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Warum die Deutschen? Warum die Juden?: Gleichheit, Neid und Rassenhass - 1800 bis 1933
Rare Book
351 pages, Hardcover
First published August 5, 2011
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About the author
Götz Aly
26 books70 followersGötz Haydar Aly is a German journalist, historian and social scientist.
After attending the German School of Journalists, Aly studied history and political science in Berlin. As a journalist, he worked for the taz, the Berliner Zeitung and the FAZ. Presently, from 2004 to 2005, he is a visiting professor for interdisciplinary Holocaust research at the Fritz Bauer Institut in Frankfurt am Main.
After attending the German School of Journalists, Aly studied history and political science in Berlin. As a journalist, he worked for the taz, the Berliner Zeitung and the FAZ. Presently, from 2004 to 2005, he is a visiting professor for interdisciplinary Holocaust research at the Fritz Bauer Institut in Frankfurt am Main.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 51 reviews
May 27, 2015
This is a very interesting and compelling history of German-Jewish relations up to 1933, particularly in the 19th century. Historian Gotz Aly tries to figure out why Germany of all countries, one of the most tolerant places for Jewish people in Europe, perpetrated the Holocaust, and why the relationship between German gentiles and German Jews soured so quickly and so badly. The book begins slowly, as Aly goes way back before the Nazi era, but I think it was necessary to cover a long time period so you could understand.
His argument makes sense: it boils down to jealousy. German Jews, particularly in the 20th century, tended to be better educated and wealthier and had better jobs than their gentile counterparts. These differences became more obvious following the Versailles Treaty with its devastating consequences for Germany, and the financial crash. Struggling, bitter and angry, the Germans looked for someone to blame for their troubles and their latent antisemitism (for it never really left) was aroused.
In other words, the Holocaust can be explained in large part by a basic facet of human nature. Scary. And if Aly's theory is correct, as he himself points out, this is likely to happen again.
I admire Aly's commonsense, down-to-earth way of writing, and I think he's a great historian. I can't say I exactly enjoyed this book, but I think I learned a lot from it and it gave me much to think about.
His argument makes sense: it boils down to jealousy. German Jews, particularly in the 20th century, tended to be better educated and wealthier and had better jobs than their gentile counterparts. These differences became more obvious following the Versailles Treaty with its devastating consequences for Germany, and the financial crash. Struggling, bitter and angry, the Germans looked for someone to blame for their troubles and their latent antisemitism (for it never really left) was aroused.
In other words, the Holocaust can be explained in large part by a basic facet of human nature. Scary. And if Aly's theory is correct, as he himself points out, this is likely to happen again.
I admire Aly's commonsense, down-to-earth way of writing, and I think he's a great historian. I can't say I exactly enjoyed this book, but I think I learned a lot from it and it gave me much to think about.
July 15, 2015
I came across this book by the recommendation of Professor Robert Weiner, with whom I had become acquainted from his superb (and highly recommended) course for The Teaching Company's "Great Courses" entitled, "The Long 19th Century," a marvelous history of Europe from the French Revolution through the conclusion of World War I.
When I wrote him by email to congratulate him on this course, he kindly responded and we have exchanged a few emails since then. He recommended this book to me as one of the finest insights into why what happened to the Jews in Germany -- and why the non-Jewish Germans acted the way that they did.
It is a remarkable work, as it sympathetically examines the plight of the German citizenry from the days of their "unity" under Bismarck through their economic, social, and political ups and downs, especially their trial by fire in World War I.
As we today witness the irony of Germany continuing to impose harsh economic terms upon Greece, we should be mindful that it was just this same stance taken at the peace Treaty of Versailles concluding World War I by the victorious Allies (especially France) against Germany that directly contributed to the democratic Weimar Republic's futile efforts to create a stable and prosperous post-war Germany. The resulting slow-down in economic growth, caused by crushing economic debts and the outflow of much of Germany's capital stock, resulted in high unemployment that dashed the hopes of many young up and coming Germans, making them susceptible to Adolf Hitler's promises of economic recovery -- through the repudiation of the war debts -- and a return to German preeminence.
The appeal of Hitler to most Germans was, thus, primarily economic, although anti-semitism was always a theme, whether overt or subliminal.
The truly shocking aspect of what the Nazis employed was their efficient, industrial-modeled approach to the systematic extermination of Jews and other "undesirables," including Gentiles who were homosexuals, very ill, and or mentally or physically disabled.
The subject matter is not easy to read about, as its evil is so deep and horrific, but the book is an important contribution to our understanding both how "they" could do such a thing, as well as a caution that "we" -- when push comes to shove -- may not be as different as we sometimes like to believe.
When I wrote him by email to congratulate him on this course, he kindly responded and we have exchanged a few emails since then. He recommended this book to me as one of the finest insights into why what happened to the Jews in Germany -- and why the non-Jewish Germans acted the way that they did.
It is a remarkable work, as it sympathetically examines the plight of the German citizenry from the days of their "unity" under Bismarck through their economic, social, and political ups and downs, especially their trial by fire in World War I.
As we today witness the irony of Germany continuing to impose harsh economic terms upon Greece, we should be mindful that it was just this same stance taken at the peace Treaty of Versailles concluding World War I by the victorious Allies (especially France) against Germany that directly contributed to the democratic Weimar Republic's futile efforts to create a stable and prosperous post-war Germany. The resulting slow-down in economic growth, caused by crushing economic debts and the outflow of much of Germany's capital stock, resulted in high unemployment that dashed the hopes of many young up and coming Germans, making them susceptible to Adolf Hitler's promises of economic recovery -- through the repudiation of the war debts -- and a return to German preeminence.
The appeal of Hitler to most Germans was, thus, primarily economic, although anti-semitism was always a theme, whether overt or subliminal.
The truly shocking aspect of what the Nazis employed was their efficient, industrial-modeled approach to the systematic extermination of Jews and other "undesirables," including Gentiles who were homosexuals, very ill, and or mentally or physically disabled.
The subject matter is not easy to read about, as its evil is so deep and horrific, but the book is an important contribution to our understanding both how "they" could do such a thing, as well as a caution that "we" -- when push comes to shove -- may not be as different as we sometimes like to believe.
September 20, 2014
Good literature mostly always finds its way from the US into Europe; but the other way around does not seem to be the norm, not always at least. This book got many and good reviews in Europe, including press coverage. But for some reason it has gone unnoticed in the US, and it will be published only in April 2014. I read the Spanish language version, and I found it to be a good piece of historical analysis into the reasons behind the Holocaust. But just that, a good work, not great. The sources are limited, the conclusions in some cases way too stretched. But there is a big but why it makes it into the list of the must read for those with interest in the Holocaust beyond the obvious. The author provides a common, everyday life view of the period in between wars, and in doing so, uncovers some of the many reasons behind the Holocaust. None of them are new discoveries as such, but the evidence provided is compelling and indeed very interesting. There is a point of view in his research, which being the author German makes total sense: the Holocaust did not happen to the Jews, but it happened to the Germans. The Germans were the actors, the script writers. It happened to them. The Jews were on the receiving end. So asking why did the Holocaust happened to the Germans is a fair question to ask, and Gotz Aly does a very decent attempt to answer it.
November 23, 2014
A persuasively written, insightful, thoughtful, and provocative examination of German anti-Semitism preceding the Holocaust.
February 26, 2021
Libro interessante ma estremamente prolisso; ripete la sua analisi all'infinito analizzandola da tutti i punti di vista.
Come qualcuno ha gia' detto, se fosse stato con 100 pagine in meno sarebbe stato molto piu' agile e sicuramente meritevole di 4 stelle.
Come qualcuno ha gia' detto, se fosse stato con 100 pagine in meno sarebbe stato molto piu' agile e sicuramente meritevole di 4 stelle.
November 11, 2019
As its title suggests, Goetz Aly's latest book constitutes an inquiry – more an extended essay than a deeply-researched monograph – into the origins of the Holocaust. He argues that modern German anti-Semitism emerged from the disruptive economic changes of the nineteenth century, which tended disproportionately to benefit Jews and bewilder Christians. The Industrial Revolution and the growth of large cities threatened the “relatively lethargic German majority” (16), who preferred the cozier rural world of the eighteenth century, while offering opportunities to Jews, newly liberated from the restrictions of the old regime and already familiar with entrepreneurship and the urban scene. By the second half of the 1800s German Jews enjoyed, on the whole, better health and more wealth than their Christian counterparts, and many were moving into the educated professions. “Aryan” Germans came to resent Jews as “embodi[ments]” of a disruptive new economic order (67).
Meanwhile, Germany was evolving into a united nation-state, but after the failure of the 1848 revolutions, German nationalism assumed a conservative, xenophobic, and bullying cast. In the 1880s and '90s some demagogues saw opportunity in the merging of several of these developments: nationalism, fear of change, and distrust of successful Jews. The Anti-Semitic movement assured Aryan Germans that if they found it hard to compete in an industrial society, they were not to blame – they had been deprived of their birthright by the Jews, those wealthy alien malefactors. Acting collectively, the “real” Germans could reclaim the wealth, traditions, and unity that the Jewish-dominated modern world had taken from them.
The Nazis used this particular message, combining corporatist solidarity with the promise of economic advancement, to win converts to their cause and then to win elections. The Nazis' subsequent assault on the Jews began as an economic one, driving them from the educated professions, seizing their property, and redistributing the spoils to Aryans. The turn to mass murder, Aly argues, resulted from some Nazis’ admiration of Turkish ethnic cleansing, and from the regime’s policy of euthanizing mentally ill or handicapped Aryans. Once the National Socialists accepted the corporate body of the nation as the highest good, they found it easy to attack individuals who allegedly threatened that body’s health. Ordinary German gentiles did not necessarily favor extermination, but their resentment of Jewish success made them indifferent to Jews’ fate.
This is an appealing argument to those who appreciated Aly's earlier work, on the economic appeal of Nazism to German gentiles, but it presents at least one significant problem. The Nazis shared much in common with anti-Semitic reactionaries, but they were careful to present themselves as modernists, leading the German nation into a revolutionary new future. Their appeal to the masses lay in economic development and the use of new mass media, and their exterminationist program grew from the twentieth-century “science” of eugenics, an import from the ultra-modern United States. In a sense, the answer to “Why the Germans?” is “Because they wholeheartedly embraced the modern, scientific world.” If that is true, however, Germans who hated Jews as “embodiments of modernity” would have hated the Nazis just as thoroughly. Aly, I think, doesn’t adequately emphasize the enormous discontinuity in German history between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, between the uprooted peasants and townspeople of Metternich’s day and the more urbane and technologically-savvy bourgeois of the late Wilhelmine era. To be sure, such an admission would have caved a big hole in his thesis, as the latter group had far less reason to resent Jews than their predecessors. In the end, Aly’s book makes an engaging read, but I am still more drawn to Eric Hoffer’s explanation of Nazi anti-Semitism, which is that no mass movement can succeed without a Devil.
Meanwhile, Germany was evolving into a united nation-state, but after the failure of the 1848 revolutions, German nationalism assumed a conservative, xenophobic, and bullying cast. In the 1880s and '90s some demagogues saw opportunity in the merging of several of these developments: nationalism, fear of change, and distrust of successful Jews. The Anti-Semitic movement assured Aryan Germans that if they found it hard to compete in an industrial society, they were not to blame – they had been deprived of their birthright by the Jews, those wealthy alien malefactors. Acting collectively, the “real” Germans could reclaim the wealth, traditions, and unity that the Jewish-dominated modern world had taken from them.
The Nazis used this particular message, combining corporatist solidarity with the promise of economic advancement, to win converts to their cause and then to win elections. The Nazis' subsequent assault on the Jews began as an economic one, driving them from the educated professions, seizing their property, and redistributing the spoils to Aryans. The turn to mass murder, Aly argues, resulted from some Nazis’ admiration of Turkish ethnic cleansing, and from the regime’s policy of euthanizing mentally ill or handicapped Aryans. Once the National Socialists accepted the corporate body of the nation as the highest good, they found it easy to attack individuals who allegedly threatened that body’s health. Ordinary German gentiles did not necessarily favor extermination, but their resentment of Jewish success made them indifferent to Jews’ fate.
This is an appealing argument to those who appreciated Aly's earlier work, on the economic appeal of Nazism to German gentiles, but it presents at least one significant problem. The Nazis shared much in common with anti-Semitic reactionaries, but they were careful to present themselves as modernists, leading the German nation into a revolutionary new future. Their appeal to the masses lay in economic development and the use of new mass media, and their exterminationist program grew from the twentieth-century “science” of eugenics, an import from the ultra-modern United States. In a sense, the answer to “Why the Germans?” is “Because they wholeheartedly embraced the modern, scientific world.” If that is true, however, Germans who hated Jews as “embodiments of modernity” would have hated the Nazis just as thoroughly. Aly, I think, doesn’t adequately emphasize the enormous discontinuity in German history between the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, between the uprooted peasants and townspeople of Metternich’s day and the more urbane and technologically-savvy bourgeois of the late Wilhelmine era. To be sure, such an admission would have caved a big hole in his thesis, as the latter group had far less reason to resent Jews than their predecessors. In the end, Aly’s book makes an engaging read, but I am still more drawn to Eric Hoffer’s explanation of Nazi anti-Semitism, which is that no mass movement can succeed without a Devil.
July 18, 2019
A fascinating take on what lead to the rise of the Third Reich. Mr. Aly brings not only serious research, but also personal family history to his answer to the title's question. He takes probing looks at German society dating back to the mid 1800s in his quest to find what lead a nation's attempt to eradicate an entire race.
November 6, 2021
I want to read every book by this author. The book is so well done!
August 11, 2017
Blame the French.
Who caused The Jewish World War II Holocaust. The German author of this book author blames the French! Sorry, that is stretching his arguments a lot. If fact, he make the case the Germans started down road to this event because Napoleon's army benefiting from the fruits of the industrial revolution humiliated the various disunified German states. This forced the Germans to rapidly industrialise to match France and England. To quote the author:
"The Industrial Revolution and the rise of the market economy had destroyed old certainties overnight. The masses, still largely agricultural, were being forced into the cities, where they lost their traditional network of social support.”
On the other hand, the urban, well-educated Jewish minority enjoyed great success. Less than 30 years after they were freed from the ghettos as part of the same set of reforms, more than half the Jew were firmly middle class and a sizable proportion were upper class. This resulted in the Germans acquiring an inferiority complex as well as ongoing jealousy toward the Jews. Slowly event after event in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century enflamed these emotions.
But you have to feel sorry for the Jews. It is not as if they did not pull their weight in this new German society. As the author points out:
"In Frankfurt in the early twentieth century, the average Jew paid four times as much tax as the average Protestant and eight times as much as the average Catholic. In Berlin, Jew account for city 30% tax revenue, although Jews were only 5% of the population."
The book is written by a professional historian and reads a little like an academic paper. The is little use of narrative to give the reader a feeling of the times. Just argued propositions and supporting fact. One after another! So I found this book is hard going at times.
That said, the book is very well researched and presented me with a picture of German society in the pre-NAZI period that was new to me. For example, I had always assumed the NAZI party base members were thugs. In fact, there were young educated upwardly mobile members of the middle class. To quote the author:
"The Weimar leadership opened up the German education system to the lower classes as well as to women. They created new sorts of teacher training facilities, trade schools, polytechnic universities, and professional academies of all strips. Yet from 1930 onward, well-educated young people had few or no opportunities to find work. Masses flooded the job market without any hope of success. The NSDAP benefited from their resultant frustration"
What is worrying is that automation from the current information revolution appears to be causing the same sort of social dislocation in our society as happen in nineteenth and early twentieth century Germany. And as the author points out to political leaders in the final sentence of the book:
"And they should not kid themselves into thinking that the anti-Semites of the past were completely different from who we are today."
Who caused The Jewish World War II Holocaust. The German author of this book author blames the French! Sorry, that is stretching his arguments a lot. If fact, he make the case the Germans started down road to this event because Napoleon's army benefiting from the fruits of the industrial revolution humiliated the various disunified German states. This forced the Germans to rapidly industrialise to match France and England. To quote the author:
"The Industrial Revolution and the rise of the market economy had destroyed old certainties overnight. The masses, still largely agricultural, were being forced into the cities, where they lost their traditional network of social support.”
On the other hand, the urban, well-educated Jewish minority enjoyed great success. Less than 30 years after they were freed from the ghettos as part of the same set of reforms, more than half the Jew were firmly middle class and a sizable proportion were upper class. This resulted in the Germans acquiring an inferiority complex as well as ongoing jealousy toward the Jews. Slowly event after event in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century enflamed these emotions.
But you have to feel sorry for the Jews. It is not as if they did not pull their weight in this new German society. As the author points out:
"In Frankfurt in the early twentieth century, the average Jew paid four times as much tax as the average Protestant and eight times as much as the average Catholic. In Berlin, Jew account for city 30% tax revenue, although Jews were only 5% of the population."
The book is written by a professional historian and reads a little like an academic paper. The is little use of narrative to give the reader a feeling of the times. Just argued propositions and supporting fact. One after another! So I found this book is hard going at times.
That said, the book is very well researched and presented me with a picture of German society in the pre-NAZI period that was new to me. For example, I had always assumed the NAZI party base members were thugs. In fact, there were young educated upwardly mobile members of the middle class. To quote the author:
"The Weimar leadership opened up the German education system to the lower classes as well as to women. They created new sorts of teacher training facilities, trade schools, polytechnic universities, and professional academies of all strips. Yet from 1930 onward, well-educated young people had few or no opportunities to find work. Masses flooded the job market without any hope of success. The NSDAP benefited from their resultant frustration"
What is worrying is that automation from the current information revolution appears to be causing the same sort of social dislocation in our society as happen in nineteenth and early twentieth century Germany. And as the author points out to political leaders in the final sentence of the book:
"And they should not kid themselves into thinking that the anti-Semites of the past were completely different from who we are today."
July 11, 2016
I read about WWII, Nazism, the Holocaust, Russian History, Survivors' stories, etc., because non-fiction intrigues me. And, this book has been one of the most intriguing, yet! In this book, the importance of education and the role of economics, as contributing factors to the Holocaust, are researched and explained.
From the late 19th century and early decades of the 20th century, Germany had the greatest degree of assimilation by Jews. Jews had social mobility and held high positions in business, law, and medicine. So what happened?
Education was important to the Jews. They pursued advanced education for themselves and their children, while the average German did not. Most Germans were poor and under-educated. Instead of putting in the work and effort to become skilled and better-educated, the average German was somehow convinced that ridding Germany of the wealthier, better-educated Jews would somehow serve to elevate themselves; purify their race. I don't understand this reasoning, although this book serves to help in understanding the climate that promoted the insanity that followed.
In this book, the socioeconomic factors and how they served to direct hatred toward Jews and ultimately lead to their extermination, are documented and dissected. There is no single reason that explains the treatment of Jews during WWII. There are many books out there that serve to decipher the reasons. This book is one more book (a GREAT book) that presents another strong factor. I strongly recommend reading it.
From the late 19th century and early decades of the 20th century, Germany had the greatest degree of assimilation by Jews. Jews had social mobility and held high positions in business, law, and medicine. So what happened?
Education was important to the Jews. They pursued advanced education for themselves and their children, while the average German did not. Most Germans were poor and under-educated. Instead of putting in the work and effort to become skilled and better-educated, the average German was somehow convinced that ridding Germany of the wealthier, better-educated Jews would somehow serve to elevate themselves; purify their race. I don't understand this reasoning, although this book serves to help in understanding the climate that promoted the insanity that followed.
In this book, the socioeconomic factors and how they served to direct hatred toward Jews and ultimately lead to their extermination, are documented and dissected. There is no single reason that explains the treatment of Jews during WWII. There are many books out there that serve to decipher the reasons. This book is one more book (a GREAT book) that presents another strong factor. I strongly recommend reading it.
April 22, 2021
Eine schlechte Bewertung für einen Text von Götz Aly abzugeben, schmerzt extrem. Alles, was ich bisher von ihm gelesen habe, hat mich überzeugt.
Bei "Warum die Deutschen?" lässt sich Aly aber mehr von seiner politischen Einstellung als von echtem Erkenntnisinteresse leiten. Das Buch liest sich stellenweise eher wie eine Rede für einen FDP-Parteitag als eine geschichtswissenschaftliche Abhandlung. Schuld am Antisemitismus soll der Antiliberalismus sein! Mit unterdrückter Häme zeigt Aly auf die kollektivistische Linke. Während die Frage nach dem "sozial" in "nationalsozial" sicher wichtig ist, fehlt Alys Antwort doch eine entschiedene Relativierung.
Seine Art, nur mit Quellen und praktisch ohne Sekundärliteratur zu arbeiten, schätze ich grundsätzlich. Doch um eine Frage wie "Warum die Deutschen?" zu beantworten, muss ein "Warum nicht die Engländer, Franzosen oder Schweizer" stets mitgedacht werden. Obwohl Aly zu Beginn sehr vielversprechend das Narrativ eines deutschen Sonderwegs abkanzelt, tut er nachher genau das. Kaum eine Quelle (oder eben eine Fussnote zu anderen Publikationen), in der eine gesamteuropäische Perspektive zum Vorschein kommt. Schade, schade.
Bei "Warum die Deutschen?" lässt sich Aly aber mehr von seiner politischen Einstellung als von echtem Erkenntnisinteresse leiten. Das Buch liest sich stellenweise eher wie eine Rede für einen FDP-Parteitag als eine geschichtswissenschaftliche Abhandlung. Schuld am Antisemitismus soll der Antiliberalismus sein! Mit unterdrückter Häme zeigt Aly auf die kollektivistische Linke. Während die Frage nach dem "sozial" in "nationalsozial" sicher wichtig ist, fehlt Alys Antwort doch eine entschiedene Relativierung.
Seine Art, nur mit Quellen und praktisch ohne Sekundärliteratur zu arbeiten, schätze ich grundsätzlich. Doch um eine Frage wie "Warum die Deutschen?" zu beantworten, muss ein "Warum nicht die Engländer, Franzosen oder Schweizer" stets mitgedacht werden. Obwohl Aly zu Beginn sehr vielversprechend das Narrativ eines deutschen Sonderwegs abkanzelt, tut er nachher genau das. Kaum eine Quelle (oder eben eine Fussnote zu anderen Publikationen), in der eine gesamteuropäische Perspektive zum Vorschein kommt. Schade, schade.
August 22, 2017
'Another event structurally similar to the Holocaust could still occur. Those who want to reduce the danger of its happening should work to understand the complex human preconditions of the Holocaust. And they should not kid themselves into thinking that anti-Semites of the past were completely different from who we are today.'
A warning from the author that draws from lessons of one of the greatest of tragedies that the modern world witnessed. A stunning account of how we the common people are responsible for legitimizing hatred, allowing the powers that be to commit abhorrent crimes. As the author says, sometimes it's the weak who are dangerous.
Thought provoking & brilliant, and a lesson to us all. No matter what, hatred in any form must not only be condemned, but fought with rigour.
A warning from the author that draws from lessons of one of the greatest of tragedies that the modern world witnessed. A stunning account of how we the common people are responsible for legitimizing hatred, allowing the powers that be to commit abhorrent crimes. As the author says, sometimes it's the weak who are dangerous.
Thought provoking & brilliant, and a lesson to us all. No matter what, hatred in any form must not only be condemned, but fought with rigour.
November 15, 2022
Mich hat dieses Werk letztlich nicht überzeugt, da es einerseits zu stark auf den Neid-Aspekt abzielt (wodurch andere wichtige Faktoren unterbeleuchtet bleiben) und mir Alys anekdotenhafte und teilweise recht strukturierte Schreibweise nicht so richtig zusagt. In Ergänzung zu anderen Analysen (bspw. Zygmunt Baumans "Dialektik der Ordnung") kann man es aber durchaus lesen
Vollständige Review hier: https://www.instagram.com/p/CdXqlklup6N
Vollständige Review hier: https://www.instagram.com/p/CdXqlklup6N
September 4, 2017
Almost Nietzschean in his analysis of German anti-Semitism (that is, the idea of Christian glorification of inferior traits, while Judaism emphasized education and occupational betterment). Very excellent use of prehistory and context. Read for a class.
May 3, 2018
Good book. But it's very dry. Not for everyone. The point is made and several historical figures, facts and people are quoted to reiterate that point over and over. Could have been 100 pages fewer and people would still get it.
December 20, 2023
This book was published in German in 2011 and then in English in 2014. The last paragraph of this book are chilling given today's climate:
p. 232-233
The mortal sin of envy, together with a belief in collective happiness modern science, and specific techniques of political rule is what made the systematic mass murder of European Jews possible. There is no way around the pessimistic conclusion that evil can never be quarantined once and for all in way that would rule out such horrors. Another even structurally similar to the Holocaust could still occur. Those who want to reduce the danger of its happening should work to understand the complex human preconditions of the Holocaust. And they should not kid themselves into thinking that the anti-Semites of the past were completely different from who are today.
The anti-Semitism in Germany did not begin with Hitler. When Jews were freed from some of their restrictions in German states, beginning with Napoleon, and then by Bismark, they embraced education and turned their economic situations around. p. 85 - ...estimated that Jews in turn-of-the-century Berlin rose up the social ladder three to four times faster than Germans [who were just on their regular trajectory and had not valued education much in the past]. Thirty-five years before WW I, and 70 years before Hitler, Christian Social anti-Semites had framed the Jewish question as one of whether Christians were being disadvantaged, as an issue of a fairness gap. A half million Jewish citizens are occupying positions of importance in our society that greatly exceed their actual numbers - said by a politician in 1880...this part of the population is exerting destructive pressure on our public life.
In the 1930's, removing Jews from professions, academia, government, the trades, small shops, their home and apartments, etc., freed up all of these thousands of opportunities for the Germans. They liked this. Like other socialist beliefs that there are limited resources, opportunities, etc., and everyone fights for a bigger slice of the pie, Jews embraced their upward mobility and success as a result of their own strivings - but others saw this as their loss instead of a lack of their preparation.
p. 124 - The idea of the Volk was a point in the Nazi program which announced its fight against forces that exercised a corrosive influence on the life of our people. Those associated with such abuses were excoriated in Nazi jargon as know-it-all, vermin, parasites, interlopers and traitors (isn't this how Hilary Clinton and Democratic party talks about the half of the country that did not vote for them?) Blaming the divisive Jew allowed Germans to avoid taking responsibility for problems they themselves had caused. p. 125 The damage had been done by an internal enemy, the Jews. The corollary was that national solidarity would become reality without the Jews. With Jews gone, they would have more success. (Fascinating book - City Without Jews - published in 1922, about treatment of Jews in Vienna, almost predicts exactly what happened.)
One of my favorite paragraphs: p. 159
Racial theorists claimed that their teaching were based on empiric data and careful biological research. (Sound familiar?) In fact, much of the racist theorizing in the 1920's was based on mere speculation, and the results of racial research were always disputable and sometimes simply invented. This in itself is not significant: lots of scientific discoveries suffer the fate of being proven wrong at a later date (YES). What is significant is that ever greater numbers of respected biologists, doctors, and anthropologists, as well as a growing scientifically minded portion of the general populace thought the genetic and racial hygiene was a promising new discipline. Funds were made available to support it, and doctoral dissertations, academic working groups, research, fellowships, university chairs and prestigious publications came about. p. 178 - The new generation wanted to see ruthless activism not compromise; utopia, not political realism.
p. 202 The pressure put on Jewish businesses relived the economic pressure on the Gentile middle classes, transferring their burden to a disadvantaged minority. In the spring of 1933 Jews found themselves tacitly marginalized and then removed from thousands of German associations, hundreds of newspaper editorial boards, bureaucracies, cultural institutions, etc.
p. 204 German doctors maintained a dull rigid popular hatred of Jews. This silent majority provided the social basis for state policies toward Jews. Deep-seated, often off-hand aggression made people look the other way and shrug their shoulders at the growing injustice. p. 205 The majority of Germans profited materially in either direct or indirect fashion from the expropriation of Jews. Allowing ordinary people to benefit from discrimination made it easier for them to accept their role as tacit accomplices. What is important is how the peculiar German theory of genetic and racial hygiene, based on massive feelings of inferiority and envy, created a new morality that justified wholesale discrimination, larceny and murder.
p. 232-233
The mortal sin of envy, together with a belief in collective happiness modern science, and specific techniques of political rule is what made the systematic mass murder of European Jews possible. There is no way around the pessimistic conclusion that evil can never be quarantined once and for all in way that would rule out such horrors. Another even structurally similar to the Holocaust could still occur. Those who want to reduce the danger of its happening should work to understand the complex human preconditions of the Holocaust. And they should not kid themselves into thinking that the anti-Semites of the past were completely different from who are today.
The anti-Semitism in Germany did not begin with Hitler. When Jews were freed from some of their restrictions in German states, beginning with Napoleon, and then by Bismark, they embraced education and turned their economic situations around. p. 85 - ...estimated that Jews in turn-of-the-century Berlin rose up the social ladder three to four times faster than Germans [who were just on their regular trajectory and had not valued education much in the past]. Thirty-five years before WW I, and 70 years before Hitler, Christian Social anti-Semites had framed the Jewish question as one of whether Christians were being disadvantaged, as an issue of a fairness gap. A half million Jewish citizens are occupying positions of importance in our society that greatly exceed their actual numbers - said by a politician in 1880...this part of the population is exerting destructive pressure on our public life.
In the 1930's, removing Jews from professions, academia, government, the trades, small shops, their home and apartments, etc., freed up all of these thousands of opportunities for the Germans. They liked this. Like other socialist beliefs that there are limited resources, opportunities, etc., and everyone fights for a bigger slice of the pie, Jews embraced their upward mobility and success as a result of their own strivings - but others saw this as their loss instead of a lack of their preparation.
p. 124 - The idea of the Volk was a point in the Nazi program which announced its fight against forces that exercised a corrosive influence on the life of our people. Those associated with such abuses were excoriated in Nazi jargon as know-it-all, vermin, parasites, interlopers and traitors (isn't this how Hilary Clinton and Democratic party talks about the half of the country that did not vote for them?) Blaming the divisive Jew allowed Germans to avoid taking responsibility for problems they themselves had caused. p. 125 The damage had been done by an internal enemy, the Jews. The corollary was that national solidarity would become reality without the Jews. With Jews gone, they would have more success. (Fascinating book - City Without Jews - published in 1922, about treatment of Jews in Vienna, almost predicts exactly what happened.)
One of my favorite paragraphs: p. 159
Racial theorists claimed that their teaching were based on empiric data and careful biological research. (Sound familiar?) In fact, much of the racist theorizing in the 1920's was based on mere speculation, and the results of racial research were always disputable and sometimes simply invented. This in itself is not significant: lots of scientific discoveries suffer the fate of being proven wrong at a later date (YES). What is significant is that ever greater numbers of respected biologists, doctors, and anthropologists, as well as a growing scientifically minded portion of the general populace thought the genetic and racial hygiene was a promising new discipline. Funds were made available to support it, and doctoral dissertations, academic working groups, research, fellowships, university chairs and prestigious publications came about. p. 178 - The new generation wanted to see ruthless activism not compromise; utopia, not political realism.
p. 202 The pressure put on Jewish businesses relived the economic pressure on the Gentile middle classes, transferring their burden to a disadvantaged minority. In the spring of 1933 Jews found themselves tacitly marginalized and then removed from thousands of German associations, hundreds of newspaper editorial boards, bureaucracies, cultural institutions, etc.
p. 204 German doctors maintained a dull rigid popular hatred of Jews. This silent majority provided the social basis for state policies toward Jews. Deep-seated, often off-hand aggression made people look the other way and shrug their shoulders at the growing injustice. p. 205 The majority of Germans profited materially in either direct or indirect fashion from the expropriation of Jews. Allowing ordinary people to benefit from discrimination made it easier for them to accept their role as tacit accomplices. What is important is how the peculiar German theory of genetic and racial hygiene, based on massive feelings of inferiority and envy, created a new morality that justified wholesale discrimination, larceny and murder.
June 9, 2023
Why the Germans? Why the Jews? explores how antisemitism developed so violently among the Germans, and why Jews in particular were targeted. Aly (rightly) notes that many people explain Nazism as "evil", othering themselves from it as something they would never personally partake in. But, yet, Nazism and antisemitism engendered popular support, and Hitler could not have remained in power if people did not believe in any of it. Antisemitism, Nazism, the Holocaust--it was not some aberrant thing that happened to a select few evil people.
Aly notes that, to start with, centuries-long discrimination against Jews worked in their economic favor--urban-dwelling and blocked from most occupations, Jews found their way into occupations that were uniquely advantageous as the Industrial Revolution got going. Moreover, Jews had a long history of education, whereas Germans did not; as such, as the workforce transitioned from agriculture, Jews were able to jump into more highly paid, educated positions much more quickly. Jews were, objectively, overrepresented in higher education, political offices, etc Separate from any religious antipathy, many resented Jews for simply being unusually successful. Simply put, Aly argues, Germans were less driven, less education-motivated, and envious.
This had an ugly interplay with the rising tide of nationalism after Napoleon's brutal invasion. Aly argues that Germans were turned off from liberalism because of their treatment at the hands of Napoleon, and instead reached for nationalism, and particularly ethnic nationalism. Jews were not considered German, and, given that they were disliked anyway, provided an easy jumping off point to drive home a sense of ethnic identity. This sense of national pride was only further bolstered by the aftermath of WW1. Germans doubled down on national socialism, ethnic Germans against the world. Jews were targeted by envious, less well-off Germans, who considered Jews intellectually and socially superior in a way that was, in fact, deleterious to broader society.
Finally, Aly contends, Germany's economic and education explosion in the early 1900s further cemented antipathy towards Jews, this time from the burgeoning middle class. A glut of newly educated Germans graduated into a depressed society that did not have enough jobs for them. Overrepresented Jews were an easy scapegoat, and when they started being purged from academic posts and their businesses dismantled, Germans struggling to find a job weren't exactly going to complain--it worked in their favor.
While the book made no attempt to tie German antisemitism to any modern-day culture's issues, I can easily see the parallels between Trump-era politics and the rise of American nationalism. Envy is a powerful and poisonous thing.
I found this a well-researched book, and the logic felt sound and well-reasoned to me. I mostly rated this three stars because I, personally, was a bit bored, by no fault of the book. I find World War 2 and the surrounding social climate interesting, but my attempts at history books (regardless of era) so far would indicate I am just not a fan of the genre.
I do wish the author had explored antisemitism in other countries more, however. The book asks, "Why the Germans?", and while it does explain what sociopolitical events led Germany to its fatal antisemitism, it does not actually answer the question, "Why Germany specifically?" It is not as if a baseline antisemitism was not common throughout Europe.
Aly notes that, to start with, centuries-long discrimination against Jews worked in their economic favor--urban-dwelling and blocked from most occupations, Jews found their way into occupations that were uniquely advantageous as the Industrial Revolution got going. Moreover, Jews had a long history of education, whereas Germans did not; as such, as the workforce transitioned from agriculture, Jews were able to jump into more highly paid, educated positions much more quickly. Jews were, objectively, overrepresented in higher education, political offices, etc Separate from any religious antipathy, many resented Jews for simply being unusually successful. Simply put, Aly argues, Germans were less driven, less education-motivated, and envious.
This had an ugly interplay with the rising tide of nationalism after Napoleon's brutal invasion. Aly argues that Germans were turned off from liberalism because of their treatment at the hands of Napoleon, and instead reached for nationalism, and particularly ethnic nationalism. Jews were not considered German, and, given that they were disliked anyway, provided an easy jumping off point to drive home a sense of ethnic identity. This sense of national pride was only further bolstered by the aftermath of WW1. Germans doubled down on national socialism, ethnic Germans against the world. Jews were targeted by envious, less well-off Germans, who considered Jews intellectually and socially superior in a way that was, in fact, deleterious to broader society.
Finally, Aly contends, Germany's economic and education explosion in the early 1900s further cemented antipathy towards Jews, this time from the burgeoning middle class. A glut of newly educated Germans graduated into a depressed society that did not have enough jobs for them. Overrepresented Jews were an easy scapegoat, and when they started being purged from academic posts and their businesses dismantled, Germans struggling to find a job weren't exactly going to complain--it worked in their favor.
While the book made no attempt to tie German antisemitism to any modern-day culture's issues, I can easily see the parallels between Trump-era politics and the rise of American nationalism. Envy is a powerful and poisonous thing.
I found this a well-researched book, and the logic felt sound and well-reasoned to me. I mostly rated this three stars because I, personally, was a bit bored, by no fault of the book. I find World War 2 and the surrounding social climate interesting, but my attempts at history books (regardless of era) so far would indicate I am just not a fan of the genre.
I do wish the author had explored antisemitism in other countries more, however. The book asks, "Why the Germans?", and while it does explain what sociopolitical events led Germany to its fatal antisemitism, it does not actually answer the question, "Why Germany specifically?" It is not as if a baseline antisemitism was not common throughout Europe.
June 3, 2020
Why The Germans, Why The Jews ....
3.5 stars
Why, in the long history of anti-Semitism in western world, this holocaust, this horrendous mass assassination of men, women and children was not done by any other people but the thugs of Hitler and the silent German society ?
Why not just expel them like many others European countries did, from the times of the first diaspora of israelite since the Roman empire ?
Did I get answers from this book ? Partially.
Although this book serves to help in understanding the climate that promoted the insanity that followed, many of the factors, reasons put forward by the writer had been there, to a higher or lesser extent, in many others countries and societies.
So I still think that envy, resentment and fear among the German Gentile population against the Jews, could not have been decisive.
One argument given by the writer and which I think was very reasonable, concerns the invasions of Napoleon Bonaparte throughout Europe and imposing the principles and rules of the French Revolution, in particular the rules of equality. In Germany this rules were taken heartly, so from the mid 19th century and early decades of the 20th century, Germany had the greatest degree of assimilation by Jews. Jews had social mobility and held high positions in business, law, and medicine.
A plausible reason of why the envy, why the race hatred was stronger in Germany than in other countries.
The book is not pleasant to read through and is written more on assay format, but nevertheless a very informative read on one of the most puzzling and historically unsettling conundrums.
.
3.5 stars
Why, in the long history of anti-Semitism in western world, this holocaust, this horrendous mass assassination of men, women and children was not done by any other people but the thugs of Hitler and the silent German society ?
Why not just expel them like many others European countries did, from the times of the first diaspora of israelite since the Roman empire ?
Did I get answers from this book ? Partially.
Although this book serves to help in understanding the climate that promoted the insanity that followed, many of the factors, reasons put forward by the writer had been there, to a higher or lesser extent, in many others countries and societies.
So I still think that envy, resentment and fear among the German Gentile population against the Jews, could not have been decisive.
One argument given by the writer and which I think was very reasonable, concerns the invasions of Napoleon Bonaparte throughout Europe and imposing the principles and rules of the French Revolution, in particular the rules of equality. In Germany this rules were taken heartly, so from the mid 19th century and early decades of the 20th century, Germany had the greatest degree of assimilation by Jews. Jews had social mobility and held high positions in business, law, and medicine.
A plausible reason of why the envy, why the race hatred was stronger in Germany than in other countries.
The book is not pleasant to read through and is written more on assay format, but nevertheless a very informative read on one of the most puzzling and historically unsettling conundrums.
.
March 21, 2020
Not bad, worth the read, b/w 3 and 4 stars. Aly has 2 questions, why the Germans, why the Jews? He says the Germans b/c they didn't have self confidence or identity as a nation, with constant fighting amongst the many feudal states, whereas the rest of Europe had formed nations, at least central and western. This set them up for the appeals of nationalists, something to unite about against "the foreigner", those who didn't have "true" German blood.
They also envied the Jews in their country, as the economic/political changes throughout 19th century allowed many to rise, the Jews took advantage and were better able to handle these drastic changes, and therefore had more wealth and better jobs compared to their numbers than Gentile Germans. And those Gentiles didn't like that, so the envy boiled underneath the surface. When the "diasaster" of 1919 occurred, that added to the lack of self confidence and increased envy, allowing Hitler to take advantage.
From Aly: "Both writers [2 writers in early 20th century] blamed its [anti-Semitism] rise on the Christian population's mistrust of modernity, the constant demands of social aspirants for more "fairness," fear of Jewish entrepreneurial spirit, and the German majority's retreat into collectivism." "In its radicalized form, striving for equality meant discriminating against, excluding, and ultimately exterminating all those who were different." Germans became willing to reduce individual liberties to lift up the collective, which meant native Germans.
They also envied the Jews in their country, as the economic/political changes throughout 19th century allowed many to rise, the Jews took advantage and were better able to handle these drastic changes, and therefore had more wealth and better jobs compared to their numbers than Gentile Germans. And those Gentiles didn't like that, so the envy boiled underneath the surface. When the "diasaster" of 1919 occurred, that added to the lack of self confidence and increased envy, allowing Hitler to take advantage.
From Aly: "Both writers [2 writers in early 20th century] blamed its [anti-Semitism] rise on the Christian population's mistrust of modernity, the constant demands of social aspirants for more "fairness," fear of Jewish entrepreneurial spirit, and the German majority's retreat into collectivism." "In its radicalized form, striving for equality meant discriminating against, excluding, and ultimately exterminating all those who were different." Germans became willing to reduce individual liberties to lift up the collective, which meant native Germans.
September 29, 2022
Mr. Aly investigates the history of German attitudes to the Jews for the 150 years leading up to the Nazis to answer the ever-present question of how was the Holocaust possible. This book is not a history of the rise of the Nazis. Instead, Mr. Aly wants to know what roots of mass antisemitism existed in Germany on which the Nazis could capitalize. Most interestingly, Mr. Aly intersperses letters from his own ancestors (great-grandparents through parents) to show how every day Germans exhibited the background antisemitism shared by a large swath of German society. These personal interjections serve to illustrate the points Mr. Ally is making and also demonstrate the pain and guilt that the Holocaust still projects on current Germans. Primarily, Mr. Aly blames two strains for the fertile antisemitism that the Nazis found. First, Jewish emancipation was imposed by a foreign power (Napolean's France) at the same time that capitalism was urbanizing Germany and rapidly changing traditional German society. Jewish Germans were able to leverage these two trends into a lot of success in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries in Germany. Jews were way overrepresented in Universities and professions and made up a very large portion of the rising bourgeoise. Second, German identity itself was very new compared to other nationalities in Europe and therefore insecure and over-sensitive to foreign elements. Mr. Aly's writing style is very easy to read, detailed and lacks academic jargon. This is a great contribution to a crowded field.
Read
July 16, 2021This book explains the history of the Jews from 1800 to 1933, before the Holocaust, in details about how anti-Semitism was strengthened, how the social status of the Jews was in Germany, how the rulers dealt with the social problems associated with anti-Semitism, the struggles associated with it, and the views of top leaders and personalities.
From the 1800s, until the Nazis' acceptance of the prehistoric period of the Holocaust in 1933, the author presents through various political and social events from the 1700s onwards that German anti-Semitism is neither racism nor anti-religious but mere Envy.
Note, This is not a Jewish history book. A book on, what the situation of the Jews was in Germany before the Holocaust, the genocide perpetrated by Hitler, and what caused the sixty million Jews to be killed in five years' time. For some history students, this book can function as an
eye opener.
From the 1800s, until the Nazis' acceptance of the prehistoric period of the Holocaust in 1933, the author presents through various political and social events from the 1700s onwards that German anti-Semitism is neither racism nor anti-religious but mere Envy.
Note, This is not a Jewish history book. A book on, what the situation of the Jews was in Germany before the Holocaust, the genocide perpetrated by Hitler, and what caused the sixty million Jews to be killed in five years' time. For some history students, this book can function as an
eye opener.
July 15, 2018
I think the author is right and that Anne Frank was wrong. The world contains many people who really are not good at heart.
And the US Border Patrol must contain many of those people. How else to explain 2,000-plus children torn from their parents? How can "normal" people commit these crimes against humanity?
And the US Border Patrol must contain many of those people. How else to explain 2,000-plus children torn from their parents? How can "normal" people commit these crimes against humanity?
January 8, 2023
Hitler's hatred of Jews was steeped in long standing public and institutional hatred of Jews and Jewishness in the enlightened German nation and people. Aly exposes and explains its roots and its pervasiveness.
August 31, 2017
Great read and perspective
June 3, 2021
A difficult book to read (at least I found it difficult) but very insightful and shows the long road of anti-Semitism that Germany went through.
July 29, 2022
Hochinteressante weil grundsätzliche Überlegungen zum bitteren Thema. Das Besondere sind die Ableitungen für unsere Zeit!
September 3, 2022
Interesting theory implicating specific aspects of Nazi antisemitism
August 7, 2020
Interesting book. Doesn't quite answer the titular question but does a good job of showing the evolution of antisemitism in Germany. I would recommend Hitler's Willing Executioners by Daniel Goldhagen as a complement to this.
September 10, 2015
This is a highly convincing account of the historical evolution of German anti-Semitism to the point where an entire nation became accomplice to mass murder on a hitherto unparalleled scale. It covers the period from the end of the 18th century to the Nazi era, throwing light on the specific ways in which Germans, to whom nation statehood came late, and whose mentalities retained feudal features too long, fell behind Britain, France and Italy in adopting the capitalist, democratic and especially individualistic traits necessary for getting ahead in the modern era. At the same time, the emancipation of the Jews and their newly won possibilities to begin careers in which their far greater agility of mind, their entrepreneurial and intellectual skills and the traditionally high value they put on education put them at an advantage and helped them to prosperity and towards becoming far overrepresented in the intellectual and professional fields. The envy this created on a social scale, coupled with the racial theories becoming fashionable in the era in a society where individualism was a scarce commodity created an atmosphere where anti-Semitism soon became an all-encompassing world view. Thus the explosive mixture was right there. The misery and the injustices suffered by Germany after World War II provided fertile ground for Hitler and his party's noxious views. Aly's book follows through the entire process in great and interesting detail. His line of argument is not really new but written out with great skill, erudition and also in a highly entertaining way, often with a wry humour. I find the book, apart fro everything else, a damn good read.
April 24, 2016
An excellent book. The author offers an explanation to the hatred of Jews in Germany, based on emotion of envy and insecurity within a particular group - an upwardly mobile lower class. He claims that the problem was not, as commonly thought, the failure of the Weimar republic, but its success. The republic created many opportunities for an upward mobility, especially through educational opportunities. Initially the Jews were in a better position to exploit such opportunities due to the importance of education within the Jewish culture, and that created envy. The envy, though, was exacerbated when the upwardly mobile Germans were rapidly catching up and the economic and educational differences became considerably smaller. The author claims that, indeed, the envy tends to be stronger among groups perceived as similar. This envy, as well as the opportunities created by removal of the Jews, made much of the German population quietly sympathetic with the Nazi anti-Jewish actions. Without this sympathy, Holocaust would be impossible.
While the author perceives the especially high level of hatred towards the Jews in Germany as a consequence of the weakness of German identity, which was further affected by WWI and its economic aftermath, he points out that competition over opportunities for upward mobility might easily turn into a virulent envy and a readiness to accept, or at least to ignore, inhuman actions by the authorities in other places and in other ethnic contexts as well.
While the author perceives the especially high level of hatred towards the Jews in Germany as a consequence of the weakness of German identity, which was further affected by WWI and its economic aftermath, he points out that competition over opportunities for upward mobility might easily turn into a virulent envy and a readiness to accept, or at least to ignore, inhuman actions by the authorities in other places and in other ethnic contexts as well.
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