The Jews and Germans of Hamburg: The Destruction of a Civilization 1790-1945

375 Pages·2011·5.733 MB·English

by  Grenville, John Ashley Soames

THE JEWS AND GERMANS
OF HAMBURG
Basedonmore thanthirtyyearsarchival research,this historyof theJewishand
German-Jewish community of Hamburg is a unique and vivid piece of work by
one of the leading historians of the twentieth century. The history of the
Holocaust here is fully integrated into the full history of the Jewish community
in Hamburg from the late eighteenth century onwards. J. A. S. Grenville draws
ona vastquantityofdiaries, letters andrecords toprovideamacro-levelhistory
of Hamburg interspersed with many personal stories that bring it vividly to life.
In the concluding chapter the discussion is widened to talk about Hamburg as a
casestudyinthewiderworld.
ThisbookwillbeakeyworkinEuropeanhistory,chartingandexplainingthe
complexitiesofhowalong-establishedandwell-integratedGerman-Jewishcom-
munitybecame,withinthespaceofageneration,victimsoftheNaziHolocaust.
J.A.S.GrenvillewasProfessorofModernHistory, Emeritus,attheUniversity
of Birmingham. He is the author of a number of books, including Europe
Reshaped,1848–1878(2000)andTheHistoryoftheWorldfromthe20thto21st
Centuries (Routledge, 2005), and co-editor of The Major International Treaties
oftheTwentiethCentury:AHistoryandGuidewithTexts(Routledge,2001).
THE JEWS AND
GERMANS OF HAMBURG
The destruction of a civilization
1790–1945
J. A. S. Grenville
Firstpublished2012
byRoutledge
2ParkSquare,MiltonPark,Abingdon,OxonOX144RN
SimultaneouslypublishedintheUSAandCanada
byRoutledge
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(cid:2)2012JohnA.S.Grenville
TherightofJohnA.S.Grenvilletobeidentifiedasauthorofthisworkhas
beenassertedbyhiminaccordancewithsections77and78ofthe
Copyright,DesignsandPatentsAct1988.
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explanationwithoutintenttoinfringe.
BritishLibraryCataloguinginPublicationData
AcataloguerecordforthisbookisavailablefromtheBritishLibrary
LibraryofCongressCataloginginPublicationData
Grenville,J.A.S.(JohnAshleySoames),1928–
JewsandGermansofHamburg:thedestructionofacivilization
1790–1945/J.A.S.Grenville.
p.cm.
Includesbibliographicalreferences.
1.Jews—Germany—Hamburg—History.2.Jews—Germany—Hamburg—
Socialconditions—19thcentury.3.Jews—Germany—Hamburg—Social
conditions—20thcentury4.Jews—Persecutions—Germany—Hamburg—
History—20thcentury.5.Holocaust,Jewish(1939–1945)—Germany—
Hamburg.6.Hamburg(Germany)—Ethnicrelations.I.
Title.
DS134.34.G742011
940.53#180943515—dc22 2011008331
ISBN:978-0-415-66585-8(hbk)
ISBN:978-0-415-66586-5(pbk)
TypesetinTimesNewRoman
byBookNowLtd,London
InmemoriamWernerJochmann
CONTENTS
Preface ix
Prologue:LastdaysinHamburg 1
1 Earliertimes 5
ImmanuelWohlwillandtheearlyreformers 5
Thebestyearsoftheirlives 12
Lightandshadows 22
Goingtowartogether 27
2 TheshadowoftheNazis 32
Revolutionandafter 32
Unequalstruggle 41
AvoteforHitler? 54
3 Howwillitend? 58
Thirty-fourdays 58
Newmasters 66
Boycott 80
Blightedlives 89
viii Contents
4 Courageinadversity 99
Toschool 99
Self-helpindifficulttimes 110
ThelongshadowofNuremberg 121
Celebratingpeace,preparingforwar 136
Steadfastincrisis 148
5 Saveyourselfifyoucan 162
Thebeginningoftheend 162
Thenightofbrokenglass 168
Timetoact 181
Exodus 192
Whatwillhappennow? 200
6 Holocaust 207
Darkreflections,plans,reportsandcoldstatistics 207
Whenthewariswon 211
Evacuationorder 217
ExitfromHamburg 218
TheJewshavegone 229
Andthosewhostayedbehind 238
Thefinalchapter 250
Reflections 264
Referencesandsources 271
Selectbibliography 308
Index 321
PREFACE
‘BegladyouareaGerman’,wastheessaysetfortheleavingclassofHamburg’s
orthodox Talmud Tora Schule, reflecting how the great majority of Jews felt
before the First World War. So why exclude German in the title of the book?
WerenottheGermanJewsGermanstoo,astheypassionatelyasserted?Butthat
does not alter the feelings of the great majority of Germans who regarded them
as ‘other’, as not part of the German Volk or fully integrated in a multicultural
nation.Somescholarshavetriedtorectifythiswrong,referringto‘Germansand
theirFellowCitizens’.YetthegenerationsofGermanJewslivinginthedecades
beforetheFirstWorldWarhadgoodreasonsforlookingtothefuturewithconfi-
dence. Shouldwe simplyassertthen with hindsightthattheirfeelings were mis-
guided?TheyhadsettledforcenturiesintheGermanlandsandovergenerations
hadcomealongwaytointegrateinsociety.Wastherebefore1914anywherein
EuropewhichheldoutmorepromisefortheJewstobetterthemselves?
Whentheylookedbackontheachievementsofpastgenerationstheybelieved
they could face the future with confidence that, over time, prejudices would
diminish and that any lingering discrimination would disappear. They were a
cultured, integrated and prosperous Jewish community, and nowhere more so
than in Hamburg. They were aware of, and did not ignore, the latent antisemit-
ism,butwhentheylookedatthelivesofJewselsewheretheyfelttheywerefor-
tunatetobelivinginGermany,alandofrefugeforthepersecuted.Theiradvance
in society had been attained by working in harmony with gentiles. Should then
the Holocaust cast its shadow over the whole of the past? Yet it is as futile to
place a wall around the Nazi years as to assert that they were predestined from
thestart.
To understand the times and to answer the question how a society can
lapseintobarbarism,weneedtobeginouraccountnotwithHitlerbutacentury
earlier, before he dominated the lives of Jews and gentiles, when seemingly
x Preface
well-established traditions were destroyed. What has been lacking is a ‘com-
plete’historyofGermanJewsandGermansfromearliertimestotheHolocaust.
Itis possible to write a distinctive history of oneJewish community, actually
the largest in Germany early in the century, during the century before the First
WorldWar.ThelivesoftheJewsofHamburgweredeterminedbytheChristian
elites of the city-state. The senate, the government of Hamburg, elected by a
narrow privileged franchise, took pride in offering good government for Jew
and gentile, though giving in from time to time to the anti-Jewish pressure of
the clergy and the ignorant mob. By the mid-nineteenth century Jews played
a prominent and beneficent role in the culture, politics and commerce of the
city-state.
The unification of Germany made a big impact on Hamburg’s economy and
social fabric but left the undemocratic political paternalistic structure in place.
The decades of slow and hesitant political reforms were, paradoxically, also the
most fortunate years for the Jews. They are recounted in the first chapter. The
monarchyhadallowedJewstoliveinsafetyandgrowingprosperity;democracy
provedtobethepreludetotheirdestruction.
A deeply divided republic replaced the Wilhelmine Empire after the First
WorldWar.Theexistence ofthemonarchyhadbeen a guaranteeof theuphold-
ing of the Rechtsstaat, the Prussian tradition of the supremacy of the law safe-
guarding the liberties of all, including the Jews. The constitution of the Weimar
Republic removed the remaining discrimination, but would it be strong enough
tosurvive,andwhatwouldtakeitsplaceifitsuccumbed?
Assaulted by extremist groups and under the shadow of the Nazis, the
Republicfellintoastateofparalysisduringitsclosingyears.Thedemocratsand
the Jews had fought an unequal struggle which they had already lost two years
beforeHitlercametopower.Remarkable,nevertheless,wasthestrongresistance
in Hamburg, Prussia and throughout Germany by a sizeable minority and their
assertionofdecenttraditions.Thattoodeservestoberecordedandnotforgotten.
ButnoregioncouldholdoutagainstHitler’scontroloftheReich.
In 1933, the relationship between the city-state of Hamburg and the Reich
changedfundamentally.Hamburg’sdemocraticstructuresquicklyvanished.New
relationshipswereformedbetweenHamburg’smasters,thebureaucracy,thepeo-
pleandtheReich.TheJewstoohadtoadjusttheirowninstitutionalrelationships.
The history of these times could therefore no longer focus on Hamburg alone.
ThelivesandfateoftheJewsofHamburgwerenowdeterminedtoadiminishing
degreebythenewlocalNazirulers,thoughvestigesoflocalinfluencesremained.
StrongpersonalitiesinHamburg,however,preservedasurprisingdegreeofinde-
pendence in Jewish affairs, though national Jewish institutions were established
in1933tomeettheNazichallenge.
The question generations have grappled with is how a once civilized society
couldhavedescendedtopitilessinhumanityinsoshortatime.YoungerGermans
are not concerned so much with the details of decision making as with trying to
understandthelivesoftheirparentsandgrandparents.Howfarhadtheyadjusted
Preface xi
toNazirequirementsofconformity?Didtheynotrealisewhatwashappeningto
the Jews? Jewish descendants also ask why their forbears were so blind and did
not leave earlier while there was still time? We can address these questions and
gainfreshinsightsbylookingatcontemporarylives,howindividuals accommo-
datedthemselvestotheturbulenttimes,ratherthantryingtogeneraliseaboutthe
Germans,theJewsoreventheNazis.ThepeopleinthisbooklivedinHamburg,
buttheirbehaviourwasnotuniquetoonecity.Thefocusononeplace,andtime,
provides a truer reflection of attitudes than plucking illustrations from different
regions to substantiate conclusions often already reached. Each region claims it
wasdifferentduringtheNaziyears,andHamburgisnoexceptioninthisregard.
Thatisnottodenydifferencesbetweenregionsoroflifeinacityorasmallcom-
munity,butcivilisationcollapsedeverywhereintheendjustthesame.
This is not a monolithic story of one single Volksgemeinschaft. Jewish
responsestochangingtimeswere justasdiverse asthose amongtheNazi‘com-
munity of people’. The Jewish leadership during the Nazi years has been much
maligned. Everyday Jewish life during the war years inside Germany, further-
more, has remained an almost wholly hidden story, while relations among the
Nazielitehavebenefitedfromintensiveresearchanddebate.Fortunatelyrecords
inHamburg orderedto be destroyedbythe Gestapo have survivedthanksto the
caretakerofthefinancebuilding,whosensedtheywereimportantforposterity.I
was given the key to the cellar of the building in the Magdalenenstraße where
they were scattered in huge piles covered in dust. These records, which were
latertransferredtotheStateArchives,enableustodojustice tothecourageand
resilienceofthelastrepresentativesofGermanJewry.
Civilisationistooeasilytakenforgrantedwhenweenjoyitsbenefits;itisin
realityfragile,notjustasitwasinGermanyduringthe1930sbuteverywhereat
anytime.Powerwhenheldbyleaderswithextremeideologiesisabletocorrupt
sufficient followers to achieve its ends. Hitler understood this, observing in one
of his interminable monologues in the Wolfsschanze in August 1942, ‘the broad
mass of peopleareneither badnor good. They possessneither themalign intent
northecouragetobeabsolutelybadorabsolutelygood.Theextremesdetermine
theoutcome.’ History has shown how true thatproved tobe, then andlater.But
evilscanbereversedandideologiesdiscredited,enablingsucceedinggenerations
tofollowadifferentpath.
Holocausthistoriesomitthemanysubtleshades ofgreybetweenthe‘blacks’
and ‘whites’which alone can make what occurredunderstandable tosucceeding
generations. What I have tried torevealishowtheNaziyearswere experienced
by German Jews and millions of other misguided Germans for whom they
appeared to herald ‘better times’. The discrimination of Jews and other minori-
ties did not touch the majority, while the gradual escalation of persecution
allowed people time to get used to it. The treatment of the Jews before the
Holocaust did not appear so unreasonable. Of course some aberrations had
occurred. A German proverb was popular at the time: ‘you cannot plane wood
smoothwithoutmakingmanyshavings’.NordidthemajorityofJewsattemptto