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  • Between Philosemitism and Antisemitism: Defenses of Jews and Judaism in Germany 1871-1932
  • Guy Stern
Between Philosemitism and Antisemitism: Defenses of Jews and Judaism in Germany 1871-1932, by Alan T. Levenson. Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press, 2004. 194 pp. $55.00.

Virtually every aspect of the relationship between the Jews living in German-speaking countries and their non-Jewish contemporaries during the sixty-odd years prior to the Nazi accession to power has been analyzed and interpreted. Frequently and understandably a dismal, well-documented diagnosis of open or latent antisemitism emerged. Yet was there no countervailing trend in Germany and Austria, a validation of Jews, Judaism, and Jewish contributions, even as antisemitism and indifference became ever more dominant? That is precisely the question that Alan L. Levenson asked himself and, in the search for an answer, wrote the first cohesive study of philosemitism in Germany during the period of the Wilhelmine Empire and the Weimar Republic.

Arising initially during the Wilhelmine Empire, as a counterforce to a politically inspired conservative and chauvinistic crop of philosophizing antisemites, philosemitic proponents never gained the coherence of the hate-groups. [End Page 189] As a result many individual champions became ultimately ineffective while fighting a defensive battle against the antisemites. To these non-Jewish apologists for their stigmatized Jewish contemporaries Levenson affixes the useful appellation of anti-antisemites. Yet even in taking this cautious position these defenders of the Jews would repeat such old bromides as "some of their best friends were Jewish" (p. 6) and they would take the additional defensive stance of credentialing themselves as non-Jews. To do otherwise would have made their advocacy suspect.

At times the effort to shield oneself against the appearance of a pro-Jewish bias became tortuous. Members of the Abwehrverein, the Society for the Defense against antisemitism, would try to demonstrate their objectivity by simply appealing to Christian tolerance and equality under German law or even by "admitting" to certain flaws in the Jewish character as a show of objectivity.

Levenson meticulously traces the various attitudes of these defenders of German Jewry during the duration of the Empire, highlighting the pioneering writings of Count Heinrich von Coudenhove-Kalergi (father of the founder of the Pan-Europe Movement), also on the benign stance of the Empress Augusta and, in a particularly enlightening excursus, on the ambivalent writings of Friedrich Nietzsche. Equally enlightening is his finding that there was a frequent concinnity between the German Peace movement and philosemitism. In fact Bertha von Suttner, the pioneer of the peace movement and the recipient of the first Nobel Peace Price, became one of the earliest advocates of Theodor Herzl's Zionism.

Levenson seeks further evidence for the existence of a philosemitic tendency by examining German-Christian literature. Unearthing examples that contrasted with the plethora of literary (and sub-literary) antisemitic texts does great credit to Levenson's research skills. But the results are meager: five novels and one drama, plus a few honorable mentions in the book's footnotes. Most are by authors little remembered, perhaps because "scholars in German studies appear to have neglected literary philosemitism entirely" (p. 44). The one text that for a while reached near-canonical standing, Wilhelm von Scholz's Der Jude von Konstanz stands, as Levenson points out, at a borderline between philo- and antisemitism. To be sure we encounter greatly sympathetic protagonists in these texts, but however well intentioned, the authors assign them usually to tragic, often brutal endings.

With great surefootedness and elegance Levenson leads us next through the abnormality of missionary Protestants, especially Franz Delitsch and Hermann Strack, taking up the cause of anti-antisemitism. For example, they laid to rest the blood libel, and, even more laudable, they became exponents of philosemitism. Their goal of converting Jews did not hinder, perhaps even intensified, their [End Page 190] appreciation of Judentum. After careful analysis of the theology that induced this stance Levenson concludes, "Delitsch and Strack mounted the most aggressive defense of Judaism in Germany before World War I. . . ." (p. 89)

In the second part of his study Levenson fills in the details. How did various groups across the political and theological spectrum react to Herzl...

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