What do you think: is the Jewish Question laid to rest after the unification of Germany under Bismarck (and the total emancipation of all German Jews)? In other words, how much is the "Jewish Question" of the 1930s a totally *other* question and how much is it a continuation of the German-Jewish experience of the "long" 19th century?
Although affirming the connection between the German-Jewish experience during the 1930's and during the nineteenth century risks buttressing the 'inevitability thesis,' I cannot ignore the existence of a bond between the two eras.
ReplyDeleteCertainly, for the Nazis, the question remained unsettled. The reintroduction of ancient anti-Semitic themes during the Nazi campaign, including the Judensau, suggests the Nazi's willingness to employ the entire spectrum of anti-Semitic propaganda as part of its repertoire, including the rhetoric of the nineteenth century, such as 'scientific' racism.
Nevertheless, the true answer regarding the status of the Jewish question likely rests not with the Nazis, but with the everyday German. Compliance with Nazi overtures, albeit prompted by catastrophe and aided by speed and tenacity, renders an unforgiving answer. Jews were not Germans, they were Jews. Their plight, while unfortunate, possessed little import compared to the import of Germany, a plight that the Nazis appeared ready to solve. The tradition of treating Jews as separate entities remained with the Germans into the 1930's, despite emancipation.
"The Final Solution," while embraced by very few Germans, represented a potential solution to a question that remained, for all intents and purposes, open for debate.