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Jewish Life in Nazi Germany, 1933-1935
This section of The Gathering Storm features items that were published in Germany following the rise of Hitler and the National Socialist Party in 1933. Of the six journals featured: four are from Berlin; two from Mainz and Mannheim. The April 1933 edition of the Judische Rundschau deals directly with the political situation and contains the editor’s most famous contribution to the paper in which he called upon the Jewish people of Germany to Tragt ihn mit Stolz, den gelben Fleck! (“wear it with pride, the yellow badge”). The other Berlin journal from 1933, Orden Bne Briss, is dedicated to articles by leading Jewish writers on the theme of the Jewish diaspora. Many of these writers would later perish in the Holocaust. Three of the newspapers from 1935 celebrate the 800th anniversary of the birth of the great Jewish philosopher, Moses Maimonides. Underlying this theme, one senses the tension of a people under threat and accused of racial inferiority. The Israelit celebrates the life of Maimonides together with articles dealing with growing anti-Semitism in Europe. The Gemeindeblatt zu Berlin produces a lavish edition in honor of Maimonides, emphasizing the Jewish intellectual contribution to the world. The Schild places the celebration of Maimonides alongside a commemoration of Bach in an attempt to demonstrate a synergy and to demonstrate their German patriotism. All of the papers featured here contain a wealth of information about Jewish life in this period. Many are scarcely available in libraries today.