One of the most damaging aspects of the Jewish situation in Germany today is the uncertainty in which the Jews have been left as to their relations to the German world which they are in but of which they are not a part. In all the long, breathtaking days, weeks and months in which the Nazis have been in power, there has never been a full discussion of the situation between leaders of German Jewry and spokesmen for the regime.
This has not been the fault of the Jewish leaders. They are anxious to have the ground under their feet mapped out. The Jews want to know where they are. This the rulers of Germany apparently are not yet ready to state. The result is, as a German-Jewish leader has pointed out: “We cannot built for the future. We can only work from day to day.”
The Jewish community knows with certainty only that the authorities can be counted on solely for approval of measures speeding the emigration of the Jews.
The Jüdische Rundschau, organ of the German Zionist Federation, in a lengthy editorial this week warns against the tide of hopeless resignation which it fears is taking hold of German Jewry. In a penetrating analysis of the Quarantine in which the Jews find themselves, it refers to the absence of any understanding on the regulation of Jewish affairs and points out:
“Even what is said about the Jews in Germany is mainly not addressed to the Jews, but inside the German world, and we Jews stand on the sidelines, as observers—very attentive and interested observers since we know that the words spoken there and which we are unable to contradict sink gradually deeper and deeper into the souls of the people, especially German youth.
“As that discussion proceeds within the German world, we Jews feel the need to react to it, but mostly we can do so only in our own ranks, from the Jewish tribune which does not reach the other party.
Very often the argument is made that the German Jewry is in a state of liquidation. If the new Germany, it is said, considers a reduction in the German Jews desirable, it must be pointed out that this state is being brought about by itself in the course of natural development. The German Jews are mostly older people. There is a fall in birth rate, a decrease in the number of marriages and there is emigration, as a result of which the Jewish population in Germany will fall in a decade to half its present number.
“This argument is undoubtedly correct. German Jewry is in a process of liquidation. The phrase is not a new one; it goes back for twenty-five years, when Dr. Felix Theilhaber used it for the first time. There has been a great deal of controversy over it, but it should be remembered that Dr. Theilhaber’s purpose was to rouse German Jewry, to realize the situation and counteract it.”
What the official attitude is toward the Jewish question, however, is no secret. The Nazis never sought to “coordinate” the Jews. Their aim was, is today, not “gleichschaltung,” but liquidation.
Despite the desire, from motives of economics, of Dr. Schacht, that the Jews be left alone, and his statements that the discriminations are just a passing phase of the revolution, the aim of the Nazis is a land free of Jews and they are determined to have it. The Streichers have their way in this matter. The Nazis will never be satisfied with less than an almost total emigration of the Jews at whatever cost—with the extermination of German Jewry as such.
This ambition was the underlying motive behind the recent arrests of Jews returning here from abroad. Those responsible for the nation’s economy may feel it good business to get the Jews back and to benefit by Jewish capital and commerce, but the Nazis want none of it. The Jews who left Germany during the first flush of the Hitler ascendancy may be told in speeches by Germany’s statesmen that they are free to come back. Once returned, they are taught differently. Germany is seeking to accelerate the emigration of Jews. She does not want them returning.
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.
