Abstracts

Covers

Revolutionary Jews from Marx to Trotsky

For many Jews in the 19th-20th centuries, socialism and communism were seen as paths to their social and political emancipation as human beings, a way to flee from social ostracism. Examines the lives and works of ten Jews who were socialist leaders, from Marx to Trotsky. Regarding antisemitism, it was generally seen as an evil aspect of capitalism, a special case of bourgeois racism. Assimilation of the Jews was a prerequisite of the socialist revolution. Jewish socialists adopted not only the universalism of their non-Jewish revolutionary contemporaries, but also their anti-Jewish stereotypes. Jewish self-hatred was common amongst them and affected their socialist views. In their antisemitism, Marx and Lassalle surpassed some of their non-Jewish fellow socialists. The rise of political antisemitism in the 20th century, the Dreyfus Affair, brutal pogroms, and Nazism made some of the Jewish socialists (e.g. Bernstein, Lazare) revise their views and speak out against antisemitism, but did not affect others (e.g. Luxemburg, Adler).

"Trotsky: Fate of a Revolutionary"

"Theories of Fascism"

"Socialism and the Jews: The Dilemmas of Assimilation in Germany and Austria-Hungary"

Analyzes the role of the "Jewish question" in the politics of the German and Austrian Social Democratic parties before 1914. Socialism was not immune to antisemitism, and early socialists were ambivalent regarding the issue of Jewish emancipation. German Social Democracy parted ways with antisemitism only in the 1880s. At the same time, it tended to downplay antisemitism as a transitory phenomenon doomed to disappear. In the 1890s, on the wave of the "völkisch" movement, it even noted a revolutionary, anti-capitalist potential for antisemitism. While opposing antisemitism, the party did not want to appear as philosemitic. In Austria, populist antisemitism (e.g. that of Schönerer and Lueger) was more influential. It was only after Lueger’s victory in Vienna that the Social Democrats altered their policy and attacked the Christian Socialists as a reactionary movement; to this end, they also used antisemitic arguments. As in Germany, Austrian Social Democrats tried to remain "neutral" toward antisemitism. In both Germany and Austria, the Social Democrats consistently denied that Jews constitute a nation and opposed all Jewish national movements.

"The Left Against Zion: Communism, Israel
and the Middle East"

Ciolkosz, Adam. ’Anti Zionism’ in Polish Communist Party Politics [An earlier version appeared in the "Wiener Library Bulletin" 22, 3 (1968).] (137-152);

Oschlies, Wolf. Neo Stalinist Antisemitism in Czechoslovakia (153-165);

Krämer-Badoni, Rudolf. Zionism and the New Left (226-235);

Langguth, Gerd. Anti-Israel Extremism in West Germany (253-259);

Wistrich, Robert Solomon. Anti-Zionism in the USSR: From Lenin to the Soviet Black Hundreds (272-305).

"Who’s Who in Nazi Germany"

Who's Who in Nazi Germany looks at the individuals who influenced every aspect of life in Nazi Germany. It covers a representative cross section of Germany society from 1933-1945, and includes:

• Nazi Party leaders; SS, Wehrmacht and Gestapo figures; civil service and diplomatic personnel
• industrialists, churchmen, intellectuals, artists, entertainers and sports figures
  
• Resistance leaders, political dissidents, critics and victims of the regime
  
• extensive biographical information on each figure extending into the post-war period
  
• analysis of their role and significance in Nazi Germany
  
• an accessible, easy-to-use A-Z layout
  
• a glossary and comprehensive bibliography
  

Who's Who in Nazi Germany is a fascinating and indispensable source of reference for everyone interested in this pivotal period in twentieth century history.

A study of Hitler’s antisemitic, apocalyptic worldview, how it was translated into Nazi ideology and the implementation of the destruction of European Jewry, and how it has been adopted and adapted in the postwar period by the Soviet Union and Arab and Muslim countries. Chs. 1-8 (pp. 12-173) deal with Hitler and Nazism. States that Hitler always spoke of the destruction of Jewry in tones of apocalyptic fervor. It was the fusion of a modern, totalitarian political praxis with a gnostic-racist Manichean ideology of war against the forces of Darkness that provided the radical novelty in Hitler’s movement. He used the tsarist Russian idea of an international Jewish conspiracy as his inspiration for a radical restructuring of the modern political world. The Soviet, Arab and Islamic antisemitism described in chs. 9-12 (pp. 174-255) are part of a multi-layered continuum of blood-curdling rhetoric which postulates the existence of an international, shadowy occult conspiracy with its Jewish political center in Israel. This crusade goes today under the name of "anti-Zionism."

Analyzes the communal organization, political affiliations, and cultural contributions of Vienna’s Jews from 1848 to World War I. After 1848, Jewish emancipation became an issue in party politics. Jews identified with the Austrian Liberal Party, with the Emperor and Germanism, in all of which they saw safeguards of Jewish emancipation. Analyzes the antisemitism of Schönerer’s Pan-German Party, which found many adherents at the University of Vienna, and of Lueger’s Christian Social Party. Describes the cautious reactions of Jewish officials, who supported the Liberal Party even in defeat and in the face of that party’s desertion of the Jewish cause; the more nationalist faction led by Rabbi Joseph Samuel Bloch, a member of the Austrian parliament from 1884-95 and a militant fighter against antisemitism; and the Austrian Israelite Union set up in 1886 to encourage pride in Jewish identity and combat antisemitism. Surveys the role of antisemitism in the rise of Zionism. Suggests that the surge of antisemitism in Vienna, rather than the Dreyfus case, was responsible for Herzl’s concern with the "Jewish question". Analyzes the Jewish self-hatred of Karl Kraus and Otto Weininger, and the role of Jewish identity and antisemitism in the life and work of Freud, Schnitzler, and other Austrian Jewish writers.

A collection of essays and lectures, most of them published previously and revised here. A number of essays deal with the emergence of the "Jewish question" in 19th-century Europe, the rise of modern antisemitism in 20th-century Central Europe, Nazi racist ideology, and cultural and political aspects of antisemitism and anti-Zionism in the postwar world. Partial contents: Karl Marx and the Enlightenment (9-16); Antisemitism as a Radical Ideology (31-42); Karl Lueger in Historical Perspective (43-54); Hitler and National Socialism: The Austrian Connection (55-67); The Strange Case of Bruno Kreisky (107-120); The Fassbinder Controversy [Appeared in the "Jerusalem Quarterly" 50 (1989).] (121-129); French Socialism and the Dreyfus Affair (133-149); Zionism as a Jewish Revolution (181-191); Antisemitism and the Origins of Zionism (195-205); The Myth of the Jew in Contemporary France (206-213); Global Anti-Zionism in the 1980s (214-224); The New War against the Jews (225-235); Under the Sign of "Glasnost" (236-241); The Politics of Perdition (242-245); Soundings in the Gulf (246-253); The Fundamentalist Challenge (254-264).

Part I: "Communist and Left Anti-Zionism":
Gitelman, Zvi Y. The Evolution of Soviet Anti-Zionism: From Principle to Pragmatism (11-25);
Friedgut, Theodore H. Soviet Anti-Zionism: Origins, Forms and Development (26-45);
Wistrich, Robert Solomon. Left-Wing Anti-Zionism in Western Societies [Appeared in "Antisemitism in the Contemporary World" (1986).] (46-52);
Cesarani, David. The "Perdition" Affair [An abridged version appeared in "The Jewish Quarterly" 34 (1987).] (53-60).

Part II: "Muslim, Arab and Third World Anti-Zionism":
Nettler, Ronald L. Islamic Archetypes of the Jews: Then and Now (63-73);
Sivan, Emmanuel. Islamic Fundamentalism, Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism [Appeared in "Antisemitism in the Contemporary World" (1986).] (74-84);
Rubin, Barry. The Non-Arab Third World and Antisemitism (85-92);
Lerner, Natan. Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism in Latin America (93-101);
Israeli, Raphael. Anti-Jewish Attitudes in the Arabic Media, 1975-1981 [Appeared in "Institute of Jewish Affairs: Research Report" 15 (1983).] (102-120);
Lerman, Antony. Fictive Anti-Zionism: Third World, Arab and Muslim Variations (121-138).

Part III: "Western Anti-Zionism":
Solomon, Norman. The Christian Churches on Israel and the Jews (141-154);
Raab, Earl. American Blacks and Israel (155-170);
Avineri, Shlomo. Western Anti-Zionism: The Middle Ground (171-177);
Gould, Julius. Impugning Israel’s Legitimacy: Anti-Zionism and Antisemitism [Appeared in "Survey of Jewish Affairs" 2 (1985).] (178-194);
Bauer, Yehuda. Antisemitism and Anti-Zionism: New and Old (195-213).

A history of antisemitism, written to accompany the Thames Television series "The Longest Hatred" (1991). Surveys the evolution in antiquity from pagan hostility toward Jews to Christian anti-Judaism, and the latter’s overwhelming influence on modern antisemitism. Mentions the antisemitic leanings of 19th-century socialist ideologues and of Karl Marx. Traces the evolution of Austrian and German antisemitism and their culmination in Hitler’s racist ideology and the legitimation of the Final Solution. Examines postwar forms of antisemitism in both countries, focusing on Fassbinder’s play and the Waldheim affair. Reviews past and present-day antisemitism in Britain, America, France, and Eastern Europe. Remarks on the extent of anti-Zionist propaganda in the Soviet Union and ideological antisemitic tendencies among former Soviet dissidents (e.g. I. Shafarevich). Surveys the status of the Jews in Islamic lands, blood libels in those countries, widespread anti-Jewish stereotypes, the "world Jewish conspiracy" accusation, and Islamic fundamentalist antisemitism.

Kieval, Hillel Joseph. Jews, Czechs and Germans in Bohemia before 1914 (19-37);

Robertson, Ritchie. "Jewish Self-Hatred"? The Cases of Schnitzler and Canetti (82-96);

Botz, Gerhard. The Dynamics of Persecution in Austria, 1938-45 (199-219);

Knight, Robert. "Neutrality" Not Sympathy: Jews in Post-War Austria (220-233);

Wistrich, Robert Solomon. The Kreisky Phenomenon: A Reassessment (234-251);

Mitten, Richard. New Faces of Anti-Semitic Prejudice in Austria: Reflections on the "Waldheim Affair" (252-273).

Discusses Nazi ideology and the centrality of the arts in Hitler’s worldview and as an instrument of propaganda. Analyzes the Nazi concept of "degenerate" art, which was equated with Jewish-influenced art, even though most of the artists condemned by the Nazis were not, in fact, Jewish. Describes the third annual Day of German Art celebrated in Munich on 14-16 July 1939 and attended by Hitler and most of the leading Nazis. This festival was filmed in technicolor by a group of amateurs. In conjunction with the screening on British television in 1993 of a documentary based on this film ("Good Morning, Mr. Hitler"), the directors interviewed Munich citizens who had taken part in the Festival in their youth and who recalled their enjoyment. Most of them denied having known anything of the Holocaust. Charlotte Knobloch, a Jewish survivor, recalls a very different youth, spent in constant fear. The last chapter points to the revival of neo-Nazism, Skinhead violence against foreigners and Jews, and Holocaust denial in reunified Germany and elsewhere in the world.

A collection of papers delivered at a symposium held in Jerusalem on "Fifty Years after the Racial Laws in Italy." Contents:

Wistrich, Robert Solomon. Fascism and the Jews of Italy (13-18);

Sznajder, Mario. The Fascist Regime, Antisemitism and the Racial Laws in Italy (19-36);

Della Seta, Simonetta. Italian Zionism Confronts Fascism and the Racial Laws (37-48);

Michaelis, Meir. The Current Debate over Fascist Racial Policy (49-96).

A dozen essays document the evolution of national myths in Israel as the heroic figures and events of independence and survival transmute into blind fanaticism, great-power manipulation, and traditional colonialism and genocide. Without passing any judgement on the changes, they delve into the meaning and purposes of the old myths and of the new ones growing to replace them, emphasizing the context of the maturing of Israeli society rather than its international relations.

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"מיתוס וזיכרון : גלגוליה של התודעה הישראלית"

ציר הזיכרון הישראלי נמתח מהמהפכה הציונית ועד לוויכוח על הפוסט-ציונות. האם הישראלים מעצבים את המיתוסים שלהם בכל דור ודור – ובוחנים אותם באופן ביקורתי – או שמא המיתוסים מתנים את דפוסי מחשבתם ופועלם? כיצד מכונן המיתוס את הזיכרון הקולקטיווי של הישראלים? מהו מקומו של זיכרון מתהווה זה בפעולה הפוליטית, במחשבה החברתית וביצירה התרבותית של הישראלים? האם עוד אפשר לדבר על הישראלים בה"א הידיעה? לפנינו מחקר רב-תחומי ראשון מסוגו, שתכליתו בירור נוכחותם של המיתוסים במחשבה היהודית, באידיאולוגיה הציונית ובחברה הישראלית. שישה-עשר המאמרים המוצגים בו חושפים וממפים את "הסדר המיתי" ביהדות, בציונות ובישראליות. המחברים רואים במיתוס אמת פרספקטיווית, אופן אחר של פרשנות, המבעבע מתחת לפני השטח כזרם תת-קרקעי. המחקר דן בגרשם שלום ובבאבא סאלי, בטרומפלדור ובאמיל גרינצוויג, ברבי מלובביץ' ובפרידריך ניטשה, בהרצל ובבן-גוריון, במצדה ובאושוויץ, בתל-חי ובנתיבות, בעקידת יצחק ובאנתיפאדה, במשיחיות ובפוסט-ציונות.

Significant portions of the following articles deal with antisemitism in Austria:

Montel, Angelika. Herzls Maitresse: Zur Gründung der "Welt" (19-66);

Hassler, Silke. Robert Stricker und die "Neue Welt" (91-151);

Lind, Jakov. Erinnerungen an Berta und Barak (153-158);

Weinzierl, Erika. Antisemitismus und österreichische Politik [Mainly on antisemitism against DPs in 1945-49.] (161-172);

Demel, Katharina; Halbmayr, Brigitte. Tradition und Neubeginn (175-230);

Pelinka, Anton. Jüdische Identität in Österreich (259-266);

Halbmayr, Brigitte; Demel, Katharina. Zwischen Israel und Österreich (267-332).

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"Die Juden Wiens im Zeitalter
Kaiser Franz Josephs"

"Ein künftiges Standardwerk ... stilistisch meisterhaft", so Peter Pulzer in der London Review of Books beim Erscheinen der englischen Originalausgabe dieses Werkes, das nunmehr in Übersetzung vorliegt. Robert Wistrich untersucht in diesem vielbeachteten Buch das "Goldene Zeitalter" des Wiener Judentums während der Regierungszeit Kaiser Franz Josephs. Basierend auf umfangreichem, akribischem Quellenstudium bietet die Darstellung eine Vielzahl neuer Erkenntnisse über die Fakten, die diese Blütezeit ermöglichten, aber ebenso über die ideologischen Konflikte, die den Beginn des 20. Jahrhunderts kennzeichneten. Dem Beitrag von Persönlichkeiten wie Sigmund Freud, Ludwig Wittgenstein, Gustav Mahler, Arnold Schönberg und Theodor Herzl zum geistigen und kulturellen Klima der Zeit wird kenntnisreich nachgegangen.

Der Inhalt:

I. Die Gemeinde
1. Vom Ghetto zur Revolution
2. Zuwanderung in die Kaiserstadt
3. Philanthropie, Politik und die Ostjuden
4. Drei Wiener Prediger
5. Liberalismus, Deutschtum und Assimilation
6. Emporkömmlinge, Patrioten und Schutzjuden

II. Die Selbstverteidigung gegen den Antisemitismus
7. Der neue österreichische Antisemitismus
8. Adolf Jellinek und die liberale Reaktion
9. Joseph Bloch: Rabbiner, Parlamentarier und Publizist
10. Die Österreichisch-Israelitische Union

III. Der Aufstieg des Zionismus
11. Kadimah und der Nationalismus jüdischer Studenten
12. Die Metamorphosen des Nathan Birnbaum
13. Theodor Herzl: Das Werden eines politischen Messias
14. Der Zionismus und seine jüdischen Kritiker

IV. Kultur und Identität
15. Propheten des Untergangs: Karl Kraus und Otto Weininger
16. Die jüdische Identität Sigmund Freuds
17. Arthur Schnitzlers Weg ins Freie
18. Kaiserlicher Schwanengesang: Von Stefan Zweig zu Joseph Roth

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 "Demonizing the Other: Antisemitism, Racism
and Xenophobia"

A collection of papers delivered at the conference "The ’Other’ as Threat: Demonization and Antisemitism", organized by the Vidal Sassoon International Center for the Study of Antisemitism, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, in June 1995. Partial contents:

Wistrich, Robert Solomon. The Devil, the Jews, and Hatred of the "Other" (1-15);

Schul, Yaacov; Zukier, Henri. Why Do Stereotypes Stick? [On the persistence of stereotypes, especially antisemitic ones, from a motivational-cognitive perspective.] (31-43);

Amishai-Maisels, Ziva. The Demonization of the "Other" in the Visual Arts [From the ancient to the modern periods, with a focus on anti-Jewish images in Christian art.] (44-72 + 8 pp. of illustrations);

Schwartz, Daniel R. Antisemitism and Other -ism’s in the Greco-Roman World [In the Roman Empire, with a focus on Alexandria in the first century.] (73-87);

Lazarus-Yafeh, Hava. Jews and Christians in Medieval Muslim Thought (108-117);

Zukier, Henri. The Transformation of Hatred: Antisemitism as a Struggle for Group Identity [In Western culture throughout the ages.] (118-130);

Almog, Shmuel. The Borrowed Identity: Neo-Pagan Reactions to the Jewish Roots of Christianity [Surveys attitudes toward the Jewish component in Christianity throughout history, from the standpoint of Gentile identity.] (131-147);

Cohen, Richard I. Recurrent Images in French Antisemitism in the Third Republic (183-195);

Kulka, Otto Dov. The Critique of Judaism in Modern European Thought: Genuine Factors and Demonic Perceptions [Discusses, for instance, the deists, Marx, Wagner, and Nazi ideology.] (196-209);

Friedländer, Saul. "Europe’s Inner Demons": The "Other" as Threat in Early Twentieth-Century European Culture [On the view of the Jew as representing the threatening "Other" in radical right discourse (e.g. Nesta Webster, Georges Bernanos) and in Nazi ideology.] (210-222);

Burrin, Philippe. Nazi Antisemitism: Animalization and Demonization (223-235);

Epstein, Simon (Simcha). When the Demon Itself Complains of Being Demonized [On antisemites’ responses to Jewish propaganda launched against them; discusses Nazi responses (Hitler, Goebbels, Gregor Strasser) between 1927-33.] (236-243);

Felstiner, John. "All Poets Are Yids": The Voice of the "Other" in Paul Celan [An earlier German version appeared in "Dachauer Hefte" 11 (1995).] (244-256);

Gutman, Yisrael. The Popular Image of the Jew in Modern Poland [19th-20th centuries.] (257-266);

Shillony, Ben-Ami. The Flourishing Demon: Japan in the Role of the Jews? [On "Japan bashing and Jew baiting" in the West, deriving from demonization of the successful outsider.] (294-309);

Yadlin, Rivka. Anti-Jewish Imagery in the Contemporary Arab-Muslim World [On antisemitic rhetoric, polemical writings, and reports in the press.] (310-322);

Porat, Dina. The "Protocols of the Elders of Zion": New Uses of an Old Myth [Examines publication and distribution of the "Protocols" in different parts of the world in the 1990s.] (323-335);

Benz, Wolfgang. The Motivations and Impact of Contemporary Holocaust Denial in Germany [From postwar West Germany to present-day Germany, with a focus on the case of Günter Deckert.] (336-348);

Wistrich, Robert Solomon. Xenophobia and Antisemitism in the New Europe: The Case of Germany (349-363).

 





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"Theodor Herzl: Visionary of the Jewish State"

A collection based on papers presented at an international conference marking the 100th anniversary of Herzl’s book "Der Judenstaat", held in Jerusalem and Haifa in March 1996. Antisemitism of the late 19th century, and scandalous affairs with strong antisemitic implications (like the Panama Scandal and the Dreyfus Affair), greatly influenced Herzl and made him a Zionist. Partial contents:

Kornberg, Jacques. The Construction of an Identity [Dwells on the role of "Jewish self-hatred" in Herzl’s formative years.] (15-26);

Gutwein, Daniel. The Development of Herzl’s Theory of Antisemitism [Based on his experiences in Austria and in France.] (80-98);

Berkowitz, Michael. Herzl and the Stock Exchange [Focuses on the Panama Scandal.] (99-111);

Schoeps, Julius Hans. The Role of the Dreyfus Affair (112-125).

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"Hitler and the Holocaust"

Discusses major aspects of the Holocaust, emphasizing the centrality of antisemitism, both in terms of Europe’s long history of Christian anti-Judaism and of Hitler’s adoption of some aspects of Christianity and perversion of others. Hitler was also influenced by Austrian racist antisemitism. He exploited Germany’s post-World War I national traumas resulting from defeat and fear of the Bolshevik threat, both of which he linked to the myth of Jewish power. Hitler’s Final Solution was made possible by the initial success in his war against the USSR, which involved the brutal mass execution of Jews. Details the failure of Pope Pius XII to speak out against the Holocaust and of Christian states to protect their Jews. The extent of collaboration in the mass murder of Jews across Europe challenges Goldhagen’s thesis of a uniquely German eliminationist antisemitism. Antisemitism is cited as one of the reasons for the failure of the USA and England to rescue Jews, provide them with a haven, or bomb Auschwitz. Disagrees with Zygmunt Bauman’s theory that modernity is central to the Holocaust, stressing that apocalytic antisemitic ideology was a far more important factor than economic rationality in determining Nazi policy toward the Jews.

 

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"Nietzsche: Godfather of Fascism?"

A collection of essays discussing the relation of Nietzsche’s thought to fascism, addressing the issue of the extent to which he may be responsible for the latter or whether such a connection is a distortion of his ideas. Explores Nietzsche’s attitudes toward Jews, Judaism, Christianity, antisemitism, and Nazism or proto-Nazism. Partial contents:

Yovel, Yirmiyahu. Nietzsche contra Wagner on the Jews [Appeared in German in "Richard Wagner und die Juden" (2000).] (126-143);

Wistrich, Robert Solomon. Between the Cross and the Swastika: A Nietzschean Perspective [Concludes that Nietzsche would have been repelled by Nazi racism and antisemitism.] (144-169);

Holub, Robert C. The Elisabeth Legend: The Cleansing of Nietzsche and the Sullying of His Sister [Contends that Nietzsche’s sister was not responsible for Nietzsche’s "Nazi reputation".] (215-234);

Stackelberg, Roderick. Critique as Apologetics: Nolte’s Interpretation of Nietzsche (301-319).

 


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"Austrian Legacies: Jews and National Identity"

Discusses the rise of antisemitism in the Austro-Hungarian Empire under the pressure of ethnic conflict and the failure to achieve a separate Austrian identity. Antisemitism was particularly strong among university students, whose racism aroused some Jews to form their own dueling fraternities, sports groups, and self-defense organizations. Amidst the nationalist crossfire, various expressions of Jewish national identity emerged, including autonomism and Zionism; among the latter, Herzl’s Viennese environment helped him understand the dangers that Jews faced in Europe. By the late 1930s antisemitism provided the ideological cement for a broad anti-liberal front that included Austrian fascists, pan-Germans, and Austrian Nazis. Such trends indicate that indigenous Austrian antisemitism was strong. Thus, the Anschluss was not a German occupation imposed from without, but was prepared for and welcomed from within. Many Nazis involved in the Final Solution, including Hitler, were brought up on antisemitic attitudes prevalent in Austria.

"Ma’abada le-heres ha-olam.Germanim ve-yehudim be mercaz-europa"
(מעבדה להרס העולם)

"מעבדה להרס העולם, גרמנים ויהודים במרכז אירופה" זה אינו מתמקד ברצח יהודי אירופה אלא דווקא בתקופה שקדמה לו - בגורמים התרבותיים, הדתיים, החברתיים והפוליטיים אשר אפשרו את האסון.

הספר מתמקד באוסטריה, ובייחוד באוסטריה של שלהי תקופת הקיסרות ההאבסבורגית - בהיבטים של "מורשת אוסטרית" הייחודית, שהיא למעשה מסלול מיוחד של התפתחויות היסטוריות שהגיעו אל שיאן בפשעים חסרי התקדים שבוצעו בשנים 1938-1945.

 

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"The Jews of Vienna in the Age of Franz Joseph"
(3rd Edition)

Analyzes the communal organization, political affiliations, and cultural contributions of Vienna’s Jews from 1848 to World War I. After 1848, Jewish emancipation became an issue in party politics. Jews identified with the Austrian Liberal Party, with the Emperor and Germanism, in all of which they saw safeguards of Jewish emancipation. Analyzes the antisemitism of Schönerer’s Pan-German Party, which found many adherents at the University of Vienna, and of Lueger’s Christian Social Party. Describes the cautious reactions of Jewish officials, who supported the Liberal Party even in defeat and in the face of that party’s desertion of the Jewish cause; the more nationalist faction led by Rabbi Joseph Samuel Bloch, a member of the Austrian parliament from 1884-95 and a militant fighter against antisemitism; and the Austrian Israelite Union set up in 1886 to encourage pride in Jewish identity and combat antisemitism. Surveys the role of antisemitism in the rise of Zionism. Suggests that the surge of antisemitism in Vienna, rather than the Dreyfus case, was responsible for Herzl’s concern with the "Jewish question". Analyzes the Jewish self-hatred of Karl Kraus and Otto Weininger, and the role of Jewish identity and antisemitism in the life and work of Freud, Schnitzler, and other Austrian Jewish writers.

 

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 "Laboratory for World Destruction.
Germans and Jews in Central Europe"

During the sixty years between the founding of Bismarck’s German Empire and Hitler’s rise to power, German-speaking Jews left a profound mark on Central Europe and on twentieth-century culture as a whole. How would the modern world look today without Einstein, Freud, or Marx? Without Mahler, Schoenberg, Wittgenstein, or Kafka? Without a whole galaxy of other outstanding Jewish scientists, poets, playwrights, composers, critics, historians, sociologists, psychoanalysts, jurists, and philosophers? How was it possible that this vibrant period in Central European cultural history collapsed into the horror and mass murder of the Nazi Holocaust? Was there some connection between the dazzling achievements of these Jews and the ferocity of the German backlash?

 



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 "A Lethal Obsession:
Anti-Semitism from Antiquity to the Global Jihad"

Antisemitism was at the core of the two anti-democratic and anti-Western ideologies of the 20th century: Nazism and Stalinism. In the 1990s-2000s it returned to the world arena in the guise of neo-Nazi, post-communist, and radical Islamist ideologies. After an exposition on the history of antisemitism from antiquity through Nazi Germany and the Stalinist USSR, dwells on the revival of hatred of the Jews which has emerged since the collapse of communism in Eastern Europe. In this revival, traditional religious, racist, and social motifs of antisemitism are inseparably mixed with new ones, especially with anti-Zionist motifs, and, in recent years, with hatred toward the USA and the West. Traces antisemitism in the former USSR; in post-communist Eastern Europe; in Austria, Germany, France, Britain and other European countries; in Latin America; and in the Arab world, Turkey, and Iran. The most implausible alliances are possible on the grounds of antisemitism disguised as anti-Zionism: e.g. between the left, the radical right, and fundamentalist Islam. Amongst the traits of the "new" antisemitism are delegitimization of the State of Israel; vilification of all Jews as "natural" Zionists worldwide; Holocaust denial, and in some cases - the cult of Hitler and Nazism; and, at the same time, exploitation of anti-racist and anti-imperialist rhetoric. Solidarity with Palestinians has been globally exploited by exponents of the "culture of hatred". Close in spirit to the Nazi model, Islamist ideology depicts the jihad for the liberation of Palestine as an apocalyptic war to destroy a secret Jewish power that strives for global hegemony. Unless it is checked in time, the lethal triad of antisemitism, terror, and jihad is capable of unleashing a universal conflagration.

 



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