Buy essay: The Jewish Community in Germany before World War II
// October 28th, 2012 // No Comments » // Free essays
In Europe, the Jewish community was historically viewed as an inferior ethnic group compared to the dominant ethnic group. In this respect, Germany was not an exception and the position of Jews was quite disadvantaged in Germany before World War II because of the existing ethnic prejudices and biases in relation to Jews. In fact, they stayed strangers in Germany, in spite of the fact that they attempted to get integrated in the local culture, lead the same lifestyle that the local population did and even their language adapted elements of German to form Yiddish, a specific language of Jews living in Europe. At the same time, Jews preserved their culture, religion and traditions that naturally prevented them from the total assimilation, but, on the other hand, their difference from the majority of the population made them subject to discrimination and biased attitude from the part of Germans, who often viewed them as being hostile to traditional German culture and this trend grew stronger in the context of the ongoing deterioration of the economic situation in Germany in the late 1920s – early 1930s. Eventually, the difference of Jews, their religious and cultural traditions and the historical superior attitude of Germans to Jews, who were viewed as second-class citizens, led the Nazi party to power, which eventually resulted in the emergence of Holocaust during World War II.
On analyzing the position of the Jewish community in Germany before World War II, it is important to lay emphasis on the fact that the Jewish community was not absolutely isolated from the rest of the German society. In stark contrast, Jews attempted to get integrated in the German society. At the same time, they attempted to preserve their culture, traditions and religion. In this respect, it should be said that Jews living in Germany were quite different from Jews living in Eastern Europe, where they were absolutely isolated from the rest of the society and could perform only restricted set of activities and professions. In Germany, Jews could have jobs which other people living in the country could have.
However, it does not mean that the Jewish community was truly integrated in the German society. In stark contrast, in spite of the attempts of Jews to get integrated into the local society, they still remained a different community which was not accepted by the dominant majority of the population as equal. Instead, Germans get used to view Jews as inferior and unworthy of their attention. In such a way, the inferiority of Jews and superiority of Germans was deeply rooted in the public consciousness and Germans could not ignore cultural traditions and historical view on Jews as outcasts, who lived in shtels.
In this respect, it is important to lay emphasis on the difference that was probably even more important than stereotypes or biases of the German population to Jews. To put it more precisely, it is the difference of Jewish culture and traditions as well as religion that put them into a disadvantageous position because the German population was intolerant to any manifestation of difference. As a result, Germans were not ready to accept ethnic groups with traditions, culture and religion different from their own as equal. Instead, they naturally tended to view them as inferior and less civilized than Germans.
Remarkably, Jews maintain the distance between them and Germans by means of their cultural and religious norms and traditions. Unlike some other ethnic minorities, Jews were unwilling to reject their traditions and religion. In stark contrast, they wanted to preserve their culture and religion which were essential for their cultural identity. In this regard, education played an important role in the Jewish community because, as a rule, the civil education in this community was closely intertwined with the religious education, which, in its turn, laid the foundation to the acquisition of Jewish cultural traditions, norms and values. As a result, Jews attempted to preserve their cultural identity that prevented them from their integration in the German society.
At the same time, it is obvious that Jews attempted to do their best to get closer to Germans. At this point, it is possible to refer to the language of the Jewish community, which was Yiddish. In fact, Yiddish was not the Jewish language proper. In actuality, it was a combination of Jewish and German languages. Remarkably, Yiddish became widely spread in Europe that marked the significance of the German culture and Germany at large to the Jewish community in Europe. Obviously, the formation of Yiddish was determined by several factors. On the one hand, Jews naturally absorbed German words, while living in Germany because the language needs constant enrichment as new words appear along with new notions. On the other hand, Jews also attempted to get closer to Germans and they used language to bridge the gap between German and Jewish cultures. However, such an attempt apparently failed because Yiddish was still a distinct feature of Jews living in Germany, which was hardly comprehensible to Germans.
In addition, the religious life was very important for Jews and they developed their religion, build synagogues, observed their religious traditions and rites. However, their religion was different from that of Germans, who were Christian and many Germans view Judaism as a religion hostile to Christianity. Moreover, many Germans were under the influence of religious stereotypes, including the idea that it was Jews who were responsible for the death of Jesus Christ. In such a way, religious differences between Germans and Jews, being very strong, were substantial causes of the cultural conflict between Germans and Jews. (more…)
