difficult for National Socialism to begin rebuilding on the rubble of the farming community, in particular during the years of inflation and the Great Depression 50 . Local news also confirmed the stereotype of the Jew as criminal 51 .
IV
Unlike the Ministry of Propaganda, regional newspapers did not restrict their anti-Jewish campaign to contemporary history. The Helmstedter Kreisblatt , for example, printed excerpts from medieval city chronicles indicating a separation of Jews from non-Jews and, further, the repeated acts of violence against Jews. "As is again the case today," Jewish physicians were not allowed to treat non-Jewish patients 52 . This newspaper attempted to portray the persecution of the Jews, as recorded in German cities in the Middle Ages, as a phenomenon of historical continuity that was common in medieval Europe, including England and France 53 . The Jews were also accused of having practised ritual murder.
In general, in the decentralised press campaign, reports written from a local historical perspective gained special importance. The Stader Tageblatt , for example, reprinted an ordinance passed in 1825 by the State Bailiff of Stade, which dealt with permitting Jews to marry and their right of residence. The wording of the ordinance was preceded by a short introductory remark that placed the stereotype of the "cunning Jew," who understood how to squeeze himself through the loopholes of the law, into a current context 54 . Regional history also furnished cases that were meant to clearly demonstrate the Jewish proclivity to crime. Many newspapers in the north-western area of Germany cited the robbery of the Golden Plaque, a particularly precious altar ornament that had been stolen by a band of thieves from Saint Michael's church in Luneburg, in 1698 and offered for sale in Hamburg by Jewish fences 55 . The Stader Tageblatt supplemented this news with a current report on the trial of a Jewish physician in Hamburg, and a brief report on "thirty Jewish millionaires,ΓÇ¥ also in Hamburg 56 .
Continuing to look at the course of the news campaign in the north-western area of Germany, the important role of a series of articles published at the end of 1938 by the Niedersaechsische Tageszeitung , the main organ of the NSDAP in Hanover, particularly stands out 57 . The author of the series, who pompously claimed to "present the first coherent account of the history of Judaism in Lower Saxony,ΓÇ¥ was Dr. Hans Mauersberg from the Gau Office of Racial Policy 58 . In the series, the details of German-Jewish history were put into a context that spanned centuries. This history had always been affixed the anti-Semitic interpretation that the German forefathers had no choice but to treat the Jews harshly, as they could not have otherwise held their ground against the Jewish claims to power. Mauersberg explained that in the twelfth and thirteenth centuries a large number of Jews had settled in the large and small cities of Lower Saxony, but that in the fourteenth and fifteenth centuries - as had already occurred in cities in the Rhineland - they were expelled in several phases. Mauersberg attributed this sequence of events to the resistance of the local population against Jews who were beginning to gain control over "Lower Saxony's economy." With the tone of voice of a storyteller skilled in conveying important lessons from the past, Mauersberg explained:
The people came to their senses and expelled the strangers from the country not only by means of their persecution, but also by means of state laws. They were kept away from commercial life and gradually also from trade by means of ordinances implemented by the community of guilds. ... At the onset of the sixteenth century, there was nothing left of the former Jewish positions of power in the cities of Lower Saxony.'
However, persecution and other restrictive measures were not successful in exterminating the Jews,' continued Mauersberg. Unbroken in their urge for conquest and inspired by an even stronger will to recapture territory once lost,' with the privileges granted the Jews by the princes governing the territory of Lower Saxony, in the seventeenth century they were allowed to resettle and to establish a regional rabbinate with its centre in the new town of Hanover. By the end of the eighteenth century, the Jews had again so much strengthened their positions, that these ... constituted the centres from which - in continuance of the emancipatory efforts of the nineteenth century - they would seize the decisive power of the people in the first third of the twentieth century.' With its ideals of equality and fraternity, the French Revolution had led the "German people" to accept the notion of "tolerating a new position of Jewish power within Germany's boundaries," and, upon enactment of the law of 30 September 1842 in the Kingdom of Hanover, taking a step towards emancipation. Mauersberg did recognise the general social movement that gave rise to this development; however, he stresses that within the framework of this movement the Jews had "worked for themselves." Starting out from their emancipation, the Jews then "lined up for their triumphal march to rule over the German people," in order to erect "the strongholds of their foreign rule" in the villages and cities, at the University of Goettingen, as well as "in the offices, department stores and administrative offices." These strongholds were not won back until the National Socialists stepped into power. Mauersberg summed up his series of articles by stating that "the up and down" of Jewish rule in Lower Saxony must be considered a warning for the future. He closed with the firm injunction that after their expulsion by means of "persecution" and the enactment of "state laws," the return of the Jews "to power" must be prevented.
Based on anti-Semitism, Mauersberg's articles provided a comprehensive interpretation of the regional history of German-Jewish relations. In this historical interpretation, the persecution of Jews in the late Middle Ages became a focal point and was made to serve as a benchmark for current policy making. The pogroms of the Middle Ages became models for contemporary National Socialist politics and represented a treasure chest of experience worth digging up. The repeated references to past pogroms served to validate the politics of the present. Mauersberg thus set a standard for the news campaign of the winter of 1938-39.
References:
29 Series Der Prozess gegen die Hauptkriegsverbrecher vor dem Internationalen Militaergerichtshof 32, Nuremberg, 1948, pp. 234-245. Circular directive by the Foreign Office to its agencies abroad, 25 January 1939: Akten zur deutschen auswaertigen Politik 1918-1945 , Series D (1937-1945), Vo5, Baden-Baden, 1953, no.664. The circular directive was signed by Legationsrat 1st Class Emil Johannes Schumburg. For more information on his career with the Foreign Office see, Akten zur deutschen auswaertigen Politik 1918-1945. Aus dem Archiv des Auswaertigen Amtes , Supplement to the series A-E, Goettingen, 1995, p. 506. The close link to the practice of expelling the Jews is evident by the direct reference made to the looting of the Jews before their expulsion as beneficial to foreign policy. Thus, the Foreign Office emphasised that the poorer and therefore more burdensome the immigrating Jew is for the immigration country, the more strongly the host country will react, and the more desirable the effect will be in the interest of German propaganda.' There are indications that in the winter of 1938-39, both Hitler and Himmler had hoped to be able to "export" German antisemitism: Hermann Graml, Reichskristallnacht. Antisemitismus und Judenverfolgung im Dritten Reich , Munich, 1988, pp. 189 f.
30 Compare Allen, Deutsche Oeffentlichkeit , p. 402.
31 Fritzsche announced that the special issue would be "published somewhat later than usual and only be finished in the course of the morning.ΓÇ¥ He recommended "making broad use" of the special issue, which was then published on 18 November 1938 as issue no. 270. The contributors to the special issue were listed on the last page; however, the individual articles are not expressly attributed to them (with the exception of the article written by J[oerg] R[ehoff], p. 13). The NSK issue no. 279, dated 29 November 1938, announced that the "great" special issue, which had sold out in the meantime, would be reissued.
32 ΓÇ£Israels Feldzug gegen das Reich,ΓÇ¥ ibid., p. 3.
33 Ibid., pp. 27 f.
34 ΓÇ£Judas wirtschaftliches Schuldkonto: Gauner, Luegner, Spekulanten, Diebe,ΓÇ¥ ibid., pp. 28 f. Central in this regard are the articles: ΓÇ£Judenmanoever in der Landwirtschaft: Ernte ohne Saat,ΓÇ¥ pp. 32 f., and ΓÇ£Bauerngueter in juedischer Hand: Raubzug gegen deutschen Boden,ΓÇ¥ ibid., pp. 33 f.
35 The German title: Die Judenverschwoerung in Frankreich , Dresden, 1938; see also NSK issue no. 267 dated 13 November 1938.
36 ΓÇ£Keiner will sie haben ... . ΓÇ£JudenausleseΓÇ¥ in den Vereinigten Staaten,ΓÇ¥ NSK issue no. 269 dated 16 November 1938.
37 ΓÇ£Wie lebt der Jude in Deutschland? Die Luege vom ΓÇ£armen Juden,ΓÇ¥ NSK issue no. 268 dated 15 November 1938.
38 NSK issue no. 270, p. 18.
39 ΓÇ£Grossdeutsche Rechtspolitik 1938,ΓÇ¥ NSK issue no. 304 dated 29 December 1938, supplement: ΓÇ£Das Deutsche Recht.ΓÇ¥
40 The conference of the Reichspropagandaamt Ost-Hannover, held in Luneburg on 9-11 December 1938, is an example of such a meeting. Dr. Wilhelm Ziegler of the Reich Ministry of Propaganda gave a lecture on the topic ΓÇ£The Solution of the Jewish Problem.ΓÇ¥ ΓÇ£Die Loesung des Judenproblems. Vortrag von Pg. Wilhelm Ziegler auf der Presse- und Propagandatagung in Lueneburg,ΓÇ¥ Cellesche Zeitung , 12 December 1938.
41 See Heiber, Walter Frank , pp. 627-630. The opening lecture given by Walter Frank, which was also broadcast on radio, was on the subject ΓÇ£Dreyfus - the Wandering Jew.ΓÇ¥ A further nine speakers from the Institute held talks at the university every evening. According to Heiber, attendance "was unusually high, considering this was a scientific lecture series." p. 628.
42 Hans Timner, ΓÇ£Zwei Welten. Dem ewigen Ahasver gegenueber - Gedanken bei einem Rundgang durch die aktuellste Ausstellung,ΓÇ¥ NSK 285 (6 December 1938), pp. 4 For more on the travelling exhibition, which was also shown in Dresden on 24 March 1939 after shows in Munich, Vienna, Berlin and Bremen, see: Victor Klemperer, Ich will Zeugnis ablegen bis zum letzten. Tagebuecher 1933-1941 , 5th edition, Berlin, 1996, p. 467 including footnote. The poster announcing the exhibition appears in: Wir schritten durch eine schweigende Stadt. Material fuer Schulen: Fuer die Opfer der Reichspogromnacht 1938 und ueber die Bremer Juden 1933 bis 1945 , 3rd edition, Bremen, 1991, without pages.
43 Press conference of 22 November 1938: Hagemann, Presselenkung , p. 149. Berndt reported on the Minister's dissatisfaction.
44 Ibid., 21 November 1938; ibid., 24 November 1938: ΓÇ£Israels Feldzug gegen das Reich. Revolte, Versklavung, Kriegshetze, Boykott und MordΓÇ¥ (with the key words "Jewish subversive activity" during the First World War, sabotage by Jewish Bolsheviks the signing of the Treaty of Versailles by Jews, organisation of an economic boycott, as well as propaganda against Nazi Germany), and 25 November 1938: ΓÇ£Juedischer Raub! Das Bauerntum einst in Judas KlauenΓÇ¥ ibid., 26/27 November 1938: ΓÇ£Mit Stumpf und Stiel ausgerottet. So wurde Literatur im juedischen Sumpf gemachtΓÇ¥ (the central theme is ΓÇ£the Jewish control of German cultural life in its entiΓÇ¥).
45 ΓÇ£Der Affe des Menschen,ΓÇ¥ Helmstedter Kreisblatt , 19-20 November 1938 (with the key sentence: "There is no community between the Jews and the Europeans!"); ΓÇ£Aus dem Ghetto in die Welt,ΓÇ¥ 21 November 1938; ΓÇ£Raffsucht als Leitmotiv,ΓÇ¥ 22 November 1938; ΓÇ£Mitleid ist Verrat. Nicht als Verfolger des Judentums fuehren wir diesen Kampf, sondern als Wahrer unseres Volkstums,ΓÇ¥ 30 November 1938.
46 ΓÇ£Juedische Schiebungen von riesigem Ausmass Juedischer ΓÇ£DiamantenklubΓÇ¥ schmuggelt fuer 150 Millionen RM. Diamanten,ΓÇ¥ 18 November 1938; ΓÇ£Lieder, auf die wir verzichten. Juedische AutorenΓÇ¥ (proof that many traditional German songs had been composed by Jews), ΓÇ£Allein in Berlin 200 juedische Millionaere. Der Bluff mit den ausgepluenderten Juden - Zahlen gegen Maerchen,ΓÇ¥ 17 November 1938.
47 ΓÇ£Luther entlarvt die Juden,ΓÇ¥ 22 November 1938. In general, Martin Luther was very useful. Compare, e.g. ΓÇ£Ein Wort Martin Luthers,ΓÇ¥ Helmstedter Kreisblatt , 23 November 1938. Also Ernst Ludwig Ehrlich, ΓÇ£Luther und die Juden,ΓÇ¥ in: Antisemitismus. Von der Judenfeindschaft zum Holocaust , Herbert A. Strauss and Norbert Kampe, eds., Frankfurt, 1985, pp. 47-65.
48 A later article can presumably be attributed to a suggestion by the Ministry of Propaganda: ΓÇ£Kriminalitaet des Judentums. In Deutschland steldie Juden 73 v. H. an den abgeurteilten Verbrechen,ΓÇ¥ Stader Tageblatt , 24 November 1938.
49 ΓÇ£Antijuedische Massnahmen in aller Welt,ΓÇ¥ Helmstedter Kreisblatt , 17 November 1938, with the subheadings: ΓÇ£Konzentrationslager in Belgien, Antisemitische Welle in Amerika.ΓÇ¥ Further news in brief: ΓÇ£Wie die Juden die Voelker aussaugtenΓÇ¥ - ΓÇ£Ein Aufruf der Antijuedischen Sammelbewegung FrankreichsΓÇ¥ - ΓÇ£Das ΓÇ£armeΓÇ¥ Volk IsraelsΓÇ¥ (with a report on Jewish large property owners in Berlin, who had been registered in accordance with the regulation dated 26 February 1938). This continued with a collective report under the heading: ΓÇ£Ueberall werden die Juden abgewiesen. Immer neue juedische Abwehrmassnahmen,ΓÇ£ 18 November 1938. ΓÇ£Politik der verschlossenen Tuer. 650 000 Juden aus Deutschland auswanderungsbereit, USA will sie nicht,ΓÇ¥ 2-6 December 1938.
50 ΓÇ£Juedischer Raub! Das Bauerntum einst in Judas Klauen,ΓÇ¥ Stader Tageblatt , 25 September 1938.
52 ΓÇ£Juden im Mittelalter. Aus Chroniken der deutschen Staedte,ΓÇ¥ Helmstedter Kreisblatt , 6 December 1938.
53 Oskar Trautmann, ΓÇ£Was alte Chroniken erzaehlen. Judenaustreibungen in alter Zeit - Unschuldig verfolgt? Nein - schuldig geworden!,ΓÇ¥ Helmstedter Kreisblatt , 13 January 1938.
54 ΓÇ£Die Juden im Jahre 1825. Eine Verordnung der Landdrostei Stade,ΓÇ¥ Helmstedter Kreisblatt, 22 November 1938.
55 ΓÇ£Juedischer Raeuberstreich vor 240 Jahren. Juedische Gangsterbande beraubte die Goldene Tafel,ΓÇ¥ Stader Tageblatt , 15 December 1938. ΓÇ¥Juedischer Raeuberstreich vor 240 Jahren. Nickel List u. Co. raubten die Goldene Tafel,ΓÇ¥ Helmstedter Kreisblatt , 20 December 1938. For the historical context showing a case of anti-Semitic journalism in 1699 see: Hans-Dieter Schmid, ΓÇ£Das schwer zu bekehrende Juden-Hertz." Juedische Unterschicht und christlicher Antisemitismus am Beispiel des Celler Stadtpredigers Sigismund Hosemann,ΓÇ¥ in: Christen und Juden. Ein notwendiger Dialog , Peter Antes et al., eds., Hanover, 1988, pp. 39-60.
56 ΓÇ£Und heute!,ΓÇ¥ ibid.; ΓÇ£30 juedische Millionaere in Hamburg,ΓÇ¥ ibid.
57 Hans Mauersberg, born in , received his doctorate from the University of Berlin. His dissertation carried the title Besiedlung und Bevoelkerung des ehemals hennebergischen Amtes Schleusingen , Wurzburg, 1938. He subsequently wrote Beitraege zur Bevoelkerungs- und Sozialgeschichte Niedersachsens. Studien zur Volkskoerperforschung Niedersachsens. Veroeffentlichungen aus dem Rassenpolitischen Amt der NSDAP, Gau Suedhannover-Braunschweig , vol. 1, Hanover, 1938. The director of the Rassenpolitisches Amt was Hans-Helmut Rehkopf, who co-published this series of works with Mauersberg. Mauersberg qualified as a university lecturer in 1962 at the University of Munich. His main areas of work are given as economic, population and social history: Kuerschners Deutscher Gelehrten-Kalender , 11th edition, Berlin, 1970, pp. 1891; 12th edition, Berlin, 1976, p. 2028.
58 ΓÇ£Die Geschichte des Judentums in Niedersachsen. Im 12. Jahrhundert kommen sie als ΓÇ£Emigranten,ΓÇ¥ erringen bedeutende Macht und werden wieder vertrieben,ΓÇ¥ Niedersaechsische Tageszeitung , 28 December 1938; ΓÇ£Wie die Juden sich wieder im Lande breitmachten. Das Wiedererstarken des Judentums in Niedersachsen vom Beginn der Neuzeit bis zur Emigration,ΓÇ¥ Niedersaechsische Tageszeitung , 29 December 1938; ΓÇ£Judas Weg zum Hoehepunkt seiner Macht. Die Emanzipation des Judentums und ihr Durchbruch zur Macht im 19. Jahrhundert,ΓÇ¥ Niedersaechsische Tageszeitung, 30 December 1938. All articles included anti-Semitic drawings by Rolf Wilde. I occasionally rearranged the quotes.
