Heinrich Mann, world-famous German novelist, essayist, and playwright, who has been forced into exile at Monte Carlo because of his outspoken statements against the Nazi regime, declares that the German nation, by maintaining Hitler and his cohorts in office, is flirting with suicide.
In a copyright article in the June issue of the B’nai B’rith Magazine, which has just appeared, Mann writes:
“The Germans hate the Jews. At least, they have been convinced of this by their leaders, who proclaim anti-Semitism as if it were a German achievement. Against their own Jewish minority the Germans even now commit deeds that do incalculable harm to themselves. For they expose themselves to contempt, which is far worse than being hated.
“Anti-Semitism betrays a defect in the inner balance of a nation. The Nazis would never have prevailed over this nation had they not used hate. They called the Republic a ‘Judenrepublik’ only because they depended upon the public’s hatred of Jews. Pogroms and boycotts become popular entertainments—that is their sole practical purpose.
“The German Jews must endure much. If it can give them any consolation I should like to tell them that they suffer no more than do the German spirit and the genuine German soul, which they always have loved. The Jews participated in the intellectual and spiritual work, truly venerated creative intellects, labored for them, and were always eager to help. We owe them a debt of gratitude. Today, when we as well as they are being persecuted, I want to go on record as having said this.”
In the same issue of the B’nai B’rith Magazine, Harry Elmer Barnes, Scripps-Howard editorial writer and professor at Smith College, declares that Hitler, by his mistreatment of the Jews, “has indefinitely delayed the prospect of getting decent treatment for decent Germans”.
The irrealism of a government which deliberately alienates its friends and strengthens its enemies with cogent arguments against it is described by Maurice Samuel in another article in this issue.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
