Jews in Germany before the Holocaust

Module overview

German-Jewish history has often been regarded as ‘leading up to the Holocaust’. In this module we will explore the life and culture of Jews in Germany from the late C18th until the eve of the Nazi takeover in 1933. Starting with the Jewish enlightenment, initiated by philosopher Moses Mendelssohn (1729/1786), we see the emergence of a modernizing Jewish element within a modernizing German society and its capital city of Berlin. Here, all Jewish ‘fantasies’, from Assimilation to Zionism, have been played out, discussed, created tensions within the Jewish community and produced an unparalleled cultural creativity, particularly around the turn of the century and in the 1920s. Antisemitism in German society led to the establishment of Jewish organisations such as the Centralverein, but also to the development of a ‘Jewish renaissance’, a re-discovery of a Jewish identity nearly lost in the processes of modernization. Using a core set of primary sources as our foundation, we will trace Jewish life from the struggle for emancipation through to the cultural, social, and political transformations of the 19th and early 20th centuries

Aims and Objectives

Learning Outcomes

Subject Specific Intellectual and Research Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

integrate textual analysis with secondary research
analyze primary and secondary sources in the framework of Jewish history and culture
show a critical understanding of the nature of minority-majority relations
evaluate different scholarly approaches to the study of Jewish life in Germany
make connections between political, social, and cultural developments and the formation of identities

Transferable and Generic Skills

Having successfully completed this module you will be able to:

work confidently with library, archival and virtual sources as appropriate
produce coherent and well-argued written work

Knowledge and Understanding

Having successfully completed this module, you will be able to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of:

the relationship between Jews and non-Jews in Germany
the transformation of Jewish life during the long 19th and early 20th centuries
different academic approaches to Jewish history and culture

Learning and Teaching

Teaching and learning methods

Teaching methods include: Short introductory lectures which may include some group work/participation Seminars focusing on the detailed reading and analysis of primary sources – these could be texts, images or objects Learning activities include: In depth analysis of primary sources Preparatory reading and individual study Individual participation in seminars, group work and short presentations on seminar themes Discussion in seminars will help you to develop your ideas on a topic, to analyse a range of source material and to articulate a critical argument.

Study time
Type	Hours
Wider reading or practice	17
Preparation for scheduled sessions	36
Seminar	12
Tutorial	1
Completion of assessment task	72
Lecture	12
Total study time	150

Resources & Reading list

Textbooks

Paul Mendes-Flohr and Jehuda Reinharz (eds.) (1995). The Jew in the Modern World: A Documentary History.

Amos Elon (2004). The Pity of It All: A Portrait of Jews in Germany 1743-1933.

Paul Mendes-Flohr (1999). German Jews: A Dual Identity.

Werner E. Mosse (1987). Jews in the German Economy: The German-Jewish-Economic Elite, 1820-1935.

Michael Brenner (1991). The Renaissance of Jewish Culture in Weimar Germany.

Neil Gregor, Nils Roemer, Mark Roseman (eds.) (2006). German History from the Margins.

David Sorkin (1987). The Transformation of German Jewry, 1780-1840.

Jacob Katz (1978). Out of the Ghetto: The Social Background of Jewish Emancipation, 1770-1870.

Steven E. Aschheim (1982). Brothers and Strangers: The East European Jew in German and German Jewish Consciousness, 1800-1923.

Peter Pulzer (1992). Jews and the German State: The Political History of a Minority, 1848-1933.

Mordechai Breuer (1992). Modernity Within Tradition: The Social History of Orthodox Jewry in Imperial Germany.

Rainer Liedtke and David Rechter (eds.) (2003). Towards Normality? Acculturation and Modern German Jewry.

Michael Brenner and Derek J. Penslar (eds.) (1998). In Search of Jewish Community: Jewish Identities in Germany and Austria, 1918-1933.

Sander Gilman and J. Zipes (eds.) (1997). Yale Companion to Jewish Writing and Thought in German Culture.

Jehuda Reinharz and Walter Schatzberg (eds.) (1985). The Jewish Response to German Culture: From the Enlightenment to the Second World War.

Ritchie Robertson (ed.) (1999). The German-Jewish Dialogue.

Helmut Walser Smith (ed.) (2001). Protestants, Catholics and Jews in Germany, 1800-1914.

Nils H. Roemer (2005). Jewish Scholarship and Culture in Nineteenth-Century Germany: Between History and Faith.

Michael A. Meyer et al (eds.) (1996-2000). German-Jewish History in Modern Times.

Till van Rahden (2008). Jews and other Germans: Civil Society, Religious Diversity, and Urban Politics in Breslau, 1860-1925.

Michael Brenner, Vicki Caron and Uri R. Kaufman (eds.) (2003). Jewish Emancipation Reconsidered: The French and German Models.

Shulamit Volkov (2006). Germans, Jews, and Antisemites: Trials in Emancipation.

Werner Bergmann (2002). Exclusionary Violence: Antisemitic Riots in Modern German History.

Peter Pulzer (1988). The Rise of Political Anti-Semitism in Germany and Austria.

George Mosse (1985). German Jews beyond Judaism.

Marion Kaplan (1991). The Making of the Jewish Middle Class: Women, Family, and Identity in Imperial Germany.

Assessment

Summative

This is how we’ll formally assess what you have learned in this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Essay	60%
Written assignment	40%

Referral

This is how we’ll assess you if you don’t meet the criteria to pass this module.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Resubmit assessments	100%

Repeat

An internal repeat is where you take all of your modules again, including any you passed. An external repeat is where you only re-take the modules you failed.

Breakdown
Method	Percentage contribution
Written assignment	40%
Essay	60%

Repeat Information

Repeat type: Internal & External