Being Jewish in the New Germany

Acknowledgments

A c k n o w l e d g m e n t s A lengthy project such as this that integrates my professional and personal lives will necessarily need to recognize many colleagues, friends, and students . It must also acknowledge institutions that have supported my research financially and intellectually. In both cases there are so many in the United States, Canada, and Germany that I fear I am sure leave out some and should I, my apologies in advance for any oversights. Of course, the universities, departments, institutes with which I have been associated have played a major role, among them Georgetown University , especially the Center for German and European Studies in the School of Foreign Service, and York University in Toronto. The American Institute for Contemporary German Studies (AICGS) and the German Historical Institute in Washington, D.C., deserve particular recognition for granting me a Senior Postdoctoral Fellowship sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation that supported the initial stage of this project. AICGS has continued its support, first by inviting me to spend my 2002–2003 sabbatical as a Senior Fellow and by continuing my tenure. This institute, under the outstanding leadership of Jackson Janes, provides me with a special intellectual haven for discussing, presenting, and most importantly, writing my book. Jackson Janes, Cathleen Fisher, Lily Gardner-Feldman, and Frank Trommler associated with the Institute have all been very helpful . Financial support over the years from the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), the Fulbright Commission, and the United States State Department has given me opportunities to visit Germany and meet many of my informants. The various universities with which I have been associated have also supported me with grants. Other academic and professional colleagues have also made important xvii contributions. Many of them are cited in this book, yet they are far too numerous to be all named individually. Conversations with Michal Bodemann over many years in Germany and North America have provided me with a perspective and knowledge of Jewish life in Germany from another scholar whose work focuses on this topic. Of course, the prolific work of Sander Gilman has been inspiring, as more recently the perspective of Diana Pinto whose optimism about European Jewish life matches my own. Deidre Berger, Andrew Baker, and Eugene Dubow from the American Jewish Committee have always opened their doors to me, as have Carol Strauss and Frank Mecklenburg of the Leo Baeck Institute (LBI) in New York, Aubrey Pomerance at LBI Berlin, and Cilly Kugelmann of the Jewish Museum, Berlin. Many members of the Jewish Community in Germany, as well as German government officials, especially in Berlin, have given me information and insight into a complicated topic. Finally, I am grateful to the many colleagues who have listened to presentations of my research in many forms and fora and given me valuable comments and criticism. But above all, it has been the students who have helped me with my research intellectually and very often administratively. Over the years, I have not only taught this material at all levels, but have benefited from the assistance in my research of many graduate students. After bringing books I requested from the library or as they proofread the pages of this manuscript , we talked about the issues I raise in the book. How lucky I have been to have such bright and interested students. I thank Barbara Serfozo, Elise Brayton, Mark Lede, Symeon Rose, Katrin Dannhauer, Carol Huh, Kerstin Jager, and Daniel Kaplan, among others. In particular, Kerstin who indexed and proofed the book so well and Daniel who proved to be a forceful and challenging interlocutor whose intellectual and personal experience as a “German Jew” was invaluable. In our two-year acquaintance, he grew from a student to a well-respected intellectual equal. I am also grateful to him for the first part of my book title, a choice that proved to be a long struggle. I must not forget friends (some of whom are colleagues) and partners since a project that consumes time and energy for so long takes on a weight that both enhances and sometimes hinders relationships of all kinds. I appreciate their support and patience. Let me thank Wolfgang Lorenz, Thomas von Stein, Jeffrey Sadoff, Azade Seyhan, Karin Bauer, Mark Webber, Kurt Hübner, Carol Zemel, Omer Bartov, Ute Larkey, Ed Larkey, Rebecca Boehling, Gregory Caplan, Robin Ostow, Dagmar AC K N O W L E D G M E N T S xviii [3...