Why the Germans? Why the Jews?

Why the Germans? Why the Jews?: Envy, Race Hatred, and the Prehistory of the Holocaust by Götz Haydar Aly. Metropolitan Books (2014).

Germany

Excellent history of the growth of German prejudice against Jews during the century leading up to the Holocaust. First, the traditional prejudice against the Jews based upon their religion was replaced by envy and shame of the greater economic success of the emancipated Jews.

Racism

Then the Nazis gave the German people a rationalization for their resentment of Jewish success by interjecting racial theory. The insecurity that the German people felt regarding their ethnic identity was also a factor. When the German nation coalesced in the nineteenth century, all they really had in common was their language. The effort to build a German ethnic identity lead to an exclusion of the Jews.

Emancipation

In Germany, Jewish emancipation took place from 1806 to 1918. After emancipation, Jews in Germany had more freedom than Jews in Russia. Part of emancipation was the 1869 Equality of Confessions Act.

Cultural Differences

There were cultural differences between Jews and Gentiles. Jews had an entrepreneurial spirit, while Christians were subservient to authority. Jewish culture promoted learning more than did Christian culture. And not just for boys, but also for girls. 

Overrepresented

After emancipation, a small minority of Germans, the Jews, rapidly came to dominate many professions. Jews were overrepresented in higher education. Jews more often had their own businesses than did Christians. Before emancipation, Jews were poorer than gentiles. Now, they were richer. They rose because of talent, but were perceived as having risen unjustly. Anti-Semites perceived Jewish wealth as having been stolen from the Christians. Jews were scapegoated for Germany’s economic problems. Many Germans saw Jews as unpatriotic shirkers during World War I, but a survey showed otherwise. Many Germans suffered from an inferiority complex. Germans who hated Jews were motivated largely by envy, jealousy and resentment of Jewish success.